QUOTE OF THE MONTH:
“Our consideration is limited to the present circumstances.”
Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy writing the majority opinion in Bush v. Gore, Dec. 12, 2000.
SENSE AND NONSENSE -- THE ELECTION OF 2008
From the editor: In what is arguably its worst decision since Dred Scott of 1857 (later overturned by the 13th and 14th Amendments to the Constitution), the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, handed the 2000 presidential election to George W. Bush. The decision ordered the manual recount of votes in Florida to cease and Bush won by 537 votes. Underscoring the partisan nature of its decision, the Supreme Court violated its own history of allowing states to make their own rulings regarding elections and it relied upon a spurious argument of “equal protection” to obscure the true political nature of the decision. In his recent book, “The Nine,” author Jeffrey Toobin writes, “There were times when David Souter thought of Bush v. Gore and wept.”
That historic decision makes the election of 2008 a referendum on the elections of 2000 and 2004. The Bush appointments of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Sam Alito established a solid ultra conservative philosophical fraternity in the most important court of the land. This election will determine whether the influence of the Federalist Society prevails over reasoned, non-partisan and just decisions based upon precedent. The Federalist Society claims that its converts are able to determine what the founding fathers meant by each word in the Constitution. They like to call themselves “originalists,” while labeling any judge who thinks the Constitution is a “living” document capable of being applied to changing circumstances as “activist” judges.
There is no more “activist” decision by the Supreme Court than Bush v. Gore. It was purely a political decision with lame claims of violating the equal protection clause of the Constitution. If Senator Obama loses, landmark cases such as Roe v. Wade will be overturned. Women will lose the right to make decisions about their own health and their own bodies. The courts will wage a continuing campaign against a citizen’s right to privacy. Perhaps most significantly, the principle of equal protection under the law will evolve into protection for the privileged.
The election of 2008 is also a referendum on the neo-conservative principle of “pre-emptive war.”
It is a referendum on the long-delayed Middle East peace process.
It is a referendum on reversing the re-distribution of wealth from the middle class to the top 1 percent of taxpayers through the Bush-McCain tax cuts. As Warren Buffet says, “If there is such a thing as class warfare, our class has won.”
It is a referendum on health care for the uninsured and affordable health care for all.
It is a referendum on global warming.
It is a referendum on access to affordable higher education and quality public education.
It is a referendum upon the Bush-Cheney doctrine of unilateralism in foreign policy and a “unitary” presidency.
It is a referendum on allowing the CIA to continue its policy of torturing detainees.
It is a referendum on the National Security Agency (NSA) policy of illegal spying on American citizens.
It is a referendum on Guantanamo.
It is a referendum on corporate CEO abuses and the largest corporate raid on our national treasury in history.
It is a referendum upon maintaining the separation between church and state.
It is a referendum on the national debt and annual deficit spending.
In summary, the election of 2008 is the most important presidential election since Lincoln was re-elected in 1864.
From Fred Bender of Santa Fe: Following are excerpts from an op-ed article written by Compass Society member Fred Bender and published in the Oct. 5, 2008, issue of The Santa Fe New Mexican.
“Barack Obama is uniquely prepared to lead this country. He has the vision, the concepts and the leadership skills to restore our broken nation. His understanding of competing cultures and the forces that are dangerously destabilizing the world garner him respect abroad and qualify him to lead toward resolution of the world’s critical problems.”
“A September 2007 Chicago Tribune article by Mike Dorning (headlined) ‘Obama policy team loaded with all-stars,’ describes Obama’s preparation and advisory team: ‘Obama built relationships with high-powered policy experts even before he was elected to the Senate…Once elected, Obama set up an ambitious policy operation for a newcomer…His staff (brought) in outside experts for wide-ranging discussions on policy…He has assembled a personal think tank that outsizes established Washington policy institutes that provide intellectual fodder for the political war of ideas.’”
“’Senior advisers include heavy hitters from the administration of President Bill Clinton…Key economic advisers include Washington veterans such as Michael Froman, a Citigroup executive and former chief of staff to then-Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin.’
National security advisers favor ‘active engagement in the world and are not necessarily foes of military action.’ Advisers were drawn by Obama’s ‘tough mindedness and freshness…the give-and-take of opposing views…He tests out ideas and challenges people.’”
