Roy Jimenez's Open Salon Blog

Open Letter to Secretary Clinton

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 16:07:49 -0400

Erik S. Lesser for The New York Times

Dear Hillary -

All is forgiven. I'm sorry I doubted you. It's not too late for a primary challenge.

Love,

Roy

Why I'm Not In

Mon, 4 Apr 2011 18:04:42 -0400

beachblogger.net

Barack --

Hope you don't mind the familiarity, but the chummy way you greeted me in your email this morning tells me we're on a first name basis now.

You tell me the politics you believe in start with me and the work of laying the foundation for your re-election campaign starts today. You include a bright red "DONATE" button and a link to a webpage where I can watch an inspirational video, or "Visit the Store" or, again, donate. But the most prominent item on the page is the invitation to confirm my email address and zip code by clicking on "I'M IN!".

I was disappointed not to see a place to enter a comment where I could explain why I'm not "IN" this time around. So I'm writing you another open letter here on my Open Salon blog, and hoping the gist of it will find its way to you.

I recognize the unprecedented record of accomplishment of the first two years of your administration, and I acknowledge the difficulty of getting much of anything done in the face of a Senate whose rules allow a minority representing as few as about 11%* of the American people an effective veto over all legislation. I have to say I was very disappointed in the anemic re-regulation of the financial industry and the entrenchment of the interests of insurance and pharma companies in the Affordable Care Act, both leaving the economic future of the country -- especially the working middle class -- at more risk than we can afford. Your most ardent supporters argue that nothing stronger was possible in the current political climate, and one thing proven by your track record as candidate and president is that you're one of the most able politicians on the national scene in a generation or more. I'm not going to presume to second-guess you on your domestic record, though it sure would be great to see you govern in the interests of most Americans against the Have-Mores with the same vigor you showed in your last campaign.

No, the reason I'm not accepting your invitation today is your consistent record of embracing and extending the theory and practice of Cheneyism as the governing philosophy of the National Security State.

You gave a hint to anybody paying close attention during your campaign when you voted for the FISA reauthorization act that gave retroactive legal cover for the crimes committed by corporations and government officials against our rights under the 4th Amendment, in spite of your repeated promise to filibuster if necessary to keep it from becoming law. That's when it became apparent that putting a constitutional scholar in the White House wasn't going to guarantee a return to the rule of law under the Constitution after the depredations of the Cheney/Bush regime.

Since you've taken office your administration has extended the reach and force of retaliatory action against whistle blowers, expanded the use of secrecy to cloak official crimes and abuses from judicial oversight, codified and perpetuated the separate and unequal "justice" system that allows for indefinite detention without charges, trials or appeals, and even gone so far as to claim the power to order the assassination of American citizens on the sole authority of the executive.

Maybe you think these actions will buy you some political cover for the heat you'd face from the rabid authoritarian right in the event of a successful attack during your watch. Or maybe you really believe that the rule of law under the Constitution is obsolete and ineffective to protect Americans in the 21st century, despite your campaign rhetoric to the contrary. I don't pretend to know how you justify to yourself these betrayals of principle, but whatever your reasons, there are some abuses that can't be excused or forgiven in a civilized society.

A patriotic American soldier is currently being held in a Marine brig under conditions that meet the accepted international definition of torture, whose only apparent crime is to take seriously an obligation laid on every member of the US Armed Forces since Nuremberg, to report and expose war crimes wherever they occur, by whomever they may be committed.

You took personal ownership of Pvt Bradley Manning's torture when you endorsed the firing of State Dept spokesman P. J. Crowley for his public, though tepid, criticism of the conditions of Manning's imprisonment, and when you publicly accepted his jailers' assurances that those conditions are ordinary and appropriate.

A few years back I bought a t-shirt bearing an image of the American peace flag and the words "These Colors Don't Torture" -- a variation on the popular jingoist sentiment "These Colors Don't Run" -- and wore it proudly to march in our hometown Independence Day parade. In those days it felt to me like an expression of principle, but lately I'm not as comfortable when I wear it.

