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Moammar Gadhafi's War on Writers: An Interview with Novelist Hisham Matar

Are writers dangerous? For dictators such as Libya's Moammar Gadhafi, they are.

That's the theme of an interview broadcast today with Libyan novelist Hisham Matar. Speaking on NPR, Matar described how Gadhafi imprisoned hundreds of poets, short story writers and novelists for no crime other than simply writing.

Ideas outside the "official narrative" were threats to the regime, Matar notes, which led Gadhafi and his minions to lock up anyone who dared challenge the powers structure. Matar also reports that government officials went to bookstores to collect unapproved books, which they proceeded to burn.

Obviously, such actions are anti-intellectual and wrong. They also demonstrate how thin-skinned and paranoid Gadhafi was, unwilling even to allow "dangerous" books in the bookshops.

Matar's intervew, in print and audio forms, is here.

Haley Barbour Update: Mississippi's GOP Governor Backs Down in KKK Controversy

Haley Barbour keeps playing with historical fire, pretending that the legacy of racism in the South really wasn't all that bad.  

The latest such incident was Barbour's support for an official state license plate honoring a Confederate leader who was a founder of the KKK.

The Mississippi governor, a Republican, has appeared to have a case of historical amnesia about the glorious days of the Jim Crow South, before all those outside agitators (read: civil rights workers) messed up the Good Ole Boy system of racial discrimination and segregation.

But even Barbour has now had second thoughts, as we read today at Think Progress:

Under pressure to address racial issues swirling around a potential presidential bid, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) finally said he won’t sign a bill to honor a former KKK leader with a state-issued license plate. Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee had defended his fellow Republican on the issue this weekend before Barbour backed down.

Barbour, as some Okies will recall, was a guest of then-candidate Mary Fallin when she was running for governor.

The website Politico has the details here. 

The Empty Chair: China's Shame at Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony

Folks who keep up with international human rights (that would be us) have been dismayed with China's reactionary response to the Nobel Peace Prize, an award that went to the Chinese activist Liu Xiaobo.

At last week's ceremony, Liu Xiaobo was absent because he's in prison in China for his free speech and human rights activities. He was represented in Oslo by an empty chair. 

Writing in The New York Review of Books, Perry Link has a moving report from Oslo and the significance of the empty chair. Link's essay is here.

Celebrating 'To Kill a Mockingbird' 50 Years after its Publication

If you are keeping score at home, Harper Lee's novel To Kill a Mockingbird was published in 1960, fifty years ago.

Among the many reports celebrating the novel's appearance was an appreciation today on NPR's Morning Edition. 

The novel was—and remains—an important book about, well, a lot of things, including moral courage. Perhaps that's why it is an important book.

Read or hear the NPR report here. You can thank us later.

Sloganeering: Human Rights Watch Spreads the Word against Tyranny

One of AltTulsa's themes is civil liberties, especially basic rights such as free expression, free association and fundamental human liberties.

Those issues make us fans of groups like Human Rights Watch, a non-profit group whose goals we endorse. 

Reading some HRW literature recently, we happened across one of their T-shirts with a slogan we like. It reads:

Human Rights Watch: 

Making the world unsafe for dictators since 1978.

Power Problem: Venezuela's Chavez Jails Judge Whose Rulings He Doesn't Like

Hugo Chavez is nobody's idea of a democratic leader. He's a dictator, plan and simple.

As evidence, we present this NPR report on the latest Chavez move in Venezuela, where the president's enemies are on the endangered species list. The president recently jailed a judge who had the audacity to issue a ruling Chavez didn't like. 

The Chavez formula: Agree with me and you will prosper. Disagree with me, and, well, how about some time in the ole Graybar Hotel? 

The NPR story is here.

Recent Reading: A Closer Look at the Soldiers of Abu Ghraib

Speaking of powerful stories (see previous post), we recently finished Standard Operating Procedure, an investigation into the abuses and torture of Iraqi prisoners at the infamous prison known as Abu Ghraib.

