alice walker: rebel with a pause • fighting for habeas corpus

november 2006 beyoncÉ’s bootyful birthday how a little econ is a dangerous thing a poem by kurt vonnegut

the untold story of taser- related deaths silja j.a. talvi investigates  n o v e m b e r  0 0 6 I n T h e s e T i m e s contents Volume 30 - Number 11 frontline 8 E t h n i c C l e a n s i n g i n R u ss i a Putin fans the flames of xenophobia By Fred Weir a l S O : –Barricade nights in Oaxaca –Wire transfers confiscated in 26 41 Arizona –Why the DoJ is suing the states –Lawyers fight to save habeas corpus 12 appall-o-mete r By Dave Mulcahey views 15 t h e t h i r d coa s t Farrakhan steps back By Salim Muwakkil 20 9 16 Bac k Ta l k Something’s rotten in the United States By Susan J. Douglas FEATURES 17 d r o p p i n ’ a d i m e Why should blacks support the Democratic Party? 20 Stunning Revelations By Laura S. Washington The untold story of Taser-related deaths By Silja J.A. Talvi 18 T h e F i rs t S to n e “Strong to the finish, cuz I What We Learn eat’s me E. coli.” 26 By Joel Bleifuss When We Learn Economics Why Econ 101 can be a dangerous thing By Christopher Hayes CULTURE 38 T h e P ow e r o f M e a n semper Fi: the way to win 33 Our twisted relationship Lane Evans’ career in Congress provides with authority progressives with a lasting lesson By Lakshmi Chaudhry By David Moberg a l S O : –Beyoncé’s bootyful B’day 36 Witnessing Extraordinary Rendition –Women and their boxes Gillian Caldwell discusses the new film, Outlawed. –Blumenthal’s first draft of history by aaron sarver 45 H e a lt h & S c i e n c e Why Big Pharma isn’t stopping the pharmafakes By Terry J. Allen Requiem 48 A l l p R a i s e s to t h e Pau s e a poem By Kurt Vonnegut The importance of taking a moment By Alice Walker page 19

I n T h e s e T i m e s n o v e m b e r  0 0 6  editorial

“With liberty and justice for all...”

A Nation Is Not a Plate Founding Editor and Publisher James Weinstein (1926-2005) ack in April 2004, when the po- made more conducive to reality, by add- Editor Joel Bleifuss litical breeze was blowing right- ing some imaginative nuances. Executive Editor Jessica Clark ward, kite-cum-journalist Bob Many analysts have suggested that Associate Editors Phoebe Connelly, Brian Cook B Editor-at-Large Sheryl Larson Woodward gave readers of his then-new the United States’ actions in Iraq have Senior Editors Craig Aaron, Terry J. Allen, Patricia book, Plan of Attack, an “inside” account been incredibly incompetent, akin to Aufderheide, Lakshmi Chaudhry, Susan J. Douglas, of the Bush administration during the a man who walks into Pottery Barn, Christopher Hayes, David Moberg, Dave Mulcahey, lead-up to the invasion of Iraq. Among breaks something but hopes to pay for Salim Muwakkil, David Sirota, Silja J.A. Talvi, Kurt Vonnegut, Laura S. Washington its treasure trove of conventional wis- it. However, on his way to the cashier, he Contributing Editors Dean Baker, Frida Berrigan, dom nuggets, the most alluring to the bumps into a shelf, sending an array of Will Boisvert, Phyllis Eckhaus, Barbara Ehrenreich, mainstream press was Woodward’s dis- earthenware plates and mugs crashing Annette Fuentes, Juan Gonzalez, Miles Harvey, Paul Hockenos, George Hodak, Doug Ireland, Hans cussion of the “Pottery Barn Rule.” to the ground. Apologizing profusely, he Johnson, Naomi Klein, John Nichols, James North, As reported by Woodward, Colin then backs into another shelf, toppling James Parker, Kim Phillips-Fein, Jehangir Pocha, Powell evoked the rule when explain- it over and creating another mess. At Fred Weir, Adam Werbach, Slavoj Žižek Proofreaders Alan Kimmel, Brian O’Grady, Emily ing to President Bush the consequences this point, the fed-up employees simply Udell, Norman Wishner of invading Iraq. “You are going to be look at the man and tell him to go, now, Interns Nick Burt, Brandon Forbes, Chelsea Ross, the proud owner of 25 million people,” before he breaks anything else. (And in Joshua Steward Powell told him. And according to the fact, according to a September poll by Art Director Rachel Jefferson dictates of the rule, first coined by New the U.S. State Department, 65 percent of Illustrator Terry LaBan York Times columnist Thomas Friedman Iraqis favor an immediate withdrawal of web Director Seamus Holman

in 2003, if you break Iraq, you own it. U.S. forces.) Publisher Tracy Van Slyke Despite the rule’s august centrist ori- Unfortunately, this analogy too fails, Associate Publisher Aaron Sarver gins, one could plausibly argue that the in that it absolves the United States of Assistant Publisher Anna Grace Schneider analogy is utterly inane, the kind of sim- the responsibility for its actions, which Circulation Director Peter Hoyt ulacrum of analysis offered up by a cul- have been not only incompetent, but Advertising and Marketing Coordinator Erin Polgreen ture whose social imagination is limited criminal. By torturing Iraqi prisoners, PUblishing Interns Jesse Evans, Mary McKane, to the confines of a television screen. Its indiscriminately using banned chemi- Kelly Ragusa, Kamardip Singh

aim is not to provoke thinking, but stop cal weapons like white phosphorus and, In These Times Publishing Consortium it, as even the gentlest critical prodding indeed, breaching the U.N. Charter by Grant Abert, Theresa Alt, Aris Anagnos, Stuart makes the whole thing fall to shambles. invading in the first place, the United Anderson, Collier Hands, Polly Howells and Eric Werthman, Nancy Kricorian and James Schamus, For starters, there’s the mundane States has behaved more like a disgrun- Lisa Lee, Chris Lloyd, Edith Helen Monsees, Dave point that Pottery Barn has no such tled ex-employee with a grievance, who Rathke, Abby Rockefeller and Lee Halprin, Perry policy. When accidental breaks do oc- seeks redress by walking into Pottery Rosenstein, Lewis Steel, Ellen Stone-Belic, Dan cur, the company simply writes them Barn and going postal. Terkel, Studs Terkel off as losses. (It’s one of this administra- But this analogy should not end there. Board of Directors Joel Bleifuss, Janet Geovanis, Robert McChesney, David Moberg, Dave Rathke, tion’s lesser casualties of truth, but there Once a crime is committed, civilized Beth Schulman, Tracy Van Slyke nonetheless.) societies hold the perpetrators respon- In These Times (ISSN 0160-5992) is published monthly by the Institute for More on the analogy’s terms: How, sible. And if those responsible are rich Public Affairs, 2040N . Milwaukee Ave., Chicago, IL 60647. Periodicals postage paid at Chicago, IL and at additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address one might ask, can a nation of 25 million enough, they are made to pay for the de- changes to In These Times, 308 E. Hitt St., Mt. Morris, IL 61054. This issue (Vol. 30, No. 11) went to press on October 27, for newsstand sales November 3 to citizens, brutalized for decades by a sa- struction they have caused. December 1, 2006. The entire contents of In These Times are copyright © 2006 by the Institute for Public Affairs, and may not be reproduced in any manner, distic dictator, be seriously equated with That Iraq has been broken is now so either in whole or in part, without permission of the publisher. Copies of In These Times’ contract with the National Writers Union are available upon an inanimate piece of hardened clay? self-evident that even our faith-based request. Contact the union at (212) 254-0279 or www.nwu.org. Similarly, what do you do when you now president appears to have become vague- Subscriptions are $36.95 a year ($59 for institutions; $61.95 Canada; $75.95 overseas). For subscription questions, address changes and back issues “own” a piece of pottery that has shat- ly cognizant of the painful fact. To put it call (800) 827-0270. tered into a thousand tiny shards? You in terms that he might understand, all Complete issues and volumes of In These Times are available from Bell and Howell, Ann Arbor, MI. In These Times is indexed in the Alternative Press don’t hold onto the shards. You throw of our cruise missiles and all of our men Index and the Left Index. Newsstand circulation through Big Top Newsstand Services, a division of the IPA, at (415) 445-0230, or [email protected]. them away. will not be able to put it back together Printed in the United States. But such criticisms, however valid, again. We should leave now, and use the

MMUNIC PHIC CO ATIO GRA NS are strictly negative. They tear down the millions we’ve been spending militarily UNION LABEL ® IN GCIU TER ION 759-C Pottery Barn Rule without putting any- as reparations for the unforgivable harm NATIONAL UN thing else in its place. Perhaps, despite we have done the Iraqi people. its flaws, the rule can be resurrected, —Brian Cook

 n o v e m b e r  0 0 6 I n T h e s e T i m e s mixed reaction

q u i d p r o q u o Bush told the truth. Hell froze.

— William Gibson, A submission to The Quid: Wired magazine’s six-word-long science fiction In June 2005, Gary Aguirre, an attorney at the story contest from the well-known cyberpunk author. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), was investigating whether John Mack, then head of Credit Suisse Group, may have given LaBanarama by terry laban inside information to one of his good friends at the investment firm Pequot Capital Man- agement, resulting in a profit of $18 million. Though Aguirre’s immediate supervisor was enthusiastic at first, after it was announced that Mack was being considered to head Morgan Stanley, he wouldn’t allow Aguirre to question Mack. Aguirre complained to Paul Berger, the associate director of the SEC’s enforcement division, who promptly joined Aguirre’s supervisor in recommending that he be fired, which he was, only days after he had received a merit-based pay increase. The Quo: What called off the watchdogs? Mack was a big-time fundraiser for George W. Bush in 2004, reaching the elite “Ranger” status by bundling at least $200,000 in $2,000 contri- butions. The Senate Judiciary and Finance commit- tees are currently investigating the incident.

t h e l e x i c o n

moral idiocy: n. The systematic failure on the part of an indi- vidual to understand basic moral precepts. Last month, the British medical journal Lancet published a study estimating the number of all civilian casualties in the three- plus years since the U.S. invasion of Iraq at 650,000. In Slate, Christopher Hitchens called the study a mixture of “epidemiology” and “moral idiocy,” arguing that two-thirds of the deaths were due to the insurgency—thus justifying the continued U.S. presence. Hitchens’ piece on moral idiocy was a useful marriage of form and content.

I n T h e s e T i m e s n o v e m b e r  0 0 6  letters

What’s the Matter With risen about 25 percent. That’s Mistakes Were Made Starbucks? still not much to live on, es- Terry J. Allen’s “Counterfeit pecially since no line workers There was a curious omis- Drugs: Infected with Greed” are guaranteed a set number contained two errors (Octo- sion in Mischa Gaus’ piece on of hours per week. Wal-Mart the Industrial Workers of the ber). The beetroot-pushing enrolls a higher percentage Minister of Health in South World (IWW) and Starbucks of its workers (46 percent) in that raises suspicions about Africa has not resigned and is its health plan than Star- very much still in charge. Also, the fairness (“Starbucks Gets bucks does (42 percent). As Wobbly,” October). What she is a female, not a male, for Schultz’s commitment to although she certainly has the were the unmet modest the working class, isn’t CEO demands that motivated the arrogance of a male and looks hagiography so late-’90s pre- like one too! workers joining up with the tech crash? Logan Square’s IWW? I have asked workers Anton de Waal baristas wanted a stepladder Via e-mail at Starbucks at many locations and advance notice of their in the United States and other schedules, both secured after The Editors Don’t Forget Florida countries if they are satisfied they organized. Good thing Respond with their jobs and have been As someone who spent 15 they and others are working We introduced these errors met with unanimous reports to challenge the yawning class during our editorial process. years volunteering on elec- of satisfaction. Many of the tion campaigns when I lived gulf that no feel-good market- We apologize to Terry J. Allen benefits that Starbucks pro- ing blitz is going to close. and our readers. in Florida, I feel compelled vides to workers are unique to respond to Joel Bleifuss’ in this country and Starbucks And now a word from Kurt Vonnegut: article, “The Importance of owner Howard Schultz’s Not Getting Over It” (Octo- commitment to bringing ber). Bleifuss’ only men- everybody along with him tion of 2000 was the illegal seems sincere to me. (I know purge of thousands of legally the Brooklyn project where registered and mostly black he grew up.) So omission of Democratic voters by Jeb this highly pertinent data Bush and Katherine Harris. makes me quite suspicious of This is but the tip of the ice- Brother Gaus’ objectivity and, berg. A coup d’etat in broad of course, without that key daylight by the Bush elec- data it is impossible to form a tion stealers is a more ac- fair judgment of what’s going curate description. There’s a on. Indeed, this kind of selec- solid paper trail that proves tive reporting is what I expect beyond all reasonable doubt from Fox News. I am very that Bush illegally stole Al sorry to see it in your pages. Gore’s victory in Florida in Sam Abrams 2000. No such paper trail Authors Guild member, exists for 2004. The evi- former member ILUNA 976 dence for 2004 is based on a Rochester, N.Y. statistical projection and not actual votes. The evidence Mischa Gaus for 2000 is based on the ac- Responds tual votes and Florida’s elec- Brother Abrams should tion laws in 2000. There’s no read more carefully, and then disputing what happened in check out www.starbuck- 2000 in Florida and we must sunion.org. Starbucks workers never forget! start at $7.75, except in the Nancy Kuhn two cities with active IWW Via e-mail organizing, where barista wages have coincidentally

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I n T h e s e T i m e s n o v e m b e r  0 0 6  frontline Six days of rioting in the northern town of Kondopoga in late August left at least three people dead and forced hundreds of Caucasians to flee. “The local people want them to go back where they came from,” says Belov. “That’s democracy. The rights of the majority should be respected.” Simi- lar upheavals have been reported over the past six months, hitting far-flung Russian towns in Saratov, Chita, Rostov, Astrakhan and Irkutsk regions. A September poll conducted by the independent Levada Center found that 57 percent of Russians thought Kondopoga-style violence could break out in their town, while 52 percent es said they agreed with DPNI’s main slogan:

mag “Russia for the Russians.” Within days of Putin’s remarks, police descended on markets around the country, Russian right-wing protesters rounding up thousands of Caucasians— from Russia’s Liberal-Democratic not only Georgians—whose documents Party stand in front of the showed any discrepancies. (Endemic cor- Georgian embassy in Moscow. ruption virtually ensures discrepancies

MAXIM MARMUR/AFP/Getty I in peoples’ official documents.) Moscow schools were ordered to report children with Georgian-sounding names to police, Ethnic Cleansing in Russia so their parents could be investigated. By late October, about 100 Georgian “illegal Putin stokes the flames of xenophobia immigrants” were being deported to Tbili- si on special daily military flights. By Fred Weir Dozens of Georgian-owned compa- nies have been closed down, on pretexts OSCOW—It started out a complete cutoff of trade, transport and ranging from sanitary violations to tax as geopolitical bullying, even postal links. But in targeting Geor- evasion. The campaign even reached with the Kremlin applying gian businesses, he handed a gift to the prominent Russians of Georgian heritage. an economic headlock to outright racist Movement Against Illegal Sculptor Zurab Tsereteli, creator of several pressureM an obstreperous little neighbor, Immigration (DPNI), which calls for ex- well-known Moscow monuments, found Georgia, to return to Moscow’s fold. But pelling all non-Slavs from Russian cities, himself accused of “misappropriating” a related campaign against “Georgian in- whether they are Russian citizens or not. 2.1 million rubles (about $80,000) from terests” in Russia, involving mass arrests Though Slavs make up about 80 per- the Russian Arts Academy that he heads. of alleged illegal immigrants and a crack- cent of the population, there are millions Georgian-born Grigory Chkhartishvili, down on Georgian-owned businesses, of darker-skinned citizens from Russia’s who writes some of Russia’s most beloved has dangerously fuelled xenophobia in north Caucasus, Volga regions and Siberia. detective fiction under the pen name Boris Russia’s streets and buoyed the country’s Added to that are an estimated 10 million Akunin, was targeted by the tax police. rising neo-fascist movement. “guest workers” from former Soviet central “It is no longer safe to be a dark-haired President Vladimir Putin personally Asia and Caucasus countries. There are person in Russia,” says Chkhartishvili. triggered the anti-Georgian frenzy by about 1 million Georgians working in Rus- “What’s happening to Georgians today is complaining, in a televised meeting, that sia, sending home some $2 billion annually, ethnic cleansing. The Russian state is sick non-Slavs from the Caucasus region a major component of Georgia’s GDP. with the virus of xenophobia.” dominate farmer’s markets in most cities, Hatred of non-Slavs is a combustible po- Georgia has been the scene of intense incurring the wrath of native Russians. litical issue in Russia. “Russians are the most rivalry between Russia and the West since “The indignation of citizens is right,” Pu- discriminated-against group in Russia, and it broke from the USSR in 1991. Seeking le- tin said. “(We must) protect the interests we help them to find their voice,” says Alex- vers of influence, Moscow backed success- of Russian manufacturers and Russia’s ander Belov, chief ideologue of DPNI, Rus- ful early ’90s rebellions in two ethnically native population.” Putin may have been sia’s fastest-growing grassroots organization. different Georgian territories, Abkhazia trying to gather support for his tough Lately many Russians have been mobilizing, and South Ossetia, whose de facto inde- policy against Georgia, which includes with Belov’s encouragement. pendence is protected by Russian peace-

 n o v e m b e r 2 0 0 6 I n T h e s e T i m e s keeping troops to this day. Washington khazia and South Ossetia, have used the scored points by persuading Georgia to crisis to appeal to Moscow to unilaterally Barricade Nights host the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, recognize their independence, a move that which opened this year, to carry newly- Georgians fear could lead to the irrevers- in Oaxaca flowing Caspian crude to Western mar- ible division of their country. axaca City, Mexico—In the kets, bypassing Russia’s pipeline network. “This is the biggest fear in Tbilisi today, hours after nightfall, a shifting Russo-Georgian relations went into total that Russia will formalize those (statelets) Olabyrinth rises from the streets freefall after the 2003 “Rose Revolution” by making them Russian protectorates of Oaxaca City. Men and women step ousted the cautious ex-Soviet foreign min- with permanent Russian military bases,” into an emptied street pulling chain-link ister Eduard Shevardnadze and brought a says Archil Gegeshidze, an expert with the fencing, barbed wire, sandbags and old young U.S.-trained lawyer and fiery Geor- Georgian Foundation for Strategic and In- doors behind them. The hoarse roar of gian nationalist, Mikhael Saakashvili, to ternational Studies in Tbilisi. Russia insists a diesel motor breaks the silence, as in- power in Tbilisi. Saakashvili has vowed to it has no such intentions, but Putin has re- surgents guide a commandeered city re-unite his fractured country and lead it peatedly warned that this could change if bus riddled with graffiti that calls for the into NATO before his term of office expires the West recognizes the independence of ouster of Oaxaca state Governor Ulises in 2009. In early October, NATO agreed Kosovo, the Albanian-populated Serbian Ruiz Ortiz into an the intersection, shut- to enter into an “intensified dialogue” with province seized by NATO in a 1999 war. ting off the street like a clamp. Georgia about membership. Meanwhile, the escalating campaign Every night since late August, protest- In late September, Georgian police ar- against Georgians is driving internal Rus- ers with the Popular Assembly of the rested four Russian officers and charged sian politics down dark and uncharted ave- People of Oaxaca (APPO) build and them with spying. After a furious reaction nues. “The Kremlin is appealing to Russian stand guard over a thousand barricades from the Kremlin, the men were released society’s nationalistic moods, and that’s throughout the city—a mass, decentral- to European mediators, but the die was very dangerous,” says Fyodor Lukyanov, ized effort to thwart the ever-rumored already cast in Moscow. Putin launched a editor of the foreign policy journal Russia crackdown by federal police. Around full economic embargo, ordered the Rus- in Global Affairs. “This kind of device is piles of burning wood in the center of sian Black Sea Fleet to hold war games off easy to use, but very hard to control.” n the blockaded intersections, middle- Georgia’s coast and authorized the domes- aged men and women talk in low voices, tic crackdown against resident Georgians. Fred Weir reports regularly from Russia for In watching for approaching vehicles. Col- Georgia’s two breakaway statelets, Ab- These Times. lege-aged youths, their faces covered

