June 16th, 2009 by Gid

Once upon a time, there was a wicked tyrant named Shrub and a venomous, vile troll, who was so terrible that his name must never be mentioned. But they were beguiling and cunning and gained control of the land; Shrub became leader, and the vile troll vice-ruler, for eight long, dark, sad years. They began war unjustly, and brought poverty and financial ruin to the country while they became very rich. They kept the people in fear so that they might take away their rights in the name of National Security. Some people were taken to far-away dungeons, where they were imprisoned for no reason at all. Some were subjected to durance vile, where those enslaved to the maleficent powers visited foul punishments upon them; and this was hidden from the citizens so that they might never know how truly evil the rulers were.

One day came a bright knight to the land, and saw that the wicked rulers must be deposed. He spoke to the people of good things, of a government that treated everyone fairly and fought economic ruin. He condemned unjust war, unjust imprisonment, and foul punishments. He spoke of governmental transparency and answerability. He spoke of goodness for all, even those who looked or lived differently than most, for he was himself a minority. He spoke of change and the end of fear, and the good work to turn the world that is into the world that should be. And when we doubted, he told us, “Yes, we can!” And everywhere were posted banners bearing the likeness of the knight with the shibboleth of “Change” or “Hope” affixed thereto. Why, to this day, I have a banner proclaiming hope in the window of my carriage.

And so it was that the people came to believe that change was possible and there could be hope for good things to come. And the people raised their voices and spoke, and said that those who believed as the evil ones believed must rule no more, and the knight became ruler of the land. And the people watched hopefully… But this is, of course a fairy tale, and fairy tales, as we all know, bear just enough resemblance to reality to make them plausible with enough fantasy to make them highly unlikely if not altogether impossible.

When I voted for change, I was hoping for a number of things, such as an end to the vile games of Shrub & Co. making people disappear for years at a time without due process and torturing them. In response to a fear-mongering campaign by He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named defending “enhanced interrogation techniques” and other distasteful acts, President Obama made a speech of his own on May 21 at the National Archives, where he said that “our government made decisions based upon fear rather than foresight, and all too often trimmed facts and evidence to fit ideological predispositions… we too often set [our] principles aside as luxuries that we could no longer afford.” He further added that “the decisions that were made over the last eight years established an ad hoc legal approach for fighting terrorism that was neither effective nor sustainable” In other words, it is clear that the actions of the previous administration were not in accordance with the law. They acted unlawfully. They committed crimes, and lied about them.

When one of Obama’s first post-election speeches reiterated the fact that he intended to “look forward,” i.e., not push for indictment of the previous administration on charges of war crimes – as indeed other nations have begun to do – I thought perhaps that he was wisely waiting for the Department of Justice to do its job in the matter. This may yet turn out to be the case. We’ve also heard very little in regard to inquests into such matters by the Congress, though again, this may well be underway. We have found out through previously classified reports recently released by the CIA, that the “enhanced interrogation techniques” defended by He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named as justifiable because of the intelligence they yielded, failed to yield any useful information at all. In short, they were classified (ergo hidden) by the previous administration to cover up failure as well as crime. But I digress…

Obama criticized unconstitutional detainment: “For over seven years, we have detained hundreds of people at Guantanamo. During that time, the system… succeeded in convicting a grand total of three suspected terrorists… Instead of bringing terrorists to justice, efforts at prosecution met setbacks, cases lingered on, and in 2006 the Supreme Court invalidated the entire system.” Obama said that this indefinite detention was “beyond the rule of law. This is true, as due process is mandated by the constitution.

Then he said “Al Qaeda terrorists and their affiliates are at war with the United States, and… [detainees] must be prevented from attacking us again. However, we must recognize that these detention policies cannot be unbounded… We must have a thorough process of periodic review, so that any prolonged detention is carefully evaluated and justified.” And how will he keep them from attacking us again? By keeping them imprisoned, of course, although no actual crime has been committed. By having laws written by which such detainment becomes legal – just as Shrub & Co. had their attorneys write briefs which legalized torture. These detainees were short-changed.

