Archive for November 11, 2008

Obama’s First Hundred Days: Responsibly Waging the War on Terror

As soon as John McCain clinched the Republican nomination – beating out Mitt “Double It” Romney – America knew that Guantanamo Bay’s days as a legal black hole were all but numbered. Both Obama and McCain campaigned on disbanding the camp and re-evaluating effective and legal methods of detention. This is for the better. But now that Obama has been elected, the question remains: what do you do with 255 detainees? Yesterday, Obama insiders discussed some of the President’s options, ranging from trying detainees in federal courts to setting up a fair form of “trial” level tribunals subject to appellate review, while carefully noting that no decisions have yet been made.

I suspect that the President-Elect knows this all too well, but the question of what to do with Guantanamo is one of the most important, high-profile, and pressing issues he’ll face, and to top it off, he must face it immediately. While we can argue about whether Bush “prevented another attack” by means of his draconian surveillance, detention, and interrogation programs, Obama’s “mandate for change” unequivocally extends to a reevaluation of the means by which America has waged the war on terror. Just as clearly, though, Obama cannot utterly eliminate the Bush framework and start from scratch. Razing America’s anti-terror framework to the ground would be neither practical, nor strategically wise, nor politically prudent. Below, then, some modest suggestions on the course the President-Elect should consider:

• Detention: currently, the system provides for throwaway, guilty-until-appealed trial review at Guantanamo Bay through the Combatant Status Review Tribunals (CSRTs) with limited but meaningful appeal to the D.C. Circuit. Boumediene v. Bush, 553 U.S. ___ (2008) provides for a parallel habeas corpus remedy. Obama is best advised to keep the system close to the way it currently operates, so as not to induce delay or unduly frustrate pending review, but replace the CSRTs with a meaningful trial-level review system with process similar to courts martial. Bush was partially right, in that it’s best to keep military detention out of the realm of the federal judiciary until the appellate level, and the exigencies of war do demand limited compromise with traditional due process rights. Revamping the CSRT process, while providing for appellate review and parallel habeas remedies, could strike that balance without doing and undoing too much.
• Bounty System: currently, persons “on the ground” in Afghanistan or Pakistan can gain a one-way pass to detention by American forces if they’re just captured in that country by local authorities who avow that the captive is an “enemy combatant.” Once a captive passes the “enemy combatant” label, regardless of guilt, they can’t get back there from here without a long review process (as indicated above). Military officials abroad should balk at detaining proferred “captives” until a limited, battlefield review of the captive is conducted: let’s try to eliminate some “false positives” before we detain them.
• Torture and Extraordinary Rendition: both must stop. Unequivocally. This can be done by executive order demanding a halt and providing for prosecution for offenses commited after the order’s promulgation. But Obama should not prosecute military personnel who committed torture, if they relied upon and were within the bounds of Office of Legal Counsel authorization. Obama’s first term must not turn in to a witch-hunt.
• Change the Culture in the Executive Branch: from 2001 on, the White House was obsessed, to an unhealthy degree, with the terror threat. No doubt preventing terrorism is a key duty of the executive branch, but intelligence officers and lower authorities should review intelligence and bring only plausible threats to executive level attention. As any number of insiders attest, the Bush White House practice of circulating memoranda noting every terror threat made on the United States during the previous day (insiders called it the “threat matrix”) created a culture of paranoia that, met with the “one percent doctrine,” led to unhealthy overreaction and the consequent degradation of civil liberties.

No doubt the administration’s methodology in fighting the war on terror suffers from other, perhaps graver problems: but this is an important start. A new administration is not a reason to over-react and raze the foundations; I trust that the Obama administration won’t take it as such.

Annie Get Your Gun: the Obama Blowout Sale

In case you were at a loss for things to worry about, we suggest becoming hysterical over an Obama Administration trampling your right to carry arms. Gun dealers in Alaska are giddy after the immense success of their Obama blowout sales. Gun enthusiasts are stocking up on weapons and ammunition by the caseload in anticipation of strict gun control coming down the pike. Of course, the additional weaponry will come in handy when Obama tries to forcibly turn every red-blooded American into a socialist muslim terrorist. I wonder if customers get a free McCain-Palin sign with every purchase? Maybe a gift card to Neiman Marcus?

