The Boomer Blog

The passing of time is a major component of the human experience. Because we are aware of the passage of time, and because we are aware of those who came before us and that there will be those who follow us, we can learn from the past and plan for the future. This may seem obvious, but in fact it is a powerful and unique ability. This is probably the single most significant aspect of the human condition.

Just think about all the unique things that humans do, think, feel, and accomplish. They will almost always involve thoughts of, or information from, the past and/or future. Change is the only constant in the universe, and time is change. Change is time. Being aware of th passing of time is being aware of the change in "now." If nothing changes, then time has not passed. If there is no way to measure a thing, does that thing even exist?

The human condition is about change, and change is the passage of time.

BB

I'm sorry, but I've got a problem with no one in the media pointing out that a war crime is a war crime regardless of how well it works. It would work if we dropped nukes to kill everyone in Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan too (that would kill a hell of a lot of terrorists), but no one is suggesting that we do that. Why? Because it would be illegal, immoral, and completely wrong. Well, guess what - the same is true about torture.

Torture is a war crime and has always been a war crime. How well it works or does not work is irrelevant. Why isn't someone saying that to Cheney?? Why doesn't the interviewer point out this obvious fact when Cheney defends torture by saying that it worked? Bush, Cheney, and many others who were in that Administration are war criminals. It is as simple as that. The traitors to the legal system who wrote the so-called torture memos are guilty of conspiracy to commit war crimes.

Water-boarding is torture and has always been torture. It does not matter how many people you did it to, or how far in the process you went, it is still torture and thus a war crime. It is absolutely a tragedy that the United States of America is even having this conversation! The Bush Administration has done tremendous damage to this country and committing war crimes, and now trying to justify such crimes, is the bottom of an 8-year slide.

The word "integrity" is still ringing in my mind from the epic online battles I had before, during and after the 2000 election, as I stood toe-to-toe with a multitude of online Bush supporters on political bulletin boards. They insisted that Bush would return integrity to the White House (referring to Clinton's sexual escapades). I knew then that Bush and the Republicans had no integrity, only lies, deceit, and a hidden agenda. It turns out that my underestimation of how bad a Bush Administration would be for America was of epic proportions.

Thanks to the Bush Administration, the United States of America has lost the moral high ground. We have lost respect, our integrity, the rule of law, our credibility, our values, our checks and balances, and our leadership position in the world. The Obama Administration has its work cut out for it, but simply moving forward is not going to be enough. We have to clean up the mess and repair the damage, and that has to begin with holding criminals accountable for their crimes. Bush, Cheney, and the legal conspirators should be the first to face the music.

BB

Here is an interesting thought. Now that we have an Obama appointment coming up, the subject of Liberal Vs. Conservative justices is again coming to the forefront.

So here is my question - given that the job of the USSC is to protect the Constitution and uphold the laws of the land & to interpret new realities and situations (that did not exist or were not considered when the Constitution was written or the laws were made), are the laws and the Constitution so vague as to result in entirely VALID but opposite interpretations by a Liberal Vs. a Conservative?

OR, is it that Supreme Court Justices are NOT doing their job, and instead are trying to CHANGE the Constitution and previously legislated laws to fit their personal philosophies? It is an indisputable fact the the five Conservative justices that drove the Bush Vs. Gore decision during the 2000 election did exactly that. The logic and reasoning of that decision, on its surface, was completely illogical and nonsensical, even to the layman. These feces five justices (as I called them at the time) should have been impeached, and still should be. The great thing about justice Suter is that he was outraged by the decision, as all Americans should have been.

So, maybe instead of arguing and worrying about having another Liberal or Conservative on the court, we should be looking for someone who would be 100% true to the content and intent of the Constitution and previously enacted laws?

Perhaps that is something that no longer exists?? I believe that the problem lies with the fact that being 100% in line with the letter and INTENT of the law and the Constitution means being MUCH closer to a Liberal philosophy than a Conservative philosophy. This is in fact, why I am a Liberal!