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I n T h e s e T i m e s n o v e m b e r 2 0 0 6  Less than two weeks later, on the night Minster of the Interior, Carlos Abascal. of August 22, a convoy of some 40 cars Abascal made offers to address education and pickup trucks carrying heavily armed and social equity issues in Oaxaca, but the men, some in police uniform and others APPO turned them all down, maintaining in civilian clothes and ski masks, attacked their single demand that Ulises Ruiz re- protest camps, killing 52-year-old Loren- sign or be removed from office before any zo San Pablo Cervantes. The gunmen also discussion of reforms. The talks stalled on attacked TV reporters, stealing their tapes September 20, with tension and rumors of of the shootings, and opened fire on pho- a crackdown immediately filling the void. tographers from the national newspapers On September 25, President Vicente Fox’s Milenio and Reforma. The photographers spokesperson Ruben Aguilar said the Fox published photos the following day show- had vowed to solve the conflict before his

r ing the men aiming their machine guns term ends on November 30, fueling spec- ble

gi from the backs of pick-up trucks. A Re- ulation that a major federal police opera- uters cameraman who filmed the convoy tion is in the works. john compared it to “the death squads in Africa Senators from the governor’s party— Indigenous teachers guard one of the or Haiti.” Televisa, a national television sta- the Institutional Revolutionary Party barricades in Oaxaca. tion, aired footage of the convoy returning (PRI), the discredited dinosaur of Mexi- to the municipal police headquarters just can politics—warned that if Ulises Ruiz with bandanas and shawls, fill shopping before dawn. were to fall at the hands of the protesters, carts with Molotov cocktails. The day after the death squad attacks, president-elect Felipe Calderón would be “If they want to try to come in here, let’s Antonio, a member of the APPO’s provi- next. Calderon—who won the presiden- just see how it goes for them,” says a man sional leadership, told the press: “We are cy by less than a percentage point over in his fifties as he leans on an old wooden going to respond with organization, not his rival Andrés Manuel López Obrador ax handle, entrenched behind five blocks with guns.” That night the APPO set up amid widespread allegations of electoral of barricades that protect one of the AP- over 500 guarded barricades throughout fraud—and his conservative National PO’s encampments outside an occupied the city. The convoy did not return. Action Party will need the PRI votes to commercial radio station. The following week, teachers’ union and pass any major legislation. The conflict in Oaxaca began as a teach- APPO representatives traveled to Mexico On September 21, 4,000 members of ers strike on May 22, but exploded into a City to initiate a series of talks with the the teachers’ union and the APPO began massive uprising after a failed June 14 at- tempt to violently break up the teachers’ protest camps in the town square. (See “Teacher Rebellion in Oaxaca,” Septem- a c t n o w ber). Tens of thousands of local residents took to the streets to fight alongside the teachers and join their call for the im- mediate ouster of Ulises Ruiz—now their sole, non-negotiable demand. Within weeks, the APPO effectively shut down the state government and forced the governor into exile by step- ping up their civil disobedience tactics— building camps around government buildings and sending “mobile brigades” to hound state government officials ap- pearing in the city. But as the APPO’s grip on the city solidified, gunmen linked to local and state police forces began to ap- How do you like them Apples now? prehend movement leaders and open fire Apple, renowned for their sleekly designed computers and electronics, on protesters. just got a big fat “F” on Greenpeace’s first annual Electronics Report Card, During an August 10 APPO march to which ranks the earth-friendly practices of the top 14 technology manufac- demand the release of two leaders—Ca- turers. To encourage Apple to clean up its act, Greenpeace has launched tarino Torres Pereda and Germán Men- the “Green My Apple” campaign, which recruits Apple’s biggest demo- doza Nube—who had been arrested, graphic—artists and graphic designers—to craft their own t-shirts, videos, gunmen fired into the crowd from the stickers and posters to protest the company’s use of toxic chemicals and second story of a house, killing Jose Col- substandard recycling policies. To see highlights from the campaign, or to menares, a 50-year-old mechanic march- submit your own design, visit www.greenmyapple.org/procreate ing to support his wife, a member of the —Erin Polgreen striking teachers union.

1 0 n o v e m b e r 2 0 0 6 I n T h e s e T i m e s a march to Mexico City to set up a protest sent by Torres, Santiago and Rivadeneyra . camp outside of Congress. The protesters to these crimes was that the amounts " 18 Cuban and 18 walked more than 300 miles through four were over $500 and came from one of 26 8 states, arriving in Mexico City on Octo- states identified in a broad search warrant 2 ber 9, where they set up a protest camp targeting wire transfers through Western x American artists

outside the Mexican Senate. On October Union and other companies. "

16, 21 marchers from the APPO began a “They said they think I sent money for 2 hunger strike to demand Ruiz’s ouster. illegal drugs or a coyote,” says Torres. 2 collaborated over

Since Wednesday, September 27, the “They were treating me like a criminal.” E

barricade guards in Oaxaca have been His money was among the $17 million G on red alert. Three days in a row, mili- seized by Goddard’s office in recent years D the Internet to tary helicopters and airplanes flew over under similar circumstances. On October I

Oaxaca City, in surveillance. Eight miles 18, Torres, Santiago and Rivadeneyra filed R outside of town, at least 2,000 state po- a class action lawsuit in federal court in B create a series of

lice were training for a possible raid on Arizona, alleging that Goddard and his A the protesters’ barricades. staffer Cameron Holmes violated con- N Then, on October 19, the Senate re- stitutional protections against unlaw- posters promoting fused the APPO’s request to dissolve the ful search and seizure. The lawsuit also state government, thus closing the only charges that the attorney general violated door to legally force Ruiz from office. the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Consti- At 2 a.m. on a recent night, a handful tution by interfering with interstate and of teachers smoked cigarettes and slow- international commerce; the office had ly fed cardboard and scavenged wood also seized funds destined for Sonora, scraps to the barricade fire in a middle- Mexico, and funds transferred between class residential part of town. Three well- other states by people who had previously

dressed people approached cautiously, made transfers involving Arizona. O and one woman said: “If anything hap- For many of the victims, the lawsuit is pens, we live around the corner, behind the only chance they have of getting their the notary. We’ll open up.” Her husband money back. When Rivadeneyra talked added: “I’ve got piles of rocks ready.” to Arizona state police, they told her she —John Gibler couldn’t recover the money unless they interviewed her brother, which was im- possible since he lives in a rural village Immigrants Sue without a phone. Officers told Torres he would need to show the car title and reg- to Retrieve Funds istration to recoup his funds, also impos- sible since he had already sold the car for Seized in Arizona some extra cash. He ended up having to send another $1,000 to his friend, this S peace. The result, E

hen Illinois truck driver time through the postal service. L Javier Torres sent $1,000 via The lawsuit resulted from an investiga- I WWestern Union to a friend in tion launched by the Illinois Coalition for M “Shared Dreams“,

Arizona to pay for a car he’d purchased Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) 0

from her, it seemed like the money just and the Instituto del Progreso Latino in 9

disappeared. The same thing happened Chicago. Among the allegations in the L to North Carolina resident Alma Santia- lawsuit are that the state of Arizona never E runs now through go when she sent $2,000 to her cousin in adequately notified senders or receivers V Arizona so he could visit family. Likewise that the money had been seized, or advised A R for Lia Rivadeneyra, who sent $500 to them of their right to challenge the seizure. th T November 12 . her brother when he was visiting Sonora, The investigation turned up 400 specific Mexico, from his home in Peru. individuals who had lost money by setting Several weeks after each sent their mon- up a toll-free number. There are believed ey, they found out it had been seized by to be up to 15,000 potential plaintiffs. Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard, Meanwhile, Western Union also has a J^[ on suspicion that it was intended for “coy- lawsuit pending, which has resulted in a F;79;CKI;KC otes,” human or drug smugglers. While temporary freeze on seizures. A statement NBLF!QFBDF smuggling across the Arizona border has from Goddard on the Arizona Attorney 100 N. Central Park Ave. certainly become an increasingly profit- General Web site says that coyotes have 773-638-6450 able and violent trade, the only “evidence” made $1.7 billion on smuggling monies peacemuseum.org Goddard’s office had linking the monies through Western Union and other wire

I n T h e s e T i m e s n o v e m b e r 2 0 0 6 1 1 services, but doesn’t say how it was proven including Mexico, where they are consid- that all this money was meant for coyotes, ered the second largest foreign source of DoJ Quashes and his office declined to comment further. income after oil exports. Since undocu- Doubtless a significant amount of money mented or transient people in the United Wiretapping is sent to Arizona to pay coyotes; under States or poor people in Latin America the current immigration system, they are are unlikely to have regular bank ac- Inquiries often the only way for Latin American im- counts, wire transfers are often the only hough Maine resident Doug migrants to come to the United States. secure option for sending money. And Cowie just celebrated his 75th birth- Goddard’s Web site says the office has the $500 Rivadeneyra sent to her brother Tday in October, it was only this past worked with community groups to help in Peru is a lot there; it could be one man’s January that he retired from the Maine innocent people get their money back. livelihood for months. Public Utility Commission (PUC) where According to Hoyt, the Attorney Gener- Robin Hoover, a Tuscon pastor who he worked for 18 years. It would be al’s office told the ICIRR that only 9 per- runs the Humane Borders program easy to think of Cowie as an innocuous cent have had their money returned. which places water in the desert for mi- grandfatherly type—particularly after his Many see the seizures as a shocking grants, says he is appalled at the attor- response when I told him some of his e- abuse of power against an extremely vul- ney general’s conduct. “This is unlawful mails ended up in my spam folder: “Your nerable population: non-English speakers government seizure,” Hoover says. “We what folder?”—but he is one of a grow- and undocumented immigrants who are fought a revolutionary war over that!” ing number of Americans who are acting, wary of any contact with authorities and Matthew Piers, the plaintiff’s attorney, in lieu of Congress, as the only check and therefore more likely to absorb the loss says his clients agree that the monetary balance on the Bush administration’s do- than complain. “He can get away with it flow to drug smugglers must be stopped. mestic spying program. because the last names are Salgados and However, he notes that “the government When USA Today published an arti- Lopezes, and he makes sure people are must always act within the bounds of the cle on May 11 alleging that the National intimidated enough that they don’t take Constitution, otherwise it creates rather Security Agency (NSA) had teamed the next step,” says ICIRR board presi- than prevents lawlessness. This is the up with major telecommunications dent Juan Salgado. equivalent of knowing a bank was robbed, companies to obtain access to Ameri- Remittances sent from immigrants in seeing the robber run into the Daley Cen- cans’ communication records, Cowie the United States are a staple of the econ- ter, and arresting everyone there.” sent an e-mail to Verizon CEO Ivan omies of many Latin American countries, —Kari Lydersen Seidenberg, asking if the company appall-o-meter

6.7 Sweet Sweetback’s ance and apparently a fan of meeting with university of- ’70s blaxploitation comic Rudy ficials a few days later, Bundy Badasssss Values Ray Moore. A spokesman for drove to a convenience store Sure, the Republicans have filled the America’s PAC maintains that and stole a candy bar and airwaves with campaign ads portraying at its efforts have been key to an energy drink. He then as- least one Democratic Senate contender drawing African-American saulted a clerk who pursued as a priapic Negro with a taste for white voters to the Republican Party. him into the parking lot. He women. But do not conclude that the maintains his innocence, and GOP wishes to slight brethren of color. In 2.2 Truth In has not been heard from fact, as radio ads broadcast in 10 states Electioneering since being released on bail. reveal, the party’s tent is big enough to If you dosed George W. accommodate Americans in all their di- Bush with Sodium Pentothal, 1.6 The Hanging versity—even the pimp community. he might behave like a certain deranged Prosecutor As the New York Sun reports, an ad Penn State junior. A few days after Jay To the roll of miscreants serving Ohio, sponsored by the Republican group Bundy was elected president of his add Scott Blauvelt. According to the AP, America’s PAC features two black men university’s student government, reports this Hamilton city prosecutor has twice discussing the abortion issue with char- Inside Higher Ed, he gave a bracingly frank been captured on security videotape acteristic brio: interview to the school newspaper. “If the strolling around a government building VOICE ONE: If you make a little mis- students are stupid enough to vote for buck naked. As Buckeye politicians go take with one of your hoes, you’ll someone as inappropriate and retarded these days, that’s only mildly eccentric want to dispose of that problem as I am, then they deserve a president behavior, but Blauvelt has been charged tout suite, no questions asked. who is going to give the worst perfor- with indecency and placed on paid leave. VOICE TWO: That’s too cold. I don’t mance to the best of his ability,” he said, His lawyer has tried to shift blame to snuff my own seed. adding, “You voted for me, bitches. That drugs the prosecutor was prescribed VOICE ONE: Maybe you do have a was a bad idea.” after an auto accident last year. “Scott reason to vote Republican. Shortly after the interview was pub- Blauvelt,” he offered gamely, “is an America’s PAC is bankrolled largely lished, election commissioners disquali- American with a disability.” by J. Patrick Rooney, 78, of Indianapolis, fied Bundy and running mate Christopher —Dave Mulcahey former1 2 chairman of Golden Rule Insur- Brink for campaignn o v e m irregularities. b e r 2 0 0 6 After a I n T h e s e T i m e s was taking part in this program. After snapshot ambiguous responses from Verizon, Cowie filed a complaint with the Maine PUC. According to Cowie, the “PUC is supposed to determine whether the complaint has merit and if it does, it’s supposed to open an investigation and have a hearing.” (He would know—part of his former position there was man- aging these very complaints.) After two months of silence, the PUC finally act- ed, asking Verizon to swear under oath to the veracity of a May press release the company issued in response to the USA Today allegations. That release claimed that Verizon was not providing records to the government, but was ambiguous enough to leave room for doubt. A deadline was set for Verizon to respond and about an hour after the deadline passed, a response was received—a Justice Department an- nouncement that it was suing the state of Maine. Two men ride a bicycle past a village north of the town of Sinuiju, The department invoked the state se- North Korea, on Oct. 16­­—the same day that the White House urged crets privilege and claimed that for Ve- China to honor its “responsibilities and obligations” under the UN rizon to even affirm that their previous Security Council resolution imposing sanctions on North Korea for its statement was true would endanger the apparent nuclear test. (Photo by Liu Jin/AFP/Getty Images) country. That’s ridiculous, says Cowie. “[If] Verizon’s public statements had clas- sified information in them, they would have gone to jail.” don’t understand it,” he says. “I’m so dis- appall-o-meter Minutes after receiving notice of the appointed. The PUC should have tried Lawyers Fight for Justice Department suit, Verizon sub- to do the investigation based on unclas- mitted their filing, which stated that it sified data. I’ve been basically told that Habeas Rights could not verify its previous press state- the staff has been told not to talk to nside the White House, President ment because of the lawsuit that had anybody about this.” Because the PUC George W. Bush sat at a small desk. just been announced. At that point, the refuses to pursue Cowie’s complaint, le- ISurrounded by generals, congress- Maine Civil Liberties Union (MCLU) gal remedy can’t be sought. men and members of his administration, got involved. The MCLU maintains that While the legality of the NSA pro- he signed the Military Commissions Act the Justice Department has no legal ba- gram has been challenged, the Bush (MCA) into law. “It is a rare occasion sis to sue the state of Maine for enforc- administration has been pushing Con- when a president can sign a bill he knows ing state law. Shenna Bellows, executive gress to keep the cases out of the courts. will save American lives,” he declared. director of the MCLU, says that the Bills sponsored by Sen. Arlen Specter (R- Outside the White House, it was rain- department’s claim that forcing Verizon Pa.) and Rep. Heather Wilson (R-N.M.) ing. More than 100 religious leaders, sur- to verify its previous statements would would redefine electronic surveillance vivors of torture and concerned citizens threaten national security “doesn’t pass and force the cases against the NSA and gathered to mourn the passing of a cor- the straight-face test.” telecommunications companies into the nerstone of American law. Many of the The Justice Department has sued four secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveil- marchers wore soggy orange jumpsuits other states that launched similar inqui- lance Court of Review, effectively keep- and black hoods over their faces, rep- ries: Missouri, Connecticut, Vermont ing the cases, and any judicial remedy, resenting the more than 400 men who and New Jersey—where the DoJ sued from public eyes. remain imprisoned at Guantánamo. The the attorney general for subpoenaing Regardless of the outcome, Cowie in- gap between the Bush administration’s telecommunications companies within tends to spend his retirement making agenda and the concerns of the activists the state. sure Americans’ constitutional rights outside could not have been greater. Doug Cowie’s call for an investiga- aren’t violated. “Who the hell wants to The MCA establishes new rules for in- tion in Maine has now been backed up take up all your time doing stuff like terrogating and trying suspected terror- by some 400 other Mainers. That the this?” asks Cowie. “But something has to ists. It also suspends habeas corpus for PUC has yet to be assertive in its inves- be done. You just gotta do it.” any foreign citizen determined to be an tigation confuses him. “I honest to God —Onnesha Roychoudhuri “unlawful enemy combatant engaged in

I n T h e s e T i m e s n o v e m b e r 2 0 0 6 1 3 how we now learn Latin? “Habeas Cor- Khan returned to Karachi to get mar- pus”—part of a longer English Common ried, but was soon arrested by Pakistani Law phrase that means “you shall produce security forces and disappeared in 2003. the body”—dates to the Magna Carta. In The next news his family heard of him 1215, that foundational legal document was on September 6, 2006, when Presi- guaranteed suspects the right to challenge dent Bush publicly accused him of deliv- their imprisonment. The “writ of habeas ering money to an al Qaeda operative.

es corpus” is enshrined in the U.S. Consti- Khan has not been charged with a crime, tution: it “shall not be suspended unless and was subjected to what the CIA deli- mag when in cases of rebellion or invasion the cately calls “alternative interrogation tech- public safety may require it.” niques” while in their custody. His lawyer, Though Attorney General Alberto Gon- Vincent Warren, insists “Majid Khan had R/AFP/Getty I E I zalez insists that “the new law should not nothing to do with 9/11. Any allegations BLE be understood to ‘suspend’ the writ of ha- should be made in open court where he EN beas corpus for enemy combatants,” there has the chance to defend himself against KAR is no other way to interpret it. “This new evidence obtained through torture.” Protesting the suspension of habeas law is a clear suspension and we are mount- Khan and the hundreds of other prison- corpus, a demonstrator poses in front ing a substantial court challenge,” says Bill ers at Guantánamo, Bagram and other de- of the entrance to the White House. Goodman, legal director of the Center for tention facilities have filed more than 500 Constitutional Rights (CCR). habeas suits individually and in groups hostilities or having supported hostilities Between Congress’ passage of the MCA to insist that they be granted their day in against the United States.” While Presi- in September and Bush’s signing on Oct. open court. As the ink dried on the MCA, dent Bush called the law, “a way to deliver 17, the CCR continued to file writs of habe- the Justice Department began dismissing justice to the terrorists we have captured,” as corpus. On Oct. 2, they filed on behalf these habeas claims, issuing notice to the the majority of those held at Guantánamo of 25 men imprisoned at the U.S. military’s U.S. District Court for D.C. and the U.S. do not fit under even this exceptionally Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan. The next Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit that broad definition of unlawful enemy com- day, the group filed for Majid Khan—one they do not have “jurisdiction to hear or batant. A Seton Hall Law School analysis of the “ghost detainees” recently trans- consider any claim or cause of action.” of the Pentagon’s own findings reveals ferred to Guantánamo after being held in Goodman and the CCR say such that the U.S. government considers only the Central Intelligence Agency’s secret moves do effectively suspend the writ 8 percent of 507 Guantánamo detainees detention facilities for three-and-a-half of habeas corpus, and point out that the to be al-Qaeda fighters. Of the remaining years as a “high-value” terrorist suspect. United States is not threatened by “re- detainees, 40 percent have no definitive The 26-year-old Pakistani national came bellion or invasion,” the only conditions connection to al-Qaeda or Taliban. to the United States in 1996, and went to under which the Constitution warrants If, to paraphrase Ambrose Bierce, wars high school in suburban Maryland, work- suspension. Consequently, the CCR is teach Americans geography, are they also ing at his family’s gas station after classes. launching a “strong opposition based on the ‘suspension clause’ ” that Goodman anticipates will go to the Supreme Court. Treat others with justice and respect. How Meanwhile, lawyers like Goodman you treat others will be how they treat you. and Warren will continue to pursue jus- tice for Guantánamo inmates. One of the BE PART OF THE first steps is hearings before the D.C. U.S. Court of Appeals on the “significance of SOLUTION the MCA” to the cases the Justice Depart- ment maintain are no longer under the Ask for our Making A Difference courts’ purview. The hearings began Nov. brochure today, and find out more 1 and will continue through the month. about our mutual funds. And what about regular people hor- rified at the trampling of law? Matthew Call 1-800-530-5321 or visit www.domini.com. W. Daloisio, a Catholic Worker, empha- sizes the need for public education, moral challenge and widespread protest. “As we approach the fifth anniversary of the first war on terrorism prisoners’ arrival at Guantánamo, civil action must intensify,” he says. “January 11, 2007 should be a day You should consider the Domini Funds’ investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses carefully of national shame but can also be an op- before investing. Obtain a copy of the Funds’ current prospectus for complete information on these portunity to for citizens to insist on the and other topics, by calling 1-800-530-5321 or online at www.domini.com. Please read it carefully reintegration of law and justice.” before investing or sending money. DSIL Investments Services LLC, Distributor. 10/04 —Frida Berrigan