“Profiles of McCain’s inner circle in a Council on Foreign Relations article by Robert McMahon, ‘McCain’s Brain Trust,’ and other articles show that, for the large part, McCain’s advisers represent the same advisory regime that influenced the policies of George Bush.”
“Compare the top foreign-policy advisers for Obama and McCain. For Obama, Tony Lake, like Obama, opposed the invasion of Iraq. He advised a number of Democratic presidents and candidates in a 45-year diplomatic career. He served as Clinton’s national security adviser from 1993 to 1997 and as the president’s envoy for negotiations that ended the war between Ethiopia and Eritrea.”
“For McCain, Randy Sheunemann, long a McCain adviser, was a legislative staffer on foreign-policy issues in the Bush administration. He was an architect of the Iraq war, along with Cheney, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, as a director of the neo-conservative Project for a New American Century, a group that advocates global strategic and ideological predominance of the United States through military power. He has led three lobbying firms, lobbied for arms manufacturers and gun associations and oil firms, and represented foreign governments, including Georgia. He is briefing Sarah Palin on foreign policy.”
“We don’t need another warrior president, particularly one with a short fuse. We don’t need a president who claims to be a change agent, but is deeply imbedded with the Bush brain trust, has no comprehensive plan and offers to restore our country by applying policies similar to those that created our problems. We don’t need an elderly president with potential health problems whose judgment is exemplified by his promotion of the Iraq war and now, by the irresponsible, political selection of an inexperienced, evangelical running mate who doesn’t believe in evolution or the use of contraceptives in an AIDS-ravaged world.”
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE COMPASS SOCIETY AND NEWSLETTER
From the editor: The first issue of The Compass newsletter was a simple one-page email dated November 3, 2004, from Pat and I that began with the following words:
“Pat and I are licking our wounds this morning after the announcement that Kerry concedes. Consequently, we are putting out a call for (a) truly moral majority to take our country back as soon as we can. In short, we need a MOVEMENT that includes both short term tactics and a long-term strategy for the next 20 years.”
In the fifth issue of The Compass, published on November 27, 2004, we adopted our current mission statement that reads “Our purpose is to accurately define (the) problems we face as nation, and promote solutions (to those problems) through smart, non-violent social and political action.” In subsequent issues, we “tightened” the statement into its current form at the top of this issue.
The newsletter started as a reaction to the stolen presidential elections of 2000 and 2004. It evolved through a phase in which we tried a philosophy of non-partisanship in an effort to qualify for use by public school curriculums. However, we soon returned to a partisan publication especially prior to the 2006 congressional elections.
Finally, we have focused upon a policy that counters a corporate media policy that tries to elevate a standard of “controversy” to the level of fairness and accuracy in reporting. Journalism has deteriorated into an industry that chases the entertainment dollar at the expense of reporting the truth. Factual reporting has been replaced by spin city.
The original intent was to publish an alternative source for factual information until leaders begin to solve problems rather than cater to special interests. Toward that end, The Compass identified “The Four Horsemen of a Rational Future,” in its April 9, 2005, issue (vol. ii, no. 11). In the June 18, 2005, issue (vol. ii, no 15) we wrote about “The Three-Legged Stool” that threatens our democracy. The three legs were: a belief in survival of the fittest; a belief that the ends justify any means; and a belief that God is on our side. In the Feb. 18, 2006 (vol. iii, no. 4), we launched the “We Want Change” Project -- a year before the current political campaigns adopted the slogan.
Since that issue, The Compass has aggressively pushed for electing a Democratic Congress and a Democratic President. As editor, my commitment was to continue publishing through the 2008 election.
However, through the last four years I have discovered that I enjoy writing about current events. Consequently, The Compass will continue to be published on a monthly basis after this election. We will remain committed to factual reporting, scientific and systematic research, intellectual honesty, and a dedicated aversion to “spinning” the truth.
Finally, thanks to all of you who read and contribute to the contents of this newsletter. And a special thanks to Gavin Mahaley for our website HYPERLINK "http://www.compasssocietynews.com" www.compasssocietynews.com.
The Compass Society Newsletter
Maynard Chapman, Editor
Copyright © 2008, The Compass Society