BB

I have heard that a recent poll shows only 21 percent of Americans are willing to identify themselves as a Republican. Hmmm... Am I celebrating? Absolutely! But do not get me wrong. I am NOT a proponent of one-party rule. In their typical hypocritical fashion, the Republicans are trying to scare us with the thought of the Democrats having total control in Congress. Well, first of all, the closest thing we have ever had to one-party rule has been the last 8 years with the Republicans rubber-stamping anything that the Bush Administration wanted to do, and even the Democrats being too meek to put up a fight. We see how that worked out! The Bush dictatorship has nearly destroyed this country.

But the disaster of the last 8 years was not simply due to one party having almost absolute power, but rather to WHICH party had that power. In October of 2008, I wrote a post titled "Why are so Many Americans Republicans?" here My conclusion was basically that they were deceived and manipulated by the great Republican SPIN machine. Evidently, we can call the last several months "The Great American Awakening!" Just as I call the 2000 Presidential election "The Great American Coup!"

So, what happened? I believe that the Bush Administration screwed things up SO badly, and the results have been SO disastrous that even the sheep in this country began to see the gulf between the Republican Party line and reality. Even as adept as the Republican propaganda machine is at Spinning the truth, they cannot always make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. The other aspect is that the ability to deceive people increases in direct proportion to the amount of apathy the people have, and the amount of apathy has an inverse relationship with increasing trouble and hard times.

Perhaps the two political parties in this country have not always been this way, but since I have been paying attention, and certainly since the 2000 election, the "real" agenda (as shown by actions as opposed to rhetoric) of the Republican Party has been to enrich the wealthy (even further) and gather as much power as possible, regardless of the consequences to the general public. Of course, this agenda has been well disguised by using such bogus concepts as "trickle-down economics," and helping small-business owners when you really mean large-business power brokers. The middle class and those below the poverty level are just tools to accomplish this agenda. The Democratic Party may not be perfect, but they are damn well better than that!

The decline and fall of the Republican Party has been due to many factors, not the least of which has been their own actions. The world as envisioned by the Republican Party is not sustainable, and it has begun to crumble under its own weight. For one thing, when people are hurting, they tend to pay more attention and do a better job of evaluating what they hear and see. Thus the lies and manipulations of the Republicans become exposed. Except for Faux News, many of the media outlets (and perhaps some of the owners as well) are beginning to realize that telling the truth, in the long run, may be better for the bottom line than being a mouth piece for the Republicans.

In addition, the nature of the Republican Party and radical conservatism (restricting, intolerance, mixing church and state, judgmental, controlling others, etc.) is at odds with the very precepts and philosophies upon which the American ideal is based (tolerance, religious freedom, pursuit of happiness, etc.).

BB

Link: http://www.itsjerrytime.com

Interesting site. It's an animated diary with original music. There are 20 animated episodes featuring "true tales from the life of Jerry," a forty-something guy whose life is tougher than it should be.

In 2007 they won an Emmy Award and if you check out the entire website, including the "Scrapbook" (http://www.itsjerrytime.com/?page_id=49) you'll see their site is chock-full of boomer stuff.

BB

I recently read a January, 2009 special issue of Scientific American which was dedicated to Evolution. "The Evolution of Evolution" The most powerful idea in science. I read it cover to cover, and learned much more than I already knew about Evolution.

For those of you who still doubt the science of Evolution, I suggest you read this issue of Scientific American. I was surprised to learn that the concepts and science of Evolution and natural selection have been used and adapted to practical applications in health care, biology, and computer science (among others). They have been SUCCESSFULLY applied, to the great benefit of the human race, and thus supporting the validity of the science.

So, instead of feeling threatened because you think Evolution conflicts with your religion (there is a reason they call religion a FAITH, and not a science), or slyly holding that life is too complex for there to have not been an "Intelligent Design," open your mind for a change and have a read of this issue of Scientific American.

Then find a way to reconcile the FACTS with your FAITH in religion or Intelligent Design.

BB

Link: http://www.boomster.com

A great site - an information and social network website designed specifically for the baby boomer generation. In addition to being a venue where members can meet like-minded people, the website offers articles, videos, and live interviews on a range of topics and interests tailored to baby boomers.