1 4 n o v e m b e r 2 0 0 6 I n T h e s e T i m e s the third coast

by salim muwakkil Farrakhan Steps Back inister Louis Farrakhan failed not a boast but an implicit acknowledgment that the NOI to deliver the keynote address at has become too dependent on his charisma. Mthe 11th anniversary celebration Were it not for that dependence, however, the group may of the 1995 Million Man March. Compli- well have splintered into several warring factions. Farra- cations from cancer treatments forced the khan is noted for his powerful oratory and amiable person- Nation of Islam (NOI) leader to cancel the ality, but his deft political instincts are what helped sooth a first major address he has missed in his 29 cauldron of sectarian animosity. years of leadership. When Elijah died in 1975, his son, Wallace D. Moham- The 73-year-old Farrakhan was diag- mad (now known as Imam Warithduddine Mohamed), nosed with prostate cancer in 1991 and in took over and changed the name and Black Nationalist fo- 2000 underwent a surgical procedure that cus of the group. Farrakhan initially pledged fealty to the implanted radiated ‘seeds’ rather than traditional radiation new leader’s more “orthodox” vision of Islam, but broke treatments. In a Sept. 11 letter to NOI members and sup- away in 1977 to resurrect Elijah’s race-focused version. porters, published in the group’s Final Call newspaper, Far- While Farrakhan is often credited (or blamed) for sustain- rakhan said the implanted seeds “indeed killed the cancer ing the link between Islam and Black Nationalism, his role in cells that had broken the pros- maintaining peace among rival tate capsule.” But, he added, While Farrakhan is often credited groups with a history of vio- “over time, these seeds have (or blamed) for sustaining the link lence is often overlooked. Many done severe internal damage.” analysts predicted a blood- Farrakhan’s withdrawal from between Islam and Black Nationalism, bath—an escalation of the kind all NOI business has sparked his role in maintaining peace between of violence that followed Mal- much speculation about the colm X’s assassination. That group’s future should he die. rival factions has been overlooked. chaos never occurred but few Many analysts doubt the group acknowledge Farrakhan’s role would survive Farrakhan’s absence. in corralling those dissident energies. The prospect of no Farrakhan also comes at a time when Farrakhan customarily is described as a race-baiting anti- debate is growing within the black community about the Semite and his rhetoric occasionally justifies that descrip- need for new leaders as well as new leadership paradigms. tion. But there’s little attention paid to the major changes The Nation of Islam’s messianic and authoritarian mold of he’s made in a doctrine that once deemed whites the seed of leadership seems particularly antiquated as African Ameri- Satan and black people inherently divine. While not exactly cans gain prominence in so many areas of American life. rejecting that black supremacist catechism—taught as gos- The group has exemplified that leadership style from its pel for 40-odd years by Elijah Muhammad—he has trans- murky founding in the ’30s by the mysterious W.D. Fard, formed it into a metaphor. Satan no longer has a genetic who members later deified. Elijah Muhammad took over as identity; the mentality of white supremacy is the real devil. God’s “messenger”when Fard disappeared. He is regularly charged with inciting anti-Jewish senti- When the eloquent and charismatic Malcolm X (Little) ments among African-Americans, but few realize that Far- emerged from prison in 1952, he soon became Muham- rakhan’s voice is a relatively conciliatory one in the Black mad’s chief aide and the Nation of Islam’s best recruiter. Nationalist community. He can’t be too conciliatory, how- They parted company in 1963 when an increasingly popular ever, lest the NOI chief alienates the fire-breathing militants Malcolm defied “the Messenger.” who comprise a major part of his base—and, more impor- Members of the NOI murdered Malcolm in 1965 and sec- tantly, still fall under his influence. tarian violence scarred much of the black nationalist com- Through an artful combination of outrageous rhetoric and munity. Many analysts wrongly predicted that Malcolm’s mollifying gestures, Farrakhan has managed to maintain his assassination would also kill the NOI. Farrakhan eventually radical base without undermining his mainstream credibil- got Malcolm’s job as head of the group’s Harlem Mosque ity. His dominance of the radical fringe also has served to and as Elijah’s representative. limit the appeal of Islamist radicalism among those African In his recent letter to the flock, Farrakhan said his ab- Americans most vulnerable to its lure. sence would be “a period of testing” that could “prove to the Those who welcome Farrakhan’s retreat from the national world that the Nation of Islam is more than the charisma, stage may not have fully considered the implications of his eloquence and personality of Louis Farrakhan.” This was absence. n

I n T h e s e T i m e s november 2006 1 5 back talk

by susan j. douglas Fear and Voting in the USA listened as his voice cracked. At a ahead of the public, bringing the civil rights movement or major national conference, a colleague the women’s movement into people’s living rooms and play- Ifrom another university—an eminent ing a central role in changing their minds about race and historian—could barely contain his an- gender relations in the country. Today, still trapped in old guish as he referred to the recent detention new routines—just look at the huge play given to the Foley bill and its gutting of habeas corpus. A few scandal—they are behind a rather large sector of the popu- hours later I listened to two young people lation. The news media seems to be reporting on the dots— who work in the film industry talk about breakdown of voting machines here, increased carnage in how they fully expected this election to be Iraq there—without connecting them. They are missing stolen. Driving through Oakland, Calif., possibly one of the biggest stories of our time: widespread I saw a movie marquee urging people to outrage, despair and fear over the subversion of a host of demand paper ballots from electronic voting machines so democratic processes. there’s a record of their votes. In my classes I have been ask- People aren’t fools. Many know, without using the term ing my students why they don’t follow the news, and they “neoliberalism,” that the government and the press have say, “Why bother—it’s all spin and you can’t believe it.” been in the hands (and service) of elites for a long time. But As the news media finally it is the determined and very begins to turn its attention to The news media are missing one public turn from neoliberalism the congressional elections, to naked autocratic power that we are getting a focus on the of the biggest stories of our time: has so many of us freaked out. trees, but not the forest. Will widespread outrage, despair and fear People sense that the country Rick Santorum win or lose? is veering toward some hor- Will the Republicans pay for over the subversion of our democracy. rid hybrid that exhibits the re- the public’s opposition to the pression of a fascist state and war in Iraq? But when you talk to a range of everyday peo- the incompetence of a banana republic. They see a defin- ple, it’s the forest they’re concerned about: Will our system ing turn that is shaping what kind of a country the United of constitutional democracy survive? And for many, this States will be for the next five, 10, 25 years, and it is a very election is a crucial, desperate test. Because the evidence dispiriting picture. is that this administration and its allies will do anything— The 300-pound gorilla in the room is widespread anxiety anything—to stay in power. over the integrity of the election, which is a proxy for the Can you remember a time when people were so terrified future of the country. Few of us are reassured by the pub- (not an overstatement) about the future of the republic? Ev- lic opinion polls showing Congress, Bush and the Republi- erywhere they look they see collapse. The legitimacy of the cans in the ratings toilet, because we’ve read Fooled Again entire infrastructure—Congress, the presidency, the news by Mark Crispin Miller, Was the 2004 Election Stolen? by In media, the electoral process—is in question. When can you These Times’ Joel Bleifuss and Steve Freeman, and the ar- remember an onslaught of so many books, issued almost ticles in Rolling Stone by Robert Kennedy Jr. We know about weekly now, that seek to save the nation by documenting the the various Diebold disasters, including the latest in Mary- incompetence and duplicity of Team Bush and its various ar- land, in which the supposedly secret computer codes that rogant, power-grabbing, anti-democratic adventures? Fiasco run the machines appeared in a former legislator’s mailbox. by Thomas Ricks,The One Percent Doctrine by Ron Suskind, A recent poll conducted in Pennsylvania found that nearly How Bush Rules by Sidney Blumenthal, The Looming Tower two-thirds of the voters there do not fully trust these ma- by Lawrence Wright, The Greatest Story Ever Sold by Frank chines to accurately count their votes. Rich, Hubris by Michael Isikoff and David Corn, the list goes Yet the possible (probable?) upcoming voting booth mal- on and on. Even Bob Woodward, sensing a change in the functions, the widespread alarm throughout the land about atmosphere (and his fortunes), has produced the mea culpa that and all the other Team Bush assaults on the constitu- State of Denial. Most of these books have been or are best- tion, have not been captured, reported or framed by the sellers. Yet there is a disconnect between acknowledgement news media. In the second week in October, Cory Lidle’s (finally!) of the Bush crowd’s past deceits, along with the lax plane crash into a New York high rise got three times as journalistic scrutiny of them, and outrage about what they much coverage as the looming congressional elections. But are up to right now, today, in further abrogating our rights. the dread is out there, all over the place, holding its breath, There have been times when the news media have been waiting to see what happens. n

1 6 november 2006 I n T h e s e T i m e s Droppin’ a Dime

laura s. washington Make Democrats Earn Black Votes ince the New Deal, the black rently Eleanor Holmes Norton, but has no advocate in the American electorate has voted over- U.S. Senate. If D.C. achieved full statehood, it would elect Swhelmingly Democratic. Since the two senators—most likely black, most likely Democratic. 1960s, no Democrat has won the White That would be an excellent thing. Sen. Barack Obama needs House without the black vote. Our vot- both the comfort and the competition. U.S. Rep. Harold ing behavior has been so lopsided that it Ford (D-Tenn.) may well be on his way there—but can you could lead one to question our collective imagine the attention and clout that four black senators intelligence, or lack of it. would draw? After Lyndon B. Johnson proposed and It doesn’t hurt that it was Barack Obama who co-spon- got the Voting Rights Act passed in 1965, sored the No Taxation Without Representation Act of 2005. African Americans’ commitment to the The proposal, which calls for D.C. statehood, notes that D.C. Democratic Party made sense. But what has the Demo- residents are the only Americans who pay federal income cratic Party done for us lately? Are black Americans well taxes and who have fought and died in every American war served by our slavish devotion to the party?Are our elect- but are denied voting representation in the Senate. ed officials wise to dance in this one-party minuet? Are we Senators can corral more power and respect than just cutting out own throats by about anyone else in either cutting our connections to African Americans will be a key Washington or the heartland. Republicans and third party Black folks need that juice. movements? element in the coming Democratic It won’t be easy. No one be- Have we sold ourselves too revival in Washington. It’s time for lieves the Republicans will qui- cheap? etly abdicate on statehood. If Difficult and complex ques- them to extract their pound of flesh. black leaders really push this tions, all. Let me propose a one, even Democrats will pri- suggestion, not a conclusion. vately scoff and admonish us to be realistic. Try this baby out: A couple is in a very heavy and prom- Is it realistic to think we can continue to disenfranchise ising relationship, but one of them still isn’t getting the a half million voters? By golly, would our founding fathers goods. If the sex is good, but you’ve still got issues, what have tolerated such a scenario? Of course, if our founding does a mature couple do? Do you split up and assume the fathers knew those people were black, they would have glee- next time around will be more fruitful? Does a woman fully shut the door on D.C. statehood. Back in the day, only move on, figuring, “Well, maybe the next guy will do a bet- property owners could vote—and blacks and women were ter job of trimming his nose hairs, and make more money chattel (so maybe we shouldn’t go there). to boot?” Fortunately, the founding fathers’ concept is constantly Absolutely not! You work it out. Black political leaders being updated and revised. can’t afford to be feckless or irresolute. They must instead D.C. Statehood could be a litmus test for the Democratic communicate to a flinty Democratic leadership and apply Party’s loyalty to African American voters. Candidates could pressure. be screened on where they stand on the question. Hardly a We have the power to extract specific policy initiatives revolutionary concept, but a worthy one. and legislation. African Americans will be a key element in The perennial conundrum faced by black political lead- the coming Democratic revival in Washington. It’s time for ers is moving past lofty rhetoric and turning it into actual them to extract their pound of flesh. deeds. Again, not easy. John Conyers, forget about impeachment. Here’s one Only a united political front will get us there. It will call simple, concrete proposal we can shove down the throats of for some serious horse trading. Some will be accused of both parties: It’s time to revive the call for Statehood for the sectarianism. Black elected officials continually confront District of Columbia. The U.S. Census estimates that there this charge because of the nature of their struggle and a lack are 550,521 residents of Washington, D.C. About 60 percent of resources. They generally represent poorer districts that are African American. That means D.C. has a larger con- produce less prosperous war chests. stituency than Wyoming (are you listening, Dick Cheney?). Still, it’s time. Black folks have vainly supported Demo- Yet D.C. is muzzled when it comes to having a full-throated cratic Party blunders and charades for half a century. After voice in the nation’s capital. Nov. 7, the marching orders of the Democratic Party must The District of Columbia does elect a representative, cur- be in tune with the color of its soul. n

I n T h e s e T i m e s november 2006 1 7 the first stone

by joel bleifuss The E. coli Free Market ince the advent tions and 200 deaths per year in the pesticides, antibiotics, hormones and of giant indus- United States. Today, infection from fertilizers. Strial enterprises E. coli 157 is the single greatest cause Abby Rockefeller, a leading critic in the late 19th century, of kidney failure in children. of the sewage industry and a propo- corporate capitalism in The origin of the recent outbreak nent of human-scale agriculture, says the United States has is thought to be cattle that are fed a factory farming has given manure, been defined by its use grain-based diet—more precisely the once a staple of agriculture, a bad of economies of scale to manure they produce. As research- name. “The excreta of factory farm increase profits—profits ers at Cornell University discovered animals, produced in vast quantities further enhanced by the in 1998, cows that graze or eat hay, as in the concentration pens and laced die-off of those business- nature intended, do not produce the with antibiotics to combat the disease es unable to compete. pathogen in their stomach. created in these horrific conditions, is Today, vast corporate enter- The real culprit, in this case, is cor- indeed rightly called ‘waste.’ Stored in prises—protected by a legal system porate agriculture, which uses econo- massive lagoons and stinking not of that defines corporations as per- mies of scale to mass produce food. manure but of putrefaction, too re- sons endowed with the same con- And while the consumer may benefit pulsive to use, it has become a liability stitutional rights as flesh-and-blood in the form of lower prices, America’s to the water, not a source of fertility people—control whole sectors of the agricultural communities bear the that manure has always been.” U.S. economy, the three branches of brunt of this consolidation. Consider One of the defining aspects of cor- government and the Fourth Estate these statistics. According to the De- porate capitalism is its uncanny abil- (the mass media through which the partment of Agriculture, in 2001, 5 ity to profit from adversity. E. coli public gets its information). The end percent of U.S. farms, both corporate 157-contaminated spinach presents result: an interconnected, self-rein- and family, raised 54 percent of the such an opportunity. forcing system of political power— nation’s beef and dairy cattle, hogs Into the breach stepped the nation’s Corporate America—that operates and poultry. Ten percent of farm sewage treatment industry, which outside human control. (Of course, owners received 63 percent of the wants to treat manure the same way the machine is oiled by a class in $27 billion in federal farm subsidies it does municipal sewage. In the early thrall to their six, seven and eight paid out in 2000. Between 1994 and ’90s, the industry convinced the En- figure paychecks.) 1996, about 25 percent of hog farm- vironmental Protection Agency to Concerns about life, liberty and the ers, 10 percent of grain farmers and 10 reclassify the sludge produced by na- pursuit of happiness aside, the prob- percent of dairy farmers went out of tion’s sewer plants as a fertilizer to be lem with this system is that it is, ulti- business. Of the 50 poorest counties spread across the land. To better sell mately, unsustainable. Not only does in the United States, all but one are this idea to the public, the sludge in- this corporate behemoth chew up and rural and agriculturally dependent. dustry hired a PR firm, which invent- spit out the people it employs as wage The United States today has more ed the term “biosolids.” This attempt slaves, it gorges on resources of the people in prison than people farm- at linguistic detoxification succeeded. natural world, disrupting the balance ing. And, thanks to the war on drugs, Today “biosolids” can be found in the of life on Earth. more of those people in prison come Merriam-Webster dictionary. And when humans fuck with from farm families, as crystal meth So, where others see a mountain of Mother Nature, she extracts revenge. does to rural America what crack did E-coli 157 contaminated, factory farm Look no further than the Arctic’s to America’s inner cities. cow shit, the sludge industry—which drowning polar bears or the Sahara’s Big concentrated farming opera- lobbies under the National Biosolids creeping deserts. tions also produce a lot of manure. Partnership (a joint venture of the One could also look closer to Each year, factory farms generate National Association of Clean Water home, to the 199 people fell who ill some 500 million tons of manure. Agencies, the Water Environment and the three who died after eating That waste is held in lagoons and Federation and EPA)—sees oppor- spinach contaminated with E. coli then applied to fields from which it tunity: Tons upon tons of cattle feces 157 bacteria. E. coli 157 was discov- runs off into streams or seeps into waiting to be processed. ered in 1982, and now, on average, is underground water supplies, pollut- Representatives of the sewage responsible for some 20,000 infec- ing the water with viruses, bacteria, treatment industry began calling for

1 8 november 2006 I n T h e s e T i m e s manure to be transformed into biosolids. described them back in 2002, “Urban While it is not known whether the fields Alan Rubin, the godfather of biosolids sludges are a highly complex, unpredict- from which the contaminated spinach during his tenure at the EPA, lobbied the able biologically active mixture of organic came were among the 12,000 irrigated prominent environmental group Nation- material and human pathogens that con- with Monterey’s treated sewage water, al Resources Defense Council, praising tain thousands of industrial waste prod- E-coli 157 contamination from such a the virtues of waste treatment as a solu- ucts, including dozens of carcinogens, source is not out of the question. tion to E-coli 157. hormone disrupting chemicals, toxic In an October 14 story titled “E. Coli’s On September 26, Rubin sent “smoking metals, dioxins, radionuclides and other Spread Is Still A Mystery,” the Los Angeles gun” information on E. coli to Melanie persistent bioaccumulative poisons.” Times quoted Alejandro Castillo, a Texas Shepherdson, an NRDC staff attorney, In Monterey County, where the E. coli A&M professor of food microbiology, as via an e-mail obtained by In These Times. 157 contaminated spinach was grown, saying he thought it likely that “some- She replied, “Thanks for this Al. We put treated sewage water (the liquid remain- thing, such as the irrigation system, mag- out a press release today related to the E. ing once sewage is turned into biosolids) nified the effect” spreading the E.coli 157 coli outbreak and I am meeting with the from the Monterey Regional Water Pollu- from spinach leaf to spinach leaf. EPA [Office of Science and Technology] tion Control Agency (a nice name for a In the end, Corporate America pro- folks this afternoon … and I plan to tie in sewage treatment plant) is used to irrigate vides us with our choice of poison: Mu- the E. coli outbreak.” 12,000 acres of Monterey vegetable fields. nicipal sewage sludge or shit from fac- That press release, issued jointly by the The industry claims that what it calls tory farms. Sierra Club, the Environmental Integ- “recycled water” is free from patho- Lost in the debate is the fact that the rity Project and the NRDC, parroted the gens. And Monterey Regional’s General real solution lies in going back to a more sludge industry line: “There are technolo- Manager Keith Israel says E. coli 157 has nature-friendly, human-scale form of gies available today that can reduce those never been found in the treatment plant’s agriculture. The kind of agriculture that pathogens by more than 99 percent.” The wastewater. Up in Seattle, public health can support rural communities and pro- technology Sheperdson was referring to authorities are more realistic, but just as vide healthy food for your table. But, hey, is the one that creates biosolid fertilizer dismissive. According to the King Coun- where is the corporate profit in that? n out of municipal sewage sludge. ty Public Health Web site: “Recycled Rubin was ecstatic. He sent Maureen biosolids may contain E. coli bacteria, Reilly, a leader of the anti-sludge move- but most strains of these bacteria do ment, a gloating e-mail: “THE RIGHT not cause disease. … Since [E. coli 157] Requiem MATERIAL IS FINALLY GOING TO BE is rare, only very tiny amounts of this REGULATED!!!! Life is good!!!” strain would ever make it to sewage By Kurt Vonnegut Of course the biosolid industry has a treatment plants.” public perception problem. Who wants to However, sewage treatment plants The crucified planet Earth, eat food fertilized by everything that we fail. And cattle manure enters munici- should it find a voice put down the sewer? As the Sierra Club pal sewer systems in a variety of ways. and a sense of irony, might now well say o our abuse of it, “Forgive them, Father, They know not what they do.”

The irony would be that we know what we are doing.

When the last living thing has died on accont of us, how poetical it would be if Earth could say, in a voice floating up perhaps from the floor

es of the Grand Canyon, g a “It is done.” Im This poem by In These Times Senior Editor Kurt Vonnegut was published in his 2005 best seller, A Man With- Workers at a Earthbound Organic Farm/Natural Selection Foods out A Country (Seven Stories Press). Paul Morris/Getty d farm in San Juan Bautista, Calif. Davi

I n T h e s e T i m e s november 2006 1 9 TASER International Inc. maintains that its stun-guns are “changing the world and saving lives everyday.” There is no question that they changed Jack Wilson’s life. On Aug. 4, in Lafayette, Colo., policemen on a stakeout approached Jack’s son Ryan as he entered a field of a dozen young marijuana plants. When Ryan took off running, officer John Harris pursued the 22-year-old for a half-mile and then shot him once with an X-26 Taser. Ryan fell to the ground and began to con- vulse. The officer attempted cardiopulmonary resuscitation, but Ryan died.

