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Cool
Justice
Conscience Of The Senate
By ANDY THIBAULT, Columnist
Law Tribune Newspapers
August 8, 2005
Sen. Chris Dodd keeps on punching.
Dodd hasn't scored any knockdowns. But, he carries the torch
on issues the Bush Administration would have us ignore. Just to cite a
few: torture at Abu Ghraib prison and out-of-control spending on private
military firms in Iraq while programs like the Clean Water Act are gutted.
It's like emptying the ocean with a teacup, but this seems to
be as good as it gets in what is supposed to be a constitutional republic.
The bread and butter Democratic issues such as health care,
housing and education have always been Dodd staples, going back to the
1970's when he was first elected to Congress.
Just as President Bush has Karl Rove as a surrogate brain,
Dodd had Stanley Israelite as the go-to guy for most of his career.
Israelite, cited by U.S. News & World Report as one of the 10 most
influential Americans a few years ago, is responsible for many of
Connecticut's industrial parks. A jeweler by trade, Israelite also learned
the art of grantsmanship while building a constituent service team second
to none in the country.
It's that constituent service which made many voters lean
toward Dodd even if they weren't part of the traditional liberal set.
The word on Dodd the last few years is that he lost the fever
for politics. He could run for governor, which would be good for
Connecticut. But that kind of job has the accountability of a first
selectman, something senators don't have to worry about.
Still, even if Dodd's punch has lost some of its snap, he's
worth listening to and supporting on a range of issues. He made the strong
case recently against the recess appointment of John Bolton for UN
ambassador, citing problems of demeanor, candor and credibility.
Dodd made Condoleeza Rice dance on broken glass over hot sand
about Abu Ghraib during her confirmation process. He also put questions
about costly and unaccountable spending - billions of dollars -- for
private firms in Iraq into the public record. This experiment on
privatization will inevitably yield valuable data as the trend to hide
government functions continues domestically and abroad.
He called Rice's statements - or lack thereof - on the issue
of torture, "startling."
"I asked her a simple question -- whether or not she
felt that certain interrogation techniques such as water boarding, forced
nudity, and the use of stress positions are tantamount to torture,"
Dodd said. "I asked her to consider this not in the context of
whether or not members of Al Qaeda are covered by the Geneva Conventions
but as a human being reflecting on the actions of one person against
another. My question was straightforward; however, Dr. Rice's answer was
anything but. In fact, at no point did she provide a clear answer to the
question I posed. Disturbingly, her lack of a clear answer implies that
she neither defines these methods as torture nor opposes their use
…"
Notably, this is the son of a Nuremburg prosecutor speaking.
He's right to raise all these issues, including our
anti-democratic efforts in places like Venezuela. We are better off and
safer when we respect human rights off all people, especially in the midst
of our current nationalistic fervor.
Now, if it had only been Dodd V. Bush instead of Kerry …
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