Shannon Inukai-Cuffee’s Op-Ed in the Oregonian , May 13, 2011, on the coming of electric vehicles and Portland’s response to it, while informative, was also deliberately slanted to Ford Motor Company - free advertising for a company that she happens to work for. Mildly offensive in that she disguised it as a piece on electrical vehicles in general and Portland’s efforts to install the infrastructure necessary to support them while failing to mention any of Ford’s competitors. Nissan’s Leaf will arrive in Portland before Ford’s model, this spring. Tesla already has several models on the market, and Chevy has its Volt. All will be using the electric plug in stations and infrastructure mentioned in Ms Inukai-Cuffee’s article, and all these companies need to be applauded and to receive our support. I am proud of Portland’s efforts to support this technology and I thank Ms Inukai-Cuffee for bringing this in focus – no pun intended – but let’s encourage electric vehicles in general and not just sell cars.
Friday, May 13, 2011
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Due Process - Not Just What He's Due
Lots of backtracking and story changing surrounding the killing of Osama Bin Laden.
Now we are to believe they planned for capture. Perhaps they arranged for the appearance to do so but I do not believe it was ever seriously the idea.
Obama's own campaign pledge back in 2008 was to get him, kill him.
Capturing Bin Laden would have represented a logistical nightmare, and would have spurred prolonged and violent protests.
If you don't believe, that they believed, that a live Osama Bin Laden would have been more trouble than he was worth look again at how they handled his body.
They couldn't wait to get rid of it. Put an end to it and do it right now.
That's what they planned, that's why they shot him at close range with two lethal shots despite him being unarmed.
He was evil personified. He most assuredly faced eventual execution and rightly so. But the manner of his death was a mistake. It diminishes us all . We are better than them, we are better than that.
Now we are to believe they planned for capture. Perhaps they arranged for the appearance to do so but I do not believe it was ever seriously the idea.
Obama's own campaign pledge back in 2008 was to get him, kill him.
Capturing Bin Laden would have represented a logistical nightmare, and would have spurred prolonged and violent protests.
If you don't believe, that they believed, that a live Osama Bin Laden would have been more trouble than he was worth look again at how they handled his body.
They couldn't wait to get rid of it. Put an end to it and do it right now.
That's what they planned, that's why they shot him at close range with two lethal shots despite him being unarmed.
He was evil personified. He most assuredly faced eventual execution and rightly so. But the manner of his death was a mistake. It diminishes us all . We are better than them, we are better than that.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Nice Try
'Killing Evil Doesn't Make Us Evil' by Maureen Dowd - NYT May 8, 2011 - puts forth the argument that there exists a special evil bar that once exceeded does away with the need for due process. Osama Bin Laden apparently met this bar.
So who else meets this bar? Well if I was a family member of a murder victim Id certainly feel the bar had been met - wouldn't you? So I could go ahead and kill the murderer. No?
Well how about Charlie Manson? A bullet straight through the swastika he carved on his face? No?
Getting closer?
How about the world leaders who invaded a sovereign nation looking for WMD's that didn't exist, in a country that had nothing to do with 911 - killing 100,000 innocent people and displacing another 1 million in the process? 100,000 is a lot of people. I imagine there are a lot of Iraqi families who feel that is about as evil as it gets. So they can go ahead and kill Bush and Cheney? No?
Executing a man after a fair trial does not make us evil. Killing an unharmed man, no matter how evil you feel he is, without following due process diminishes us all. We are Americans. We are supposed to believe that no matter what, we always behave in a civilized manner, with fairness and justice within the law. That we always respect the law and human rights - even for mass murders - without exception - and that we represent the best humanity has to offer in doing so.
So who else meets this bar? Well if I was a family member of a murder victim Id certainly feel the bar had been met - wouldn't you? So I could go ahead and kill the murderer. No?
Well how about Charlie Manson? A bullet straight through the swastika he carved on his face? No?
Getting closer?
How about the world leaders who invaded a sovereign nation looking for WMD's that didn't exist, in a country that had nothing to do with 911 - killing 100,000 innocent people and displacing another 1 million in the process? 100,000 is a lot of people. I imagine there are a lot of Iraqi families who feel that is about as evil as it gets. So they can go ahead and kill Bush and Cheney? No?
Executing a man after a fair trial does not make us evil. Killing an unharmed man, no matter how evil you feel he is, without following due process diminishes us all. We are Americans. We are supposed to believe that no matter what, we always behave in a civilized manner, with fairness and justice within the law. That we always respect the law and human rights - even for mass murders - without exception - and that we represent the best humanity has to offer in doing so.
