This is a diary that I wrote about two weeks ago and never posted since I thought no one would be interested. I mean, it’s not really breaking news that the Bush administration has blatantly violated at least 10 out of the 30 articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, is it?
But tonight when I was watching Keith Olbermann and he played the clip of Bush touting the “Universal Declaration” — as he called it in his pathetic ignorance… I felt my face get red and my hands start shaking and I literally felt sick to my stomach to hear this depraved hypocrite pretending to uphold something he has done everything in his power to destroy.
Follow me across the divide..
So much that we take for granted now in terms of the way we live our daily lives and consider the sanctity of our own “persons” is a relatively new phenomenon. It really wasn’t so long ago when brutal public executions were considered a bright spot in an otherwise arduous and humdrum existence, and passing someone’s rotting head on a spike as you went to and fro about your daily activities was fairly commonplace.
Over the past millennium or so, it gradually began to dawn on people that there was a certain dignity attached to being a human which included respecting the dignity of others.
For modern times, the most enduring legacy of the Magna Carta is considered the right of Habeas Corpus. This right arises from what we now call Clauses 36, 38, 39, and 40 of the 1215 Magna Carta.
After a long and tragically blood-stained fight, certain of the arguments promoted by the Magna Carta were embedded in the Constitution of the United States, yes, that elegant document crafted by our enlightened founding fathers….
Fast-forward a couple hundred more blood-stained years, to December 10, 1948, when the United Nations enacted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, extending human rights protections on a global scale.
According to Wikipedia:
The proclamation was ratified during the General Assembly on 10 December, 1948 by a vote of 48 in favor, 0 against, with 8 abstentions (all Soviet Bloc states, South Africa and Saudi Arabia).
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (abbreviated UDHR) is an advisory declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly (A/RES/217, 10 December 1948 at Palais de Chaillot, Paris). It consists of 30 articles which outline the view of the United Nations General Assembly on the human rights guaranteed to all people. Eleanor Roosevelt, first chairwoman of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) that drafted the Declaration, said, “It is not a treaty…[In the future, it] may well become the international Magna Carta…”
The UDHR opens with these inspiring words…
Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people…
Enter George W. Bush and his right wing extremist cabal, and — in the words of the great Keith Olbermann —
The president has now succeeded where no one has before. He’s managed to kill the writ of habeas corpus. Tonight, a special investigation, how that, in turn, kills nothing less than your Bill of Rights.
There are 30 articles in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the Bush administration is clearly in violation of at least ten of them.
Article 5: No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
This seem clear enough, but…
Bush Approved Torture Techniques
12/20/04 “ACLU” — NEW YORK — A document released for the first time today by the American Civil Liberties Union suggests that President Bush issued an Executive Order authorizing the use of inhumane interrogation methods against detainees in Iraq.
Anybody feel the clock start to move backwards?
Article 6: Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.
Again, pretty clear, no argument there, except…
RICHMOND, Virginia (CNN) — A federal appeals court Wednesday ruled President Bush has the authority to designate U.S. citizens as enemy combatants and detain them in military custody if they are deemed a threat to national security.
But what about….
Article 7: All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.
Oh, except in the case of Extraordinary Rendition.
Beginning in the early 1990s and continuing to this day, the Central Intelligence Agency, together with other U.S. government agencies, has utilized an intelligence-gathering program involving the transfer of foreign nationals suspected of involvement in terrorism to detention and interrogation in countries where — in the CIA’s view — federal and international legal safeguards do not apply.
However, in an ironic twist, under certain very special circumstances, SCOTUS can suddenly become squeamishly oversensitive about the equal protection clause…
Shame, Partisanship and Cowardice
Vice President Gore was also doomed by another clever Catch-22 trap: Had the Florida Supreme Court set a uniform standard for manual recounting, the U.S. Supreme Court would likely have struck it down because the court had usurped the State Legislature by “creating a new law.” But by not doing so, the Florida Supreme Court ruling was struck down any way on grounds there was a “violation of the equal protection clause” because there was no uniform standard!
But, moving right along…
Article 8: Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.
NOT according to Bush….
Bush blasts Amnesty report on Guantanamo
WASHINGTON – A human rights group’s report about conditions at the U.S. military’s prison at Guantanamo Bay is “absurd,” President Bush told reporters Tuesday.
The Amnesty International report, released last week, said prisoners at the U.S. Navy base had been mistreated and called for the prison to be shut down.
The president, addressing a news conference at the White House, said the Amnesty document was an “absurd report.”
But, wait a minute…
Article 9: No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.
Federal lawsuit follows anti-Bush T-shirt arrests
By The Associated Press
09.15.04CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A couple arrested for wearing anti-Bush T-shirts to the president’s July 4 appearance at the West Virginia Capitol filed a federal lawsuit yesterday alleging their First Amendment rights were violated.
