I wrote this letter about torture, wiretapping, and Obama's approach to the economic crisis because I still believe that, in some small way, writing to the Obama Whitehouse can make a difference. I publish the letter here because I know that unless those of like mind raise up their voices as well then that "small way" will be inconsequentially small. So, please call and write to the Whitehouse to let the President know that we've got his back, but his feet should be feeling a little more than toasty from our fire. You can find the contact form here, the phone number for comments is 202-456-1111, and the fax is 202-456-2461.
You'll find my letter over the fold.
Dear Mr. President,
I was sorely disappointed by your compromise on the telecom immunity bill last year. For that reason, and because I knew you had ample finances already, I cut back on my contributions to your campaign and focused more on down ticket races, but I still supported your campaign. I had hoped at the time that this was a temporary political maneuver by an otherwise principled man. I begin to fear that on that count I was wrong.
Since you have taken office you have chosen to continue the coddling of the financial sector began under Bush. The same sort of coddling, by the way, that kept Japan in a recession for a decade. Worse still is that such coddling is explicitly illegal as pointed out by William K. Black in an interview with Bill Moyers.
You have also chosen to ignore known criminality related to torture by the prior administration by in a transparently political calculation barely glossed over by lofty rhetoric about "not looking back." This action, too, is in contravention of the law as set out in our treaty obligations that we must prosecute those who have committed torture. Given the multiple legal precedents on water-boarding alone from both World War II and the Vietnam War, it is already known that the US has tortured and it is a continued black eye on our reputation that the perpetrators and planners are walking free without so much as an US investigation to weigh on their minds.
Until today, I could tell myself that these things were because you didn't want to try to do too much at once. That you didn't want the political furor that would erupt when high ranking officials from the previous administration came under investigation so soon. That the law breaking concerning torture and illegal surveillance was, perhaps, so widespread that to purge those culpable too quickly would gut our intelligence gathering capabilities and leave us vulnerable. That the malfeasance and misfeasance in the banks was so widespread and destructive that fixing the damage would require a gradual approach to avoid a panic.
I could believe all of these things because I believed in your rhetoric that, "No one is above the law," your statements that the failures of the market were due to a failed philosophy, and your record as a scholar of Constitutional law. In short, I believed you to be a principled but pragmatic man who was doing the best he could. I could believe this because, until today, you lived up to the frankly quite low standard of not making things any worse.
Imagine my surprise when I learned today that your Department of Justice, Mr. President, has advanced a new argument in the wiretapping lawsuits. Can you picture how angry and betrayed I felt at your DOJ, Sir, advancing claims of sovereign immunity that are as ridiculously expansive as the Nixon's claim that, "When the President does it, that means it is not illegal?" For reference, see: http://www.salon.com/... .
I write, Mr. President, to let you know that my patience and credulity are not unending, not even for you. I have enjoyed your speeches and continue to believe that you may be as great a President as you are an orator, but I am not so naive as to leave that to faith and fate. You should still consider me a friend and ally, but know that my friendship is far less enthusiastic than it could be, and you can not take it for granted should your actions fail to live up to the cynically low standard "Do No Harm" to our course on the environment, the fabric of the Republic, or the economy.
Sincerely,
BlackGriffen's Real Name