One Week Later, Be Thankful It’s Over

Although the war rages on in Alaska and Minnesota for two critical Senate seats, for the second election in a row (despite whatever irregularities should have emerged in 2004), the Presidential Election officially ended on election day. We should be thankful: eight years later, the Supreme Court isn’t willing to cite Bush v. Gore as good law, and the American people aren’t willing to cite George W. Bush for good ideas. Regardless of partisan politics, a legal ending to a political process is by no means preferable. Read two NYU Law professors who worked for Obama discuss how glad they are that their role as democracy defenders ended last week.

Palin and McCain, a Week Later

Sarah Palin blames Bush and, more specifically, the problem shocker of a Republican debt presidency, while openly pondering her role in 2012: “Show me where the open door is and even if it’s cracked up a little bit, maybe I’ll just plow right on through that and maybe prematurely plow through it, but don’t let me miss an open door.” You can’t make this stuff up. Meanwhile, McCain plans his first post-election late-night appearance: I for one look forward to seeing him back on The Daily Show.

While We’re Cleaning House, Can We Get Rid of Harry Reid?

I am no fan of Harry Reid. During his tenure as Senate Majority Leader, I have considered Democratic leadership and legislation efforts in the Senate to be maddeningly effete. My new fantasy (Obama as President being my old one) is that Reid goes quietly into that good night and the Democrats replace him with a vigorous, popular presence. My nominee: Evan Bayh from Indiana. Bayh sits on several committees, a couple of them biggies (Banking, Select Intelligence), but he is not chair of any of them. I think it would be a nice reward, too, for Indiana … a sort of thanks for going blue when it counted the most. Of course, if you have another nominee, please share. At this point, I’d take Krusty the Clown over Reid.

Oh, Howard, My Vote Was for Obama, but My Heart Belongs to You

I never say "no" to a photo with cows

Yesterday, Howard Dean announced he will not seek a second term as chairman of the Democratic National Committee. The thought of his leaving after taking charge almost four years ago makes me feel like Luke Skywalker looking on as Obi-Wan allows Darth Vader to strike him down. Dean must go, must move on; his work is done. It is now time for the millions upon millions of Skywalkers to use his wisdom and guidance to continue to realize our collective destiny as true forces for change.

There was a time, indeed, when I thought, “Help us, Howard, you’re our only hope!”

It really did seem during the 2004 primary season that Dean was the one bright spot on the Democratic Party’s horizon. His supporters were massive in numbers and in passion. I remember wondering who this new force was, discussing with my fellow grad students the energy his completely from-the-ground-up campaign was generating. My gut told me there was no way he would win the nomination — too pared down, too pedestrian — and this was before the infamous scream. But if Dean was unelectable because he was too accessible; John Kerry was unelectable because he was too removed. An amalgam of the two’s strengths — grit, intellect, political savvy, down-to-earthiness — would have been a gift to the Democrats in 2004. Add a hefty amount of cool and impenetrability … enter President-Elect Obama in 2008.

It is no joke that Dean revolutionized campaigning back in 2004. The foresight he and his campaign exhibited in harnessing the Internet for fundraising and coalition building produced the protype the Obama campaign, with four more years of blog- and networking-site development at their disposal, was able to exploit with unimaginable success.

Dean also kept the DNC focused on building bases in all 50 states. It is easy to say the state of the economy won the election for Obama, but I don’t believe this is entirely true. Certainly, Democrats do better in elections when the economy is tanking, and certainly, Obama’s cool, consistent message and manner from the bailout negotiations through election day were major points in his favor. Nonetheless, convincing so many Americans that Obama was the better choice would have been incredibly difficult if not for the infrastructure Dean constructed since assuming control of the DNC. Did he piss off Rahm Emanuel and Charles Schumer during the 2006 mid-term elections? Who cares!

Sure an incoming administration puts its people in DNC leadership posts, but some speculate Dean’s departure is penance he must perform for neglecting 2006 congressional races. Others think it is because Dean needs to be in high-profile positions, and the DNC is rendered somewhat moot with a Democratic administration. And there is the contingent who believe Dean is being considered for Secretary of Health and Human Services. I like this last scenario best. Obama wants to expand health care coverage; Howard Dean has actually done it. This sort of practical experience, along with his get-sh*t-done-even-or-especially-if-it-means-getting-dirty leadership approach would make Dean a … oh, dare I say it? … maverick in HHS.

So long, Howard. Thank you.