Brand Name of Power

“All politics are local” is an old expression. And yes, the upcoming elections are clearly affecting US and international political discourse—and other events. Both Kerry and Bush are reluctant to alienate the Jewish vote at this time, as well as their Christian Zionist base—and we see unprecedented support for unilateral Israeli policies, not to mention a shameful tolerance of political assassinations.

I sense a fair amount of anxiety about the coming vote. Many of us still expect that Osama Bin Laden will be suddenly “found” in his spiderhole, popping up like a prairie dog in time to influence the election results. Some fear that the coming election will be manipulated by fixed voting machines, or other forms of fraud large and small.

Others worry about other sinister manipulations of our elections. Bush Advisor Condaleeza Rice is warning the media that terrorists may seek to repeat the Madrid pre-election atrocities to influence the outcome of voting. Some upcoming events that the government sees at risk are: the June Group of Eight meeting; the July Democratic convention in Boston, and the August Republican convention in New York. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge is forming yet another government security task force, stating;“ We are going to increase our vigilance.”

This year the theme of the National Conference of Amnesty International was “Vigilant Justice”; and it was held this year in New York. This past weekend I spoke at the final plenary session, held in Brooklyn only one mile from the infamous MDC detention center. Among the panelists, Sister Shokreia Yaghi spoke about her husband’s many months detained in the MDC Special Housing Unit and the many cruelties that took place there after the attack of 9/11.

It was an appropriate theme for these strange times. Those who love liberty and justice do indeed need to be vigilant! For your attention: the New York State Senate has just passed a bill that would abrogate the Constitution in several ways. According to the ACLU Bill of Rights Defense Committee, this bill would: allow for double jeopardy, ie a defendant could be tried more than once for the same crime; for people to be convicted on the uncorroborated evidence of an accomplice; and would allow convictions based on illegally obtained evidence.

If enacted and signed into law by Governor Pataki, this law wouldn’t just cut corners and create legal loopholes. It would take away fundamental rights in the name of national security, without in fact making us safer. We do need to be better able to protect ourselves, however. Therefore, the ACLU recommends a better anti-terrorism bill currently in the Assembly as both more effective and much less destructive of our civil liberties (see www.nybordc.org).

As I said, politics are local; few of us pay much attention to State Senators, but they have passed this extreme bill that could affect life drastically. It would be much easier to gain access to such local politicians, who are much more accessible than the presidential candidates. Many of us are unhappy with the choices available in that election, but we need to be pragmatic. Personally at this point I plan to hold my nose and vote for Kerry. But I urge us all to consider the importance of educating ourselves on local issues, and reaching out to local officials in a regular way, on behalf of the interests of the entire community. Otherwise, why should they care?

For example, US Senator Charles Schumer is running for re-election. Has he done enough for Muslims? After his paranoia about chaplains and charities, perhaps the proper question is; hasn’t he done enough to us? But if he can learn to trust the community, through reliable relationships, he would be better able to advocate for our needs. I hope this may be possible—this would take work.

Other key elections around the country will affect the voting in Congress. We are in need of men and women who can rise to the occasion at a time of crisis, and not pass foolish laws, support the wrong wars, turn blind eyes to terror when it suits big business or other friends.

Now with Iraq over-run with mercenaries as well as US troops, we see the privatization of war as well as the US and international corrections system. With this approach comes a further lack of accountability. We can only guess (through insurance claims) that over 80 private soldiers have been killed. They are not coordinated or regulated; many are paid very, very well but are put into combat situations; and like the undocumented become a shadow work-force that can be exploited. However the greatest exploitation appears to be of the Iraqi people— billions of dollars for rebuilding schools and services are instead going to these private militia. This is what happens when democracy becomes not a reality but a consumer product, or a brand name for US power.