According to his family and friends, Ryan was in very good the hero of a series of early 20th century adventure novels. Be- physical shape. The county coroner found no evidence of alcohol cause it relied on gunpowder, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco or drugs in his system and ruled that Ryan’s death could be attrib- and Firearms classified Tasers as registered firearms. uted to the Taser shock, physical exertion from the chase and the That changed in the early ’90s. According to Taser’s corporate fact that one of his heart arteries was unusually small. creation story, co-founder Rick Smith became interested in the In October, an internal investigation cleared Officer Harris of any device after friends of his “were brutally murdered by an angry wrongdoing and concluded that he had used appropriate force. motorist.” Smith contacted Cover in the hopes of bringing the Wilson says that while his son had had brushes with the law Taser as a self-defense weapon to a larger market. In 1993, with as a juvenile and struggled financially, he was a gentle and sensi- money from Smith’s brother Tom, they created Air Taser Inc., tive young man who always looked out for his disabled younger which would later become Taser International Inc. When Tas- brother’s welfare, and was trying to better his job prospects by ers were re-engineered to work with a nitrogen propellant rather becoming a plumber’s apprentice. than gunpowder, the weapon was no longer categorized as a fire- “Ryan was not a defiant kid,” says his father. “I don’t understand arm. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department adopted why the cop would chase him for a half-mile, and then ‘Tase’ him the guns, but they were not widely embraced by other de- while he had an elevated heart rate. If [the officer] hadn’t done partments. that, we know that he would still be alive today.” Taser’s fortunes improved in 1998, after the company Ryan is one of nearly 200 people who have died in the last five embarked on a new development program, named years after being shot by a Taser stun gun. In June, the U.S. Depart- “Project Stealth.” The goal was to streamline stun ment of Justice announced that it would review these deaths. gun design and deliver enough voltage to stop Over the same period, Taser has developed a near-monopoly “extremely combative, violent individuals,” es- in the market for non-lethal weaponry. Increasingly, law enforce- pecially those who couldn’t be controlled by ment officials use such weapons to subdue society’s most vulner- non-lethal chemicals like mace. able members: prisoners, drug addicts and the mentally ill, along Out of Project Stealth, the Advanced with “passive resisters,” like the protesters demonstrating against Taser was born. When the weapon pre- Florida Governor Jeb Bush’s attendance of a Rick Santorum fund- miered in 2000—a model eventually raiser in Pittsburgh on Oct. 9. (See sidebar, “Passive Resisters.”) redesigned as the M-26—the company Taser has built this monopoly through influence peddling, savvy brought on a cadre of active and re- public relations and by hiring former law enforcement and mili- tired military and law enforcement tary officers—including one-time Homeland Security chief hope- personnel to vouch for the weap- ful, Bernard Kerik. And now that questions are being raised about on’s efficacy. The new spokesper- the safety of Taser weaponry, the company is fighting back with sons ranged from Arizona SWAT legal and marketing campaigns. members to a former Chief In- structor of hand-to-hand com- Birth of a Taser bat for the U.S. Marine Corps. In 1974, a NASA scientist named Jack Cover invented the first Taser began to showcase stun gun, which he named the TASER, or “Thomas A. Swift Elec- the Advanced Taser at tech- tric Rifle,” after Tom Swift, a fictional young inventor who was nology-related conventions

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2 0 n o v e m b e r 2 0 0 6 I n T h e s e T i m e s take] over muscular control.” People who have experienced the effect of a Taser typically liken it to a debilitating, full-body seizure, complete with mental dis- orientation and loss of control over bodily functions. Many Taser-associated deaths have been written up by coro- through- ners as being attributable to “excited delirium,” a condition out North America that includes frenzied or aggressive behavior, rapid heart rate and Europe, billing it as a and aggravating factors related to an acute mental state and/or non-lethal weapon that could drug-related psychosis. When such suspects are stunned, espe- take down even the tough- cially while already being held down or hogtied, deaths seem to est adversary. Soon to be among occur after a period of “sudden tranquility,” as Taser explains those “dangerous” opponents in its CD-ROM training material entitled, “Sudden Custody were the protesters Death: Who’s Right and Who’s Wrong.” In assembling in Phila- that same material, the company warns of- delphia for the 2000 ficers to “try to minimize the appearance of Republican National mishandling suspects.” Convention. Taser did not respond to requests for an By the following year, interview. But its press and business-related 750 law enforcement statements have consistently echoed the agencies had either tested or company’s official position: “TASER devices deployed the weapon. Today, use proprietary technology to quickly inca- more than 9,500 law enforce- pacitate dangerous, combative or high-risk ment, correctional and military Ryan Wilson (L), Officer John subjects who pose a risk to law enforcement agencies in 43 countries use Taser Harris (R) who Tased Wilson. officers, innocent citizens or themselves.” weaponry. In the past eight years, Another brochure, specifically designed for more than 184,000 Tasers have been sold to law en- law enforcement, clearly states that the X26 has “no after effects.” forcement agencies, with another 115,000 to citizens in the Ryan Wilson’s family can attest otherwise, as can many others. 43 states where it is legal to possess a stun gun. Casualties and cruelties When the electricity hits In the span of three months—July, August and September— Taser’s stun guns are designed to shoot a maximum of 50,000 Wilson’s Taser-related death was only one among several. Larry volts into a person’s body through two compressed nitrogen-fu- Noles, 52, died after being stunned three times on his body (and eled probes, thereby disrupting the target’s electromuscular sys- finally on his neck) after walking around naked and “behaving tem. The probes are connected to the Taser gun by insulated wires, erratically.” An autopsy found no drugs or alcohol in his sys- and can deliver repeat shocks in quick succession. The probes can tem. Mark L. Lee, 30, was suffering from an inoperable brain tu- pierce clothing and skin from a distance or be directly applied mor and having a seizure when a Rochester, N.Y., police officer to a person’s body—a process known as “dry stunning”—for an stunned him. In Cookeville, Ala., 31-year-old Jason Dockery was ostensibly less-incapacitating, cattle-prod effect. stunned because police maintain he was being combative while “The impetus for Tasers came from the often community-led on hallucinogenic mushrooms. Family members believe he was search for ‘less-than-lethal’ police weapons,” explains Norm having an aneurysm. And Nickolos Cyrus, a 29-year-old man di- Stamper, former chief of the Seattle Police Department and au- agnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, was shocked 12 times with thor of Breaking Rank. “[There were] too many questionable or a Taser stun gun after a Mukwonago, Wis., police officer caught bad police shootings, and cops saying, correctly, that there are him trespassing on a home under construction. An inquest jury many ambiguous situations where a moment’s hesitation could has already ruled that the officer who shot Cyrus—who was -de lead to their own deaths or the death of an innocent other.” lusional and naked from the waist down when he was stunned— According to Taser’s promotional materials, its stun guns was within his rights to act as he did. are designed to “temporarily override the nervous system [and Although the company spins it otherwise, Taser-associated

I n T h e s e T i m e s n o v e m b e r 2 0 0 6 2 1 hibitions against cruel and unusual pun- ishment. This summer, the ACLU of Colorado filed a class action suit on behalf of pris- oners in the Garfield County Jail, where jail staff have allegedly used Tasers and electroshock belts, restraint chairs, pep- per spray and pepperball guns as methods of torture. According to Mark Silverstein, legal director for ACLU of Colorado, inmates have told him that Tasers are pulled out and “displayed” by officers on a daily basis, either as a form of intimida- tion and threat compliance, or to shock the inmates for disobeying orders. A recent report from the ACLU’s Na- tional Prison Project (NPP), “Abandoned and Abused: Orleans Parish Prisoners in mages I the Wake of Hurricane Katrina,” concerns y Taser International co-founder tt

e the plight of the estimated 6,500 New Or-

G and CEO Rick Smith shows how the company’s X-26 TASER can be mounted leans prisoners left to fend for themselves to a rifle. The X-26 is being used in in the days after the monumental New this manner by the military in Iraq. Orleans flood. The NPP’s Tom Jawetz

Jeff Topping/ says that the organization has been look- ing into abuses at Orleans Parish Prison deaths are definitely on the rise. In 2001, efficacy of the “Advanced Taser” model (OPP) since 1999, but that the incidents Amnesty International documented three in North America were conducted on in- that took place in jails and prisons in the Taser-associated deaths. The number has carcerated men. In December 1999, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina were un- steadily increased each year, peaking at weapon was used, with “success,” against a precedented. 61 in 2005. So far almost 50 deaths have Clackamas County (Ore.) Jail inmate. The Take the case of New Orleans resident occurred in 2006, for an approximate to- following year, the first-ever Canadian use Ivy Gisclair. Held at OPP for unpaid tal of 200 deaths in the last five years. of an Advanced Taser was by the Victoria parking tickets, Gisclair was about to be Amnesty International and other hu- Police, on an inmate in psychiatric lock- released on his own recognizance when man rights groups have also drawn atten- down. Since that time, Taser deployment Hurricane Katrina hit. After languishing tion to the use of Tasers on captive popula- in jails and prisons has become increas- with thousands of other prisoners in a tions in hospitals, jails and prisons. ingly commonplace, raising concerns flooded jail, Gisclair was sent to the Bossi- In fact, the first field tests relating to the about violations of 8th Amendment pro- er Parish Maximum Security Prison. Once

Passive Resisters

Things turned ugly at an Oct. 9 pro- enforcement agencies, intersperses foot- test in Pittsburgh, when demonstrators age of protesters at various demonstra- converged to protest Florida Governor tions with instruction on how Taser stun Jeb Bush’s attendance at a fundraiser gun probes can be used “to separate for Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) Protesters linked protesters.” cornered Bush, chanting, “We don’t want The CD explains that probes deliver- you here.” Though the protesters were ing the 50,000 volts can be taped to the entirely nonviolent, police responded by backs of “subjects,” ostensibly to prevent using Tasers on two of them. removal by the protesters. The stun guns While Taser’s materials have always fo- can also be used directly against pres- cused on the need for “less-than-lethal” sure points on the skin (in “drive mode”) weapons to take down even the most to “gain access to hands when subjects violent, intoxicated and determined of are not linked to others.” assailants, the company also advocates The materials also include suggestions use of their weapons on far less danger- on how to shape department policy if changes” include working on the “per- ous populations. your local police department is currently ception” of the stun guns; “defensibility” “Crowd Control: Passive Resisters,” prohibited from using Tasers on passive of the use of the weapons; and seeking a CD-ROM Taser distributed to law resisters. The “factors for affecting policy “supervisory approval.”

2 2 n o v e m b e r 2 0 0 6 I n T h e s e T i m e s there, Gisclair apparently had the nerve to tive Research Forum, an influential police Fogg, who also serves on the board of inquire about being held past his release research and advocacy group, recom- Amnesty International USA, says that too date. Gisclair has testified that he was then mended that law enforcement only be many members of law enforcement seem to restrained and stunned repeatedly with a allowed to use Tasers on people aggres- be using them as compliance mechanisms. Taser, before being thrown, naked and un- sively resisting arrest. The organization “It’s something along the lines of, ‘If I don’t conscious, into solitary confinement. also recommended that law enforcement like you, I can torture you,’ ” he says. “I can’t imagine any justification for officers needed to step back and evaluate Some law enforcement agencies have al- that,” says Jawetz. “[Prison guards] were the condition of suspects after they had ready implemented careful use policies, in- kicking, beating and ‘Tasing’ him until been shocked once. Similar recommen- cluding the San Francisco Sheriff’s Depart-

‘We are seeing far too many cases where Tasers are not being used for their intended purposes. And many of these cases don’t end up getting reported or properly investigated.

he lost consciousness. A line was crossed dations were included in an April 2005 ment, which selectively hands out Tasers that should never have been crossed.” report from the International Association to carefully trained deputies. The depart- In March, Reuben Heath, a handcuffed of Chiefs of Police. That report also urged ment also prohibits use of Tasers on sub- and subdued Montana inmate, was police departments to evaluate whether jects already “under control.” According shocked while lying prone in his bed. The certain vulnerable groups—including the to Sheriff Michael Hennessey, deputies are deputy involved—a one-time candidate mentally ill—should be excluded alto- not allowed to use stun guns in response to for sheriff—now faces felony charges. gether from being shot with Tasers. minor ineffectual threats, as a form of pun- Gisclair and Heath are among the in- Although Fogg’s organization has ishment, or on juveniles or pregnant wom- mates who have survived in-custody inci- called for an outright ban of Tasers until en. Within the department, stun guns are dents involving the abuse of Tasers. Oth- further research can be conducted, Fogg purposely set to turn off after five seconds. ers haven’t been as fortunate. This year says that he knows responsible members Additionally, every use of the weapon in a alone, those who have died in custody in of law enforcement are perfectly capable jail facility must be videotaped. the aftermath of being stunned by Tasers of using the weapons effectively. Officers “I authorize Tasers to be used on peo- include Arapahoe County Jail (Colorado) who are willing to put their lives on the ple who are at high risk of hurting them- inmate Raul Gallegos-Reyes, 34, who was line for the sake of the community, he selves or deputies,” Sheriff Hennessey strapped to a restraint chair and stunned; emphasizes, must be given the tools and emphasizes. “Without options like these, Jerry Preyer, 45, who suffered from a se- training to be able to minimize harm to the inmate and the deputies are much vere mental illness in an Escambia County, themselves and to others. more likely to get seriously hurt.” Fla., jail and was shocked twice by a Taser; and Karl Marshall, 32, who died in Kansas City police custody two hours after he was stunned with PCP and crack cocaine in his system. Atheists, Humanists, Appropriate uses Freethinkers, Agnostics Things turned ugly at an Oct. 9 pro- enforcement agencies, intersperses foot- “We are seeing far too many cases test in Pittsburgh, when demonstrators age of protesters at various demonstra- where Tasers are not being used for their You have a voice on Capitol Hill converged to protest Florida Governor tions with instruction on how Taser stun intended purposes,” says Sheley Secrest, Jeb Bush’s attendance at a fundraiser gun probes can be used “to separate president of NAACP Seattle. “And many for Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) Protesters linked protesters.” of these cases don’t end up getting report- cornered Bush, chanting, “We don’t want The CD explains that probes deliver- ed or properly investigated because people Secular Coalition you here.” Though the protesters were ing the 50,000 volts can be taped to the entirely nonviolent, police responded by backs of “subjects,” ostensibly to prevent are so humiliated by the experience.” using Tasers on two of them. removal by the protesters. The stun guns Former U.S. Marshal Matthew Fogg, a While Taser’s materials have always fo- can also be used directly against pres- long-time SWAT specialist and vice presi- for America cused on the need for “less-than-lethal” sure points on the skin (in “drive mode”) dent of Blacks in Government, says that weapons to take down even the most to “gain access to hands when subjects if stun guns are going to be used by law www.secular.org violent, intoxicated and determined of are not linked to others.” enforcement, training on their use should Support our efforts to protect and strengthen assailants, the company also advocates The materials also include suggestions be extensive, and that the weapons should use of their weapons on far less danger- on how to shape department policy if changes” include working on the “per- also be placed high up on what police of- the secular character of our government and ous populations. your local police department is currently ception” of the stun guns; “defensibility” ficers call the “use-of-force continuum.” to increase the respectability of our “Crowd Control: Passive Resisters,” prohibited from using Tasers on passive of the use of the weapons; and seeking Fogg isn’t alone in calling for such mea- community’s viewpoints. a CD-ROM Taser distributed to law resisters. The “factors for affecting policy “supervisory approval.” sures. In October 2005, the Police Execu- Name: I n T h e s e T i m e s Address:n o v e m b e r 2 0 0 6 2 3 City: State: Zip Code: Phone: Email:

Secular Coalition for America P.O. Box 53330, Washington, DC 20009-9330 To make a credit card gift go to www.secular.org/support.html As a 501(c)(4) organization gifts are not tax-deductible But when stun guns are used on people who don’t fit that criteria, Secrest says, the public should be asking serious ques- tions about the efficacy of Taser use, par- ticularly because of the emotional trauma related to Taser-related take-downs. “When a person comes into our office after they’ve been [Tased], it’s not as much the physical pain they talk about as much as the humiliation, the disrespect,” she says. “The people [who are stunned by these guns] talk about not being able to move, and thinking that they were going to die.” As for actual Taser-associated deaths, Secrest believes that they should be in- vestigated just as thoroughly as deaths y Camera involving firearms. Instead, Taser injuries l and deaths are typically justified because Virginia Allen cries while embracing Monique van Rhyn during a funeral officers report that the suspect was resist- on / Dai ing an arrest. t visitation for Ryan Wilson. Allen was Wilson’s girlfriend, and van “That’s the magic word: ‘resisted,’ ” says Rhyn was his stepmother. Secrest. “Any kind of police oversight in- vestigation tends to end right there.” Joshua Law

Capitalizing on 9/11 ers were able to cash in, including the attributed to the M-26 at all.” Despite these concerns, Taser Interna- Smith family, who raked in $91.5 million The council approved a $193,000 deal tional Inc. has thrived. The 9/11 terrorist in just one fiscal quarter in 2004. later that day. attacks sent the company’s profits soar- Unbeknownst to most stockholders, As it turned out, Halsted was already ing. Many domestic and international however, sales have been helped along being rewarded with Taser stock options airlines—as well a variety of major law by police officers who have received pay- as a member of the company’s “Master enforcement agencies—were eager to ac- ments and/or stock options from Taser Instructor Board.” Two months after the quire a new arsenal of weapons. Home- to serve as instructors and trainers. (The sale, Halsted became Taser’s Southwest land Security money flooded into both exact number of officers on the payroll is regional sales manager. state and federal-level departments, many unknown because the company declines In addition, Taser has developed a po- of which were gung-ho to acquire a new to identify active-duty officers who have tent gimmick to sell its futuristic line of arsenal of high-tech gadgets. received stock options.) weapons. In 2003, Taser premiered the In 2002, Taser brought on former New The recruitment of law enforcement X-26. According to Taser’s promotional York police commissioner Bernard Kerik has been crucial to fostering market pen- materials, the X-26 features an enhanced as the company’s director. Kerik had at- etration. For instance, Sgt. Jim Halsted of dataport to help “save officer’s careers tained popularity in the wake of 9/11 as a the Chandler, Ariz., Police Department, from false allegations” by recording dis- law-and-order-minded hero; the compa- joined Taser President Rick Smith in mak- charge date and time, number and length ny had seemingly picked one of the best ing a presentation to the Chandler city and date of discharges, and the optional spokespersons imaginable. council in March 2003. He made the case ability to record the event with the Taser With Kerik’s help, company’s profits for arming the entire police patrol squad webcam. The X-26 also boasts a more grew to $68 million in 2004, up from just with M-26 Tasers. According to the Asso- powerful incapacitation rating of 105 under $7 million in 2001, and stockhold- ciated Press, Halsted said, “No deaths are “Muscular Disruption Units”, up from 100 MDU’s for the M-26. The X-26 is apparently far more pleas- 2007 CAT LOVERS ing to the eye. As Taser spokesperson Steve Tuttle told a law enforcement trade jour- AGAINST THE BOMB nal, “It’s a much sexier-looking product.” wALL CALENdAR Lawsuits jolt Taser $7.95 each + $1.50 postage. As increasing numbers of police de- Published by Nebraskans for partments obtained Taser stun guns, the Peace. Order from: CLAB, PO weapons started to be deployed against Box 83466, Lincoln, NE 68501. civilians with greater frequency. Toll free (877) 778-3434; Fax (402) Many of the civilian Taser-associated 483-4108. E-mail:[email protected]. incidents have resulted in lawsuits, most of which have either been dismissed or

2 4 n o v e m b e r 2 0 0 6 I n T h e s e T i m e s settled out of court. But there have been a this country: false allegations against law 2004 Smith announced that the compa- few exceptions. enforcement officers,” according to Steve ny’s legal team had begun a “comprehen- In late September, Kevin Alexander, 29, Ward, Taser’s vice president of marketing. sive review of AI’s disparaging and un- was awarded $82,500 to settle an excessive supported public statements [to] advise force federal lawsuit after being shocked “We’re going to win” me as to various means to protect our 17 times with a Taser by a New Orleans The lawsuits have scared off some - in company’s good name.” Parish police officer. The department’s vestors, making Taser’s stock extremely In one of the company’s brashest legal explanation: the shocks were intended to volatile over the years. But press coverage maneuvers to date, Taser sued Gannett make him cough up drugs he had alleg- of the company this past summer largely Newspapers for libel in 2005. The lawsuit edly swallowed. centered around Taser’s “successes” in alleged USA Today “sensationalized” the One recently settled Colorado case in- the courtroom. In addition to settling a power of Taser guns by inaccurately re- volved Christopher Nielsen, 37, who was $21.8 million shareholder lawsuit revolv- porting that the electrical output of the gun “acting strangely” and was not responsive ing around allegations that the company was more than 100 times that of the electric to police orders after he crashed his car. had exaggerated the safety of their prod- chair. This past January, a judge threw the For his disobedience, he was stunned five uct (they admitted no wrongdoing), Taser case out, saying that the error in the article times. When it was revealed that Nielsen has triumphed in more than 20 liability was not malicious, and that the story was was suffering from seizures, the county dismissals and judgments in favor of the protected by the First Amendment. settled the case for $90,000. company. And the company’s finances are The company remains unwavering An Akron, Ohio, man also recently ac- on the upswing: Third-quarter 2006 rev- and aggressively protective, even as Tas- cepted a $35,000 city settlement. One day enues increased nearly 60 percent. er-associated deaths mount each month. in May 2005, he had gone into diabetic Regardless, CEO Rick Smith claims his As Smith told the Associated Press in shock and police found him slumped company is target of a witchhunt. “We’re February, “If you’re coming to sue Taser, over his steering wheel. Two officers pro- waiting for people to dunk me in water bring your game face, strap it on and let’s ceeded to physically beat, Mace and Taser and see if I float,” is how he put it during a go. We’re gonna win.” him after he did not respond to orders to March 2005 debate with William Schulz, From Jack Wilson’s standpoint, citizens get out of the car. the executive director of Amnesty Inter- are the real losers. His son Ryan lost his life Taser’s lack of response to the misuse of national USA. in a situation that could have been handled the company’s weapons is troubling. The Last year, with 40 new lawsuits filed any number of other ways, and no amount company relentlessly puts a positive spin on against it, Taser dedicated $7 million in of legal posturing can bring Ryan back. Taser use, most recently with a “The Truth its budget to defending the company’s “I still can’t believe my son is gone,” he is Undeniable” Web ad campaign, which reputation and “brand equity.” The com- says. “The fact is that these Tasers can be contrasts mock courtroom scenes with the pany has also gone on the offense, hiring lethal. No matter how they’re categorized, fictionalized, violent antics of civilians that two full-time, in-house litigators. Tasers shouldn’t be treated as toys.” n prompt police to stungun them. At one point, Taser hinted that it might The campaign involves print ads, direct sue Amnesty International for taking a Thanks to the Nation Institute’s Inves- mail DVDs and online commercials that critical position regarding Taser-associ- tigative Fund for research support, and to “draw attention to a rampant problem in ated injuries and deaths. In November David Burnett for research assistance.

