First are all the vibrant, young human beings who will never again take a breath: 899 military men and women who died in Iraq; 32 students and teachers at Virginia Tech; 13 drivers on a bridge in Minneapolis; 14 Californians in the wildfires of October; and a charismatic female leader in Pakistan.
These are just a few among many others who died as a result of war, genocide, poverty, AIDS, cancer, inadequate health care, inner city gun violence, drug wars and automobile accidents. We lost many beloved people in 2007, as we do every year, but many of these deaths were completely senseless and premature, the result of terrible governmental policies or crazed fanatics.
We also lost a lot of financial security in 2007. Millions lost jobs to mysterious corporate policies like "downsizing" and "outsourcing," and, because of greed that led to the mortgage crisis, millions more lost their homes. It is estimated that by the time the mortgage crisis is resolved, $1.2 trillion in property values will be lost. In the California wildfires of 2007, 1500 families lost their homes and the insured value is estimated at $1.6 billion.
With enormous implications for global warming, the Greenland ice sheet was recorded to have lost 10% more ice in 2007 than it did in its previous record year. The amount of ice lost is equivalent to two times all the ice in the Alps.
The biggest loss in 2007, however, was the utter and complete loss of trust and faith in the conservative republican government of the United States, led by George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. Of course, this isn't new to 2007, merely a continuation of what began with the election of 2000 and the utter disregard for the Constitution by the Supreme Court, and continuing ever since then with the countless abuses of the Constitution by the Bush administration.
From the Patriot Act to the suspension of Habeas Corpus, from unlawful detainment of citizens to the torture and extraordinary rendition of non-citizens, from illegal eavesdropping to illegal "sneak and peek," from violations of the Geneva Conventions to illegal wars, from manipulated intelligence to refusal to honor Congressional subpoenas, from absolute secrecy surrounding White House activities to deleted emails and destroyed videotapes, from hundreds of signing statements to the unitary executive theory, from the illegal outing of a CIA agent to the commuted sentence of one of the guilty, from no-bid contracts for Cheney associates to work in Iraqi cities to broken promises regarding the rebuilding of an American city, this administration is responsible for the single most important thing we have lost this year and over the past seven years: trust and faith in our government.
And along with that loss, we have suffered the loss of many of our liberties guaranteed by the Constitution, and indeed we are on the verge of losing the Constitution itself.
In an editorial today, the New York Times summarized it well:
Out of panic and ideology, President Bush squandered America’s position of moral and political leadership, swept aside international institutions and treaties, sullied America’s global image, and trampled on the constitutional pillars that have supported our democracy through the most terrifying and challenging times. These policies have fed the world’s anger and alienation and have not made any of us safer.
In the years since 9/11, we have seen American soldiers abuse, sexually humiliate, torment and murder prisoners in Afghanistan and Iraq. A few have been punished, but their leaders have never been called to account. We have seen mercenaries gun down Iraqi civilians with no fear of prosecution. We have seen the president, sworn to defend the Constitution, turn his powers on his own citizens, authorizing the intelligence agencies to spy on Americans, wiretapping phones and intercepting international e-mail messages without a warrant.
We have read accounts of how the government’s top lawyers huddled in secret after the attacks in New York and Washington and plotted ways to circumvent the Geneva Conventions — and both American and international law — to hold anyone the president chose indefinitely without charges or judicial review.
Those same lawyers then twisted other laws beyond recognition to allow Mr. Bush to turn intelligence agents into torturers, to force doctors to abdicate their professional oaths and responsibilities to prepare prisoners for abuse, and then to monitor the torment to make sure it didn’t go just a bit too
far and actually kill them.
The White House used the fear of terrorism and the sense of national unity to ram laws through Congress that gave law-enforcement agencies far more power than they truly needed to respond to the threat — and at the same time fulfilled the imperial fantasies of Vice President Dick Cheney and others determined to use the tragedy of 9/11 to arrogate as much power as they could.
In the year 2007, the president and vice president have continued their abuses of the Constitution, and deprived the people of the United States of their rights, liberties, and reputation with the rest of the world.
We have a chance this year to overturn the nightmare of the past seven years. We have a chance to finally put in power someone who will restore the Constitution and truly represent the people of the United States of America.
This election is the most important in half a century.
We shouldn't elect someone because they oppose gay marriage, or go to the "right" church, or even because they believe in God. We must elect someone because they believe in the Constitution.
We shouldn't elect someone because they promise to protect our borders from Mexicans and Central Americans, but because they will protect the ideals and the liberties for which our forefathers fought so valiantly.
We shouldn't elect someone just because they scream "9/11" or promise to be the toughest guy on the planet, but because they know how to work with other countries and are more interested in peace than in war.
We shouldn't elect someone because they promise to lower taxes but because they promise to use tax money wisely.
We shouldn't elect someone who makes us afraid. Rather we must elect someone who promotes courage and hope.
In 2008, we will joyfully witness the end of the reign of George W. Bush and the criminal gang he brought to Washington.
In 2008, we have the opportunity to elect a wise and ethical leader who will restore our democracy and our Constitution.
So I'm not sad to see 2007 go. I'm looking forward to 2008.
Here's to a New Year, a new leader, and new hope.
