The Many Flavors of John Roberts

I watched C-SPAN earlier today and a pundit interviewed John Robert’s old Harvard roommate Richard Lazarus. It seems John Robert’s was quite an individual. Supposedly, Roberts ate chocolate chip ice cream from Baskin Robbins “religiously.” Lazarus also said that the two handed out candy one Halloween but ran out of sweets and forgot to turn the lights off. You have to turn the lights off, or the kiddies won’t know to venture elsewhere. I wonder what Roberts handed out when the candy was out—perhaps coat hangers?

Nobody denies that John Roberts is an intelligent, hard working, and articulate individual. While the same qualities could be attributed to Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, and the former ruler of wmd central himself Saddam Hussein, I’m not sure I would want them heading the judicial branch of the government. Interpreting the constitution without bias to better insure the liberties of Americans is more what I had in mind.

Admittedly, I’m not certain where the previous four leaders stood on abortion. I am certain however, that John Roberts is firmly against it. Luckily for him his wife agrees. She served as an executive for Feminists for Life. Nope, nothing to do with the death penalty or the war in Iraq, this group is strictly against “baby killers.”

John Roberts may be soft on ice cream, but he is undoubtedly hard on abortion. In 1971 Roberts stated, "We continue to believe that Roe (v. Wade) was wrongly decided and should be overruled.” Whether applauding virulent anti-abortion groups such as Operation Rescue, or following George Bush Senior’s lead in ostracizing the woman’s right to choose, John Roberts wants our women bare foot and pregnant, and under the court’s control.

Fun-loving Roberts doesn’t stop there: put your flags and kerosene away because like school prayer it will be preserved to the fullest if John Roberts has a say. To think I just bought ten American flags made in China specifically for that purpose.

In 1990 Roberts went before the Supreme Court at the behest of the first Bush administration to ban flag burning. The Court gave Roberts a different flavor than he was used to, and told American citizens to burn away. The most troubling part of the case was not that Roberts was arguing against flag burning, but rather that he admitted it was “an expressive act.” This “necessity” to hinder freedom of expression is indicative of a man who claims to have no prejudices.

While I don’t mind praying for people like John Roberts not to be the next Chief Justice, I don’t think it should be sanctioned at schools across the country. When Roberts argued for sectarian prayers at high school graduations, I don’t think he had the reciting of the Koran in mind—considering his conservative Roman Catholic values—but I applaud his sinister attempt to blur the lines between church and state. For the record, Chocolate Chip went home with another loss that day.

Lastly, if you’re a minority, an animal, or know one or two, watch out. Roberts has come down hard on affirmative action, legal protection for “enemy combatants,” and has advocated restricting the scope of the Endangered Species Act.

Ice cream lover and intellect, John Roberts, has had a short career, with enough faults to scare any liberty craving American. Who knows how far to the right he’ll go if nominated. Where will he stand on a constitutional ban on gay marriage? What will his ruling be on the overreaching measures in Patriot Act Seven? These are things people should be thinking about now and pushing for their representatives to question. We can’t just take his word for it. The only thing we have to judge John Roberts on is his past actions and his fundamental beliefs. Bush’s neocon wrecking ball is destroying everything in sight and is now aiming at the Supreme Court. Baskin Robbins might love John Roberts, but his appetite for the liberties of Americans is something that this country shouldn’t have to stomach.

Three Fifths Relief

I guess the people at Yahoo didn’t have their racism detectors on earlier this week. On August 29th an image appeared on Yahoo of a white woman and man trudging through chest deep water after “finding bread and soda from a local grocery store.” Huh. They just “found” bread and soda? Like little Goldie Locks “found” porridge after skipping through the forest? The next day Yahoo gives us an image of a black boy after just “looting a grocery store.” I hate to break it to the heads of Yahoo but even if you didn’t mean to do it, it is still racism.

Not surprisingly, the people at Yahoo took off the picture of the “white finders,” because Yahoo would never plan out racism. Maybe their subconscious did it for them? The media can’t build up the poor black people to be ravage beasts, foaming from the mouth looting everything in sight, from bread to medicine to water, if we have these other images floating about. The media has to maintain its “fairness” and “objectivity.” Goddamn it if Walmart’s insurance doesn’t cover the diapers or food that damn crying baby needed, or the diabetes pills that 82 year old woman whorishly craved. We can’t taint it with picture perfect, racist images of white people just “trying to survive.”

We haven’t treated black people like three-fifths a person in a while—well not if their rich and republican. As Condi Rice looks at the impoverished refugees with the, my-mommy- didn’t-teach-me-about-this-during-piano-lessons stare, we realize it will take her more than a week to get “down and dirty” with the people of her own race.

It’s not as though the people of New Orleans are asking for aid in small unmarked bills. They just want to get out of New Orleans. Why didn’t they get out in the first place? Well that’s an effect of being poor and black in a country that doesn’t give a damn about you. Who cares if the death toll tops 10,000, just as long as Bush gives 10.5 billion in aid two weeks from now. He can say, “I tried,” or “in hindsight.” People in America love to say in hindsight as a code for: yes we screwed you, but we’re going to try and put a good face on it anyway.

It’s ok now because Bush can send in the National Guard reinforcements. Wait. No. Those reinforcements are in a hurricane that Bush created in the Middle East called Operation Bomb Brown People. Who cares in the Bush administration anyway? They already cut the funding that would have helped the levies from breaking, and they got the white people out that will be voting for them in the midterm elections. Oh yes, I forgot about the compassion of George Bush. We could have used a bit of that compassion before the hurricane hit and killed possibly tens of thousands of people. We could have used that compassion in Iraq, Afghanistan, and before his new budget cut funding on those poor black Americans that are now suffering third world conditions in the most advanced nation in the world.