Going after the civilian market

Police officers aren’t the only people Douglas Cote, manager of citizen sales, toting Tasers. told the AP: “[W]e make the device. We For a decade, Taser stun guns have don’t tell everybody how to use it.” been available to civilian buyers in 43 They certainly don’t. In August, states. And in the last couple of years, two men armed with Tasers robbed the company has stepped up its mar- two women outside of San Antonio keting to make sure that the $999 Taser shopping malls. In Pasadena, a man X-26C Citizen Defense System becomes appropriately named the “Taser Bandit” the home defense weapon of choice. is on the loose after robbing a bank in Toward that end, Taser has demonstrat- October, armed only with his stun gun. ed the civilian model in cities across the In June, Clark David Thomas, 43, kid- country. napped his 21-year-old estranged wife, TASER can help you fight off The X-26C doesn’t differ significantly and held her captive in a North Charles- real-world bad guys from the one used by law enforcement. ton, S.C., hotel room for two days. Instead of a 21-foot range, the civilian Thomas bound the woman and then their prey. In August, in Modesto, Calif., model has a 15-foot range. It can shock repeatedly stunned her with his Taser a serial rapist kidnapped and brutally someone for up to 30 seconds. until she was able to make an escape. raped a 27-year-old woman after stun- Early concerns about civilian misuse And, it appears violent predators ning her with a Taser. were pooh-poohed by Taser executives. have caught on to a new way to torture

I n T h e s e T i m e s n o v e m b e r 2 0 0 6 2 5 Is a little economics a dangerous thing? By Christopher Hayes

here’s a case to be made ism could only function with regular and the U. of C.’s Journal of Law and Econom- that the single most intellectu- robust government management. Indeed, ics showed that those with college degrees ally and politically influential so total was this consensus that in 1971 are more likely to subscribe to the views neighborhood in the United Richard Nixon announced a plan to im- of neoclassical economists than the gen- TStates is Chicago’s Hyde Park. Integrat- pose wage and price caps in order to curb eral public. This isn’t surprising. At elite ed, affluent and quiet, the 1.6 square- inflation, declaring, “We are all Keynes- colleges, economics is consistently one of mile enclave on the city’s south side is ians now.” Just 25 years later, however, Bill the most popular majors (nearly a quarter like a tiny company town, where the Clinton, the first Democratic president to of undergrads at the U. of C.), and across company happens to be the august, be re-elected since FDR, announced that all schools, introductory economics, of- gothic, eminently serious University the “era of big government is over.” He ten a required course, has been one of of Chicago. Students at the U. of C. sell might as well have said, “We are all Chi- the 10 most popular classes for the last 30 T-shirts that read “Where Fun Goes To cagoans now.” years. Graduate schools—from business to Die,” and the same could be said of the Neoclassical economics, as the Chicago public policy to political science to, most neighborhood, which until very recent- School of thought is now called, has be- notably, law—are now suffused with eco- ly had a bookstore-to-bar ratio of 5:2. come an international elite consensus, one nomic paradigms for understanding not But the university is probably best known that provides the foundation for the entire only financial interactions but all human for the school of economic thought it has global political economy. In the United behavior. produced. When the Chicago School first States, young members of the middle and Conservatives have long critiqued aca- emerged in the ’50s, its zealous support of upper-middle class first learn its precepts demia for the ways professors use their free markets and critique of government in the academy. Polls routinely show that position to indoctrinate students with intervention were considered reactionary economists and the general public have left-wing ideology, but the left has largely and extreme. Among elites in economics widely divergent views on the economy, ignored the political impact of the way and politics the consensus was, as John but among the well-educated that gap is people learn economics, though its in- Maynard Keynes had argued, that capital- far narrower. A 2001 study published in fluence is likely far more profound. So in

2 6 n o v e m b e r 2 0 0 6 I n T h e s e T i m e s order to find out just what students learn expression of interest, whereas if you pay most benefits on those who worked the when they learn economics, I headed me, we both are benefiting.” hardest—and the inherent injustice of down to Hyde Park, where the University This makes sense, but I’m uneasy. a coercive state forcibly redistributing generously let me enroll in “Principles of Wouldn’t giving a place in class to the capital—into a technical argument about Macroeconomics” for a quarter. highest bidder result in the rich students the inefficiencies associated with non- getting in and the financial-aid kids be- free-market solutions and the perverse llen Sanderson, 62, has been ing left out? And since people don’t have incentives that made any social pro- teaching the intro macro and mi- equal amounts of money to spend, how grams destined to fail. Thus, arguments Acro courses at the university for good a measure of desire is price in this about the way the world should be were the last 18 years and though he initially situation? converted into assertions about how the appears somewhat grave and under- “Random and first-come have the ben- world actually was. Or, to put in terms stated, it is quickly apparent that he is efit of being fair,” Sanderson says, antici- that economists favor, normative argu- a master of technique. His lectures skip pating the objection. “There’s an interest- ments became positive ones. along, propelled by a series of wry, con- ing dichotomy of fair vs. efficient.” But, In the textbook Sanderson uses, author trarian quips, each punctuated with a vi- Sanderson asks, what, really, is fair? If we Michael Parkin defines the difference this sual rimshot: a slight pause and a thrust think some kind of random lottery draw- way: positive statements are about “what jaw. “When you hear, ‘The economics ing was a fair way of getting into the class, is” and they “might be right or wrong.” department at U. of C.,’ one’s free associa- would that be a fair way of awarding Normative statements are about “what tion is ‘pro-business, greedy bastards,’ ” grades? “Obviously not!,” I think. Why? ought to be” and because they depend says Sanderson (pause, jaw thrust) in the Sanderson lets us mull that over, but the on values, they can’t be tested. “Be on first lecture. “I tend to think that’s not answer floats up immediately: because I the lookout,” Parkin warns, “for norma- the case. Greedy bastards we may be, but work hard for my grades and I deserve tive propositions dressed up as positive we’re not pro-business. Republicans tend them. In other words, those who work propositions.” to be very pro-business. It’s a genetic de- hard and get good grades are like those Parkin’s warning, however, turns out to fect of Republicans. Democrats tend to who work hard and have a lot of money be surprisingly difficult to heed. Neoclas- be anti-business, another genetic defect. to win spots that are auctioned by price. sical economics smuggles a great many We are not anti-business; we are not pro- “We’re trying to balance these things normative wares underneath its positive business. We are pro-choice in the ulti- out,” Sanderson continues. “What’s ef- trenchcoat, both in its assumptions about mate sense of pro-market. Based on em- ficient? What’s fair? Often they are in how humans operate—as individuals ra- pirical work, macro and micro solutions tension.” tionally maximizing their utility—and its are probably better worked out by private implied preference for “markets in every- markets than government intervention.” fficiency is the Chicago School’s thing.” Because neoclassical economics His second lecture begins with a defining value. The free- mar always presents itself as a value-neutral thought experiment. Noting that there Eket economists who came be- description of the world, its ideological are only 26 spots left in the class for the 52 fore—most notably Austrian Friedrich commitments can be adopted by those students who would still like to enroll, he Hayek—offered a philosophical critique who learn it without any recognition that asks, “How should we figure out who gets of the political consequences of state reg- they are ideological. This is the source to go into the class?” The students—eager, ulation and control of the economy. But of some very spirited debate within the studious and serious—shoot their hands Milton Friedman, his colleague George field itself. A growing global movement of up and offer a variety of ideas: Seniority? Stigler and the entire Chicago School fo- “heterodox” economists has criticized the First-come, first-serve? Ask prospective cused on the actual economic problems of ideological confines and blindspots of the students to write an essay? It takes about state control, namely, inefficiency. They neoclassical approach. As Nobel Laureate a minute for a confident young man to rejected Keynes’ contention that markets Joseph Stiglitz put it, the dominance of the give the answer Sanderson’s looking for: function best with routine government neoclassical model is a “triumph of ideol- “auction by price.” intervention and instead harkened back ogy over science.” “As a reasonable indication of how to Adam Smith’s classical conceptions In the popular press, however, such much you want something, how much of equilibrium. Chicago School theories dissent is almost entirely absent. When you’re willing to pay is a pretty good gained popularity when global capitalism protesters disrupted the 1999 World means of measuring,” Sanderson says. hit a major funk in the ’70s—a period of Trade Organization meeting in Seattle, “A lot of things in economics will turn in slow growth and high inflation. Fried- WTO officials, mainstream economists one way or another on price. Price has a man argued, plausibly, that it was too and the New York Times’ Thomas Fried- lot going for it as a generalized expression much government that had caused the man ignored the fact that in much of the of commitment. The thing we don’t like problems. world neoclassical reforms had failed to about, say, first-come, first-serve, is that What may seem a subtle rhetorical shift produce the promised growth. Fried- if someone really wants to get in, they had major consequences. It transformed man went so far as to dismiss the pro- could start lining up now. But the prob- what had been conservatism’s moral ar- testers as “flat-earthers.” For Thomas lem is that I don’t really benefit from your gument about capitalism bestowing the Friedman (and, indeed, Allen Sander-

I n T h e s e T i m e s n o v e m b e r 2 0 0 6 2 7 son), people can’t “disagree” with neo- center of the political spectrum, and that percentage of their income in taxes is classical economics. They can only fail can leave students with a strange percep- deeply embedded in American political to understand it. tion of just where the center lies. During a culture, even during years of Republican discussion of flat, progressive and regres- domination. The students sitting around s a standard part of his first lec- sive tax structures, a student asked about me, I start to fear, are going to walk out of ture in both his macro and micro- the argument against the flat tax. “What’s the lecture thinking that the flat tax is a Aeconomics class, Sanderson reads wrong with the flat rate tax?” Sanderson sensible, centrist idea. And as thousands a David Barry quote: “Democrats seem replies. “Well, the bad thing was that Steve of students pass through classes like to be basically nicer people, but they have Forbes was the spokesman. It’s not obvi- Sanderson’s every year, I worry that it will demonstrated the management skills of ous that there’s that much wrong with become a sensible, centrist idea. celery. Republicans would know how to it. There’s sort of a movement out there Sanderson’s politics aren’t one-dimen- fix your tire, but they wouldn’t stop.” In the wake of Katrina and Iraq, this ‘A little economics can be a dangerous thing,’ might seem quaint, but what Sanderson is doing makes sense. Temperamentally, warned a friend. ‘An intro econ course is it reflects his own, libertarian-inflected, necessarily going to be superficial. You deal with “pox-on-both-their-houses” centrism, but his insistence on political equanimity is highly stylized models that are robbed of context.’ also crucial to his pedagogical success. Stu- dents are most likely to have been exposed for a flat rate tax. Because it strikes some sional, and he certainly isn’t a propagan- to macroeconomic issues within the con- people: What could be fairer than that? It dist. But the fact remains that he has the text of political debates about free trade, also doesn’t distort incentives. It has a lot predispositions of someone who “learned the size of the budget deficit, tax rates, going for it.” economics from Milton Friedman.” First, etc. In order to assure students that they It’s true that there’s “sort of a move- there’s a tendency to see trade-offs be- aren’t just learning a set of political talking ment” for a flat tax, but those in favor of tween equity and efficiency even where points, he must go out of his way to ham- what would be the single most regressive they might not exist. Dean Baker, an mer home the fact that what he’s offering redistribution of wealth in American his- economist at the Center for Economic is unbiased and nonpartisan: positive not tory are not located in the political center. and Policy Research and author of the normative, facts not opinion. “I don’t have Far-right Republicans like former House book The Conservative Nanny State, a dog in this fight,” Sanderson tells the stu- Majority Leader Dick Armey have long points out that policies can be both fairer dents. So every joke about George Bush is pushed the idea, as have conservative and more efficient. For instance, Baker followed by a joke about Hillary Clinton, think tanks like American Enterprise In- told me, “it is not clear that a flat tax is every shot at a Democrat quickly balanced stitute and the Heritage Foundation. But more efficient than a progressive income by a shot at Republicans. politically, it’s a non-starter. The basic no- tax. This is entirely an empirical question. The effect, intentional or not, is that tion of fairness that those who get more It is entirely possible that taxing middle- Sanderson appears to represent the exact out of our economy should pay a greater income workers and Bill Gates at a 25 percent rate will create more distortions than taxing middle-income workers at a 15 percent rate and Bill Gates at a 40 percent rate. … They want liberals to say that we care about fairness and they care about efficiency. This is crap. They find ways to justify redistributing income up- ward and proclaim it to be efficient. The reality is it is not fair and generally not efficient either.” But when equity and efficiency trade- offs do arise, economists like Sanderson are systematically biased in favor of ef- ficiency because that’s what they are experts on. Efficiency they can measure and analyze. Fairness? That’s the turf of philosophers and politicians. This ten- dency is most pronounced in discus- sions of economic growth, and how the benefits of that growth should be dis- tributed. Sanderson paraphrases his No- bel Laureate colleague Bob Lucas, who says that “once you start to think about the benefits of high growth, it’s hard

2 8 n o v e m b e r 2 0 0 6 I n T h e s e T i m e s to think about anything else.” In other words, first worry about how best to grow the pie, then how to slice it up. Let efficiency trump equity, create wealth, and then you can use the extra wealth you’ve created to alleviate inequality. This makes a certain amount of sense. But when this rhetoric comes to domi- nate our politics, the problem of inequal- ity is never addressed. Now is always the time for growing, later is always the time to address concerns about equity. The re- sult is predictable: In countries that have adopted the neoclassical policy prescrip- tions (including the United States), there ago has been an ever-widening gap between c rich and poor. y of Chi t s taught by Sanderson, econom- niversi

ics is a satisfyingly neat machine: U complicated enough to warrant University of Chicago Professor Allen Sanderson

A esy of curiosity and discovery, but not so compli- t teaches it like he thinks it is.

cated as to bewilder. Like a bicycle, input our matches output (wind the crank and the c wheel moves), and once you’ve got the ba- sics of the model down, everything seems sumptions of rationality, individualism, reads to the class from an article in the to make sense. As the weeks go by, and I maximizing behavior, etc. But, of course, Chicago Tribune with the headline, “Cor- trek down to Hyde Park, fight for a park- if you don’t go any further than Econ 101, porate Giants Dwarf Many Nations.” The ing space and slip in between the hundred- you won’t know that the textbook models piece compares the annual sales of large plus students into the lecture hall, I come are not the way the world really works, corporations like Wal-Mart with that of to love the class. The more reading I do, the and that there are tons of empirical stud- small countries, like Israel, showing that more sense the op-eds in the Wall Street ies out there that demonstrate this.” many of the world’s 200 largest corpora- Journal make. The NPR program “Market- Take, for instance, the minimum wage. tions are as large as entire national econ- place” becomes interesting. I even know In Sanderson’s intro micro class, he uses a omies, and therefore have a great deal of what exactly the Fed rate is. A part of the simple supply and demand model of a la- political and economic clout. After quot- world that was blurry and obscure begins bor market to show why a minimum wage ing at length, Sanderson points out how to come into focus. My classmates seem to will cause unemployment, and therefore implausible it is that 200 companies, with feel the same way. “I never thought I’d be be self-defeating. “Most economists, my- one third of one percent of the world’s interested in economics,” one sophomore self included, are opposed to living wage workforce, could produce 28 percent of told me. “Sanderson convinced me I was.” ordinances and minimum wage laws pe- the world’s economic activity. “There’s a The simple models have an explana- riod,” he says. But a series of empirical word for it,” Sanderson says. “Two words, tory power that is thrilling. Once you’ve studies has established that the most re- actually. The first is ‘Horse.’ ” grasped the aggregate supply/aggre- cent increase of minimum wage in 1997 The problem, Sanderson notes, is that gate demand model, you understand had essentially no impact on unemploy- “sales” is a terrible measurement for why stimulating demand may lead, in ment. In fact, in October, 650 economists, the economic output of a company like the short run, to growth, but will also including five Nobel Laureates, signed a Wal-Mart, because it only produces a produce inflation. But the content of letter advocating an increase in the U.S. very small percentage of the value of any that understanding turns out to be a bit minimum wage to $8 an hour. product is sells. When you buy pistachios thin. Inflation happens because, well, Of course, some elision and simplifi- at Wal-Mart, it’s not like those nuts were that’s where the lines intersect. “A little cation is unavoidable. Sanderson’s not grown on a Wal-Mart farm. Wal-Mart economics can be a dangerous thing,” trying to create future economists, but bought them from someone and then re- a friend working on her Ph.D in public rather give students “some sort of cul- sold them for a profit. “If we were count- policy at the U. of C. told me. “An intro tural literacy” about how the economy ing GDP, we just want to count what’s the econ course is necessarily going to be works. He often starts class by leading us net contribution, what’s the value added?” superficial. You deal with highly styl- through a kind of Socratic deconstruc- he explains. “Last year, worldwide Wal- ized models that are robbed of context, tion of a newspaper article that commits Mart sold $285 billion worth of goods and that take place in a world unmediated some egregious economic sin. About services, but paid manufacturers $220.” by norms and institutions. Much of the midway through the semester, during the Sanderson’s point is pretty obvious, if you most interesting work in economics right unit we spend learning about how the think about it. And yet the article gets it now calls into question the Econ 101 as- gross domestic product is computed, he wrong over and over, which nearly sends

I n T h e s e T i m e s n o v e m b e r 2 0 0 6 2 9 your car, you’re deciding to specialize in what you do best, and trade for the other things you need. Specialize and trade: That was Adam Smith’s central insight into the nature of the “wealth of nations,” and, Sanderson says, it remains as true today as it was then. But when lecturing on trade, Sand- erson’s tone is noticeably different. His agenda and ideology are more up front, such that the classes felt for the first time almost—almost—like propaganda. And during these lectures, something incredible happens. The class rebels. Whereas for the duration of the quarter Sanderson had made the students feel as if he was their guide in seeing through mages I y the Matrix, suddenly Sanderson morphs tt e

G from being Laurence Fishburne to the /

AFP FBI agent in a suit. The class prods and

/ In 2001, Argentinian protesters extracted their own revenge against pushes back as if they are being fed spin. URAFI

