You are the people I voted for to represent me at the federal level of government. And because I participate in this democracy, I authorize the federal government’s actions. I bear some responsibility, one vote’s worth, for everything done by the United States.
Therefore, I must say to you, in the strongest terms possible, don’t torture in my name.
I have felt shame and remorse for years now at the torture perpetrated during the Bush administration. I greeted Obama’s directive to end torture with relief. However, we now have the official report on torture from the Senate and we also have the reactions to that report from streams of torture apologists. It has become clear that much more must be done. Just because the monkey is off your back, it doesn’t mean the circus has left town. There is a culture of torture that must be dealt with.
Here are some things I’d like you to do. Phrased another way, here are some things you will do if you want me to keep voting for you. (Barack, in your case, here are some things you will do if you want me to donate to your post-presidency foundation.)
There is a guy named John Kiriakou who is currently serving time for bringing torture to the attention of the press back in 2007. He was prosecuted in 2013 and sent to prison. Ah… excuse me… Barack and Joe, weren’t you guys in office in 2013? Are you sure you mean it when you say you’re anti-torture? Pardon John Kiriakou. Apologize to him. Compensate him. Is one to laugh or cry at the irony of this man, who has five kids, being locked up while Dick Cheney is free to rant and rave on Fox News?
So, Barack, Joe, Jack, Sheldon, James, that is my to do list for you. I know you got a lot on your plates, but, in terms of the soul of this country, there are few things more important than making sure nothing like this ever happens again.
See you at the polls.
Your constituent,
John Kotula
P.S. Obama, Nice job on Cuba!
]]>Outside a hot live music spot in Wilmington, NC, I excitedly talked to friends about getting folks to call their state senators and demand electronic filing of campaign finance reports. “I’d rather stick a fork in my eye,” one of my new friends said laughing. And there it was, the reality of things, the nitty gritty of campaign finance reform seemed excruciatingly dull to them.
Vice President Biden recently spoke about this conundrum associated with another important topic, voter suppression, during his appearance at Netroots Nation 2014. “…the most precious right Americans possess is the unfettered access to the ballot box…it is not as sexy, it is not as immediately heart-wrenching…,” Biden proclaimed. But for those of us who see the importance of such reforms, the question is: How can we make it a bit more sexy and heart-wrenching?
The Short Game
Don’t bet on simple transparency narratives alone doing anything meaningful. My inbox is flooded with fundraising emails touting the Koch Brothers influence on the political process – it may triple donations but seems to do little else. Let’s do more to connect the dots between contributions and legislative action/inaction. Short attention spans require accurate and quick but deeper narratives that may spark further interest and engagement. Supporting the development of phone apps that do this is a critical next step to making things more visually attractive and understandable. A great app that has many of these features is Open States. Download it!
Rhode Island is ahead of the curve on assuring candidates and committees file their campaign data electronically, but there are many states that are still flooding their election boards with paper reports. If you’re in one of those states (e.g. North Carolina), make sure campaigns are required to file data electronically. It’s the only way that our future apps will be able to quickly crunch the numbers.
The Long Game
The fluid challenges facing mainstream newspapers threatens the future of investigative journalism, the kind that gets your heart throbbing in the face of corruption and abuse of power. The apps above might be useful, but we will always need a vibrant journalistic community to inspire us to use those apps! Let’s vote with our dollar and invest in solid journalism.
Lastly, let’s not forget that any reform rests on an educated and engaged citizenry. One of my favorite quotes from President Jefferson addresses this:
“I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society, but the people themselves: and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is, not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education. This is the true corrective of abuses of constitutional power” (1820).
If your favored candidate for any office this fall doesn’t have a well-articulated position on assuring an enlightened society, they’re no good. Some of us learn about political engagement in home, most of us learn about it in school. The long game requires an inspiring and thorough education in civics and history.
The Last Step
This last step completes a formula for making campaign finance reform a bit more sexy: Hold elected officials accountable with your vote. Make sure every candidate you ever vote for has a well-articulated education plan and a specific position on a robust civics program.
And finally support Senator Whitehouse’s DISCLOSE Act. It’s common sense legislation from the great state of Rhode Island.
]]>Note: the rally on Thursday is called off. President Biden is tending to his son Beau, and will not make it to RI. Send your thoughts his way.
In the middle of August it can be hard to recall February, but it wasn’t all that long ago that busloads of Rhode Islanders headed down to be part of the historic “Forward On Climate” rally that drew between 35-50,000 people to Washington, DC to demand President Obama stop Transcanada’s Keystone XL Pipeline. Since that joyous frigid day, environmental activists have relentlessly dogged the steps of the President and Vice President wherever they have traveled, conducting rallies to drive home the point, Say No To The Pipeline!
For its part, the Administration continues to play the decision on the project close to its vest. President Obama said in his June Climate speech that he would only approve Keystone “if this project doesn’t significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution.” Obama clearly wants to leave a strong environmental legacy and his credibility hinges on this decision. Meanwhile, Biden told a Sierra Club volunteer that he agreed with those who oppose the pipeline. These are encouraging signs, especially because a very strong case will be made that the Keystone XL would lead to massive increases in carbon pollution.
On the other hand, Obama already approved the southern leg of the pipeline. More importantly, there is a lot of money on the other side of the issue, including that of the profiteering Koch brothers whose Texas refineries would be processing the toxic tar sands oil coming out of Canada to sell on the global oil market.
It is unclear which side is winning. Millions of people have spoken out against the pipeline, but they might all be drowned out by the billions of the fossil fuel industry. President Obama has postponed the decision on the pipeline multiple times, and it looks like it may well get pushed into 2014. Our best hope is in keeping the pressure on. While unfortunately we will not be able to give Vice President Biden the #noKXL message in person as we had planned for, you can still take action here: http://www.sierraclub.org/dirtyfuels/tar-sands/virtual-chain/.
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