Monthly Archives: December 2009

Books! Or, life behind the best-seller curve

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A would-be terrorist tries to blow up a plane on Christmas Day and Americans are scared again.

Scared enough to return to the torture sanctioned by the Bush administration?

Anyone even thinking that might be a good idea needs to read “The Dark Side,” by Jane Mayer. (PBS’ “Frontline covered aspects of the Iraq war using “The Dark Side” name. More information about it is here.) Mayer’s book sets out a compelling case for rejecting the Bush doctrine that advocated imprisoning people without charges or hope, whether or not they were seriously suspected of wrongdoing; and committing the grossest violations of international law and the Geneva conventions in the nane of national security.

“The Dark Side” a fascinating, eminently readable and really, really scary account of what the CIA and military did after Sept. 11 and the machinations the Bush bureaucrats went through to unleash the worst of American policies. Dick Cheney, John Yoo and David Addington are almost ludicrous in their macho efforts to tear down the boundaries of the constitution. If the consequences of their White House power plays so grave, their overall incompetence might seem comical. Yoo’s outlandish legal analyses of presidential power and other related topics got adopted by the White House not because his reasoning was sound — it simply wasn’t — but because they said what Cheney et al wanted them to say. The boys with the power simply rolled over any one who didn’t agree with them.

Terrorism is, to our great misfortune, going to happen. Security will fail on occasion as long as human beings are involved. Crazies and zealots and just plain old soldiers will risk everything to strike at America in retaliation for harm done, either real or perceived. How we respond to the attacks will define America more than the attacks themselves will. This book is an excellent primer on how fear and swagger can guide us into the wrong policies, and why we should not let that happen.

‘Tis the season…

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…To ponder the inadequacy of the city’s recycling carts. It’s bad enough that the city picks up once a month, more or less, and that the paper side of containers are too small if a person subscribes to a single daily newspaper.

Throw in pick-up delays caused by holidays and  bad weather, plus the extra boxes and paper that once held gifts and you’ve got system failure.

The city’s recycling program is pretty marginal in the best of times. During the holidays, all of its shortcomings are revealed, like the brown branches of a dried-out Christmas tree that is dropping its needles.

“Jeanetta Robinson” highway proposed for I-43

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A section of Interstate 43 in the city of Milwaukee would be renamed the “Jeannetta Simpson−Robinson Memorial Highway” under a bill introduced in the legislature by a group of Democrats.

Sponsors in the Assembly include Representatives Leon Young, Jason Fields and Annette Polly Williams, all of Milwaukee; Terese Berceau, of Madison; Robert Turner, of Racine; Peter Barca, of Kenosha; and Sandy Pasch, of Whitefish Bay. It was co-sponsored in the Senate by Spencer Coggs and Lena Taylor, Milwaukee Democrats.

The bill would name I-43 from North Ave. to the Keefe Ave. interchange after Robinson to honor her for good works. The legislation recognizes Robinson, who died in October 2008, “as a lifelong community leader and activist who championed the poor, the disadvantaged, children, and peaceful non−violent resolutions to conflicts.”

Robinson was the long-time executive director of Career Youth Development.

The naming of I-43 after Robinson, who worked on behalf of the black community, would carry some irony; constructing the highway led to the destruction of portions of that very community in Milwaukee. From a Wisconsin Academy Review:

The damage was extensive. According to historian William Vick, “Four hundred twenty-six businesses were displaced for…the North-South Freeway, including 57 taverns, 34 grocery stores, 28 furniture stores, 26 automobile shops, 16 restaurants; 106 service retailers, 22 small manufacturers and 9 wholesale firms, along with 33 vacant buildings. Borchert Field, used by an Afro-American semipro baseball team, the Milwaukee Brown Brewers, was taken out, along with portions of Carver Park and many other playgrounds.” The last music club, the Moon Glow, was razed in 1966. Walnut Street, and all of its possibilities for the future of Milwaukee’s music culture and race relations, was gone.