George W. Bush’s polling numbers continue to seek new lows. Even Republicans in the Senate are lining up behind resolutions pressuring the White House to set a timetable for getting out of Iraq and banning torture. Could our long, national nightmare be coming to an end? Are we turning a corner? Is there light at the end of the tunnel?
Don’t get your hopes up. Although the headlines at the top of newspapers are more encouraging than they’ve been for five years, there’s plenty of mischief occurring below the fold. Consider recent these stories from the past ten days:
– November 7 – The Los Angeles Times reports that All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena is being threatened with loss of its tax-exempt status by the Internal Revenue Service because of an anti-war sermon delivered the Sunday prior to the 2004 election. Rev. George Regas, pastor emeritus at All Saints, specifically avoided endorsing any candidate in the race, saying a person of faith could be justified voting for Mr. Bush or John Kerry, but said Jesus would not approve of pre-emptive war and values the lives of Iraqis as much as Americans. The IRS said this sermon constituted “political intervention,” for which All Saints deserves to lose its tax-exempt status. Similar action has not been taken regarding churches whose leaders exhorted congregants to vote for Mr. Bush.
– November 11 – The Chicago Sun-Times reports that prosecutors from the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division are threatening to sue Southern Illinois University for engaging “in a pattern or practice of intentional discrimination against whites, non-preferred minorities and males,” because the school has graduate scholarship programs aimed at women and minorities. The programs have together aided 129 students in five years. The school has 5,500 graduate students, of whom approximately 430 are minorities.
– November 12 – The Washington Post reports on the number of attorneys who are leaving the Civil Rights Division at Justice. Nearly 20 percent of the division’s lawyers left in the past year. Several exiting attorneys said they are being “driven out” by an administration that is uninterested in enforcing civil rights laws. The number of racial and gender discrimination cases handled by the division has dropped by 40 percent since Mr. Bush took office. That workload has been replaced by having attorneys defend deportation orders.
– This morning’s Post reports that career attorneys in the Justice Department’s increasingly infamous Civil Rights Division were overruled by their superiors when they deemed a Georgia law requiring voters to carry state-issued identity cards would have the effect of limiting African Americans’ access to voting rights. Four of the five attorneys who reviewed the statute determined that it was discriminatory. The day after their report was filed in August, John Tanner, director of the voting section, wrote Georgia officials to approve the law’s implementation.
The war between the Bush administration and those of us who live in the “reality-based” world continues. Regardless of recent poll numbers and leaks about ghost prison networks and secret meetings between Dick Cheney’s staff and oil companies, the Bush White House is determined to drive this nation toward a tax haven for the rich and retrogressive police state for the rest of us.
Congress isn’t helping. Another story in this morning’s Post details a deal in Congress to renew the civil liberty-shredding Patriot Act. Although a few of the original act’s provisions have been trimmed, 14 of the original provisions – due to expire at the end of this year – have been made permanent and three other provisions – including one allowing federal agents to rummage through library and bookstore records – have been extended for seven years.
It’s going to take more than getting the Republicans out of the White House in 2008, more than getting the Republicans out of the majority in both houses of Congress in 2006. Politicians need to act on our behalf now and we need to let them hear from us – now.
Below the Fold
George W. Bush’s polling numbers continue to seek new lows. Even Republicans in the Senate are lining up behind resolutions pressuring the White House to set a timetable for getting out of Iraq and banning torture. Could our long, national nightmare be coming to an end? Are we turning a corner? Is there light at the end of the tunnel?
Don’t get your hopes up. Although the headlines at the top of newspapers are more encouraging than they’ve been for five years, there’s plenty of mischief occurring below the fold. Consider recent these stories from the past ten days:
– November 7 – The Los Angeles Times reports that All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena is being threatened with loss of its tax-exempt status by the Internal Revenue Service because of an anti-war sermon delivered the Sunday prior to the 2004 election. Rev. George Regas, pastor emeritus at All Saints, specifically avoided endorsing any candidate in the race, saying a person of faith could be justified voting for Mr. Bush or John Kerry, but said Jesus would not approve of pre-emptive war and values the lives of Iraqis as much as Americans. The IRS said this sermon constituted “political intervention,” for which All Saints deserves to lose its tax-exempt status. Similar action has not been taken regarding churches whose leaders exhorted congregants to vote for Mr. Bush.
– November 11 – The Chicago Sun-Times reports that prosecutors from the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division are threatening to sue Southern Illinois University for engaging “in a pattern or practice of intentional discrimination against whites, non-preferred minorities and males,” because the school has graduate scholarship programs aimed at women and minorities. The programs have together aided 129 students in five years. The school has 5,500 graduate students, of whom approximately 430 are minorities.
– November 12 – The Washington Post reports on the number of attorneys who are leaving the Civil Rights Division at Justice. Nearly 20 percent of the division’s lawyers left in the past year. Several exiting attorneys said they are being “driven out” by an administration that is uninterested in enforcing civil rights laws. The number of racial and gender discrimination cases handled by the division has dropped by 40 percent since Mr. Bush took office. That workload has been replaced by having attorneys defend deportation orders.
– This morning’s Post reports that career attorneys in the Justice Department’s increasingly infamous Civil Rights Division were overruled by their superiors when they deemed a Georgia law requiring voters to carry state-issued identity cards would have the effect of limiting African Americans’ access to voting rights. Four of the five attorneys who reviewed the statute determined that it was discriminatory. The day after their report was filed in August, John Tanner, director of the voting section, wrote Georgia officials to approve the law’s implementation.
The war between the Bush administration and those of us who live in the “reality-based” world continues. Regardless of recent poll numbers and leaks about ghost prison networks and secret meetings between Dick Cheney’s staff and oil companies, the Bush White House is determined to drive this nation toward a tax haven for the rich and retrogressive police state for the rest of us.
Congress isn’t helping. Another story in this morning’s Post details a deal in Congress to renew the civil liberty-shredding Patriot Act. Although a few of the original act’s provisions have been trimmed, 14 of the original provisions – due to expire at the end of this year – have been made permanent and three other provisions – including one allowing federal agents to rummage through library and bookstore records – have been extended for seven years.
It’s going to take more than getting the Republicans out of the White House in 2008, more than getting the Republicans out of the majority in both houses of Congress in 2006. Politicians need to act on our behalf now and we need to let them hear from us – now.
© Mark Floegel, 2005