This week, the most devastating month for casualties since the end of major combat, comes to an end. There are now 509 confirmed coalition deaths and a minimum of 7,918 civilian deaths. The Department of Defense has confirmed the following American deaths:
Captain George A. Wood, 33; Corporal Gary B. Coleman, 24; Private first class Damian S. Bushart, 22; Staff Sergeant Eddie E. Menyweather, 35; Specialist Rel A. Ravago IV, 21; Command Sergeant Major Jerry L. Wilson, 45; Specialist Joseph L. Lister, 22; Specialist Robert D. Roberts, 21; Corporal Darrell L. Smith, 28; Chief Warrant Officer, W-2 Christopher G. Nason, 39; Technical Sergeant William J. Kerwood, 37; Technical Sergeant Howard A. Walters, 33; Staff Sergeant Thomas A. Walkup Jr., 25; Major Steven Plumhoff, 33; Sergeant Major Phillip R. Albert, 41; Specialist David J. Goldberg, 20; Specialist Thomas J. Sweet II, 23; Sergeant Ariel Rico, 25.
May they rest in peace.
“Over my dead body,” was the reaction of Rep. James Sensenbrenner Jr., after learning that Sen. Orrin Hatch proposed the removal of the Patriot Act’s “sunset clause,” according to the San Francisco Chronicle. A “sunset clause” is used in declaring that a law will no longer be valid after a certain point in time. The Patriot Act has a “sunset” of five years. Had Hatch gotten his way, the laws would have been indefinite. And not just Democrats, but Republicans too want to see these five years done and over with. As Americans are beginning to find out, however, a lot can happen in two and a half years.
As 2003 comes to an end, a new law proposal will be coming on the floors of Congress. That new proposal, in a creepy-yet-unintentional reference to George Orwell’s “1984,” will be called the Victory Act. The bill, if shot down, is expected to come back as line-item legislation or a “rider” on an impertinent bill. (Bush used “riders” in the Homeland Security Act and was able to cover up parts of the 9/11 investigations.)
The Victory Act’s full name is the Vital Interdiction of Criminal Terrorist Organizations Act. As you may have already guessed, it asks for even more sweeping powers to the Department of Justice and Attorney General John Ashcroft, designed to fight not only the War on Terror, but the War on Drugs on the same front.
Though it may sound appealing, the Victory Act is a law just waiting to get out of hand. In this act, the crime of drug possession would be treated as a “terrorist offense.” This is based on the premise that, like those insane anti-marijuana commercials imply, you are aiding terrorism if you buy drugs. Those convicted under the new law would be considered a “narco-terrorist.”
Another potentially dangerous provision is that the government will be allowed to issue “roving warrants” on cell phones. This means that Big Brother can listen in on you whenever he wants. All they have to do is claim that somewhere, someone with “evil” intentions is using a cell phone. The Victory Act, will, of course, heighten public surveillance in other areas as well.
The Christian Science Monitor reports that Ashcroft “is intent on broadening the sidewalk the terrorists are walking on, redefining its borders so that more and more people can be monitored for spitting. The proposed ‘Victory Act’ is case in point.” The bill is the second brainchild of Attorney General John Ashcroft.
Ashcroft is an interesting man in the way one would call Michael Jackson interesting. According to his own autobiography, “Lessons From a Father to His Son,” before taking a major post, his father anoints him with oil, “like King David.” (He actually used Crisco once!) He is also the first senator to ever lose an election to a dead man, reports CNN.
Ashcroft is also prone to small – call it – outbursts of patriotism, in which he has his staff sing along to self-composed songs like “Let the Eagle Soar,” an overly patriotic, Christian version of Englebert Humperdinck’s “Lesbian Seagull.”
The U.K. Independent reports that Ashcroft had also spent $8,000 on covering up the topless “Spirit of Justice” statue.
The same article also says he is a member of a sect known as the Assemblies of God. One of the many reports, released by the church, include one named, “Can Born-Again Believers Be Demon-Possessed?” The article claims: “The spread of oriental religions and the occult in America has brought with it an increase in demon possession similar to that reported formerly by missionaries on foreign fields. All too often there has been too little teaching in this area.”
Another church statement, entitled, “Does the Assemblies of God involve itself more in political issues,” states: “The alarming shift from a Judeo-Christian philosophy to secular humanism as the foundation of American government has created profound problems for all Bible-believing churches. More and more, government is defying biblical principles and interpreting sinful behavior as civil rights, i.e. abortion and homosexuality. The church as the body of Christ is obligated to respond.” Ashcroft agrees.
The U.K. Independent once quoted the eccentric Attorney General, “It is said we shouldn’t legislate morality. Well, I disagree. I think all we should legislate is morality.”
As yet another tolerant member of the Bush administration, he has also proclaimed, “Islam is a religion in which God requires you to send your son to die for him. Christianity is a faith in which God sends his son to die for you.” According to the Washington Post, after public outrage from his statement, the attorney general cheaply responded by saying that his remarks “do not accurately reflect what I believe I said.” (Even Trent Lott had a better comeback!)
For some reason or another, neoconservatives, talking heads and just simply panic-stricken citizens find absolutely no problem with giving a man like this even more sweeping powers than before. I find it problematic … very problematic.
As Bush has proclaimed that we will not bend to Islamic fundamentalism, we should not bend to Christian fundamentalism either.
Americans should be encouraged to read the kinds of legislation that concern their own rights. The sad part is that all of this is done under public scrutiny and many people just lack the time, motivation or means to get to it. Even worse, the public seems to be more concerned with the oddities of a guy like Jackson, instead of the oddities of the top law enforcement official, who seeks sweeping powers to redefine and enforce laws that suit his marginal view of the world.
Mark Ostroff is a Collegian Columnist.
