The Wisdom to Know the Difference

For those of you who read this blog, you know that I've spent the last several months being upset. I've been stuck on the idea that America "should" be leading the world in civil liberties and human rights. I keep thinking the US government "should" stop spying on its citizens and torturing people. We "should not" indefinitely hold people in Guantanamo and other secret prisons. The more I think about the way things “should” be, the more upset I become. In response to my level of upset, I write my blog and take an active role in protesting, but it never seems like enough.

I've come to realize that "should" only increases my level of struggle, and struggle increases my level of upset. Like Deepak Chopra said, "At the level of the ego, we struggle to solve our problems. Spirit sees that struggle is the problem."

Recently I saw a counselor who reminded me of the serenity prayer. "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference." I have been meditating on this prayer and it has helped me a lot. I am beginning to distinguish between the things I cannot change and the things that I can change. I am still upset about what is going on in the world, but I'm not as consumed as I once was. I guess you could say I'm in the process of recovery, though I've got a way to go.

The question I get to ask myself is, “Where is the balance?” How do I balance between standing up for civil liberties and maintaining my serenity? The answer seems to lie in the “wisdom to know the difference.” Yes, I get to accept those things I cannot change. That makes sense. I have never lacked for the courage to change the things I can change. That’s not an issue. My challenge is in knowing the difference and being determined to set boundaries.

It might sound like a platitude, but I like this saying. “I may be only one, but I am one. I may not be able to do everything, but I can do something.” I feel like that’s my mission, to do the something that I can do and no more. I will continue to fight, but with balance and serenity. That way I’ll be here for the long battle ahead.

Do You Know Joe?

Do you know the name Jose Padilla? You might think, “Wasn’t he caught trying to set off a dirty bomb?” or maybe, “Wasn’t he fighting in Afghanistan?” I’m afraid you’d be wrong on both counts, though it’s easy to see how you would be confused with all of the misinformation that has been spread by the Bush Administration. Despite the fact that his name is mentioned regularly on the national news, you might have lost him in all of the terror-related news since September 11, 2001. Let me help you to get caught up.

Jose Padilla is a citizen of the United States. He was born in Brooklyn, NY and lived in Chicago. In 2002 Jose traveled to the Middle East. Upon his return on May 8, 2002 he was arrested on a warrant as a “material witness” to the September 11th attacks. No connection was ever made to September 11th, only a vague material witness allegation. On June 9th, President Bush arbitrarily declared Jose Padilla to be an “enemy combatant.” The effect of this designation was to take Jose out of the criminal system while not affording him the rights provided under the Geneva Conventions. Jose Padilla, a US citizen was cast into a legal no-man’s land.

Before we go on with this story, I want to pause just to make sure you get what I just said. Jose Padilla was arrested in Chicago, not on some far off battle field fighting American forces. He has not been tried on any charge. He was simply declared by one person in the US, President Bush, to be an “enemy combatant,” and just like that, all of his rights went away. Upon President Bush’s order, Jose Padilla was taken away from his family and his attorney and sent to a Navy brig in South Carolina. The scary thing is, this could happen to you or me.

In June, 2002 the Bush Administration made sweeping allegations about Jose Padilla’s intention to set off a dirty bomb in the US. An attorney, Donna Newman took up his case. Despite dogged opposition from the Bush Administration, the Supreme Court agreed to hear Jose’s case in November, 2005, three and a half years after his capture. Two days before the case was to go to the Supreme Court, the Bush Administration decided to drop the military charges and instead file charges in criminal court alleging that Jose had “conspired to murder, kidnap and maim people overseas.” Nowhere in the charges did the Bush Administration allege a plot to blow up a dirty bomb or to commit any other criminal act in the US.

Jose’s day in court is scheduled for April 16, 2007, almost four years after his initial capture. In the mean time, his lawyers allege that he has been tortured to the point where he cannot assist in his own defense. According to recent testimony in his competency trial it was revealed that Jose was kept in sensory depravation for years. His windows were blacked out and the one light in his cell could only be activated by his jailers. He had no clock or visibility to the outside. When Jose was moved outside of his 8’ x 8’ cell, heavy goggles and headphones were placed on him to keep him in sensory deprivation. At other times he was subjected to intense lights and pulsating sounds. According to reports, Jose Padilla was kept under these conditions for 1,307 days. His interrogators covered their name badges when they questioned him for hours on end. This information has just begun to trickle in. More revelations could be forthcoming.

Jose Padilla was only able to find his way out of this hell because he had the power of habeas corpus, the right to have his day in court. Last year the Republican-led Congress stripped all enemy combatants of their habeas corpus rights in a bill called the Military Commissions Act of 2006. This Act and the general treatment of “enemy combatants” have brought on the scorn of the UN high commissioner for human rights.

Today, Jose Padilla has been found competent to stand trial. However, the judge also commented that she may conduct another hearing into torture allegations, and so the revelations will continue. What is being uncovered in this trial is not a mad bomber about to explode a dirty bomb. Instead the trial is revealing a rogue US administration violating international laws with flagrant disregard. If this is the democracy that the Bush Administration wants to export, I don’t blame the world for being frightened. We could all suffer the fate of a US citizen named Jose.