B the IMF’s market reforms. As Sanderson talks about the impor- I L

A tance of nations specializing in what- ever they have a comparative advantage Sanderson around the bend. “This hap- revenue was still larger than the GDP in, a student raises his hand: “Isn’t there pens to be the political rhetoric: ‘These of 132 countries, including Bangladesh, a problem if you put all your eggs into 200 corporations dominate the world.’ which has a population of 144 million one basket, and then if there’s a problem They don’t. They’re a very small percent- people. I wrote an e-mail to Sanderson, with that sector you’re in trouble?” age of GDP,” Sanderson says. “Those who who promptly wrote back, saying the That ends that day’s class, but it con- are criticizing very large multinational bigger point was to drive home the prob- tinues in the next. Sanderson argues that corporations are doing a disservice if lem with inappropriate comparisons liberalized trade creates more jobs than they don’t get the math right.” and double counting. “I tried to point it destroys. “Free trade creates winners This contrarian approach is central to out that these apples v. oranges com- and it also creates losers. It turns out Sanderson’s worldview: It’s the counter- parisons are all over the place,” he wrote, that winners are quantitatively larger intuitive, “everyone-says-x-but-really- and added that the double-counting er- than the losers.” A student asks, flat out, what-matters-is-y” formulation that has ror could be found everywhere from the “Why are we to believe that?” Sanderson become the staple of magazines like the Wall Street Journal to some introductory restates his point, but the student holds New Republic and Slate. (A headline from textbooks. “Thanks,” he wrote, “for con- his ground, saying he’s read that there Slate’s October 14 “Underground Econo- tinuing the out-of-class dialogue.” simply doesn’t exist an accurate mea- mist” column: “Charity is Selfish.”) But as sure to figure out how many jobs are with any counterintuitive rhetoric, what anderson is so likeable and mas- being created and destroyed. Sanderson matters is how you define the conven- terful that the entire semester goes concedes that this is true, but insists it tional “intuition” that you’re skewering. Sby with the class eating out of his “must” be a net positive. And with Sanderson, the target is almost hand: They take careful notes, class at- You can hear papers rustling and side always statist, regulatory and liberal: tendance is almost perfect every day and conversations breaking out. Hands be- The idea that you can, indeed, get a free each pre-exam study session is packed. gin to shoot up and Sanderson began to lunch, by, for instance, mandating better But the final unit of the class is devoted to sweat noticeably as the mutiny spreads. incomes for workers by raising the mini- free trade, and suddenly things change. One student asks about attaching labor or mum wage. Thinking of economic policy Sanderson begins the class by telling environmental protections to trade deals. as a series of trade-offs and opportunity us that “in trade, there’s an enormous Sanderson replies that such stipulations costs and, most importantly, unintended amount of agreement between econo- (like requiring workers be paid $14 an consequences is a hallmark of the Chi- mists about what constitutes the truth. hour) simply operate like tariffs, raising cago School, and it was a constant theme The disagreements are between econo- the price of goods and “saving jobs in the throughout the course: Whenever you mists and everybody else.” His central U.S., union jobs that are relatively high try to alter the market, the market ex- contention is that allowing any two given paid, and taking people in developing tracts its revenge. countries to trade their goods freely will countries who are not well off and mak- In Sanderson’s zeal to play ‘gotcha’ necessarily make both countries better ing them poorer. I tend to be against laws with the press, he too can slant the pure off. It’s the same logic, he says, that we that make poor people poorer.” data. That evening, I went online and use everyday. When you decide to have “OK,” responds the student, who with found that Wal-Mart’s $65 billion of net someone do your dry cleaning or fix a beard and long hair looks a bit like the

3 0 n o v e m b e r 2 0 0 6 I n T h e s e T i m e s student radical who’s been missing all magazine subscriptions or wrapping a long mop of brown hair. I remember a quarter. “Let’s say the standards are not Hershey’s Kisses—becomes automated. conversation we’d had at the beginning ridiculous. The workers have a right to Trade works the same way as technolog- of the semester: “I hope it doesn’t all organize, or we can’t pollute the only ical progress: While it might put some end up to be wrong,” he’d said, referring source of the village’s water supply.” people out of work, in the end, it makes to the Chicago School theories he was “How do we define what’s ridicu- everyone better off. The class is nod- about to learn. “Like in Latin America. lous?,” Sanderson shoots back. “Once ding, attentive and silent. That worries me a bit.” you start, it’s very difficult to draw the Furthermore, free trade is a moral im- Six months after the class ended, I e- line, in terms of what workers have. perative because it makes poorer coun- mailed him to ask whether he was still Should other countries not trade with tries better off. “I don’t want to sound worried. “I got this e-mail right after the U.S. because we have capital pun- ishment? Should we not trade with The contrarian approach is central to Sanderson’s countries that don’t allow abortion? My problem with sweatshops is, quite worldview: It’s the counterintuitive, ‘everyone- frankly, the only potential definition says-x-but-really-what-matters-is-y’ formulation is people who work long hours for low wages, and that’s what the U.S. was 120 that has become the staple of magazines like Slate. years ago. A lot of what economics is about is how to increase the world’s in- come, and not for Bill Gates and Oprah, like Miss America,” Sanderson says as my Econ 201 class, the intermediate se- but for the world’s poor. Unions don’t he wraps up the final class of the quar- quence for the major requirement,” he like trade agreements. They’ve never ter. “I think world poverty is where it’s wrote back. “So it looks like I’m no longer seen one they like, and they want to find at in terms of where you try to place worried that what I’m learning is ‘wrong.’ a reason in environmental standards or resources. My sense is that significant Actually, the conversation we had doesn’t things like that.” redistribution of wealth is probably not really make sense to me anymore. I now “We do draw the line every day,” the the answer. Part of it is that there is not understand that any one school of eco- student responds, not bothering to raise enough wealth to redistribute. There’s nomics can’t explain and predict all the his hand this time. There are hands up not a lot of rich people and too many intricacies of human economies.” all over and the class has now devolved poor people. And the gap between rich What he’d come to realize, he wrote, into a free-for-all. “We don’t trade with and poor is too vast. It comes down to was that “it isn’t a question of correct Burma. We didn’t trade with Iraq. We economic growth, how fast we can make theory or incorrect theory, but whether do trade with Saudi Arabia. It’s not im- economies grow. Economic growth does or not the results of the implementation possible to re-imagine how to draw the tend to raise all boats.” of that theory are right or wrong in a line.” Sanderson is not winning this As the class files out, I see a student I’d moral sense.” argument. “These are tough issues,” he talked with a few times over the course In other words, it’s a question that eco- says, and the class ends. of the semester, an unassuming kid with nomics alone can’t answer. n It occurs to me that Sanderson’s prob- lem is that he’s been too honest about his biases. It’s far more effective to com- municate a worldview through subtext than to argue for it explicitly. For eight 4W\OZZgbVSe]`ZR[OYSaaS\aS weeks, Sanderson had been the model of equanimity, the centrist arbiter of competing factions, and because of this students seemed to accept his word without question. But on the very first day of class he’d tipped his hand that he was an “ardent free-trader,” and his clear desire to have students come away be- lieving, as he does, in the benefits of free trade, was backfiring. By the next class, Sanderson has re- grouped, and calmly and methodically leads the class through a Socratic dia- logue. Tobacco farmers have lost their 4VCTDSJCF
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jobs because we smoke less: Does that

I n T h e s e T i m e s n o v e m b e r 2 0 0 6 3 1 the value of a man resides in what he gives and not in what he is capable of receiving.

– Albe rt e i nste i n

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– Albe rt e i nste i n

Give the Gift that keeps on GivinG. n the depths of the 1982 Reagan gression of Parkinson’s disease over the staff and even colleagues in Congress un- recession, when rustbelt manufac- past decade finally did. In the spring of ashamedly talk about loving. With 12 issues delivered straight to their turing towns like Rock Island and 2006, he announced that he was retiring “They literally just love Lane Evans,” the surrounding western Illinois from Congress. But the man who seems says Dino Leone, vice-president of the mailbox, your loved ones will receive: Ifarm country convulsed with deep eco- poised to succeed him is cut from much area’s central labor council, discussing nomic pain, a young legal services attor- the same political cloth. Phil Hare, a for- union members’ support for Evans. “They • timely investigative reporting ney set off on what seemed like a quixotic mer garment worker and union leader, know he has never betrayed them on any quest—campaigning as a Democrat for a worked for Evans’ first campaign and has issue for working families. It’s hard to save • provocative essays congressional seat that, outside one brief served as the congressman’s district di- say that about other politicians. And the hiatus, had been held by Republicans for rector ever since, heading up a constitu- nice thing is we know we’ve got the same 47% off • debates about our political future more than a century. ent service program that even Republi- commitment from Phil Hare.” the cover But Republicans were divided by a cans grudgingly admire. “I think part of his success was person- • humorous anecdotes and much more. scandal involving the incumbent, who Hare has several advantages as he ality,” says John Cameron, political direc- price! was defeated in the primary by a right- scrambles to make voters more aware of tor of the Illinois council of the American wing social conservative. That set the who he is in a race against a well-known Federation of State, County and Mu- stage for Lane Evans, only 31 years old Republican candidate, Andrea Zinga, a nicipal Employees. “Part of it was smart and even more youthful-looking, to win former Rock Island TV news anchor who politics. Lane just came across as a genu- one-yeAr only with a combination of diligent organiz- ran against Evans two years ago. Presi- inely likeable, sincere, honest person.” ing, earnest populism and plain-spoken dent Bush is as unpopular here as else- But what Cameron calls his “pragmatic personal integrity. Republicans were con- where. And the district has been trend- populism”—like that of Sen. Tom Harkin $ vinced his victory was a fluke, especially ing Democratic, even before a bipartisan (D-Iowa)—was broad enough to encom- 24.95 when in his first term Evans voted against remap in 2002 gave Democrats a much pass both kitchen-table economics and Reagan more consistently than anyone more secure, if strangely gerrymandered, progressive social views. His constituents else in Congress. district. could count on Evans for solidarity with “I always said that voting against Rea- Most of all, Hare has inherited the labor unions, opposition to NAFTA-style gan was one of the things I’m most proud goodwill that Evans developed over a trade agreements, fighting on behalf of of,” Evans told In These Times recently. career that demonstrates how unstinting veterans, and defending Social Security “But my mother once said she didn’t like progressive politics can succeed in parts and other welfare state programs. But he my few votes that were for Reagan be- of the country written off as irredeem- was equally ardent in his crusades against cause he was such a terrible president.” ably “red.” Evans succeeded partly by land mines, support for rights of gays, Use the card to Despite many hard-fought elections staying in close touch with the residents women, and minorities, and resistance to the right of this over the 24 years since then, Republicans of his district and partly by being so like- overseas military adventures. page to give the never took Evans out. But the steady pro- able—the rare politician who supporters, “He had to fight every time to get re- gift of In These TImes now! I n T h e s e T i m e s n o v e m b e r 2 0 0 6 3 3 read the latest underground classic

Imagine Karl Rove on metham- phetamines and you have Bush’s shadow advisor, Belacqua Jones. Belacqua peppers the president or Congress with daily letters of encourage- F are H ment and advice in which: l hi P • He praises the president’s Phil Hare and esy of Eternal War of the Empty Policy t Sen. Barack Obama our

• He tells the president c speak to the press at o how to shoot Jesus full t a campaign rally. of theological steroids pho • He mourns the martyrdom elected,” Cameron recalls, “but he never post-traumatic stress disorder. Veteran of St. Thomas De Lay wavered. He never trimmed. He never programs were doubly important to him said it would be easier to get re-elected if because they delivered needed govern- This is a must read for those I went with the Chamber of Commerce,” ment services to working class families. seeking a dark vision of American (or pulled punches on the hot-button And his service to vets helped to politi- politics and life seen through the cultural issues). John Ayers, who worked cally neutralize attacks on his progressive cracked lens of substance abuse with Evans on Sen. Fred Harris’ failed military and foreign policy positions, populist presidential bid in 1976 and later such as opposition to Reagan’s policies in and a Neocon ideology run amok. served on his staff, recalls, “Lane said, ‘I’m Central America. He believes that princi- not going to put my finger in the air to see ples and politics ultimately complement AvAilAble At AmAzon.com where I’m going. I believe people believe each other. “We go after people who are in a believer.’ He developed an almost left out and redeem their hopes,” Evans ReAd belAcquA’s blog At : personal trust with different constituen- says, “and it pays off politically.” http://blogs.salon.com/0004024 cies. Even if they didn’t agree with him, Evans formed coalitions based on such they saw him as a man of honor.” principles, not simple electoral arithmetic. But Evans credits his success to the fact For example, although African-Ameri- that he was able to inspire people to act cans make up only seven percent of his politically. “The secret to success from a district, Evans cultivated close relation- progressive point of view is to bring in ships with the black community and was people who’ve never been involved be- an early supporter of the 1983 Chicago fore and not cave in to special interests mayoral campaign of Harold Washington, that are more represented than they are who campaigned for him in 1982. Two in politics,” says Evans, as he reflects back years ago, after inviting all the Democratic on his career in his modest district office hopefuls for U.S. Senate to travel with him near a shopping mall. “It’s important to through his district, Evans became one of bring in all the people who feel left out, the first prominent Democrats to endorse to pay attention to individuals and or- Barack Obama. “This guy is authentic,” Ev- ganized groups. We redeem their hopes, ans recalls thinking as he watched Obama and it pays off politically.” campaign. A Vietnam-era Marine veteran, Evans He also never backed down from tak- was a champion for veterans. He argued ing stands that caused him political grief. that conservatives celebrate veterans For example, despite the moderate to but fail to deliver on programs that help conservative social views of many of his them. Evans crusaded for better veteran constituents, he supported gun control health care, including aid for victims of legislation (such as the Brady Bill), op- Agent Orange and for those suffering posed bans on flag-burning and defended

3 4 n o v e m b e r 2 0 0 6 I n T h e s e T i m e s the rights of gays in the military. “You’ve federal programs for native Americans, sides,” for legislation that rewards “pa- got to take these issues on right away, as elimination of antipersonnel landmines. triot corporations” that create jobs in the early as possible,” he says. “You should “You just have to keep pounding,” he United States, for reform of the Medicare not try to be too cute, but you can’t be says. “But you wonder if you did enough. prescription drug plan and for universal, strident either. I could win over conser- It’s like Schindler’s List: If I only had more single-payer health insurance. He also vative blue-collar Democrats because time, I could have done more.” thinks Democrats can make the case that they know I respected their opinions.” Ultimately, he believes, his willingness to stand up for his beliefs paid off. “The rea- son we won tough elections and carried Lane Evans succeeded in politics by being ‘always the ball forward is that we weren’t willing faithful’ to his principles, to his constituents and to cower,” he says. Never a dynamic public speaker, Evans to himself. It was, and still is, a winning strategy. was nevertheless very effective in small- group settings. Although he considered running for Senate and nearly won an The 57-year old Hare seems likely to they can protect the country from terror- unusual challenge to an entrenched con- carry on Evans’ battles, even if he is still ists better than Republicans while at the servative Democrat to chair the veterans’ adjusting to stepping out of the shadows same time getting troops out of Iraq “as committee, he was never a high-profile and into the spotlight. “I still look for Lane safely and quickly as possible.” national leader. And as much as he forged to come in when I’m doing events,” says Evans is clearly sad that he cannot a strong, loyal Congressional district op- Hare. “As people are applauding, I think, continue his work but he is happy that at eration, he was not able to put his popu- ‘Where is he?’ ” The lesson he learned least his longtime aide and friend will be list stamp on the local Democratic Party. from Evans, he says, is to “absolutely be carrying on the same fight. As I get up to What he lacked in flash he made up for true to yourself on issues. Lane went in leave his office, Evans smiles, salutes and with persistence. It took many years for with a core set of values and never fal- says crisply, “Semper Fi.” For Evans, it is him to win some of his crusades, such tered. I think these jobs [in political of- much more than a Marine Corps saluta- as aid for Agent Orange victims, and he fice] are about helping everyday people, tion. He has succeeded in politics by be- leaves Congress with a long list of goals and I could see legislation both helping ing “always faithful” to his principles, to only partly realized at best—fairer fund- and hurting.” So Hare hopes to push for his constituents and to himself. It was, ing for women’s health research, improved trade agreements “that are fair for both and still is, a winning strategy. n

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I n T h e s e T i m e s n o v e m b e r 2 0 0 6 3 5 in person

By A aron Sarver Witnessing Extraordinary Rendition Why use video, as opposed to print or radio, to document human rights In early October, 30 people gathered at the Jane abuses? Because visual imagery is so power- Addams Hull-House Museum in Chicago for a fully evocative. To wind the clock back, screening of Outlawed: Extraordinary Rendition, the other influential force in my life was visual imagery. I grew up in the back of Torture and the Disappearances in the “War on an art gallery. My mother represented an artist who died recently, Leon Golub. He Terror.” As the credits rolled, a few audience had these enormous prints, which were in my living room, of CIA-trained mer- members timidly clapped. “I understand work when I was about 12 and my high cenaries urinating on political prisoners. if you don’t want to applaud what you school teacher introduced me to the lan- Those were demanding images, demand- just saw,” said Gillian Caldwell, execu- guishing school chapter of Amnesty Inter- ing a response. I was hard-wired to be af- tive director of Witness and a producer national. The big debate for me was always, fected by visual imagery, and I think we of the film. “Do I want to focus on human and civil all are on some level. Outlawed is the latest film by Witness, rights issues here at home, or do I want to Many human rights abuses take place a nonprofit group based in Brooklyn, work in an international context?” I’ve felt N.Y. , that has documented human rights somewhat divided about that, but always in the Third World, and video doesn’t abuses since 1992, when it was founded very much like a citizen of the planet. seem to be an accessible format for people to see what’s happening in by musician Peter Gabriel. What specifically drew you to working Caldwell hopes that the unease that their own country. Is that a worry or with Witness? emerges after watching Witness’ videos consideration? will translate into awareness. Partnering I was in Washington, D.C., in 1995 and with Global Voices, a nonprofit citizens’ a friend approached me and said that he That becomes a challenge in the context media project, Witness is in the pro- was investigating the trade in Siberian ti- of a situation when you want to do a lo- cess of creating a Human Rights Video ger pelts and that the traders had offered cal awareness-building campaign. For ex- Hub—a YouTube for human rights. To to sell him women. He was using under- ample, we worked with Bukeni Beck of the view their test site, visit www.globalo- cover video technology, and thought that organization AJEDI-Ka in the Democratic voicesonline.org/witness. Current videos we could develop a really powerful film Republic of Congo. The first video we pro- on the site document union protest beat- about the sex trade, and wondered if I’d duced with them, On the Front Lines, was ings in Zimbabwe, Iraqi testimony of have some spare time to help him develop intended to promote dialogue and aware- torture at the hands of the Iraq Security a grant proposal to do it. I was working as ness in the eastern region, where children Force, and more. a civil rights attorney in D.C. at the time, were at risk for recruitment into the armed Witness, which has worked with hu- and two weeks later I resigned from that forces as child soldiers. Specifically, we man rights groups in more than 60 job to get that campaign off the ground. wanted to provoke a conversation about countries, used to provide video cameras By January 1996, we were on a plane to voluntary recruitment, since a significant and the training needed to record abuses Moscow. We had formed a dummy com- number of the children in the armed forces taking place. With the advent of surveil- pany, called International Liaisons, spe- were recruited with their families’ consent. lance cameras and camera phones, the cializing in foreign models, escorts and To make those screenings happen in vil- strategies for documenting human rights entertainers. At undercover meetings with lages and refuge camps that were off the abuses are changing. the Russian Mafia we were posing—mostly grid, we had to provide the technology. In These Times sat down with Caldwell Steve, my colleague—as foreign buyers, in- More often than not the primary audi- to learn more about this shift, and the terested in purchasing women and bring- ence is outside of the country, or inside organization’s plans for the future. ing them into the United States. So by the of the country with key decision-makers What initially led you into working with fall of 1997 we had a film,Bought and Sold, who have access to the technology. So we and it was in the process of that investiga- develop a strategy to ensure that visual human rights campaigns? tion that I got connected to Witness and in media makes its way to the minister of I got involved in human rights-related 1998 I became its first full-time director. justice, or the parliamentary assembly or

3 6 n o v e m b e r 2 0 0 6 I n T h e s e T i m e s ments. Not only is it unlawful, it’s deeply unproductive to approach the war on terror through these means, because it gives other countries carte-blanche to behave similarly and it fans the flames of that jihad that we’re seeing in the Middle East. What’s the most disturbing aspect of the extraordinary rendition? What happened to both men—and what’s happened to the several hundred, if not more than a thousand people, who’ve been victims of extraordinary rendition— is remarkable. Basically, people are picked up off the street. They are surrounded by five to six men, all dressed completely in black, who do not say a word; they pull out razors and cut the clothing off these peo- hers t i

W ple’s bodies; they administer a tranquil- l izer via an enema; they put these people in hae c i diapers, throw a jump-suit on them and, in

