Month: April 2009

Gingrich On Torture

He was once a Reaganite:

As I said in China this spring, there is no place for abuse in what must be considered the family of man. There is no place for torture and arbitrary detention. There is no place for forced confessions. There is no place for intolerance of dissent. While we walked through the Rotunda. I explained to President Jiang how the roots of American rule of law go back more than 700 years, to the signing of the Magna Carta. The foundation of American values, therefore, is not a passing priority or a temporary trend.

Does any conservative believe we won the Cold War by defending torture, or finding linguistic ways to define it out of existence?

(Hat tip: Sam Stein.)

The Empire Deepens, Ctd.

Marc Lynch doesn't sound as worried as I am about the SOFA exceptions in the news today:

SOFA always made allowances for adjustments if requested by the Iraqi government.  Mosul remains pretty much a hot war zone, from all I hear, unlike most of the other cities — and in those cities, no such adjustment appears to be contemplated.  This doesn't look like the tearing up of the SOFA, it looks like the correct application of the SOFA — mutually adjusting one aspect pragmatically while maintaining the strategic commitment to its overall framework.

 The key is not the details like continuing to operate in Mosul in tandem with Iraqi forces.  The key is the commitment to the withdrawal timeline.  And that commitment has not wavered a bit.

My take here.

Taking Hard Stances On Important Issues

Greg Beato is adamantly opposed to topless coffee shops:

A topless post office might be a useful innovation. A topless dry cleaner, too. Those are boring, utilitarian places where delightfully unfamiliar torsos would be a welcome distraction. But coffee shops, in their standard incarnations, are already pleasant places to fritter one’s life away amidst a cozy blend of caffeine, baked goods, Norah Jones, and argumentative but convivial layabouts. If you spend a lot of time in coffee shops and a lot of time in strip clubs, the idea of combining the two might seem appealing from a time-saving perspective — but who really wants to make their pleasures more efficient?

The DOMA Roadblock

Steve Chapman runs through some of the rights that married same sex couples are denied:

Iowa can provide recognition to gay marriages under all its laws and policies. But that's a surprisingly small part of what marriage encompasses. Under federal law, there are more than 1,100 rights and privileges that go with being a husband or wife. And none of them is available to married same-sex couples.

Under federal law, a person may transfer property to a spouse tax-free. Married couples may file their income taxes jointly. Someone whose spouse dies is assured Social Security survivor's benefits. A married person has the authority to make medical decisions for an incapacitated partner.

Or say you're an American citizen living in this country who marries a foreigner. Normally, you would be entitled to bring your beloved to this country to live permanently and become a citizen.

But if you're both of the same sex, you can forget all of the above. Even though Iowa might like to put heterosexual and homosexual married couples on the same footing, it can't, because the federal statute blocks the way.

The Cannabis Closet: Kept From Serving

A reader writes:

One aspect of current marijuana laws I haven’t seen highlighted in this series pertains to the government’s policy of drug-testing nearly everyone who receives a government paycheck. Cannabis_female_flowers_close-up This includes civil servants, recipients of college scholarships, research grantees, etc.

I am a long-time light smoker (okay, I was a heavy smoker at one point), but stopped smoking a couple months back, mainly because I lost my “source” in a relationship breakup.  As luck would have it, I recently discovered that I will have to submit to a drug test as a condition of receiving some government money. Although I’m not going to be adversely affected by this policy, it got me thinking about how many talented people are blocked from taking government money due to these draconian laws.  If, as it appears, roughly 50% of the population might easily fail a marijuana-detection test, what does it mean for civil service and government-funded research?

Another writes:

The FBI refuses to hire any individual who has smoked marijuana in the two years prior to his hiring process. I was outed in the polygraph phase of the applicant process (after I was actually accepted for employment).

I wanted to work for the FBI because I genuinely wanted to help my country, but apparently the 10 times I decided to smoke in college meant I couldn’t.

I no longer smoke because my drive to be a young civil servant in the Obama Administration strongly outweighs the “costs” of smoking. It no longer appeals to me, actually, but I’m sure it will to another young college student who has something to offer this country.

Another:

I'm a 26 year old law student at the University of Michigan also pursuing a M.A. in political science. I paid my way through undergrad, working several jobs at any given time, and graduated with honors. I went to work for a law firm in DC and decided to get a law degree. I get straight As, run 20-plus miles a week, and love reading about particle physics, watching the NBA, and listening to records.

Oh, and I LOVE smoking pot. I like watching movies high, playing video games high, reading about evolution high, running high and, on occasion, getting into long winded discussions about constitutional law while stoned out of my mind. I smoke most every night.

I want to clerk for a Federal circuit court judge when I graduate and then work for the State Department. Chances are I won't be able to do either because I won't be able to pass a drug test. A drug test that, were I an alcoholic or a coke head, I could pass with flying colors by abstaining for 48 hours. But I won't compromise my beliefs and quit smoking. There is nothing wrong with it.

Another:

I know being a college student who smokes isn't exactly a shocker. I just felt the need to out myself. I smoke maybe 4 or 5 times a year. I'm uncertain about my future as I'd like to join the military and have invested a lot emotionally into the idea. (I'll also pulling in significantly less money in order to serve). I have no idea if I can even obtain the high level security clearances I need because I've smoked a little grass in college. The fact that the last 3 presidents have been drug users, yet upwards of 50% of the talent pool cannot enter the game right away because of pot use, is absolutely ridiculous.

Deference, Please

Greg Sargent asks a good question:

The emerging official position of the GOP on torture is that the only classified information about torture that should be released is that which can bolster the political fortunes of the party. When will a single Republican be pressed on this point, and when will this basic fact become part of the media narrative?