McCain and Abel

Nothing's wrong as far as I can see 
We make it harder than it has to be 
and I can't tell you why 
no, baby, I can't tell you why  
--I Can't Tell You Why, The Eagles 

Am I my brother’s keeper? 
--Genesis 4:9

If Cain were Abel 
he would give you a flower
--R.D. Laing 

__________________

In one of our many national divisions, we are riven by how we think terrorists should be adjudicated. Those who know our legal system can prosecute criminals effectively say try them in the Federal court system; opposing them are those who think a terrorist is a new kind of animal, and that we must twist ourselves into contortions in order to deal with them; usually this involves invoking an extrajudicial approach.

President Obama seems to favor the first approach, but he has been ineffective in imposing his view. In his first term he promised to close down the black hole that is Guantanamo Bay, yet it remains an open gulag. "Terrorist Mastermind" Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, he of 183 waterboardings infamy, has still not been tried in court.

Leading the opposition, oddly, is former Prisoner of War and Arizona Rep. Senator John McCain, he who had previously led a principled argument against the use of torture on prisoners in the War on Terror, from both a pragmatic and a moral position. Now he is leading the call for military tribunals for terrorists on the grounds that they be re-branded "illegal enemy combatants", a fuzzy construction conferring a false military quality to their being. This is based in the false presumption that because terrorists are such an aberrant being, we must become aberrant to deal with them.

Fact: The U.S. is not involved in a low-intensity conflict in CONUS, is not in a state of insurgency nor is there a unconventional or guerrilla (UW/GW) warfare scenario either extant or ready to blossom into a full-blown war.  There has never been a combat action in the U.S. conducted by terrorists. Terrorists are simple craven criminals.

Sadly for McCain, his current posture directly opposes and perverts his previous objection of torture, namely, it would make us no better than them. It makes him seem disintegrated or worse, forgetful or a madman.  Instead, he is probably just pandering to the disjointed madding crowd, which amounts to the same thing.

The provenance of the terrorist is immaterial.  Whether U.S.-born,  immigrant or foreign national, a terrorist commits homicide, kidnaps, bombs, attempts murder and violates firearms statutes, ergo, they are criminals to be tried by U.S. courts of law. That's simple.


Next: Pt II McCain and Abel

Oilgarchy, or, The Grand Oil Party

You can dance, you can jive, having the time of your life
See that girl, watch that scene, dig in the dancing queen
--Dancing Queen, ABBA
_______________

First, we can almost promise you never to run ABBA lyrics again. Next, we loved this cartoon showing our own Governor Christ, always the bridesmaid, never the bride. Odds are on his engagement to Ms. Rome falling through the cracks. These are tough times for true love.

A feeling of disquiet surrounds the choice of Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin as McCain's running mate.

She is being billed as a "regular guy" (provided your regular guy is pro-NRA, pro-life, Big Oil, pro-war, pro-drilling, pro-Bush) concerned with the everyday woes of the average American, but Ranger believes neither party addresses the real strifes facing the average taxpaying citizen. There are not Two Americas as John Edwards contended, between his long thrust and crossover series with his sharp little bayonet. There are three Americas: The Republicans, the Democrats, and the rest of us not clearly represented by either party.

We The People allow this. McCain claims he will rejuvenate the GOP with honor and integrity, but what is the motivation behind elevating an unknown short-term governor to the VP slot? Our own Vice President Cheney may have had a hand in this selection.

What we do know about Alaska connections:

• The husband of the governor is a productions operator for BP.
• U.S. Senator Ted Stevens (AK) was indicted by a federal grand jury on seven counts of failing to report gifts received from oil field contractors.
• VP Cheney writes the Alaska legislature on Stevens' behalf, bringing illicit if not illegal pressure on the legislature to favor Stevens' proposals.
• Cheney's role was ignored in Stevens' trial.

What are the linkages between:

• Governor of Alaska and Cheney
• Cheney and McCain
• Cheney and BP
• Sarah Palin and Ted Stevens

If these connections are explored and drilled, Ranger bets we'll hit oil.

Hero Manqué

I like pleasure spiked with pain and
Music is my aeroplane
--Aeroplane, Red Hot Chili Peppers

For all the trusts I've broke
Let justice know, it's just that easy
Cause I'm a liar,
I conspired, I'm a liar
--Fly, Nickelback
________________

John McCain's daughter's soon-to-be-released book about her father is "heavily illustrated" and aimed at 5 to 10-year-old crowd (Meghan McCain's Bio for Children). My Dad, John McCain "understandably portrays McCain in heroic terms."

Reading this brought to mind another ripe subject for a children's book. Jenna Bush, the President's daughter, would be the perfect authorial analog since she also writes for the younger set. And I thought, her father George would provide the perfect pairing of audience to subject, with little age-regression needed.

Instead of heroic, perhaps Bush could be depicted in anti-heroic terms. A fallen, never quite risen, flyboy-cum-fallen leader. Perhaps, he could even be a tragic hero-manqué.

Mr. Bush's own words could even be used in the telling of his story. With grammatical corrections, of course.