I try to take time to reflect. It is a practice I strongly recommend. When I am feeling good about things it can keep me appropriately humble, and when I spiral towards depression I can remember those things that are still positive.
Like many I will spend this day with family, in this case that of Leaves on the Current. And we will have much for which to be grateful, and I will focus on family then.
But this is a political blog. Here we define politics broadly, and it is a tribute to the proprietor, Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, that our discussions of politics includes music and literature, involves sharing of art and poetry. Often we are quite critical of political figures, usually appropriately. But on this day I wish to offer my gratitude, and encourage others if so inclined to add theirs. For me politics serves the purpose of advancing the best interest of humans, which is why this edition is about human rights as well as politics. Please join me below the fold.
My first thanks is to those who put themselves on the light on behalf of others, especially when it comes to human rights. I cannot say this as clearly as I read this morning
It is one thing to speak up for human rights at a time of peace and prosperity. It is another thing to defend human rights at a time of anxiety and war. But we cannot be deterred. Prisoners of conscience are still being held. Torture remains a tool of punishment and interrogation. The death penalty is carried out in scores of countries. Governments expect to hear from us. We cannot disappoint them.
. Joshua Rubenstein is the Northeast Regional Coordinator for Amnesty International, a wonderful organization, and he has an op ed in today's Boston Globe entitled Human rights at risk, now more than ever that is appropriate. Thanks to his piece I remember to specifically thank people like Nelson Mandela, the late Andrei Sakharov, and especially Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the many Buddhist monks.
To our own Meteor Blades, who in Personally Defunding the War reminded us that one can choose to say no, and that our no has meaning only if we are willing to place ourselves on the line.
There are so many. Sometimes it is for a single action. I remember in Reading Dostoevski's magnificent Brothers Karamazov the exchange between Aloysha and a woman whose life had not been, shall we say, full of good deeds and generosity. He told a tale of a woman who had done but one good deed in her life, IIRC giving an onion to a poor person, and by that onion her guardian angel hoped to pull her up from the eternal fires of Hell. I want to be generous, and while no guardian angel myself, see many onions.
Here are some more people to whom I offer my gratitude:
To John Edwards, for making poverty a real issue in our political discussions
To Chris Dodd, for taking a stand on telecomm immunity and for standing up for the principles of the Constitution
To Jim Webb, for standing for the necessary rest and recuperation for those who go into harm's way, and for his insistence that if this is a war they should have full war-time GI benefits
To Brad Miller for his focus on the damages of predatory lending
To Chap Petersen, newly elected State Senator in Virginia, who took on the challenge of running against supposed moderate Jeannemarie Devolites Davis, wife of Congress Tom Davis, and not only defeated her but drained his campaign coffers; Chap is one of four who gave us the State Senate and thereby guaranteed that Republicans will not have absolute control at the next redistricting 2011
To Dennis Kucinich, who is the Congressional figure doing must to keep the Constitutional principle of impeachment as a check on the executive branch alive
To Henry Waxman, who has been willing to continue to probe into the misdeeds of this administration in a way that enables us to ahve at least partial knowledge of what has been done in our name
To Jon Solz and Brandon Friedman and the sergeants in the New York Times and all the other present and former service personnel who have been willing to speak out on the wrongness of our military policy in Iraq
To the various JAG officers who have stood up for due process for even those accused of the most heinous crimes, for if we are not a nation of laws in a time of crisis then we ultimately have no law upon which we can rely
To John Dean: I remember telling him in Chicago that when Worse than Watergate came out, far too many people thought he was exaggerating. Little did we know how much of an understatement that was. For that, and for his continued voice on the issue of the wrongdoings of this administration
To Keith Olbermann for being willing to keep a focus on what is happening, to raise questions, and to provide a forum to give voices like John Dean and others a wider audience
to Bill Moyers - like Keith Olbermann he has provided a forum in which voices that need to be heard are heard
to the various Conservatives who have spoken out against the wrongdoings of this administration and the acquiescence of the Congress - Bruce Fein and Robert Barr are but two of many examples
to Bob Herbert and Derrick Jackson, two superb writers who offer us a chance of examining our society and our politics through a different set of eyes
to James Carroll, whose writing on religion, government and other things inevitably challenges us to think
to the Dixie Chicks and the women of the championship American Bridge team, who demonstrated to the world that Americans do NOT support the wrongdoings of this administration
to the many members of this and other online communities who refused to be silent, who continue to write and speak out, who research and expose the the wrongs, the lies
to the ACLU in its continued mission of defending the Bill of Rights
And for me, the most important thanks of all:
To my students, who by their very presence challenge me every day to stand up for truth and honesty, whose future is why I keep trying to make a difference
Take a moment. Reflect on your gratitude in politics and in human rights. Perhaps share some of it in a comment. But at least take the time to reflect and offer thanks.
My list above is partial. My reflection is not yet complete. But I know this: for all the trouble, all the horror, all the wrongdoing, I do not despair because I can remember the courage of people like those I have listed, and I am not only grateful, but myself challenged to live up to their examples.
May this day be full of blessing and joy for you all.
Peace.