Madison Institute Newsletter

Volume 2, Number 1
January, 2008

Naomi Wolf in The End of America:  Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot, Chelsea Green, 2007

While reading Naomi Wolf’s new book End of America, I’ve been struck with how she does an excellent job of spelling out the very real dangers to our shaky democracy, but she doesn’t give enough blame to the spineless “opposition” party to the Bush administration. Isn’t it clear to all yet that Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are just looking for their own piece of that power trip?  Only Dennis Kucinich wants to impeach Cheney, points out the dire state of our constitutional rights and the rule of law, tells us consistently about the insanity of our war for empire. Why do people continue to take these front-running Democratic candidates for “change” seriously? People have gigantic blinders! Maybe people don’t know alternate views like Kucinich or Ron Paul represent,  because ABC and FOX News bar them from TV debates in New Hampshire.  Well, at the Rose Bowl parade, I noticed someone had spelled out “Kucinich” along their shrubs, on the parade route. So somebody knows.

At the last Madison Institute for Peace and Progressivism (MIPP) meeting, we watched a Bill Moyers film, Buying the War, on how the media helped to promote the war in Iraq—and on the almost total collapse of independent reporting in favor of remaining on the inside of the administration newsfeed. You have to applaud the couple of intrepid reporters from the McClatchy newspaper chain who hung in there for the real story, and the few old-timers at the Washington Post who are still in touch with reality. We all wondered—is anybody hearing them? Does anyone care enough? Ira then discussed the ongoing situation with Syracuse University and their cozy relations with the military-defense-corporate-industrial complex. We’ll keep poking at them.

Heroes: Andrew Williams, Lieutenant Commander, and part of the Judge Advocate Generals Corps, resigned to protest the use of torture in interrogations. Williams called the use of waterboarding by the US similar to the practices of the Spanish Inquisition, the Nazis, and the Khmer Rouge. He said that America was no longer “part of the shining light on the hill.”
Well, America never really was all that shiny; John Winthrop, author of the "hill" quote,  and his Puritans weren’t exactly a picnic. But they did have the rule of law. And there were such things as the “rights of Englishmen.” They would have resisted the “fascist shift” that Wolf talks about. And come to think of it, their grandchildren did. It was called the American Revolution.

If there’s any doubt that Bush considers himself—and is—the generalissimo of this country—catch him on November 2nd:

I will make decisions about our troop presence in Iraq and Afghanistan based upon the considered judgment of those who wear the uniform, not based upon the Gallup poll or political party considerations.

So it seems we’re a military state and NOT a democratic one.

I watched the documentary, “An Unreasonable Man,” on Ralph Nader. He’s probably not always an easy man to be around, but his strength of conviction and purpose are awe-inspiring.  It is also very instructive how Nader’s former “friends” and colleagues fall away when put to the test of principle versus positions of power with the establishment. Nader simply refuses to give in to enormous pressure, shunning, ostracism, accusations of treason—he just knows what’s  right.Go Ralph. Run for President! Please.

The Imprisonment of Manlius Doctor Rafil Dhafir

Dr. Rafil Dhafir, a Manlius oncologist, who practiced medicine in Central New York for over 30 years, founded and operated Help the Needy, a charity that raised money for impoverished Iraqis who suffered as a result of the devastation caused by the Gulf War and the ensuing sanctions imposed by the US and British governments.

Dr. Dhafir, who is an American citizen, is currently serving a twenty-two year prison sentence for violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (the Iraqi sanctions) and for a series of white-collar crimes. According to an official statement released by the Central New York chapter of the ACLU, “the federal government has repeatedly tried to pitch this as a case with national security implications. Both the US Attorney General and the NY State Governor referred publicly to this case in the context of a terrorism prosecution. However federal prosecutors never filed any charges related to terrorism nor did they prove any link to terrorists.”

According to activist Katherine Hughes, just weeks after Dhafir was convicted Syracuse University and its law school and Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism (INSCT) became an accessory to a miscarriage of justice by presenting a lecture titled, “A Law Enforcement Approach to Terrorist Financing.” In that lecture, author Jeff Breinholt and Dhafir prosecutor, Greg West strongly implied that Dhafir had been financing terrorism and was prosecuted for a lesser crime only because that was more convenient for the state. Hughes claims that “by hosting this lecture, Syracuse University Law School gave credence to a charge never brought against Dhafir, and in doing so they became an accomplice in the government’s subterfuge.” After the lecture, a request that the Law School host a presentation by a Dhafir defense group was rejected.

Syracuse resident, Katherine Hughes is an artist and potter who has campaigned tirelessly on behalf of Rafil Dhafir. She maintains the excellent DhafirTrial web site. Especially recommended are: Katherine’s article, “Denial of Due Process to Muslims Disgraces Us All” and a video of a very compelling panel discussion featuring Denis Halliday, a former UN Assistant Secretary General and Head of the UN Humanitarian Program in Iraq 1997-98.  (Part I) (Part II)

Madison's Own Bill O'Reilly?

In a public exchange, Madison Institute member Ira Glunts was accused by Professor Mark Rupert, Chairman of the Political Science Department, Syracuse University, of “practicing the left’s version of Bill O’Reilly bully journalism.” Ira, in a response to an open letter written by Professor Rupert, pointed out the parallels between his (Rupert’s) criticism of the Defense Department’s “Why We Serve Program” and the problems engendered in his school’s partnership with the Israeli right-wing think-tank, the Institute for Counterterrorism (ICT).  Ira attempted to demonstrate the difficulty we in the United States have in openly and honestly discussing American foreign policy and Israel. Did he succeed? We report, you decide. (The complete correspondence.)

Coming Events

National Day of Action Against Torture

Friday, Jan. 11, 1:30-2:15 PM
500 Plum St. (Franklin Square)
In front of WSYR Radio
Syracuse, NY

For more information:
National:  Witness Against Torture
Local:  Email Carol or telephone 315-472-5478

Weekly Peace Outreach, Syracuse
Stop the War In Iraq!
Thursdays, Noon-12:45 PM
(See Syracuse Peace Council Events
Calendar for times and locations.)

Columbia: Land, People and Resistance
Presentation of the Columbia Support Network
Thursday, January 17, 7 PM
Westcott Community Ctr.
826 Euclid Ave., Syracuse

For more information contact:
Email Aly or telephone 315-472-5478

Sweet Honey In the Rock
A Cappella Ensemble
Annual Martin Luther King Commemoration
Wednesday, January 23
Memorial Chapel, 7 PM
Colgate University, Hamilton

The Shape of Water
A Film by Kum Kum Bhavnani
Women Activists from Around the World
Monday, February 11
Golden Auditorium, 7PM
Colgate University, Hamilton
(Time and place tentative, check Colgate calendar)