The National Security Debate

If you are in favor of making the United States less safe, please raise your hand. If you believe that the American president should have the power to do anything he/she deems necessary to keep this country safe with no accountability, please raise your hand. It is difficult to debate serious issues if supposedly credible people are hammering away at issues that don't exist. Yet former vice-president Dick Cheney insisted on Friday that there is no middle ground on this debate. I would contend that we are all somewhere in between the two extremes stated at the outset of this paragraph. Putting aside for the moment that the vice-president has self serving interests in continuing this debate, if he must do so let him at least start with the premise that we are all Americans and we all have the best interests of our country at heart.

There is no doubt that appealing to our fears is one of the easiest arguments to make. After all, it is better to be safe than sorry. If we put all Japanese into internment camps they can't do us any harm. Lets lock up all the criminals and throw away the key. Yet our president reminds us that we as a people are more than the sum of our fears. We also need to remind ourselves that when we take away rights from our fellow human beings we are taking away our own rights as well. If some individuals can be denied due process, then you and I can also be denied due process.

The issue here is not to write another column bashing Republicans. For me it is Democrats that I am having a lot of trouble with on this issue. Republicans are doing exactly what you would expect them to do, and perhaps even what they should be doing. They have claimed successfully for a number of years now to be the party of National Security. Their strategy has been to scare the American people into continuing to put them back into office, and it has too often been a successful strategy.

This Republican strategy has in fact been so successful that it has not only scared the American people but Democrats as well. Think back to the build up to the Iraq war and how almost no voices were raised against very questionable actions that were leading us into that war. What is the point of a two party system if the party that should be standing against an imprudent rush to war is rushing right along with the Republicans? Is it possible that after only four months into a new administration Democrats have again lost their nerve?

Republicans say not to release terrorists onto American soil and no one challenges them on this. Who, besides the president, is trying to make clear that there has never been any intention of releasing terrorists onto American soil? Who is pointing out that we have numerous terrorists in our prisons as we speak and that has not been a problem? Who has noted that the decision to close the detention center at Guantanomo Bay Cuba, was the result of a promise made during a hard fought campaign that was won? This promise requires that something be done with the prisoners currently there. Has anyone mentioned that the Bush administration released over 500 prisoners from Gitmo prior to Obama becoming president? On the other hand is it possible that the courageous senate just voted 90 to 6 to prohibit any terrorists from being released onto American soil.

Such bravery should not go unnoticed. Of course Senators are worried about their jobs. But what it also says loud and clear is that these Democratic Senators believe the American people are not smart enough to understand the fear tactics that are being used. The senators also do not believe that they are smart enough to explain to their constituents in a way they will understand, that if a terrorist is placed in a super max prison in their state it will not make the citizenry any less safe. Remember this was a party that was four square behind the closing of Guantanamo until the Republicans scared them out of their convictions.

On the other side of the party you have the left wing that is busy attacking the president for not having already convicted and placed behind bars Dick Cheney and the former president. Organizations are out there nit-picking everything from the release of documents to gays in the military. May I remind you that one of the big criticisms of this president has been that he is trying to do too much. The Republicans are marching in lock step on everything from judicial appointments to economic recovery policies. Wouldn't it make sense for like minded people on our side of the aisle to come together and support this president so that as much as possible of his progressive agenda can become law. If we do that we might just have four more years to tackle some of these other issues that are so near and dear to the hearts of many in our party. In the meantime, lets wake up and quit cowering in the corner when Dick Cheney and other Republicans hammer away with positions that are not rational and appeal only to our worst selves.