M Directing Justice:

s/ the case of Binyam and El-Masri, transport l Witness’ Gillian Caldwell says online video them to a far-away prison where they’re anie d

l will highlight global interrogated and tortured. The system is so ha human rights abuses. c well-designed, so explicitly executed, that mi clearly it’s controlled by a central com- mand. The fact that President Bush only the president himself. posts imagery of a child soldier assas- recently, on September 6, admitted to the You said you wanted to create a YouTube sinating several village members? What existence of the secret prisons, which has do we do is someone posts imagery of a been reported for years, indicates how dis- for human rights. Can you talk about woman being raped by a security-force ingenuous this administration has been. how you envision that happening? operative? What about people’s dignity? What do you hope Witness will achieve We’re in the midst of developing a por- We are trying to contend with so many next? tal called something like, We Witness complex issues. But I don’t see how we or You Witness. It will be a Web site to can avoid stepping into this territory, In the past few years we’ve had substan- which anyone can upload content, create because if we don’t, we’re a dinosaur. tial impact. Our goal with the campaign communities around issues that matter Everybody’s a media maker and a media on child soldiers in the Congo was to con- to them and mobilize, suggesting both distributor. How can we take advantage vince the International Criminal Court to online and offline advocacy. With cell of that to make an even greater difference indict people for the use and recruitment phones having video-enabled technology in terms of human rights issues? of child soldiers; it’s now a war crime cov- and Web access, there’s a tremendous op- In Outlawed, you document the stories ered under the Rome Statute. portunity to capture abuse as it’s happen- In the context of our work on femini- of Khaled El-Masri and Binyam Mo- ing. If there was broader awareness about cide in Mexico, a goal was to secure the such a site, it could be enormously popu- hamed. What drew you to their stories? release of David Mesa, who was tortured lar, whether you’re a concerned citizen, a Both Khaled El-Masri and Binyam into confessing to the rape and murder of human rights defender or a journalist. Mohamed are victims of extraordinary his cousin. We secured his release and got Do you envision the videos having a rendition, torture and disappearances, a resolution from the Mexican Congress all of which are unlawful practices that to cease and desist from the practice of viral quality? If so, how will that mesh the Bush administration and the Clin- fabricating culprits through torture. with the entertainment-value of what ton administration prior to that have In our new campaign on slavery in gets pushed around the Web, which been involved in. Both of them were rural Brazil, we hope to help ensure the for the most part is either humorous or picked up, interrogated, tortured and ef- enforcement of existing legislation that politically one-sided? fectively disappeared: Khaled El-Masri makes slavery illegal, and to modify the Some of the things that concern us for over four months, Binyam Moham- legislation to allow for land confiscation from an editorial perspective are graphic med for over four years. Binyam is still by repeat offenders. In each campaign, or gratuitous violence, which tends to held at Guantánamo. We’re trying to we have both incremental goals and have a lot of viral interest. What do we highlight the illegality of the system, to long-term goals. We seem to be achiev- do, for example, if al-Qaeda posts a be- highlight the broad-based collusion by ing what we set out to, so let’s hope for heading? What do we do if someone European, Asian and African govern- the best. n

I n T h e s e T i m e s n o v e m b e r 2 0 0 6 3 7 culture

By L ak shmi Chaudhry The Power of Mean A nine-year-old girl in England feels ugly and wants to kill herself because her schoolmates call her “Blackie.” A legal assistant in Oregon is terrorized by an autocratic boss who screams obscenities in her face and refuses to give her time

off for surgery. An 80-year-old man finds himself Someone can hold a high rank in one setting (for exam- at the mercy of abusive nurses at a convalescent ple, at home) and simultaneously be low on the totem home. A teenager is molested by his parish priest. pole in another (at work). Likewise we can feel power- ful at one time and powerless at another, as when we … Each of these are examples of what author Rob- experience the loss of a job, a partner, or our health. As a ert Fuller calls “rankism,” which he defines as “dis- result, most of us have been victims and perpetrators of crimination or exploitation based on rank.” All discrimination based on rank. around us, he says, a powerful “somebody” is bul- lying a “nobody.” Such dynamics offer the potential for identifica- In his latest book, All Rise: Somebodies, Nobod- tion that can be transformed, he writes, into a move- ies, and the Politics of Dignity, Fuller explores how ment to create a dignitarian society where “the dig- rankism offers a powerful opportunity to organize nity of all people is honored and protected.” around social justice and equality. Given “the di- On its face, Fuller’s thesis is hard to fault. We all minishing returns of identity-based politics,” Fuller know something about being victimized simply be- argues that the concept of rankism is more inclu- cause we were on the wrong end of a power relation- sive and appealing: ship. And isn’t giving our common experience a name

3 8 n o v e m b e r 2 0 0 6 I n T h e s e T i m e s the first step toward raising consciousness dents were friends of the bullies, and half toward someone else (another coworker of its insidious and destructive effects? of the observers of bullying behaviors perhaps),” says Tepper. And when faced Yet Fuller’s concept of rankism—which eventually became active participants with a flagrant abuse of power, a combina- invokes our capacity for empathy as in- and supporters. And UCLA psychologist tion of fear, ambition and even schaden- dividual human beings—fails to address Jaana Juvonen discovered that bullies freude makes other employees more likely the darker side of our relationship to au- were consistently among the most liked to blame the victim than come to his aid. thority. Our everyday responses to abus- es of power within the hierarchies that structure our lives, from the schoolyard The concept of rankism fails to address the to the workplace, are far more complex darker side of our relationship to authority. We and muddied than Fuller acknowledges. Take, for example, the success of reality instinctively condone bullying as part of the television, premised on the recognition that we nobodies enjoy seeing our fellow legitimate exercise of power. nobodies humiliated by a somebody. The popularity of Simon Cowell on “Ameri- and respected kids among 2,000 sixth- Worse, a bullying boss is likely to make can Idol” or Donald Trump on “The Ap- graders in the Los Angeles area. her subordinates just as mean. Experi- prentice” reveals our willingness to ac- Juvonen’s research should hardly sur- ments conducted by Leigh Thompson, cept, even relish, the cruelty of authority prise liberals, for whom politics has come an organizational psychologist at North- figures when it is targeted at others. We to resemble a bad high school flashback, western University, and Cameron Ander- instinctively condone mean, bullying be- especially under the aegis of the Bush ad- son, a business professor at the University havior as part and parcel of the exercise ministration. Recent election years sim- of California, Berkeley, found that a mid- of legitimate power. ply replayed the locker-room dynamic: dle-level manager is likely to reproduce Learning to respect and accede to the Nasty Republican operatives beat up on the behavior of his punitive boss in or- power of mean starts early in life. It be- craven Democratic “pussies” for the ben- der to please her, irrespective of his own gins on the playground, where children efit of an appreciative “objective” media, temperament. “If the person in charge is learn quickly to use violence and fear to and an acquiescent American public, that high energy, aggressive, mean, the classic enhance their social status. In the June seems more likely to punish the GOP for bully type,” Thompson told theNew York 2005 issue of Scientific American Mind, incompetence than its dirty tricks. Times, “then over time, that’s the way the German researcher Mechthild Shafer Kids will be kids, but as it turns out, so No. 2 person begins to act.” described the typical elementary school will adults—both in politics and in the Cruelty, then, is a communicable dis- bully: “Bullies are usually very dominant workplace. Bullying is as common on the ease. Moreover, it requires the participa- children who have learned early on that job as in the schoolyard. According to Ben- tion of the entire community, since the they can become the leader of a group by nett Tepper, a professor of managerial sci- exercise of power—legitimate or other- being aggressive. Their modus operandi ences at Georgia State University, 50 per- wise—requires social recognition. While is to humiliate a student who is physical- cent of workers say they’ve had an abusive discussions of bullying tend to focus on ly or psychologically susceptible to rise boss at some point in their working career. the perpetrator and the victim, Juvonen to the top of the social order.” Women may be more likely to be targets, notes that bullying requires the presence More depressing—and telling—is Scha- but they are just as likely to be bullies. of an appreciative audience. The primary fer’s finding that children become more Contrary to Fuller’s claim that rankism reward of bullying in schools is not so supportive of cruelty over time. After six is bad for the corporate bottom line, the much the terror of the victim, but the op- years, she writes, “In contrast to the bullies’ research on its effects on employees portunity for the bully to assert his higher relative lower standing during elementary shows that it may not hurt productivity. social status in the larger community. school, they had actually become very Like schoolchildren, workers are more “Bullies would not bully someone with- popular with their classmates.” Meanwhile, likely to appease a bully than to confront out an audience,” Juvonen says. “Even the victims “got few sympathy points. ... him. “Many abused subordinates con- when these incidents of physical intimi- Their peers acted as if they were not there tinue to perform at high levels,” Tepper dation take place in the privacy of a bath- or responded with outright rejection and writes in an e-mail interview. “They do room, it’s to ensure privacy from adults. whispered behind their backs. The bullies so because they believe that they have no But they know that rumors get around escalated this game, insulting and making choice (i.e., they have little mobility and quickly about what so-and-so did to so- fun of them. Many of the target children believe that low performance will elicit and-so, etc. So there is always an audi- came to identify with the underdog role.” further abuse or, possibly, termination).” ence, whether visible or invisible.” The longer this went on, she notes, the High performance may also be part All Rise simply sidesteps the psychoso- more isolated the victims became. of “an impression management strategy— cial roots of rankism, resorting instead to The trend is no different in Canada, trying to create a favorable impression in social history. Fuller envisions a dignitar- where psychologist Debra Pepler found the mind of the abuser, thinking that do- ian movement that follows the arc of civil 60 percent of the so-called “neutral” stu- ing so might deflect the supervisor’s abuse rights movements: People become con-

I n T h e s e T i m e s n o v e m b e r 2 0 0 6 3 9 Stilettos, leashes, alligators ... what more could a girl want for her B’day? October issue of Blender describes Be- yoncé’s relationship to her onstage alter- ego, “Sasha:” Through pain, disappointment, tears and a lawsuit or two, she says, the good girl has grown a lot savvier. Sasha, who had first proved useful in helping Beyoncé cure her shyness, has become an indispensable shield. “Sometimes when Beyoncé slips through, I’m like, ‘Hold up, come back!’ ” she says. “Sasha protects me. It’s a good way to keep sane.”

In B’Day, she sounds like a young woman going off the deep end. Two music videos off this album show her strutting her sexuality. “Déjà Vu” displays Beyoncé draped over her equally famous rapper photo courtesy of www.beyonceonline.com boyfriend Jay-Z, 12 years her senior. It looks as if any minute now she’ll give him scious of injustice, recognize its “negative Music fellatio. As Beyoncé molests the gum in consequences” and then organize them- her mouth, at one point she stops looking selves into a movement for change. Beyoncé’s at the camera and becomes a prop. These But, as he himself concedes, “When it moments are uncomfortable. For the sec- comes to familiar varieties of discrimina- Bootyful B’Day ond single, “Ring the Alarm,” she copies tion, the victims and the victimizers are, By Natalie Y. Moore the infamous scene from Basic Instinct. for the most part, distinguishable and Dressed in white like Sharon Stone and separate groups: black and white; female he screams at the top of her lungs. posing in a chair before a group of inter- and male, gay and straight, and so on. The A look of bewilderment dances rogating men, Beyoncé crosses her legs same thing that makes it easy to identify Sacross her honey-colored face. She in between angry choruses about being potential victims of these familiar isms whips her blond-streaked mane in a fero- damned if she sees another chick on her ... facilitates the formation of a solidarity cious rage. beau’s arm. There’s no overexposure of group to confront the perpetrators.” R&B singer Beyoncé is in the foul throes skin—but there’s no satire either. However, he fails to recognize the enor- of a Quarterlife Crisis. That’s the angst Before going solo, Beyoncé was lead mous challenge this lack of identification twenty-somethings feel about life and the singer of Destiny’s Child, the girl group poses for a dignitarian movement. While, future. The pressures of careers, finances that her father managed. The trio hit pay a number of, say, African Americans may and relationships give its victims whiplash dirt in the late ’90s, but the group was re- internalize racism or participate in a rac- as they ponder choices. In Quarterlife Cri- ally designed to nurture the blossoming ist culture, their role can hardly be com- sis: The Unique Challenges of Life in Your career of its front-woman. Beyoncé has pared to the so-called “neutral” nobodies Twenties, Alexandra Robbins and Abby never marketed herself as a schoolmarm, who actively enable the abuse of power Wilner write, “While at its heart the quar- but the singer is getting racier, edgier— within an organization or community. terlife crisis is an identity crisis, it causes and not in a sophisticated way. Her super Dividing the world into somebodies twenty-somethings’ conflicting emotions sexualization started last year with songs and nobodies does little to capture the to show up in different ways. Sometimes about catering to men and looking for a complex dynamics of power within social they reach a state of panic sparked by a thug-like “soldier” boyfriend. groups. Unlike racism or homophobia, feeling of loss and uncertainty.” This virgin-to-Madonna routine has the underlying causes of rankism are root- The beautiful and talented Beyoncé played out with other teen-to-woman pop ed in the ancient hardwiring of our brain turned 25 this fall, and she’s having her stars: Christina Aguilera, Jessica Simpson that associates aggression with status. It is crisis in the spotlight. Sony BMG re- and Britney Spears. It’s sad to see Beyoncé why so many of us instinctively kowtow leased her second solo album, B’Day, on giving in to these hypersexual—and hy- to our bullying boss, partner, peer, or even her quarterlife birthday. And she stars in percommercial—images. Gone is the clev- our president. In this, we are no different the movie Dreamgirls, a remake of the er champion for “independent women” or than our fellow primates. Broadway musical about a three-mem- “survivors,” that some of her earlier songs Unlike chimps or gorillas, however, we ber girl group, scheduled for release in portrayed, replaced with the submissive do possess the ability to overcome our December. Performing in the public eye female selling sex. most primal impulse. “Is it natural?,” Ju- since she was a teen, Beyoncé is trying Unlike her peers, Beyoncé can actu- vonen asks. “Yes. Is it inevitable? Abso- to shed the teeny-bopper image like a ally sing. That talent saddles her with the lutely not.” Moral principles can indeed skunk-funked fur coat. Let’s hope that burden of being a role model. Fans have override the basic instinct for cruelty, but journey of self-discovery ends soon. complained about their beloved Beyoncé’s we first have to be willing to acknowledge The singer’s coming-of-age has come transformation. An online petition (www. the power of mean. n complete with a personality split. The petitiononline.com/dejavu06/) pleads for

4 0 n o v e m b e r 2 0 0 6 I n T h e s e T i m e s the record company to have Beyoncé re- singers. Sexual power can be powerful, book s shoot the “Déjà Vu” video. Among their but with Beyoncé and these other young requests are less gyrating, more choreog- singers, there is no mystery. Everything is Women and raphy and fewer sexual scenes between displayed like a buffet, leaving no room for her and Jay-Z. As one post puts it, “The future growth or artistic evolution. Their Boxes overall feel of the video leaves a sense of The industry is crowded with wannabes, By Phoebe Connelly much to be desired.” has-beens and ingénues longing for their Caricatures of black female sexual- MTV rotation. And that competition has y mother and I have a long- ity have long been on display—the sassy forced Beyoncé to work to stand out. Of standing disagreement about an black girl, the waddling mammy and now course, Beyoncé has the right to evolve as Mimpromptu gift I gave my teen- the barely clad, hip-hop video girl. These an artist and push the envelope. Still, the age sister. After reading Rachel Fudge’s clichés interlock with the hypermas- pressure is evident—hence the crisis. All “Everything You Wanted to Know About culine depictions of black men. “Many she has to do is look at other black singers Feminism (But Were Afraid to Ask),” I people have difficulty appreciating black who never made the crossover because they promptly went online and bought my women as we are because of eagerness to didn’t flaunt their sexuality. If they had, the sister a two-year subscription to Bitch impose an identity upon us based on any Jill Scotts, Lizz Wrights and Jean Graes—all magazine. The moment my mother (who number of negative stereotypes,” scholar successful and lauded in their own right— raised us on Our Bodies, Ourselves) saw a bell hooks noted in Ain’t I a Woman: might be elevated to a different standard, or copy, she blanched, “You’re encouraging Black Women and Feminism. at least a different chart position. your sister to read this trash?” No amount Twenty years ago Madonna shook up Beyoncé is often compared to (or ac- of reassurance about fresh, feminist writ- feminism and the pop music world with cused of mimicking) Diana Ross and ing will change her mind; my mother her overt sexuality. She created and broke Tina Turner, with her Supremes-inspired can’t get past the title. a mold simultaneously. Madonna has con- role in Dreamgirls and her leggy dance She’s not alone. In her new book, The stantly reinvented herself, but from the performances. But if she wants to bask Female Thing, Laura Kipnis, professor beginning she never shied from embrac- in the same career longevity, she should of media studies at Northwestern Uni- ing her sexual power, an example that has remember life is a marathon, not a strip versity, offers up “a catalog of fetters, a trickled down to throngs of young female tease. n chronicle of impasses—including those [ art s p a c e ]

“May Chicago always have a love for art and beauty to nourish its spirit,” writes an anonymous contributor to the Chicago Prayer Wheel Project, a traveling exhibit that encourages Chicagoans to share their hopes and dreams through Tibetan prayer wheels. Traditionally, prayer wheels are hollow cylinders that contain a scroll with a prayer inscribed upon it. According to Buddhist dogma, spinning the wheel sends prayers out into the world. Artist Renee Prisable Una has decorated 10 cylinders with maps of Chicago and mounted them on a bike trailer. Participants write their prayers on a piece of paper, which is then inserted into the wheel of their choice and spun. Prisable Una posts the prayers on the projects’ Web site: http://una-love.com/renee- prayer.html

I n T h e s e T i m e s n o v e m b e r 2 0 0 6 4 1 within feminism itself.” Kipnis argues that the traditional notions of what it means to be a woman, even in these supposed post-post-post-feminist days, are still causing trouble. The book is divided into four essays, “Envy,” “Sex,” “Dirt” and “Vulnerability,” which question what second-wave femi- nism has wrought. “Did empowerment feminism end up playing the unwitting shill for the scorched-earth labor prac- tices of the new global economy?” she asks in “Envy.” She notes that pay equal- ity still doesn’t mean a living wage, and that women entering the workforce face a new set of strictures, “shifting the de- pendency from husbands to the vagaries of the job market: to bosses, customers, and time clocks.” In “Vulnerability,” she takes up the question of rape. How, she asks, are women “supposed to negotiate the psy- chical terrain of vulnerability […] when it’s a bodily fact that sexual violation and sexual pleasure share the same … venue.” Kipnis notes that women’s fear of rape is disproportionate to reported rape rates, and that current rape discourse ignores the fact that men’s risk of rape may now For too long, women have dwelled on the categories and impasses that box them in. be equal to women—for incarcerated men, that is. She also casts a skeptical no further than the blogger-on-blogger are not the usual treacle—they offer an eye toward the gains made by expand- attack of law professor Ann Althouse alternative and grounded account that ing the definition of “sexual assault.” calling out Jessica Valenti of Feminist- contradicts the standard woman-seek- “Being flashed may be unpleasant (or ing.com for appearing too breasty and ing-man caricature. it may be laughable, depending on your attractive in a recent photo with former Kipnis charts the rise of ever-chang- sense of humor), but the emotional se- President Clinton. But at some point we ing commercial frontiers for women’s riousness is going to depend on how should step off this well-trod path to see sexuality. “Not foreseen,” she writes in a finely honed your sense of vulnerability what women are doing to stake out ter- footnote, “was how easily commodified is,” she writes. That feeling of imperil- ritory beyond the impasses. hot, unfettered female sexuality could ment, she continues, “you’re likely to For this reason two books now out be, packaged and sold back to women absorb by reading rape-activist litera- in paperback feel much fresher. E. Kay in the form of pricy accoutrements […] ture.” Arguing about why we shouldn’t Trimberger’s The New Single Woman is the fuck-me heels, and the regular bikini feel vulnerable—fine, but really, what the result of her study on how single waxes.” In contrast, while many women do we achieve by once again making women between 30 and 60 live. Trim- in Trimberger’s study did not go into de- sexual violence against women a sub- berger conducted her first set of inter- tails about their sexuality, those who did ject for debate? views in the mid ’90s, and did a second told of reinterpreting sex and celibacy Kipnis’ nimble, smart writing rein- set in the early ’00s. Contrary to right- in terms of what they wanted. vigorates many a tired discourse. But wing rhetoric, Trimberger sees increased “For a while I thought I shouldn’t go I’d guess that for many women, The levels of singleness as “compatible with to bed with anyone unless they were a Female Thing will still feel like terrain stronger and more stable marriages.” She serious candidate for marriage,” says we’ve spent far too long wandering. Her also notes how the terms by which we Dorothy, a woman in her 50s. “But soon contrarian approach worked better in judge women’s choices have changed. As I said to hell with that; there may nev- her last book, Against Love, which dealt one of her subjects says, “I was looking er be a serious candidate.” She goes on with adultery, a topic usually handled at […] a big ad for diamonds for your to recount her affairs, speaking of the with either hushed morality or scream- right hand geared to the single woman importance of her own sexual fulfill- ing sensationalism. But here, her know- who wants to indulge herself. You can ment, refusing, for example, to go on ing retread just serves to push women tell you’ve made the grade when you be- an extended European trip with a man back into the same old boxes. One can come a marketing tool.” until they had slept together. We’ve had agree with her argument that women These women’s accounts of coming endless discussions of how our sexual- are women’s own worst enemy—look to terms with the realities of single life ity is being sold back to us—how about