These days it just feels like a lie.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

*according to the 2010 census the combined populations of the 20 smallest states, represented by 40 US Senators, is less than 10% of the national total, add the vote of one Senator from Iowa (0.97% of total) and you've got a filibuster

Refudiate the Squirmish!

Wed, 30 Mar 2011 00:03:08 -0400

'Twas brillig and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe

All mimsy were the borogoves

And the mome raths refudiate the squirmish

Pass it on

Dear Mr President (cc: H Reid, N Pelosi)

Wed, 10 Nov 2010 19:11:58 -0500

Dear Mr. President -

How'd that bipartisanship thing work out for you? I think you know how it worked out for the American people, at least for the 98% of us who aren't among the HaveMores.

The Republicans pulled it off. They weakened and obstructed every effort to repair and strengthen the tottering economy and bring relief to the struggling middle class, and they managed to pin the failure on the donkeys. In January they'll have control of the House, which means for the remainder of your term there'll no funds available for any program which could be interpreted as a success of your administration.

You and your allies in the Congress have less than two months left to act on behalf of the people who elected you. No matter what you do the Republicans will vilify you. They won't compromise, they won't take your hand if you're foolish enough to extend it to them again. So please sir, use the majorities you have in what's left of the current Congress to enact as much of your stillborn programs as you can.

You could start by exercising your leadership to extend the tax cuts for the working middle class that are about to expire. There's no need to make any compromise or concession to the Republicans on this. They can't stop you, and they won't give you any credit for reaching out to them. Use reconciliation to get this measure through the Senate by a simple majority without a filibuster. That's how the Republicans got these tax cuts enacted in the first place. Let the Republicans offer a new tax bill next year if they want to borrow another $700 billion from China to give away to the richest Americans. Let them explain to the people why it's such a good idea to hand out more cash to the Wall Street fat cats who're already sucking up millions in bonuses at the expense of middle class taxpayers.

Next get another unemployment benefits extension passed, keeping in mind that it'll be the last one to get out of Congress until at least January 2013.

And then get Harry Reid to look at the 420 bills that have already come from the House, figure out which can be passed under reconciliation, prioritize them according to the effect they'll have on economic recovery and pass as many as can be managed in the time remaining for this Congress.

Sure the Republicans'll scream about process and lame ducks. Let them scream, that's what they do, that's what you can expect from them whether you knuckle under or fight back. You owe it to the American people to fight back with whatever you have while you still have it.

It's time for you and Harry to grow a pair. If you have any questions about how it's done, ask Nancy.

Your friend and supporter,

Roy J

cc: H Reid, N Pelosi

Speaker Nancy

Wed, 3 Nov 2010 11:11:21 -0400

time.com

In the aftermath of last night's election, we can expect Nancy Pelosi to be handed the blame for losing the House. She was the face of the Congressional Democrats and a favorite target of the hate ads.

But the reality is that Speaker Pelosi was the only national Democratic leader who delivered what the voters in the last two election cycles had demanded, an effective alternative to the failed Republican policies that brought the nation to its knees. We will never be able to measure the difference that the larger and more powerful economic stimulus, the stronger health plan with a public option, the targeted tax cuts for small businesses, or the hundreds of other bills she marshalled through the House against the total opposition of Republicans and the resistance of the Blue Dogs, only to see them killed or maimed beyond recognition by the dysfunctional Senate, would have made in the lives of suffering Americans, or whether they would have been enough to moderate the inevitable midterm backlash.

But if Barack Obama and Harry Reid had the courage, commitment and leadership skills of Speaker Pelosi, both the country and the Democratic party would be better off than they are now or are likely to be for at least the next two years. They survive, and she'll be expected to take the fall for their failure, not hers.

History will show the first female Speaker of the House was also the most effective legislative leader of her generation, and one of the greatest in the history of the country.

Speaker Nancy, you deserved better.