I was just watching the Rachel Maddow show on MNSBC (her show and Countdown are two of my long-time favorites). She had a brief interview with Philip Zelikow (a former counsel in the Bush Administration who was against torture). It sounded as if Philip was backing off and trying to say that his was only one lawyer's opinion and it would be up to the Justice Department to compare his opinion and interpretations against those of the other lawyers in the Bush Administration that were justifying the torture in their memos. I sent the following in an email to Rachel:

Philip made it seem as if ANY crime can be committed if you can get some lawyer to express the opinion that it is not a crime. It then becomes only a difference in opinion? If the Bush Administration lawyers had written a justification for dropping an atom bomb on Switzerland and Bush had done that, would Philip now be saying that this is just a difference of opinion and interpretation between lawyers?? I think not – some crimes are so obviously crimes that people are prosecuted immediately without wasting time evaluating some justification (isn’t that part of what prosecuting does – exposing and evaluating the facts and interpretations?). If torture does not fit into this category, what does?

BB

It is absolutely essential that ALL crimes committed by ANY individual in the government be fully investigated and prosecuted if the law is found to have been broken. This is especially true when we talk about actions that go beyond breaking US law and involve breaking international law. How can this even be questioned? The United States is a nation of laws and a law-abiding member of the international community. Or is it? Maybe Obama and the White House are focused on the future and not the past, but it is the job of the Justice Department to focus on the past, especially when crimes were being committed.

This is why we are supposed to have three branches of government. This is why the Justice Department is supposed to be independent and non-political. Congress and the White House can ask the Justice Department to investigate and prosecute a crime, but they CANNOT ask that a crime NOT be investigated and prosecuted. This is why the infiltration, corruption, and politicizing of the Justice Department by the Bush Administration was an attack on the very foundations of this country. This is why the Bush Administration was indeed, a dictatorship. The Republicans in the Republican-controlled Congress were happy to rubber-stamp anything Bush wanted to do, and by corrupting and politicizing the Justice Department, Bush and his Administration did have dictatorial power. And they used that power to nearly destroy this country.

So, now it is time to pay the piper, not for revenge and not for political reasons, but in order to restore the integrity of this country and re-establish the rule of law. The United States of America has engaged in torture. The truth of that statement is no longer in question. Torture is against US and international law. Anyone, including Obama and his Administration, who tries to prevent the full investigation and prosecution of these crimes are guilty of obstruction, and are condoning the torture.

If the Justice Department does not fully investigate the torture, and all the crimes of the Bush Administration, then this country no longer stands for the rule of law.

BB

I am sending the following to my representatives in Congress and to the White House.

The criminal prosecution of Bush administration officials for torture and war crimes is an absolute necessity. Prosecution is not retribution, it is the maintenance of law and the repudiation of torture and other illegal acts.

The crimes of the Bush Administration over the last 8 years have done untold damage to America. Beyond the loss of life in our brave military and the financial collapse of our economy, the deepest wound of all has been the denial and reversal of the very foundation of America as a society.

As a Vietnam veteran and an American with French, English, German, and American Indian ancestry, I am as much an American and as patriotic as anyone in this country. Yet, for 8 long years I have had to endure actually being ashamed of my country. The loss of basic individual freedoms and the trashing of the Constitution have been bad enough, but to have America engage in war crimes, including torture, has been the wound that cuts deep into the heart of American ideals and has upset our moral compass. We have become that which we should hate and fight to the death.

Such a wound cannot ever be totally healed, and the darkest chapter in the history of America has now been written. To simply expose these atrocities and move on will not even close the wound. The chapter will not have ended, and much more can be written. The ONLY way to allow the wound to be cleansed and closed, resulting in the only healing possible, is to first cauterize the bleeding and remove the dead and rotten flesh, and then close the wound.

This can ONLY be done by a complete and transparent investigation, and a fair and legal trial of those who broke United States or International law. To expose the crimes and not prosecute is to condone the actions.

Here is one American who cannot and will not accept such a weak and ineffective end to this dark chapter in our history.

I DID NOT SPEND 13 MONTHS OF MY YOUTH IN VIETNAM TO PROTECT AND DEFEND A NATION THAT TORTURES!!!!

BB