Return the Nobel
President Obama has been busy since receiving his Nobel Peace prize. He has dramatically expanded the war in Afghanistan, continued the military presence in Iraq, meddled in the internal affairs of Libya using military might, violence, death and destruction as his means, has tried to deliberately murder Libya's leader by firing missiles into his son's home in a residential neighborhood - killing his son and three grandchildren - all without declaring war against this sovereign nation and has ordered the killing of Osama Bin Laden - seriously violating international law, basic human rights as well as the sovereignty of Pakistan while doing so. Compare his actions to those of his predecessors - Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Mandela, Lech Walesa, Mother Teresa, and Albert Schweitzer.
Even the most ardent supporters of Obama's violent ways would have to admit the man does not embody the spirit of the award. As such he should return it.
When Will This End?
Ok America. If you're going to cheer the killing of unarmed people during a raid that involves multiple and serious violations of international law, if you're going to shoot missiles into homes in residential neighborhoods in a deliberate attempt to murder the leader of a sovereign nation that you've not declared war on, if perceived wrong to you justifies lawlessness and revenge from you - and the killing of innocents along the way is just too bad - then - and I wish with all my heart it wasn't true - get ready to receive the same.
If you treat your enemies as they treat you - justifying your lawlessness and acts of violence by their acts of violence and lawlessness - then be ready for them to justify your death by your acts of violence and your lawlessness. And good luck seeing the end of that.
But more importantly than being fearful of what they might do now, be more fearful of what your own acts do to you. We are supposed to be better than them. We are supposed to live according to law and due process. America's acts of lawlessness and violence are in part acts against itself. It diminishes us all.
When will this end?
If you treat your enemies as they treat you - justifying your lawlessness and acts of violence by their acts of violence and lawlessness - then be ready for them to justify your death by your acts of violence and your lawlessness. And good luck seeing the end of that.
But more importantly than being fearful of what they might do now, be more fearful of what your own acts do to you. We are supposed to be better than them. We are supposed to live according to law and due process. America's acts of lawlessness and violence are in part acts against itself. It diminishes us all.
When will this end?
Ancil Nance for President
President Obama recently told his base to get their heads examined if they disagree with how he handled the killing of Osama Bin Laden.
Telling ones political base to get their heads examined surrounding such emotionally charged issues?
Sort of makes you wonder exactly who ought to be getting their heads examined.
The entire event along with so much else in his presidency has made it clear to me that this guy is the not the guy I voted for in 2008.
I won't be making that mistake again.
Telling ones political base to get their heads examined surrounding such emotionally charged issues?
Sort of makes you wonder exactly who ought to be getting their heads examined.
The entire event along with so much else in his presidency has made it clear to me that this guy is the not the guy I voted for in 2008.
I won't be making that mistake again.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Justice Done?
President Obama was interviewed recently about the Osama Bin Laden killing. He looked into the camera, set his jaw, and stated if someone couldn't get behind the killing of a mass murderer like Osama Bin Laden they should have their head examined. That it was justice done.
It was not justice done - not in the legal sense - it was murder.
Had he defined justice as bringing him to trial, even if it meant violating international law by invading a sovereign nation to do so, I could have gotten behind him. Pakistan arguably may not deserve the letter of the law as regards its borders in certain circumstances.
But deliberately killing people without the due process of law is not justice - it's a lynch mob. It is not what I want my country to stand for. It's not the way I want my country to act.
Bringing Osama Bin Laden to trial would not have been for Osama Bin Laden. It would have been for all of us, for all of humanity. A clear statement to the world that no matter what, the USA always behaves in a civilized manner, with fairness and justice within the law - always our ultimate guide. That we always respect the law and human rights - even for mass murders - without exception - and that we represent the best humanity has to offer in doing so.
As leader of the worlds most horrific military might we place trust in President Obama to recognize his responsibility to always, always set an example for all of mankind, and to not allow himself the selfish self-pleasures of vengeance. Perhaps it is he then who should get his head examined. Come 2012 I hope to help afford him all the time he needs to do so as an ex-president.
It was not justice done - not in the legal sense - it was murder.
Had he defined justice as bringing him to trial, even if it meant violating international law by invading a sovereign nation to do so, I could have gotten behind him. Pakistan arguably may not deserve the letter of the law as regards its borders in certain circumstances.
But deliberately killing people without the due process of law is not justice - it's a lynch mob. It is not what I want my country to stand for. It's not the way I want my country to act.
Bringing Osama Bin Laden to trial would not have been for Osama Bin Laden. It would have been for all of us, for all of humanity. A clear statement to the world that no matter what, the USA always behaves in a civilized manner, with fairness and justice within the law - always our ultimate guide. That we always respect the law and human rights - even for mass murders - without exception - and that we represent the best humanity has to offer in doing so.
As leader of the worlds most horrific military might we place trust in President Obama to recognize his responsibility to always, always set an example for all of mankind, and to not allow himself the selfish self-pleasures of vengeance. Perhaps it is he then who should get his head examined. Come 2012 I hope to help afford him all the time he needs to do so as an ex-president.
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Terrorists
While people celebrate and cheer Osama Bin Laden's death consider this.