It's not "fun" reading, but it is an important work, nto least because it provides context for the whole sorted story. The book is by Philip Gourevitch and Errol Morris, based on hours and hours of interviews that Morris films for his film of the same name.

We came away from the book with more understanding, even sympathy, for the men and women who abused the prisoners. Yes, it's hard to defend their actions, but the interviews make clear how unprepared they were for the jobs they had. 

In short, Abu Ghraib presented a nearly impossible situation for these soldiers. Their conduct was still wrong, but their own words helped us see how terrible the assignment was and why these soldiers can't be blamed for the entire mess.

At Abu Ghraid, there was plenty of blame to go around, blame goes well beyond the prison walls, up the chain of command all the way to the Pentagon. 

Learn more about the film here. There's also a link to the book on the film's website.

Texas Monthly's Investigation into Human Trafficking in Texas

Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times writes a lot about human rights and social evils, worthy causes to be sure.

Today, we notice, he's posting about an article in Texas Monthly, a piece that investigates the sex trafficking business in Houston and other cities.

As it happens, we've read the TM piece. It's distressing, of course, but well worth reading. The link to Kristof, and the Texas Monthly piece too, is here.

Liz Cheney Gets it Wrong: Playing Politics with Terror

The excesses of the Republican Right are considerable and, often, outrageous. Now this list includes exploiting terror to score political points.

The culprit is none other than former Veep daughter Liz Cheney, a person with a a less-than-firm grip on political reality. Her latest screed is an attack on a handful of Justice Department lawyers who once defended terror suspects.

Heavens! A lawyer actually defending a guilty person. We all know that guilty persons—terrorists of not—don't deserve legal representation or a fair trial.

Even conservative thinkers (a group that doesn't include Liz Cheney and her ilk) have backed away from Ms. Cheney's attack. Unlike Cheney, they recognize that defense lawyers have a responsibility to defend suspects, even when the suspects are terrorists.

There is, after all, something wonderful in the law that involves the protection of individual rights, even when the suspects are horrible people. More often than not, it appears, terrorists are found guilty.

The full story is linked here.

Ole Miss Students Dump Colonel Reb

The racial history of Ole Miss is not a happy one.

This was one of those universities, after all, that had to be desegregated by force. In 1963, President John F. Kennedy had to call out the troops so that James Meredith could go to class at the University of Mississippi.

Today, however, another vestige of the Old South bit the dust. The students voted to do away with their mascot, known as Colonel Reb. Read the Washington Post story about it here.

Frank Rich on Gays in the Military and the Right's Curious Silence

Frank Rich, columnist for the New York Times, is a thoughtful writer who knows his way around the issues. That's why his commentary on the repeal of the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is worth reading.

Here's the opening paragraph: 

A funny thing happened after Adm. Mike Mullen called for gay men and lesbians to serve openly in the military: A curious silence befell much of the right. If this were a Sherlock Holmes story, it would be the case of the attack dogs that did not bark.

Read the entire Rich column here.

Pat Robertson: God is Punishing Haiti for Pact with Satan (Yes, really!)

Rev. Pat Robertson—the chief pontificator at The 700 Club—is simply amazing. When bad things happen, he can talk to God and then tell the rest of us why the Lord did what He did.

Hurricane Katrina happened to New Orleans because those folks were Big Time Sinners, Rev. Pat has said.

After Sept. 11, 2001, the Lord told Pat's pal Jerry Falwell (and Rev. Pat agreed) that the attack was all the ACLU's fault. After all, those liberal lawyers keep supporting things like civil rights and free expression and porn and gay stuff. So icky! 

Now that an earthquake has killed many thousands of innocent people in Haiti, Rev. Pat says that God told him that He did it because the evil Haitians were in league with the Devil. And then there's France, which has something to do with Satan as well. 

Fascinating. Incredible. Literally unbelievable. Read all about it here, with enlightening video. 

Promoting Freedom: Obama Speaks Up on Behalf of Iranian Dissidents

President Obama has given moral support to the Iranian dissidents. History is on your side, the president said in a statement Monday.

