2 PARAGRAPHS 4 LIBERTY: #235 "OUR LIBERTIES: THE SOUL OF AMERICA"

During World War II many of our troops who were being held as prisoners of war were tortured by the Japanese.  I understand that one of the things that kept our troops’ morale up during these ordeals was the strong belief that, if the situation would have been reversed, we would not torture them.  Why ?  Because we were better than that!  And that is one of the bases of American Exceptionalism.  But are we that way today?  Many terrorists around the world argue that, although we profess to be more pure, we are not.  And they invariably cite to our “state secret” laws that prevent people who claim they were tortured by our CIA or its agents from pursuing law suits in our courts against our federal government. 

What is the actual situation?  Few of us know – or even think about it – because it is out of the news. Wrongly so, in my opinion, because this strongly affects who we are.  And if we are torturing people for any reason whatsoever, We the People should be aware of it.  Of course, reasonable people can differ as to what constitutes torture, and the circumstances in which it can be used.  But regardless of how that discussion is resolved, that still does not address the State Secrets Act.  To further bring this issue into focus, Erwin Chemerinsky, Esq., the dean of the Law School at the University of California, Berkeley, has set forth his findings in a book entitled Closing the Courthouse Door: How Your Constitutional Rights Became Unenforceable.  And his message is disturbing.  He writes convincingly that our government is torturing people in our names to “protect” our national interests, but without being forced to show in court that state secrets would actually have to be revealed if a trial were to go forward.  In other words, since our Liberties are the soul of our great country, our soul is under attack by our very own government!  How do you think that would make our troops from Japanese prison camps feel?

Quote for the week:  I finally figured out what I wanted to be when I was older.  And the answer is: Younger.

Note: No edition was circulated last week because our housepainters cut the wires bringing the internet into our house.  Ah, technology. . . .

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)

2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice President, along with

Governor Gary Johnson as the candidate for President

Please listen to our weekly radio show entitled “All Rise! The Libertarian Way with Judge Jim Gray” as we discuss timely issues, and show how they will be addressed more beneficially by employing Libertarian values and approaches.  You can hear it every Friday morning at 7 Pacific/10 Eastern by going to www.VoiceAmerica.com, clicking on the Variety Channel and then upon the word “live.”  You can also hear past shows on demand as well.  And, by the way, these 2 Paragraph columns are now on Facebook and LinkedIn at judgejimgray, Twitter at judgejamesgray, and wordpress at judgejimgray.wordpress.com.  Please visit these sites for past editions, and do your part to spread the word about the importance of Liberty.  And now my new book entitled “2 Paragraphs 4 Liberty: Solutions that are Practical, Effective, Responsible, Libertarian is available at Amazon.com.   Please send in a review.

2 PARAGRAPHS 4 LIBERTY: #183 “A FAILURE OF DUTY”

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      A while ago a long-time good friend of mine gave me the book Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of Seal Team 10, by Marcus Luttrell and Patrick Robinson (Little, Brown and Company, 2007).  As many of you know, this book describes the killing of three Navy Seal Team members and the severe wounding of one more (Author Marcus Luttrell) by somewhere between 30 and 50 Taliban fighters in Afghanistan in late June of 2005.  And, as a preface, the book discusses the ordeals that all Navy Seals go through in training, where a large percentage of the aspirants “voluntarily” drop out because the demands are so onerous.  So I expect that no one can read this book without sharing my opinion that Navy Seals are among the truly best and most dedicated fighting forces in the history of the world of combat!  These gallant warriors quietly and simply follow orders and place their lives on the line on an increasingly regular basis.  And they are, and should be recognized as, our heroes.

       However, that means that our nation’s political leaders should never call upon the talents, lives and devotion of these heroes unless it is truly in our national interest.  But in this critical task, I believe our leaders have often failed us all.  Were our “military police actions” in places like Vietnam, Korea, Panama, Iraq and Afghanistan really necessary to protect our National Security or National Interests?  Our Constitution provides some strong protections in this matter.  Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution expressly delegates the power to declare War only to Congress.  But there have been no declarations of war since 1941, which began our involvement in World War II.  Instead Congress has reneged in its duties by passing various “War Powers Acts,” and other enabling legislation which purportedly allowed the sitting President to do whatever he (or, hopefully soon, she) thinks best to protect our nation.  But that is not the same thing.   Except when immediate action is needed, the protection for our courageous military warriors is for Congress to debate whether there is such a threat, from whom and where, and when we will  know that the threat is abated – and then publicly to vote on it!   That means that, not only must Congress take direct responsibility for our involvement, it also strongly increases the chances that our nation will continue to support that involvement once the vote is taken.  However, in that regard, I firmly believe that at least our invasion of Iraq (which was the biggest foreign policy mistake in my lifetime) would not have passed that test.  Maybe not even Vietnam.  And, although Afghanistan would have passed it after the attack on September 11, 2001, it almost certainly would have limited our troops to going into Afghanistan, finding Osama bin Laden and his cohorts, annihilating them and then withdrawing from that country – along with the warning that we would return and do so again if they remained a threat.  But Heroes like those in Seal Team 10 should never have been put into the position they found themselves in Afghanistan, because our nation’s political “leaders” failed their Constitutional duty to them – and to us!    

--> Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)

--> 2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice President, along with Governor

--> Gary Johnson as the candidate for President

A Lexophile: “No matter how much you push the envelope, it’ll still be stationery.”

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By the way, these columns are now on Facebook and LinkedIn at judgejimgray, Twitter at judgejamesgray, and wordpress at judgejimgray@wordpress.com.  Please visit these sites for past editions, and do your part to spread the word about the importance of Liberty!