In 2004 during his US Senate race, Barack Obama went on record calling for the complete repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). In March 2007, in a debate with Alan Keyes, Obama criticized Keyes for his views on GLBT relationships, stating that civil rights such as employment, housing, hospital visitation, transfer of property, are rights for everybody, not just for some people. In a subsequent pre-presidential interview, he called DOMA an “unnecessary imposition on what have been the traditional rules governing marriage and how states interact on the issues of marriage.” In August of 2008, he told us that his job as President was going to “make sure that the legal rights, that have consequences… for loving, same-sex couples all across the country… are recognized and enforced by my Whitehouse and by my Justice Department.”

Just two months earlier, Michelle Obama told the DNC’s Gay & Lesbian Leadership Council that, “Barack believes that we must fight for the world as it should be, a world where together we work to reverse discriminatory laws like DOMA and Don’t-Ask-Don’t-Tell… where our federal laws don’t discriminate against same-sex relationships, including equal treatment for any relationship recognized under state law… a world that recognizes that equality in relationships, family and adoption rights is not some abstract principle, it’s about whether millions of LGBT Americans can finally live lives marked by dignity and freedom.” This is the change I voted for.

Just a few days ago, the Obama administration handed down a brief from the Department of Injustice, upholding DOMA and citing its merits. The lawyers likened same-sex unions to incest and pedophilia; is this the dignity we’re working toward? DOMA’s Part 3 – barring same-sex couples from any federal benefits – was cited as a “cautious policy of federal neutrality towards a new form of marriage… [that] does not discriminate against gays for federal benefits,” even though Part 3 explicitly states that the federal government will not recognize a same-sex marriage, even should a state choose to do so. Is this the equality that was foretold? Where’s my change?

In an interview in November 2007, Obama said, “I will work [for]… a full repeal of ‘Don’t-Ask-Don’t-Tell’… That work should have started long ago. It will start when I take office. America is ready to get rid of the ‘Don’t-Ask-Don’t-Tell’ policy. All that is required is leadership.” Just a month before, he’d said that, “Anybody who is willing to serve our country and die on a battlefield for us and are patriots, that’s the criteria for whether or not they should be able to serve in our military.” Just before he took office, he proclaimed, “I think that it is no secret that I am a fierce advocate for equality for gay and lesbian Americans. It is something that I have been consistent on, and something that I intend to be consistent on during my presidency.” This is the change I voted for. While I’ve never had inclination or aptitude for military service, those who choose such a career should be able to pursue it. The government, in theory, should be an equal opportunity employer.

And yet, Captain James Pietrangelo of the US Army was fired after 13 years of service; Lieutenant Colonel Victor Fehrenbach, an F-15 fighter pilot, a decorated 18-year veteran of the United States Air Force was tossed out; Lieutenant Dan Choi of the Army National Guard, Arabic linguist, was given the boot. Three colossal wastes of time, training and talent because the Powers That Be did not condone their choice of bed partners while off duty. Since Obama took office, he has not repealed DADT, he has not pushed Congress to repeal it, he has not ceased investigation of new cases, nor has he ended dismissals under the policy. In a review of Pietrangelo’s case, his administration upheld the policy as “rationally related to the government’s legitimate interest in military discipline and cohesion.” Under condition of anonymity, a Democratic aide to the Senate Armed Services Committee told Lara Jakes of the AP that a review of DADT was “not a high priority” and that the issue would be looked at some unspecified time before the end of Obama’s term. These servicemen and many others like them have clearly been short-changed.

This morning as we were getting into the car, my partner looked at the copy of Shepard Fairey’s poster hanging in the window and said, “The HOPE poster is fading. There’s something poetic in that.” Indeed. And they all lived hopefully ever after.