Nicole and Jeff Rank were removed from the event in handcuffs after revealing T-shirts with President Bush’s name crossed out on the front. Nicole Rank’s shirt had the words “Love America, Hate Bush” on the back and Jeff Rank’s had “Regime change starts at home” on the back.
Thankfully, there is still some justice to be had, since the Ranks eventually won a $80,000 settlement from the federal government.
Nice try.
Disgusted yet? But, wait, there’s more…
Article 10: Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.
Congress letter to Bush: Close Guantanamo
WASHINGTON – A group of 145 members of the House of Representatives sent a letter to President Bush on Friday urging him to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and move the detainees there to military prisons in the United States.
“The closure of the detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay would represent a positive first step toward restoring our international reputation as the leader of democracy and individual rights,” the letter said.
And…
Article 11.1: Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defense.
Except…
President Discusses Creation of Military Commissions to Try Suspected Terrorists.
And.
Extraordinary rendition flights & CIA secret prisons revealed by European Parliament
The CIA flew 1,245 secret flights into European airspace, according to a European Parliament draft report obtained by ABC News.
The report is the result of a year-long investigation into secret CIA “extraordinary rendition” flights and prisons in Europe.
No European country has officially acknowledged being part of the program.
Also check out Maven’s recent diary…
In a little-noticed filing yesterday, the Bush Administration tipped its hand as to how it plans to scuttle yet another lawsuit that could otherwise expose details of one of the many the nefarious policies it has been carrying out behind our backs: extraordinary rendition (which is really nothing more than a euphemism for “kidnapping”) to secret CIA prisons overseas.
Again, moving on…
Article 12: No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.
But, but…
Bush says feds can open mail without warrant
WASHINGTON — President Bush quietly has claimed sweeping new powers to open Americans’ mail without a judge’s warrant.
Bush asserted the new authority Dec. 20 after signing legislation that overhauls some postal regulations. He then issued a “signing statement” that declared his right to open mail under emergency conditions, contrary to existing law and contradicting the bill he had just signed, according to experts who have reviewed it.
And then there’s…
Article 19: Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
Except that…
Bush to criminalize protesters under Patriot Act as “disruptors”
Bush wants to create the new criminal of “disruptor” who can be jailed for the crime of “disruptive behavior.” A “little-noticed provision” in the latest version of the Patriot Act will empower Secret Service to charge protesters with a new crime of “disrupting major events including political conventions and the Olympics.” Secret Service would also be empowered to charge persons with “breaching security” and to charge for “entering a restricted area” which is “where the President or other person protected by the Secret Service is or will be temporarily visiting.” In short, be sure to stay in those wired, fenced containments or free speech zones.
Who is the “disruptor”? Bush Team history tells us the disruptor is an American citizen with the audacity to attend Bush events wearing a T-shirt that criticizes Bush; or a member of civil rights, environmental, anti-war or counter-recruiting groups who protest Bush policies; or a person who invades Bush’s bubble by criticizing his policies. A disruptor is also a person who interferes in someone else’s activity, such as interrupting Bush when he is speaking at a press conference or during an interview.
Oh, and…
Article 21.1: Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
…not to bring up a controversial subject, but…
Evidence Mounts That The Vote May Have Been Hacked
Report: Florida data suggests e-voting problems
Researchers at the University of California at Berkeley published on Friday a statistical analysis of irregularities in Florida voter behavior that contends that the voting patterns favored President Bush to the tune of 130,000 to 260,000 votes.
The report, by four U.C. Berkeley researchers, analyzed the statistical relationships between Florida’s Nov. 2 results of the election and a variety of factors, including historical trends in Florida, racial factors and county size. According to the analysis, people using electronic voting machines tended to favor President Bush in proportion to the number of registered Democrats in each county.
And, as we all well know…
WND Jimmy Carter: Gore beat Bush in 2000
Five years after the controversial 2000 presidential election, ex-President Jimmy Carter now says he’s certain Al Gore defeated George W. Bush.
“Well I would say that in the year 2000, the country failed abysmally in the presidential election process,” Carter told a panel Monday at American University in Washington, D.C. “There’s no doubt in my mind that Al Gore was elected president.”
And then there’s…
Article 21.3. The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.
But, then again…
Among activists and investigators looking into allegations of vote fraud in the 2004 Presidential election, the company always mentioned was Diebold and its suspicious electronic touch-screen voting machines. It is Diebold that has multiple avowed Republicans on its Board of Directors. It was Diebold that gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to Bush’s election campaign. It was Diebold CEO Walden O’Dell who vowed to deliver Ohio’s electoral votes to Bush.
The Guinness Book of Records describes the UDHR as the “Most Translated Document” in the world.
Anybody want to take a guess if Bush has ever read it?
Next question.
Why is this man president of the United States?
Leader of the free world?
He ought to be in jail.