Imagine the treasure trove of intelligence he represented had we taken him alive.
We could have dismantled Al Qaeda.
Unless of course he was no longer vital to Al Qaeda after years of isolation in his Pakistani compound.
But if that's true how then do we justify violating international law by invading a sovereign nation, storming a private residence and summarily executing unarmed people without first bringing them to trial? Even Osama Bin Laden was entitled to a trial.
I think much of the world is left wondering how our behavior then differs from the terrorists.
Imagine the treasure trove of intelligence he represented had we taken him alive.
We could have dismantled Al Qaeda.
Unless of course he was no longer vital to Al Qaeda after years of isolation in his Pakistani compound.
But if that's true how then do we justify violating international law by invading a sovereign nation, storming a private residence and summarily executing unarmed people without first bringing them to trial? Even Osama Bin Laden was entitled to a trial.
I think much of the world is left wondering how our behavior then differs from the terrorists.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Choices
If people must really go down this road here are the choices:
1. The US government faked the murder of a murderer.
2. The US government murdered a murderer.
Either way we have reduced ourselves to Bin Laden's level, enhanced his reputation, and helped him to disseminate his message of hate.
1. The US government faked the murder of a murderer.
2. The US government murdered a murderer.
Either way we have reduced ourselves to Bin Laden's level, enhanced his reputation, and helped him to disseminate his message of hate.
Fighting Over the Credit for Murder
Republicans are saying that George Bush deserves the credit for killing Osama Bin Laden.
It is his actions that eventually led to his Bin Laden's death.
By that logic perhaps mothers milk should get the credit
for providing sustenance to the baby that grew up to be the man that pulled the trigger.
Ultimately I think the credit belongs to Dr Roy Plunkett who in 1938 invented Teflon, the substance used to coat the bullets that killed him.
President Obama succeeded where George Bush failed - just that simple.
It is his actions that eventually led to his Bin Laden's death.
By that logic perhaps mothers milk should get the credit
for providing sustenance to the baby that grew up to be the man that pulled the trigger.
Ultimately I think the credit belongs to Dr Roy Plunkett who in 1938 invented Teflon, the substance used to coat the bullets that killed him.
President Obama succeeded where George Bush failed - just that simple.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Huh?
I never go near Pioneer Courthouse Square in Portland Oregon anymore
ever since the FBI tried to blow it up.
ever since the FBI tried to blow it up.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Hate Lives On
Osama bin Laden has been murdered.
I for one am relieved and cannot mourn his death.
But I do mourn the loss of a part of our collective humanity in the manner of his death.
For murder, for any reason, diminishes us all.
How much better had we brought him to trial with the dignity and fairness more fitting our American ways.
Ironically, sadly, his murder then perhaps bin Laden's last evil, hate filled, violent act against us all.
I for one am relieved and cannot mourn his death.
But I do mourn the loss of a part of our collective humanity in the manner of his death.
For murder, for any reason, diminishes us all.
How much better had we brought him to trial with the dignity and fairness more fitting our American ways.
Ironically, sadly, his murder then perhaps bin Laden's last evil, hate filled, violent act against us all.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
NATO Go Home
NATO warplanes deliberately shot missiles into a home in a residential neighborhood in Libya in an attempt to murder Moammar Gadhafi. There was no other military value to the strike.
They succeeded instead in murdering his son, 29-year-old Saif al-Arab Gadhafi, and three of Gadhafi's grandchildren.
They have yet to either confirm or deny the strike. Why?
I do not support Gadhafi because he is a murderer and abuser of human rights.
But neither do I support NATO in Libya because it has murdered and abused human rights there as well.
And I question NATO's ultimate motivation for being there.
That leaves the people of Libya.
I support peace and prosperity for the people of Libya.
I support the right of the Libyan people to determine their own destiny and to expect more hope, more opportunity, and the chance for a better life, than they have had in decades.
They wont find it with Gadhafi.
Nor will they find it with the "West" who uses military might as a form of unimaginative 'diplomacy' and who cares more for Libya's oil and strategic importance than they do the people of Libya or even apparently basic human rights.
They succeeded instead in murdering his son, 29-year-old Saif al-Arab Gadhafi, and three of Gadhafi's grandchildren.
They have yet to either confirm or deny the strike. Why?
I do not support Gadhafi because he is a murderer and abuser of human rights.
But neither do I support NATO in Libya because it has murdered and abused human rights there as well.
And I question NATO's ultimate motivation for being there.
That leaves the people of Libya.
I support peace and prosperity for the people of Libya.
I support the right of the Libyan people to determine their own destiny and to expect more hope, more opportunity, and the chance for a better life, than they have had in decades.
They wont find it with Gadhafi.
Nor will they find it with the "West" who uses military might as a form of unimaginative 'diplomacy' and who cares more for Libya's oil and strategic importance than they do the people of Libya or even apparently basic human rights.
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