Sleep Spent

Andrew Sullivan has been all over the story of Ian Fishback, the Army Captain who has tried for a year and a half to get the Bush Administration to give him clear guidelines on what is and is not prisoner abuse. His personal investigation has led to some really apalling revelations about how widespread torture has become in our armed forces.

Today Andrew published an e-mail address to send letters of support to Capt. Fishback, who is currently being held at Fort Bragg under what are reported to be very trying conditions. I believe in this man and this cause, so I wrote him a letter. I would encourage you to write one too. And then, tell your Congressperson to support McCain’s anti-torture legislation.

Here’s the letter.

Dear Capt. Fishback,

I live in California and I have a job at a computer company. I watch the news and I read political blogs. I’m probably more informed on the issues of the day than your average American, and over the past year and a half I have found myself amazed and repulsed at the reports on prisoner abuse by our armed forces.

I am just one citizen, though, and not someone who is in any position to do more than complain to my Congressman. I have watched with horror what is being done in my name, and I have been powerless to stop it.

I recently read your letter to Senator McCain, and I was touched by your obvious integrity, your clear sense of morality, and your conviction. These are traits that men have always valued highly, but words that are meaningless until they are tested. One cannot claim to have conviction without having faced adversity; to be moral without having confronted evil.

That adversity is upon our nation now. As you know, we are facing foreign threats to life and property. But as you have bravely sought to show the world, we are also facing distressingly domestic threats to our way of life and our values. “The bedrock principles of our nation,” as you called them.

You have seen this evil, and you have confronted it. You have done the right thing. And in so doing, you have given those noble words meaning.

Though I can’t claim personal experience, I know that it must have been terribly difficult these seventeen months. And even more so now, when it has become clear that the answers to your questions are as painful to the American people as they are embarrassing to the military (meaning your fellow soldiers) and the civilians who oversee it. It is never easy to point out a problem to a person or a system unwilling to address it.

But you have done so. You have the information and the first-hand experience that millions like me lack. And with that information, the power to shed light on an ignominious practice that must be exposed before it can be ended.

I am proud to be able to support you, though my support can come only in the form of words. But please know that every letter of support you receive speaks for thousands more Americans who could not write. You are speaking for them and for me. We could not have a better spokesman.

Thank you for the sacrifices you have made, and are continuing to make. You have shown us all what true integrity is. For that, we owe you an immense debt of gratitude.

Thank you and stay strong,
Nick Kocharhook

Senator Feinstein,

I was appalled to discover that you are one of just five Democrats that supports the passing of the flag burning amendment.

This amendment would be an obvious misuse of the Constitution. In addition, it’s completely unnecessary since the incidents of flag burning are so few. And of course, this is a clear free-speech right. That’s why the supporters of this bill are having to go to these lengths, because the Supreme Court held that people have the right to do this. This amendment would be taking away rights, not granting them.

You don’t have to want to burn the flag yourself to understand that it is absurd to pass a Constitutional amendment allowing states to force their citizens not to.

Please reconsider your stance on this issue.
-Nick

As you will probably be aware, the Governor made a speech at the World Environment Day festivities in San Francisco. He announced that he would be signing an executive order to limit California’s output of greenhouse gasses over the next 45 years.

This is big news, and it deserved a supportive letter.

I’m a California resident, and I wanted to let the Governor know that I am very, very pleased with the bold action he has taken to limit California’s contribution to global warming. I have recently become re-energized on the topic of global warming after reading a three-part series in The New Yorker. I had begun to despair that anything was being done, with the most recent activity on many global warming action websites being discussion of the McCain-Liberman Climate Stewardship Act of 2003.

And then came the World Environment Day and Gov. Schwarzenegger’s speech. And not just talk, but also an Executive Order mandating lowered greenhouse gas emissions!

I’m grateful to the Governor for having tackled this problem. It’s especially gratifying to hear one of the foremost Republican politicians in the country publicly contradict the Bush Administration’s wrongheaded “do nothing” policy on global warming. Bravo!

Signed,
Nick Kocharhook