On Compromising One’s Values

One of the things about Barack Obama that attracted me and so many others to him was his espousal of the belief that you never compromise on your basic core values.

Quoting from The Audacity of Hope, Barack wrote

And yet for all our disagreements we would be hard pressed to find a conservative or liberal in America today, whether Republican or Democrat, academic or layman, who doesn’t subscribe to the basic set of individual liberties identified the Founders and enshrined in our Constitution and our common law: the right to peaceably assemble to petition our government, …, the right not to be detained by the state without due process; the right to a fair and speedy trial…

But alas, Barack, barely 100 days into office has already drank the military state, war on terrorism Kool-Aid; he’s already compromised his basic core values for the sake of expediency. He’s taken the easy way out. Of course, Bush and his cronies did this for years but Barack Obama was supposed to be different.

How do we square the above quote with what he said in his speech on June 22, 2009:

…But even when this process is complete, there may be a number of people who cannot be prosecuted for past crimes, but who nonetheless pose a threat to the security of the United States. Examples of that threat include people who have received extensive explosives training at al Qaeda training camps, commanded Taliban troops in battle, expressed their allegiance to Osama bin Laden, or otherwise made it clear that they want to kill Americans. These are people who, in effect, remain at war with the United States.

As I said, I am not going to release individuals who endanger the American people. Al Qaeda terrorists and their affiliates are at war with the United States, and those that we capture - like other prisoners of war - must be prevented from attacking us again. However, we must recognize that these detention policies cannot be unbounded. That is why my Administration has begun to reshape these standards to ensure they are in line with the rule of law. We must have clear, defensible and lawful standards for those who fall in this category. We must have fair procedures so that we don't make mistakes. We must have a thorough process of periodic review, so that any prolonged detention is carefully evaluated and justified.

…And so going forward, my Administration will work with Congress to develop an appropriate legal regime so that our efforts are consistent with our values and our Constitution.

[Complete speech transcript.]

That last line is amazing in it’s audacity because you can’t create "a legal system of indeterminate detention without charge" that is consistent with the U.S. constitution! Any attempt to do so is a farce and Obama knows this. Shame on you, Barack! Is due process something that only the government can determine when and if it applies? (Aside: is the use of the word "regime" just a sad coincidence?)

We are nothing without a set of basic core values that are unwavering, unbending—especially in the face of difficult times.

A friend with an opposing view in referring to government and its treatment of “enemy combatants” said on twitter “..but I’d be willing to bet they know a lot of stuff we don’t know about.”

I answered “Nothing they know can abrogate the constitution or a person's basic inalienable rights nor our basic core values”. And that, for me, is what it comes down to.

Ben Franklin, as you probably know, said it best over 200 years ago:

They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.

No person is ever more important that any other person. Everyone on this planet deserves the same basic inalienable rights that our constitution is supposed to guarantee. Every human life is sacrosanct and we don’t get to play God. Ever. Even Charlie Manson, and Pol Pot and Adolph Hitler, if they were alive today, deserve due process. I can’t think that any of the individuals that are currently imprisoned indefinitely at “Gitmo” could possibly be worse that Adolph Hitler or the most horrible human being we could conjure.

An article in Salon by Glenn Greenwald frames the issues better than I can. I suggest you give that a read.

Of course, it’s not too late for President Obama to change his mind. I urge you Barack to set this straight. Stop listening to the war mongers, political opportunists, and those who would twist the constitution to their suit their needs. You are in charge (thanks to our votes)! It’s time to get back in tune with your core values and then get back to governing with them.

Update
If you too are upset about Obama's prolonged detention proposal, I urge you to blog, tweet, write, and speak up! Make your views heard; now! Take it directly to the president by sending a comment to the White House.

Dedicating My Ride to My Cousin Paul

My cousin Paul Kunzinger and I share the same first name and were born within a year of each other in New York City. Paul’s father was my mother’s brother. His family moved to Elmira, NY when we were kids and our families would get together one or two times a year. As we got older, we saw less of each other, especially when I moved to Seattle and him to Texas after college. Paul received a master’s degree in geophysics from Wright State University, and worked as a geophysicist.

During the early 1980s, I was excited that Paul and his future wife, Annie, moved to Seattle and we got to know each other as adults. Not too long after, Paul moved back to Texas but we continued to exchange Christmas cards. Paul and Annie got married and had too little angels: Natalie and Amy.

Paul with Natalie and Amy, Christmas 2002

Natalie was born with cystic fibrosis and Paul and Annie formed a team for the Cystic Fibrosis Great Strides Walk, raising an amazing amount of money each year for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Then, suddenly Paul was diagnosed with lung cancer in the fall of 2006. Annie continues the story:

Paul was a non-smoker, who was diagnosed at stage 3B with non-small-cell lung cancer. From the moment he was diagnosed, he worried that he might not be here to help me raise our girls. He cried when he realized that he might not be there to walk them down the aisle on their wedding days. He worried about Natalie and her fight with cystic fibrosis.

So, Paul fought with everything in him. He fought for our future, for our dreams; and he fought for our girls. But his disease was too advanced for surgery, and too advanced for radiation. He did two rounds of traditional chemo, a double blind study, and a biological chemo. But, the cancer kept growing and eventually overpowered his strength and body. Paul’s body died, but his spirit and our memories live on. Cancer can’t touch that.

Natalie and Amy were 8 and 5 when their Daddy died; way too young to lose the most important man in their lives. But they are brave and tough, just like he was. Survivor types.

Amy and Natalie, Summer 2008

Paul was a warm, gentle, loving person and a devoted husband and father.

I am dedicating my ride to my cousin who lost his battle with lung cancer in January of 2007 at the age of 49. Cancer kills around 8 million people a year, including about half a million each year in the United States.

Of course, not everything about cancer is bad news. A lot of good progress has been in the areas of treatment, prevention, and early detection. All of the money I raise as part of my ride goes towards early detection research at the organization where I work – Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

Please consider sponsoring My Ride to Conquer Cancer. Together, we can make a difference and save lives.