Several days ago, New America Media invited this writer to attend a meeting of New York City-based ethnic journalists who would be talking about their articles for the tenth anniversary of 9/11. Asked about my plans – this writer hadn’t been planning to share – he spoke in tongues, that is, his response was as articulate as a person speaking with his tongue flailing the roof of the mouth and the sides of his teeth, upper and lower. Caught off guard, he couldn’t articulate, didn’t enunciate.
What follows is what might have been said or referred to if this writer had had the presence of mind many wish for when a signature moment beckons them to rise to the occasion: From the Center for Constitutional Rights regarding a panel discussion, September 12: The 9/11 Decade and the Decline of U.S. Democracy.
In response to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, George W. Bush shredded the U.S. Constitution, trampled on the Bill of Rights, discarded the Geneva Conventions, and heaped scorn on the domestic torture statute and the U.N. Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
As we mark the 10th anniversary of the terrible events of September 11, 2001, none of us has any desire to play down the horrors of that day, but two wrongs do not make a right, and, in response to the attacks, the Bush administration engineered and presided over the most sustained period of constitutional decay in our history.
Moreover, although George W. Bush entered the first decade of the 21st century by dismantling the rights that are fundamental to the identity of the United States and the security of its people, Barack Obama ended the decade by failing to fully reinstate those rights. Through his own indecision, or through ferocious opposition in Congress, he has been unable to close the infamous prison at Guantanamo Bay, as promised, and has also refused to even contemplate holding anyone in the Bush administration accountable for their crimes.
A live streaming broadcast has also been planned.
Tags: 9/11, 9/11 ceremonies, American Democracy, American Freedoms, Civil Liberties
This entry was posted on Saturday, September 10th, 2011 at 7:46 am and is filed under Ethnic News, Journalism, New America Media, News/Commentary/Opinion, Student Journalism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Both comments and pings are currently closed.
9/11
Several days ago, New America Media invited this writer to attend a meeting of New York City-based ethnic journalists who would be talking about their articles for the tenth anniversary of 9/11. Asked about my plans – this writer hadn’t been planning to share – he spoke in tongues, that is, his response was as articulate as a person speaking with his tongue flailing the roof of the mouth and the sides of his teeth, upper and lower. Caught off guard, he couldn’t articulate, didn’t enunciate.
What follows is what might have been said or referred to if this writer had had the presence of mind many wish for when a signature moment beckons them to rise to the occasion: From the Center for Constitutional Rights regarding a panel discussion, September 12: The 9/11 Decade and the Decline of U.S. Democracy.
A live streaming broadcast has also been planned.
Tags: 9/11, 9/11 ceremonies, American Democracy, American Freedoms, Civil Liberties
This entry was posted on Saturday, September 10th, 2011 at 7:46 am and is filed under Ethnic News, Journalism, New America Media, News/Commentary/Opinion, Student Journalism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.