It’s not as though the Bush administration couldn’t have done more. They could have sent the relief earlier as they did for Jeb Bush in Florida before the 2004 election. They could have listened to the cries and call, but they chose not to. Yes, now they’re scrambling, just as they did after the start of Tsunami relief when they initially vowed to donate just enough cash for the Tsunami victims to send the US thank you postcards.
We shouldn’t be surprised how this administration is treating the poor and downtrodden in their time of crisis because this how they’ve always treated them. Scoffing at their necessity of health care and vital social programs, rewriting bankruptcy laws that help keep poor people poor, and keeping them at arms length in an “ownership” society is just what the neocon doctors of the Bush administration ordered. It’s why it’s not so surprising to see this administration rape their own people and leave them stranded. Hell if you’re going to rampage and destroy other countries, you might as well spread the love to your own suffering citizens.

Courting Disaster

The Western version of peace is overrated. The West would have us believe Israel made the ultimate sacrifice by “disengaging” from the Gaza Strip, putting “the ball in the Palestinian’s court.” But let’s look at the facts. Yes, Israel removed 8500 settlers and is dismantling their military posts in Gaza. Israel, however, still controls the ports, airspace and borders. Egypt may patrol the Philadelphi Corridor in the future, but Israel will retain supreme authority. Israel preserved “jurisdiction” over any person or product that comes in or out of Gaza, including medical supplies and other humanitarian goods. The electricity and water will also be turned on or off at the behest of Israel, but don’t go running to the border waving for help or you may be gunned down by the Israeli forces.

What does peace entail for the Palestinian people? Ariel Sharon reiterated that he will reinvade Gaza whenever he deems it “necessary,” and made known his plans for the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Sharon stated, “Each (Israeli) government since 1967 – right, left and national unity – has seen strategic importance in specific areas [beyond the Green Line]. I will build.” This blatant annexation goes well beyond U.N. Resolution 242 which calls on Israel to “withdraw from territories occupied.”

In March, Israel finalized plans to expand the Maale Adumim settlement by 3500 housing units. Crossing out any hopes for peace, Sharon reaffirmed this week “Ma'ale Adumim will continue to grow and be connected to Jerusalem.” This has been a main complaint of Palestinians since the beginning of settlement expansion. It is against international law, their rights as indigenous people of the land, and flies in the face of peace. Although the U.N. created Israel, Sharon shamelessly tramples on every U.N. resolution condemning excessive use of force, land grabs in the Occupied Territories, and maintaining a belligerent occupation.

Israel’s expanding Annexation Wall seeks to weave in and out of the East Jerusalem to make the region more “Jewish.” In an attempt to connect the two territories, Sharon is moving the Judea and Samaria police headquarters to an area between Maale Adumim and East Jerusalem. Israeli citizens, however, plan to take it a step further. The Bucharin Jewish community owns the property of the old police headquarters. A group of right-wing business men are looking to buy out the old property and turn it housing units. "We are doing everything we can to bring Jewish life back to all over east Jerusalem," said Daniel Luria, an Ateret Cohanim spokesman. The Ma'aleh Hazeitim complex located across from the police station is adding 119 housing units, while a dozen settlements in or around Arab neighbors are constructing more units. The “wonders of disengagement” overshadows these intricate maneuvers to expand and conquer the eastern half of the Holy City.

If the ball is in the Palestinian’s court, as the West avows, it seems it will be there for a while. "It is absolutely clear that, in the next three to four months, it is difficult to expect any dramatic developments in the peace process,” proclaimed Acting Finance Minister Ehud Olmert in a meeting with US secretary of State Condolezza Rice. Oddly enough, Olmert averted further talks of the US backed “roadmap to peace” to discuss a 2.1 billion dollar aid package for Israel—a nice sum that nearly equals the gross domestic product of the Occupied Territories in 2004.

Israel made it evident that reinvigorating the peace process is out of the question. Adding fuel to the fire, Sharon’s administration continues to blatantly disregard the 7 month old Sharm Al-Sheik cease-fire they agreed to. This week Israeli forces shot and killed five militants and wounded three others in an extrajudicial killing in the West Bank. Israel claims they were “connected” to the Tel Aviv bombing that killed four Israeli women, but eyewitnesses contend that the militants were unarmed and could have been arrested, no matter what the claimed connection. Ah yes, Israeli “democracy” at it’s finest.

After the shooting Mahmood Abbas stated, "At a time when the Palestinian Authority is trying to maintain calm, this murder intentionally aims at renewing the vicious cycle of violence," The Palestinian population, including militants, stayed calm during the disengagement of Gaza, in accordance to the Sharm Al-Sheik cease-fire, as they said they would. Israel has taken the first provocative step in reengaging in the cycle of violence after the “disengagement.”

One fact ultimately remains: Ariel Sharon does not want peace. It’s not in his strategic interests. The longer the cycle of violence continues, the more time Sharon has to approve new housing units, expand on outlines of the Annexation Wall that goes well beyond the 1949 armistice lines, and create Jewish majorities throughout Palestinian land. The Western version of peace is simple, but unacceptable: let Israel continue its warmongering, the appropriating and occupying of Palestinian land, while the Palestinians sit idly by with a ball in their court and no one to play with.