Smart People Don’t Let their Government Do Dumb Things

… at least without RANTING about it.

I know, I’ve been told this is a “literary blog,” and I tend to like that designation, and according to Jeff Ward, there’s little purpose in writing about politics. But Jeff also recently quoted an ex-teacher as saying that English majors are supposed to be smarter than other people, and, having graduated as an English major, I’m certainly in no position to disagree with that kind of remarkable insight.

It seems to me that someone smarter than the President of the United States and the Republican party, and I’m not sure you would have to graduate as an English major to qualify here, needs to get involved in politics when the government makes dumb decisions like the ones reported in this CNN article as pointed out by Kalilily.

The American government, though it is still unwilling to ratify the convention, has managed to impose its unenlightened and immoral standards on the world.

On one hand, the American government opposed the agreement because it banned imposing the death penalty or a life sentence on children under the age of eighteen, and God forbid that true Christians should have to give up their death penalty.

More importantly, though, the convention attempted to ensure that adolescents “have the right to sex education and reproductive and sexual health services.”

According to the article, “Conservatives in the United States contend that ‘reproductive health services’ include abortion. U.S. officials had pressed for a footnote to the document specifically excluding abortion. This was not done, but the final agreement dropped any reference to ‘services.’ “

Following in the noble tradition of the Kyoto treaty, America appears to be the lone holdout in not signing the treaty, as even Somalia, the other holdout, is expected to ratify the treaty this week.

In their infinite wisdom, the Conservatives seem to be saying that no child, fatherless or not, should be denied the chance for life, but if the little bastard screws up we’ll dispose of him as soon as possible. Such high regard for the “sanctity of life” should not go unnoticed or unrewarded.

What really “pisses me off” (that’s an intellectual term connoting great disdain) is that the Republicans know better than to try to impose this kind of stupidity on the American people. If they tried they would be voted out of office in a landslide. Why, then, should the rest of the world have this kind of stupidity imposed on them?

Why should American voters who would not allow this to happen in America allow Conservatives in the government to impose their will on the rest of the world?

The only intelligent thing for we English majors, and anyone else who would like to be regarded as a little “smarter than the rest,” to do is to vote these people out. It’s time to show The Conservatives that it’s hard to hide behind a shrub.

A NAFTA Break

After watching the Moyer’s special on NAFTA’s Chapter 11, I’m even more enraged about Chapter 11’s effect on the environment than I was before. Hopefully, the program will inspire increased coverage of Chapter 11 in the mainstream media, though I haven’t found any mention of it so far.

When I first heard about Moyer’s special, I was a little shocked that I hadn’t heard anything about a billion dollar suit against California previously. I’m not a news addict by any means, but I do follow the news, especially environmental news, and I hadn’t heard about the effects of Chapter 11 before, particularly the negative effects it has had in Canada. (As a recent victim of throat cancer, I was outraged to hear that American cigarette producers were able to use Chapter 11 to prevent Canada from putting stronger health warnings on their cigarette packages.)

One of the few mainstream newspapers that has given any coverage to the issue was The Christian Science Monitor. On April 3rd, 2001 they wrote an article entitled “Does NAFTA trump countries’ laws?” The article argued that the Chapter 11 needed to be refined, but that none of the parties wanted to re-open discussions on NAFTA as a whole.

Other than that article, though, I have been unable to find any major media that has covered Chapter 11. Perhaps that’s not surprising when networks are owned by large corporations who might well be taking advantage of Chapter 11 for their own gains and when ratings are pushed by coverage of newsworthy events like the Gary Condit story.

The online Public Citizen offers the most coverage of Chapter 11 I’ve been able to locate so far. Their front page today, (Feb. 6) provides an opportunity to email or phone your representatives in Congress. After heavily editing the canned letter they provide, I emailed all my representatives!!

The Multinational Monitor has an informative article on the effects of Chapter 11. WTOaction.org has an extensive article discussing the NAFT ruling on Metaclad versus Mexico.

While it’s difficult to feel optimistic about attempts to fight business interests on an international level, there does seem to be a growing concern about the actions of large businesses in general despite, or perhaps of, an Administration that is heavily stacked in favor of big business.

Doing nothing simply ensures that business interests will prevail, while taking action at least makes you feel better for the day.

Ban On Biological Weapons

The first time I knew for sure that I wasn’t cut out for a career in the Army was when I attended the CBR school in Fort McClellan, Alabama.

For me, the moment of truth came when they put one drop of nerve agent on the nose of the goat to demonstrate its effectiveness, and the goat instantly went into convulsions. It was a horrible way to watch an animal die, and it certainly wasn’t reassuring when the atropine they administered failed to revive the goat, although they were quick to reassure us that it was an effective antidote if applied quickly enough.

But nerve gas was only a small part of what was discussed in training. Strange diseases like anthrax that were unknown to humans had been designed to kill enemy troops. Now, admittedly, I was there largely to learn how to defend our troops from attack by chemical, biological, and radiological weapons, not to learn how to employ them in combat.

Nevertheless, I was stunned to learn about our own capabilities in these areas. What kind of mad scientist would spend his life developing these weapons? Since we had more than enough nuclear weapons to destroy the world several times over, why did we need chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction? Who would ever use such weapons?

Fortunately, I have been able to largely forget those memories in the ensuing years. Although I’ve periodically heard about these weapons, particularly their use in Iraq on Iraqi citizens, I had naively assumed that they were obsolete weapons waiting to be destroyed.

When international discussions began on banning the weapons, I thought that it was a no-brainer. Virtually everyone seemed to be opposed to them, especially doctors. Certainly the American press and the American government seemed outraged that Iraq had used them on its own people.

Both the local and foreign press were critical of America’s veto of the ban, particularly since America had initiated the attempt to ban it during the Reagan Era.

Now I have no doubt that this is a complex issue. However, I would hope that the American people will look at this veto a little differently after our own anthrax scare in Florida.

Bush Reject Land Mine Treaty

Although I’ve yet to read all of Higgy’s links to Bruce Cockburn, higgy edit this page, there appears to be some great links to one of my favorite singers there.

Bruce Cockburn ranks right up there with Bob Dylan, Jackson Browne, and Paul Simon as one of the greatest lyricists in modern rock, though he certainly hasn’t received that kind of attention here in America.

Cockburn’s haunting lyrics in “The Mines of Mozambique” from his album The Charity of Night

Rusted husks of blown-up trucks
Line the roadway north of town
Like passing through a sculpture gallery.
War is the artist
But he’s sleeping now

And in a bare workshop they’ll be molding plastic
Into little prosthetic limbs
For the children of this artist
And for those who farm the soil that received
His bitter seed.

seem particularly poignant in light of the war in Afghanistan, one of the most heavily mined countries in the world. An article on the Voice of America page discusses how children are particularly subject to the danger of landmines, AFGHANISTAN LAND MINES

It certainly seems ironic that the first confirmed civilian casualties from the American bombing were UN workers who were attempting to remove mines from previous wars. And America has apparently been criticized for endangering starving refugees by dropping food into mined areas Independent News

The greatest irony of all may well be that the Taliban leader so widely condemned as of late ruled out the use of land mines, Taliban Ruler Rules Out Land Mines while the American government under the Clinton administration (hard to believe, isn’t it) refused to sign the treaty US should sign treaty banning land mines.
Let’s just pray there are no further ironies to report.