The president's words run contrary to the whacked-out Talk Radio meme that Obama is (yawn) a secret, Muslim-loving terrorist intent on turning the U.S. into a socialist-Fascist-Communist state that oppresses all white Republican Christians.

As moronic as that sounds, it's a favorite fairy tale of the Tea Party crowd and John Birchers, including some GOP folks right here in Tulsa (Oklahoma State Sen. Randy Brogdon, comes to mind).

To read more on the president's speech, click here.

Maddow Exposes the Ties Between C Streeters and Uganda's 'Kill the Gays' Bill

Oklahoma politicians are not known for their empathy. For many of them, the whole notion of human kindness seems to be some sort of naive weakness, a silly left-wing affectation practiced only by Girly Men and Liberals (who, in their mind, are pretty much the same people).

Thankfully, there's a terrific journalist named Rachel Maddow on MSNBC. Maddow, as it happens, is smart, hard-working and tough. She also not afraid to challenge the status quo and Far Right politicians like, say, Sen. Jim Inhofe.

Maddow has done some interesting reporting on the notorious C Street House (home to some oversexed Christian conservatives such as Sen. John Ensign) and its political influence, stories that sometimes involve both Oklahoma senators (naturally, Tom Coburn is a C Streeter).

Just this week, for instance, there was this nasty business in Uganda, where—believe it or not—the government was considering a bill to kill homosexuals. Not too surprisingly, the origins of this legislation lead back to—you guessed it—the C Street House.

Then there's the odd fact that Sen. Inhofe has made some trips to—yes!—Uganda.

Even the Conservatives are backing off the Ugandan legislation, as well they should. Progressive Okie has some posted some footage from the Maddow show. Very interesting stuff. The link is here.

Obama's First Year: Restoring America's Standing in the World

Political writer Jacob Weisberg has published a column that turns conventional wisdom on its head, which is often a good move.

Writing at Slate.com, Weisberg challenges the notion that President Obama has had a weak beginning. Indeed, Weisberg says Obama has had a highly successful first year, accomplishing more in that time than any president since Franklin Roosevelt.

Conservative pundits and GOP activists will disagree, of course, but Weisberg make a reasonable case that Obama has been effective in a number of areas, not least of which is his restoration of the U.S. as a force for good in the world, in contrast to eight years of Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld deception.

Read the piece here.

Ex-Gov. Sarah Palin Criticizes NY Terror Trials Despite NY Trail History

In a surprise to absolutely no one, the Republicans are foaming at the mouth about the Obama Administration's decision to try five terrorists in civilian courts New York City.

You'd think that the GOP bigwigs would have more faith in the American judicial system, but no. The Republicans love to play the terror card, insisting that terrorists have no place in the U.S. courts.

Sen. Jim Inhofe, of course, had blasted the administration. So has ex-Gov. Sarah Palin.

Too bad, then, that the U.S. has previously tried earlier terror suspects in—gasp!—federal court in New York City and elsewhere.

It's true. Not once, not twice, but 145 times. But, hey, truth is hard—and the GOP screamers don't do hard. They do hyperbole and hot air.

The details are here.

Gotta Love King James: Pastor Advocates Burning Other Bibles

Book burning has a checkered legacy, to put it mildly.

To put it bluntly, book burning is anti-intellectual, anti-democratic and harmful to the free exchange of ideas.

But a North Carolina pastor has other ideas. To him, the King James version of the Bible is the only proper Bible. It's God's true Word, he claims, never mind the fact that it was translated by some very fallible human beings.

Other Bibles, the preacher says, can and should be burned. They are (get this!) "Satan's books." Even Billy Graham's books, the church says, are tainted and should be burned.

We not members of this North Carolina congregation, of course, but AT strongly disagrees. We stand for openness, debate, and the honest search for truth, even spiritual truth.

Our advice: Leave the other Bibles and books alone. Let these books stand or fall in the court of public discussion and debate.

The Raw Story has details.

Fun with Stephen Colbert: Only Investigate Torture in 'A Perfect World'

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