4 2 n o v e m b e r 2 0 0 6 I n T h e s e T i m e s book s some conversation about the ways we’re the word. Surprisingly, I wanted to be claiming it for ourselves? the mommy, without staying home.” Meanwhile, Confessions of the Other Her account of struggling to secure le- Blumenthal’s First Mother: Nonbiological Lesbian Moms gal acknowledgement for her child, and Tell All! examines new models of moth- battling the barriers to healthcare cov- Draft of History erhood. Edited by Harlyn Aizley, it may erage and adequate work-leave, offers a By Rick Perlstein appear to be a niche title, but its writers heartbreaking critique of how little our offer interesting takes on the complexity society does for actual mothers, even as ournalistic compilations are a of navigating motherhood and its social current rhetoric exalts motherhood. crucial part of America’s literary, in- expectations when you’re not actually Both Confessions and The New Single Jtellectual and political heritage. They the one who’s given birth. Faith Soloway, Woman show how the strongest argu- enjoyed a golden age in ’60s and ’70s trade on observing her partner nursing their ments for different conceptions of wom- publishing: Gazing over the library of child, put it this way: “Basically, I am en’s roles are found in the daily details. books I am using to write my own history insanely jealous of their flesh-on-flesh, Instead of mulling over the constraints of the years 1965 to 1972, I see collections boundaryless, nurturing, complicated of femininity, Trimberger and Aizley by Joan Didion, Garry Wills, Jack Newfield, relationship […] it constantly reminds give us women who are living their Steven V. Roberts, Jonathan Schell, J. An- me of my third-wheel status.” lives—impasses be damned. In Confes- thony Lukas, Tom Wolfe and Michael Herr, And, in one of the strongest essays in sions, Dawn Beckman describes how an compiled from Esquire and the Nation, Na- the book, Suzanne M. Johnson describes evangelical co-worker defended Beck- tional Review and the New Republic. With- wrestling with her desire for biological man’s choice to leave her job. “‘Don’t out them, our understanding of postwar motherhood after spending a lifetime give Dawn a hard time,” the co-worker America would be much the poorer. rejecting it. Having spent her childhood said, “she’s leaving so she can spend Well, we are without them now. Trade hoping to grow up to be an idealized more time with her family, and they’re publishers today rarely print such com- ’50s sitcom dad, she found herself not what’s most important to her.” pilations—and our understanding of the just jealous of her partner’s physical ties “My presence in the world as a lesbi- years we are now living through has suf- to their daughter, but troubled by her an mother,” Beckman writes, “seemed fered for it. Thus it is altogether fitting and own rejection of the “male” role of care- at that moment a small, but potent, proper—though, in the grand scheme of taker. “I was their mama. I didn’t want example of parenting as a subversive things, a little sad—that university press- to be daddy, in the traditional sense of activity.” n es should pick up the slack. It fell to Princeton University Press to publish How Bush Rules: Chronicles of a

by jessica cl ark and Tr ac y Van Slyke

The Two Faces of tickers or blinking graph- happen to her face’ than a mountain of other insult- Keith Olbermann ics distract viewers from being punched,” blogs Jes- ing references the host has Olbermann’s impassioned sica Valenti of Feministing. made to women. He seems “The leading terrorist group and hard-hitting anti-Bush com on October 11. “And to have it in for blondes in in this world right now is regime diatribes, delivered you know exactly what he particular, calling colleague al-Qaeda,” says MSNBC’s head-on into the camera. means.” Rita Cosby “dumber than Keith Olbermann, “but the Viewers are hooked: tens of a suitcase of rocks,” and leading terrorist group in Rebecca Traister, a columnist thousands have watched the smashing an Ann Coulter this country right now is the for Salon.com’s “Broad- commentaries on YouTube. doll to pieces on air. Republican Party.” sheet,” put it this way via An October 8 LA Times ar- e-mail: Now, we are not making the Olbermann is on a roll, ticle notes that “Olbermann argument that Ann Coulter is delivering a series of “Spe- “I don’t like Paris Hilton any has become a hero to Bush a decent human being. But cial Comments” that have more than the next sentient opponents.” And yet a num- Olbermann, given the high hoisted ratings for his cable human, but Olbermann’s ber of female commentators standards you’re setting for news show “Countdown” by segment on her was de- aren’t as enamored of the others, we expect more from nearly 70 percent since late pressing, mostly because it self-aggrandizing host. you. August. demonstrated that trashing Take his reporting on a women for being sexual is The cable news host has recent celebrity dust-up; the still OK no matter what your certainly raised the stakes tagline for the segment: “A professional or journalistic with these commentaries, Slut and Battery.” sensibilities are supposed to which break sharply from be. It was low, it was offen- the quick-change routines “Keith Olbermann stays sive, and it was pathetic.” of typical cable news. No classy by reporting that Paris Hilton has ‘had worse things This latest gaffe piles on to

I n T h e s e T i m e s n o v e m b e r 2 0 0 6 4 3 Radical Regime, a compilation of articles from the (London) Guardian and Salon by the great Sidney Blumenthal, a former Clinton aide and a longtime journalist who Mindful Politics: A Buddhist Guide for did some of his important early work for In These Times. The best of the classic jour- Making the World a Better Place nalistic compilations draw out common In this collection of essays compiled by Shambhala Sun editor Melvin McLeod, threads that lie scattered across occasional contributors explore how Buddhist precepts can be applied to the unquiet world pieces, often tied together in an introduc- of politics. An essay by Sam Harris, author of The End of Faith, argues that while tory essay. This gives the compilation a Buddhist philosophy provides powerful tools, placing trust in any religion can twofold purpose, as both a document of prove dangerous. an era and an argument about that era. In One of the greatest challenges facing civilization in the twenty-first century this regard, How Bush Rules is exemplary, is for human beings to learn to speak about their deepest personal con- convincingly arguing that George W. Bush cerns—about ethics, spiritual experience, and the inevitability of human suf- is “the most willfully radical president of fering—in ways that are not flagrantly irrational. Nothing stands in the way the United States,” by documenting in real- of this project more than the respect we accord religious faith. …[I]t seems time the episodes that have made up his profoundly unlikely that we will heal the divisions in our world simply by presidency. multiplying the occasions for inter-faith dialogue. The end game for civiliza- Equally impressive is how Blumenthal’s tion cannot be mutual tolerance of patent irrationality. Generally, parties to columns stand the test of time. Even the ecumenical discourse have agreed to tread lightly over those points where oldest pieces aren’t dated: Developments their worldviews would otherwise collide, while that other journalists, in their will to inno- these very points remain perpetual sources of fas- cence towards the regime in power, were cination and violence for their coreligionists. either ignoring or downplaying at the If religious war is ever to become unthinkable for time, Blumenthal was reporting as out- us, in the way that slavery and cannibalism are, rages. Colin Powell knew much of what he it will be a matter of our having dispensed with was spewing to the United Nations back in the dogma of faith—the idea that beliefs can be January of 2003 was crap. Bob Woodward, sanctified by something other than evidence and apparently, has recently just learned this. rational argument. ... Where we have reasons for what we believe, we have no need of faith; where Sidney Blumenthal wrote about it two- we have no reasons, we have lost both our con- and-a-half years ago. nection to the world and to one another. Speaking as a historian of political cul- ture in the age of Richard Nixon, I can testify that one of the biggest challenges is answering this question: What did the public know and when did they know it? It won’t be hard for historians of the Bush regime—they can just pick up this book. president] who might have been one of authority,” he writes, in the context of the They’ll find out, for example, that a year his sons, young Bush chose a version of pedophilia scandals and the rejection of ago at least someone was reporting on the his father.” I’d never thought about that. church teaching on abortion and stem-cell highly relevant fact that Susan Ralston, the Now, when I look at Dick Cheney, I can research, and I am thoroughly convinced. aide who fell on her sword and resigned think of little else. Not only has our sad, Blumenthal is also original and illumi- in October after FOIA revelations of close neurotic president punished his father by nating—again owing to his lively grasp of ties between Jack Abramoff and the White disdaining his policies; he’s twisted in the the psychological transit between the old House, had worked as Abramoff’s assis- knife by palling around with such an os- and new Bush regimes—in his account tant before she became Karl Rove’s. tentatiously manly surrogate father. of the bureaucratic battle between the Also worth noting is the erudition with Another key theme here is the role of neoconservatives and Colin Powell. Like- which Blumenthal contextualizes and Catholicism in American political coali- wise his point that Reagan owes his place sustains several of his key themes. One of tions. Making working-class Catholic im- in history to his rejection of his foreign those themes, which I’m convinced more migrants into Democrats was one of FDR’s policy hardliners. Few journalists have and more historians will be converging key political accomplishments in con- the historical incisiveness to make these upon, is the “Oedipal” interpretation of structing his New Deal majority. Blumen- kinds of arguments. the Bush presidency. Everyone knows thal has the erudition to understand how Too bad for all the trade presses: it’s Bush Jr.’s re-invasion of Iraq has much self-consciously Karl Rove stripped their Princeton that’s first out of the gate with a to do with manfully completing the job Catholic progeny from the Democrats to comprehensive and convincing interpre- Bush Sr. was supposedly too girlish too cement a permanent Republican major- tation of the meaning of George W. Bush’s stomach. But Blumenthal has the depth to ity. His framing of the Catholic Hierarchy’s presidency. How Bush Rules is a book go beyond the frequent banality of such motivations in all this—“Politics in Red comprised of timely interventions that is comparisons. He notes, for example, “Just Robes”—is particularly fine. It is “part of a destined to stand the test of time. n as the elder Bush picked someone [as vice crusade against their own declining moral

4 4 n o v e m b e r 2 0 0 6 I n T h e s e T i m e s health + science

by Terry j. Allen Corporate Secrecy Spreads Pharmafakes he suffering diabetes, malaria and HIV treatments; to talk to media. “And if by releasing of millions hospitals drip contaminants into the information you would hurt the inves- Tcould be eased veins of the desperately ill. tigation, investigators may recommend by issuing public With counterfeits reaping an esti- [keeping quiet]. PSI urges companies health warnings from mated $35 billion a year, drug manufac- to work with local law enforcement, available information turers would seem to have a straight- and it’s not its place to recommend ac- that is currently kept forward financial interest in exposing tion.” confidential by the and stopping the illicit trade. But that Loath to share proprietary or com- pharmaceutical in- interest clashes with another business mercially sensitive information, large dustry,” reporter Rob- consideration: reluctance to damage companies typically rely on in-house ert Cockburn told the brand reputation and drive patients security departments staffed by private Global Forum on Pharmaceutical Anti- to rivals. “There is a serious conflict investigators bound by confidentiality Counterfeiting. of interest within the pharmaceuti- agreements. The secrecy concerns the flood of cal industry, concerned that making “By using covert means, the indus- pharmafakes that may comprise 50 per- information on specific counterfeits try avoids any assessment of its efforts cent of drugs in some developing coun- public will reduce public confidence and is accountable to no one,” writes tries and 10 percent worldwide. Some in the product and reduce sales,” Paul Cockburn. experts put the annual toll at 1 million Newton, et al., wrote in U.K. medical Pfizer spokesperson Bryant Haskins dead and rising. journal The Lancet. says his company always reports coun- But the real numbers are hidden. The number of times that compa- terfeiting to authorities and promotes “Why does the [pharmaceutical] in- nies have issued public alerts “is tiny tagging all packaging with radiofre- dustry continue to shy away from de- compared with the racket’s size,” says quency identification (RFID). “There veloping the infrastructure needed to Cockburn. is a huge illicit distribution network, assess the size of the global problem?” The closest thing to a centralized especially in the third world, and com- asks PharmaManufacturing.com edi- database is the Pharmaceutical Secu- panies can’t know everyone who claims tor Agnes Shanley in a 2005 editorial. rity Institute, a members-only trade to be distributing their products,” says “The answer is simple: fears of bad group supported by almost $640,000 Shanley, adding that “track and trace” publicity and impacts on stock prices.” in dues and assessments (2004). PSI technologies make it harder to mimic The building blocks of that infra- analyst Peter York describes the non- packaging and easier to identify fakes. structure exist in the separate and secret profit as “central intelligence for coun- While such technical fixes raise the data banks each of the big pharmaceu- terfeit, diversion, and theft.” When cost to counterfeiters—who will inevi- tical companies maintains on fakes and PSI learns that a member companies’ tably counterfeit the anti-counterfeiting counterfeiting operations. But opening drug has been faked, it strategizes with devices—they are largely irrelevant in those records, they contend, threatens the affected manufacturer. Only when the developing world, which faces the security and could create panic. Under- the company is not a member does least oversight and the greatest need. lying that caution is a stone-cold busi- PSI contact authorities directly. So if The FDA, which begins mandating lim- ness decision. According to Nicholas Novartis or GlaxoSmithKline or any ited RFID this December, admits “there White, a Thailand-based doctor who other of PSI’s 23 paying members de- is no single ‘magic bullet’ technology.” has seen the casualties firsthand, “Their cides to delay reporting or to hush up Rather than depending on technical marketing people must have made the a problem, PSI does not inform gov- fixes, pharmaceutical companies must calculations that they are likely to make ernment agencies, law enforcement, reduce the price of life-saving drugs to more profits by not publicizing than by or the public. York says he knows of impoverished populations and cooper- publicizing.” no instance when a PSI member com- ate with researchers, international law Indeed, although most people know pany withheld information from law enforcement and each other to create about Gucci knock-offs, few—even enforcement “regarding a confirmed an independent, open database, and to those whose lives depend on it—know counterfeit medicine.” support a centralized, rapid-response that purportedly life-saving drugs may PSI investigators’ “main concern is system of mandatory reporting and be useless at best, poison at worst. to progress the information,” said an public alerts. n While BigPharma conceals “trade se- industry insider who requested ano- crets,” impoverished people buy bogus nymity because he was not authorized contact Terry J. Allen at [email protected]

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4 6 n o v e m b e r 2 0 0 6 I n T h e s e T i m e s pletely masculine. That the men have cut kitchen and a sink full of dirty dishes. Praise the Pause down so many trees and built so many And it must have been in the ’60s, when Continued from backpage excessively tall buildings that the forest it- women were claiming their freedom to self is dying; they have built roads without have a good time, that the dishwashing continue the “game” of life as if we are still end and killed animals without number. liquid magnates came up with a con- girls. We are not girls. And to continue to When, ask the Swa, are the women going coction called Joy. act as though we are robs the world and to say Stop? The intuitive part of us, the deep femi- the coming generations of our insights— Indeed. When are the women, and the nine, whether in male or female, knows insights readily available to us during this Feminine within women and men, going when we are being ridiculed, laughed particular time, which is a highly signifi- to say Stop? at, told to forget about being women, or cant universal moment of reflection. I am convinced that in earlier times women during menopause drifted natu- During the pause is the ideal time to listen to rally to the edge of the village, constructed for themselves a very small hut, and with stories. But only after you have inhabited Silence perhaps one animal for company— and for long enough to find it comfortable. one that didn’t talk!—gave themselves over to a time without form, without boundar- ies. They were fishing in deep waters, -re flecting on a lifetime of activity and calling having a Feminine, being wild, or being up, without consciously attempting to do used to be suicidal. I grew up in free; led to sleep if not to the slaughter. so, knowledge that would mean survival the white supremacist, fascist South, In those small areas where we do have and progression of the tribe. Iwhere the life of a person of color was some control, the words coming out of in danger every minute. For many years our mouths, for instance: uring the pause is the ideal I thought of suicide on an almost daily When are we going to say Stop? n time to listen to stories. But only basis. Other than this, and severe depres- Dafter you have inhabited Silence sion caused by the inevitable childhood Alice Walker is the author, most recently, of We for long enough to find it comfortable. traumas and initiations, I am not a per- Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For: Light Even blissful. There are stories coming to son innately given to despair. However, it in a Time of Darkness (The New Press), from which this essay was adapted. © Alice Walker. us now from every part of the earth; and has been despairing to see the ease with they are capable of teaching us things we which women, after over thirty intense all used to know. For instance, I listened years of Feminism, have chosen to erase to a CD called “Shamanic Navigation” by their gender in language by calling each Puffin Foundation Ltd. John Perkins. In it he talks about the Swa other, and themselves, “guys.” This is the Annual Grant Search people of the Amazon. These are indig- kind of thing one can reflect on during a enous people who’ve lived in the Ama- pause. Are we saying we’re content to be zon rain forest for thousands of years. something most of us don’t respect? Con- The Puffin Foundation They tell us that in their society men and jure up an image of a guy. What attributes encourages a continuing women are considered equal but very does it have? Is that really you? Is this a dialogue between "...art different. Man, they say, has a destruc- label you gave yourself? and the lives of ordinary tive nature: it is his job therefore to cut What does being called “guys” do to people." We are resolute down trees when firewood or canoes are young women? To little girls? in our support of those needed. His job also to hunt down and Isn’t the media responsible for mak- artists whose work, due to kill animals when there is need for more ing it “cute” to be a guy, as if that’s all the their genre and/or social protein. His job to make war, when that Women’s Movement was about, turning philosophy, might have becomes a necessity. The woman’s nature us into neutered men, into guys? For difficulty in being aired. We especially is thought to be nurturing and conserv- guys don’t have cojones, you know. They encourage new artists to apply for a grant. ing. Therefore her role is to care for the are men, but neutered, somehow. So if Grants are made in all fields of the creative home and garden, the domesticated ani- you’ve turned in your breasts and ovaries arts including music, dance, theater, mals and the children. She inspires the for guyness, you’ve really lost out. documentary, photography, fine arts, etc… men. But perhaps her most important And does this make you remember Applicants may apply for a year 2007 grant duty is to tell the men when to stop. that when we were trying to get the prior to December 30, 2006. Average grant It is the woman who says: Stop. We ERA, the Equal Rights Amendment, awards range between $1,000 to $2,500. have enough firewood and canoes, don’t passed, which would have assured equal SASE required. cut down any more trees. Stop. We have rights to women, suddenly the market enough meat; don’t kill any more animals. and our television screens were flooded The Puffin Foundation Ltd. Department 1 Stop. This war is stupid and using up too with a new dishwashing liquid called, 20 East Oakdene Avenue, many of our resources. Stop. Perkins says you remember, Era. A not-so-subtle Teaneck, NJ 07666-4111 that when the Swa are brought to this cul- message that equal rights for women ture they observe that it is almost com- was still associated mainly with the

I n T h e s e T i m e s n o v e m b e r 2 0 0 6 4 7 All Praises to the Pause By A l ic e Wa l k er

ne of the many gifts I received from strang- ers after writingThe Color Purple 24 years ago was a bright yellow volume of the I Ching. It opened to the 63rd hexagram: “After Comple- Otion.” This is a time when a major transition from confu- sion to order has been completed and everything is (at last!) in its proper place even in particulars. Interestingly, according to the I Ching, this is a time not of relaxation, but of caution. TheI Ching is a compass of great value. Uncanny in its ability to share its Wisdom at just the moment it is re- quired. How many friends, even best and closest friends, can do that? What it is referring to in this hexagram is something that I am going to call “the pause.” The moment when something major is accomplished and we are so relieved to finally be done with it that we are already rushing, at least mentally, into The Future. Wisdom, however, re- quests a pause. If we cannot give ourselves such a pause, the Universe will likely give it to us. In the form of illness, in the form of a massive Mercury in retrograde, in the form of our car breaking down, our roof starting to leak, our garden starting to dry up. Our government collaps- ing. And we find ourselves required to stop, to sit down, to reflect. This is the time of “the pause,” the universal place of stopping. The universal moment of reflection. I encourage you not to fear it. And why is it impor- tant not to fear the pause? Because some of the most courageous people on earth are scared of it, as I have been myself. Why is this? It is because the pause has nothing in it; it feels empty. It feels like we have been jettisoned into wide open, empty space. We can not see an end to it. Not seeing an end to it, or for that matter, not even understanding a beginning or a need for it, we panic. We may decide to make war, for instance, in the moment the Universe has given us to reflect. By the time we recover from our hasty activity a thousand small children may be lying dead at our feet. Sometimes there is a feeling of not being able to continue. That, in this pause, whichever one it is,

there is no movement. No encouragement to move, photo by Jean Weisinger at all.

s a culture we are not in the habit of re- specting, honoring, or even acknowledg- Aing the pause. (Culturally the most common ily doing something, Eat. Drink. And here’s what we want reference to the pause was given over to Coca-Cola, you to eat or drink.) Women know this very well. At meno- which promised “The pause that refreshes.” In other pause, a time of extremely high power and shapeshifting, words, whenever there is a moment you are not bus- we are told to behave as though nothing is happening. To

Continued on page 47

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