Part 1 of a series.
A year ago today, a catastrophic, unimaginable cataclysm struck Asia - The Tsunami. We wrote:
Reminding how little we understand about the mystery of life, two natural disasters, a series of tidal waves caused by a massive earthquake, have caused the deaths of thousands of innocent souls in India, Thailand, Indonesia and Sri Lanka, among other countries:
The most powerful earthquake in 40 years struck south Asia this morning, triggering tsunamis that smashed into villages, resorts and tourist isles, killing thousands and leaving hundreds missing. Sri Lanka and India were hit hardest as the tsunamis, some 30 feet high, washed away fishermen, tourists, cars and beach side stalls.
The earthquake that generated the waves hit at 6:58 a.m. local time about 100 miles off the northern Indonesian island of Sumatra. It measured 8.9 on the Richter scale, which made it the largest in the world since 1964 and the fifth largest since 1900, according to the United States Geological Survey.
And so commenced, more or less, the year 2005. And the tragedy of the Tsunami was a signal event - hundreds of thouands died. And a signal, that 2005 would be an arduous, depressing, tragic and difficult year. And so it has been.
But at daily kos, is has been a year of battles, good and bad. On New Year's Day, I wrote:
Wishing all a Happy New Year. And dropping in what I think is) a good thought from the New York Times Editorial Page:
We also live immersed in intention, trying to make the most of what time has to offer. There are days when the likelihood of real renewal seems almost impossible, when our lives seem utterly conditioned by the past. . . . It's easy to dismiss the feeling of renewed intentions aroused by the new year. . . . But just ask anyone who's ever made a real change for the better. There's nothing wistful about it. It isn't a daydream. People who have fulfilled a latent possibility in themselves can sense the possibilities lying hidden in so many human lives. It doesn't take a revelation or a flash of light from heaven. It takes getting out of the habit of standing apart from your life, watching yourself as if you were two people instead of just one.
[A] human without hope, a human who has stopped trying to reform himself or excel herself, has a very hard time being fully human. . . [L]ooking at the world around us, we see the need for all the hopefulness and resolution that each of us can muster. We need all the commitment to change we can stir up for the year ahead.
We have just completed a year where most of us, I imagine, have given more of ourselves to effect political change than we ever have before. I know that was true for me, financially and intellectually. And we did not meet our goals. But as the editorial aptly states -- our World, our Nation, our Citizens, our Families, simply require that we redouble our efforts.
And to start the New Year in particularly cliched, but for me sincere, fashion - remember the refrain from the spiritual - "A change is gonna come."
And some change has come. Fighting Dems has become more than an empty phrase.
And in January 2005, the Dems stood tall on two fronts - Social Security and Torture.
On torture, the issue focused on the nomination of Alberto Gonzales for Attorney General. I'll discuss what we said on the flip.
In January, I
wrote about Abu Gonzo over 20 times. Our views culminated in a
joint statement from all former and current FPer's at daily kos opposing the Gonzales nomination:
Unprecedented times call for unprecedented actions. In this case, we, the undersigned bloggers, have decided to speak as one and collectively author a document of opposition. We oppose the nomination of Alberto Gonzales to the position of Attorney General of the United States, and we urge every United States Senator to vote against him.
As the prime legal architect for the policy of torture adopted by the Bush Administration, Gonzales's advice led directly to the abandonment of longstanding federal laws, the Geneva Conventions, and the United States Constitution itself. Our country, in following Gonzales's legal opinions, has forsaken its commitment to human rights and the rule of law and shamed itself before the world with our conduct at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib. The United States, a nation founded on respect for law and human rights, should not have as its Attorney General the architect of the law's undoing.
In January 2002, Gonzales advised the President that the United States Constitution does not apply to his actions as Commander in Chief, and thus the President could declare the Geneva Conventions inoperative. Gonzales's endorsement of the August 2002 Bybee/Yoo Memorandum approved a definition of torture so vague and evasive as to declare it nonexistent. Most shockingly, he has embraced the unacceptable view that the President has the power to ignore the Constitution, laws duly enacted by Congress and International treaties duly ratified by the United States. He has called the Geneva Conventions "quaint."
Legal opinions at the highest level have grave consequences. What were the consequences of Gonzales's actions? The policies for which Gonzales provided a cover of legality - views which he expressly reasserted in his Senate confirmation hearings - inexorably led to abuses that have undermined military discipline and the moral authority our nation once carried. His actions led directly to documented violations at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo and widespread abusive conduct in locales around the world.
Michael Posner of Human Rights First observed: "After the horrific images from Abu Ghraib became public last year, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld insisted that the world should 'judge us by our actions [and] watch how a democracy deals with the wrongdoing and with scandal and the pain of acknowledging and correcting our own mistakes.'" We agree. It is because of this that we believe the only proper course of action is for the Senate to reject Alberto Gonzales's nomination for Attorney General. As Posner notes, "[t]he world is indeed watching." Will the Senate condone torture? Will the Senate condone the rejection of the rule of law?
With this nomination, we have arrived at a crossroads as a nation. Now is the time for all citizens of conscience to stand up and take responsibility for what the world saw, and, truly, much that we have not seen, at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere. We oppose the confirmation of Alberto Gonzales as Attorney General of the United States, and we urge the Senate to reject him.
Signed, Daily Kos Management (past and present):
kos
Steve Gilliard
Steve Soto
Meteor Blades
Theoria DHinMi
Trapper John
DemfromCt
DavidNYC A Gilas Girl
Hunter
kid oakland
Armando
The statement was joined by over a thousand different blogs.
Fighting Dems. Fighting for what is right. And the Democratic Senators largely joined the fight -- 36 voted No on Gonzales.
The series continues.
