Cold Truths

I have to apologize to the one person other than myself who actually reads this blog, but I simply cannot refrain from further commentary on the unforgivable abuses of power perpetrated by the immediately preceding Presidential administration. Many of my friends, and almost all of the people that don’t like me, say, “just get over it!” But I can’t, mainly because I don’t want to, and I’ll tell you why.

I was in the United States Army for a few years back in the late 70’s and spent almost three years in (then) West Germany. I cannot honestly say that I joined in a fit of patriotism, but I have always been something of a flag-waver, and I have come to look back on my days of service with great pride; perhaps more pride than is warranted by my actual contribution to national security, but it’s still probably the most truly useful thing I have ever done. During my time in the Army, I was fortunate enough never to have had to shoot anyone, or to be shot at; in fact, the closest I ever came to combat was a bar brawl in Helmstedt, but I did my part to protect Europe against Communist aggression.

A lot of that part involved guarding the motor pool against Bolshevik infiltration at 3:00 AM on many a January morning when the temperatures were well below zero Fahrenheit. I guarded those jeeps, half-ton trucks and deuce-and-a-half’s as if they were my mother’s honor, and no Trotskyite scum was going to get so much as a lug nut while I was on the job. I was bored and cold and tired and wished to be virtually anywhere else, but I really believed in what I was doing. At the advanced age of 18, I had determined that the Soviet Union was a morally bankrupt empire run by a cabal of bitter, cynical old men who didn’t dig Ted Nugent. On that point, time has almost certainly proven me correct.

What I and my fellow soldiers were not doing there out in the cold was protecting the right of a US President to declare someone an Enemy of the State and imprison them indefinitely without trial. What we were not doing was supporting the right of the US government to eavesdrop on the American people’s phone conversations. And we were most certainly not trudging around freezing our asses off to ensure the right of the CIA to violate law and common decency by brutalizing terror suspects, no matter how heinous their suspected crimes. We were not there to promote the ideology of the soulless misanthropes that lurked across the border conspiring to pollute our bodily fluids. We were the good guys and we were there to preserve life, love and the right to party, and if any bed-wetting Commies dared so much as to harm one hair on the head of our German friends they were going to be popped with an industrial-strength can of furious whoop-ass as can only be administered by fearless heroes hopped up on liberty and Led Zeppelin. And Ivan didn’t want any part of that shit.

Turns out, Ivan really didn’t want any, and the Soviet Empire evaporated like the desert dew under the weight of Ronald Reagan’s incurable optimism and massive defense spending. And then came Bush and Clinton and another Bush and then tragedy. And even a soft, diabetic semi-centenarian like me was ready to go back out and guard the motor pool of freedom against the despicable rat-turds that had so callously killed and maimed so many men, women and children who were simply going about their daily routines minding their own business. I was just as worked up as everybody else was and wanted somebody to pay, pronto.

Then came the Patriot Act and the sidetracked ignoramus adventure in Iraq. And then came Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib and doubt and confusion and anger. And now we have torture being defended by former Vice President Count Dracula and vile, hydrocephalic Republican Congressmen. As I recall, we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. When we say that truths are self-evident, we mean they are not debatable by reasonable people; we are saying that if you don’t understand these truths, you are a moron. We don’t say they are self-evident unless they are inconvenient; we don’t say they are self-evident unless obscured by threat. We just say, this is the way it is, bro; deal with it. And “all men” means, I suspect, all men. Not just white men who drive luxury imports, not just good Christians who bath regularly, not just people who love America, but every last man (person) on the planet. If God endowed the rights, I know damn well George W. Bush ain’t authorized to rescind them.

There was also some other deal I read about excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. Now some people may argue that water boarding is not cruel, and perhaps not unusual, but I can’t buy that. The guys that were guarding that motor pool with me would never have allowed that kind of crap to happen on their watch. If you were a Commie, they would have blown your head off your shoulders if necessary, but when the fight was over they would have given you a cigarette and some water and told you to sit down and be still or they would blow your head off your shoulders. And I’m not prepared to accept that the Constitution is just another set of statutes and that if you aren’t in Des Moines it doesn’t apply. Our Constitution is more than rules of procedure; it is a statement of principles, the logistical articulation of those truths which we hold to be self evident. It is not negotiable, not fungible, and not violable. It cannot be dispensed with when times are tough or enemies abound, and it can’t be reasoned around by disingenuous self-interested power seekers attempting to frighten the public into surrendering the rights I froze my ass off to protect.