Crosses and Detention Centers

By Hank Silverberg

 A decision by the U.S. Supreme Court this week raises once again a conflict between freedom of speech and freedom of religion. They are both guaranteed by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, but at times can be in conflict with each other.

(photo by Hank Silverberg) 

The issue was the Bladensburg Cross, a World War One memorial which stands at a key intersection in Maryland, right on the border with Washington, D.C. It was erected by the American Legion in 1925 to honor those who died in the Great War.  I first covered this story when the lawsuit was filed in 2014, and it has taken this long for the case to get to the Supreme Court. Here is the  version of that original story I did five years ago for WUSA9, in D.C.  

    

                                             

https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/the-american-legion-v-american-humanist-association/

The Supreme Court ruling was 7-2. But it really set no new precedent. Several of the justices who voted to keep the cross up noted it was because it’s been there so long. To tear it down, they wrote, would abolish the Government’s constitutional neutrality on religion. They indicated putting up such a new memorial now may not pass constitutional muster. Basically, the court took the easy way out, as it often does, ruling on the merits of a specific case and not the overall constitutional issue.  Here’s a quote from Justice Samuel Alito writing for the majority:

The cross “has become a prominent community landmark, and its removal or radical alteration at this date would be seen by many not as a neutral act but as the manifestation of a hostility toward religion that has no place in our Establishment Clause traditions.”

One of the dissenting votes came from Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who wrote:

“The Latin cross, is the foremost symbol of the Christian faith, embodying the 'central theological claim of Christianity: that the son of God died on the cross, that he rose from the dead, and that his death and resurrection offer the possibility of eternal life.' ... Precisely because the cross symbolizes these sectarian beliefs, it is a common marker for the graves of Christian soldiers. For the same reason, using the cross as a war memorial does not transform it into a secular symbol”

It's not clear if this decision will have an impact on other such cases, like posting the Ten Commandments in court houses or putting up Christmas creches on public property, which previous court rulings have banned.  But in this case, the memorial will stay where it has been for 94 years. 

Debating a constitutional issue, freedom of speech vs freedom of religion in the nation’s highest court, was America at its best.  From that we go to America at its worst.

More evidence surfaced this week about the abominable conditions at “Detention Centers” in the Southwest that are confining illegal immigrants awaiting disposition of their status. Among those imprisoned are hundreds of children, separated from their parents.

The conditions are deplorable. There was some public debate this week over semantics. Some called those detention centers “Concentration Camps,” bringing up images of Nazi Germany’s death camps. That probably went too far.    

(Photo courtesy of  US  CBP)

But we should be spreading alarm. Some of the facilities have no beds for those behind fences. There are also no doctors, no health care and for the very young toddlers and infants, no adult supervision. You should be outraged by the stance of a Justice Department attorney earlier this week at a court hearing on the centers. After questions from an Appeals Court Judge, a government attorney would NOT even admit that the lack of a toothbrush, or soap or a bed, was unsanitary.    

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/06/21/detained-migrant-children-no-toothbrush-soap-sleep/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.8dfe9594b882

https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/06/politics/ice-detention-center-ig-report/index.html

Despite the high-profile exaggerations by some in Congress, and the total denial of the facts by others including those in the Trump Administration , these “detention centers” have already put a huge black eye on the integrity and morality of the United States. Historically, they have already surpassed the injustice done to Japanese Americans who were placed in “Internment Camps”  during World War Two. The “detention centers”  should become a major focus of the Presidential campaign where immigration reform will surely be a major issue. Confining people against their will and without due process of law, in deplorable conditions, is NOT an American value and should not be tolerated.  

News Briefs:

A follow-up to my blog from two weeks ago about plastics. A new report out from 24/7Wall Street indicates that Coke and Pepsi are number one and number two in the volume of  plastic rubbish making its way into the oceans. Atlanta based Coca-Cola uses three million tons of plastic each year. North Carolina based Pepsi was not far behind. Nestles, which is based in Switzerland, and produces 1.7 million tons of plastic a year, was the third largest ocean plastic polluter.

https://247wallst.com/special-report/2019/06/06/corporations-behind-the-most-ocean-pollution/2/

To be fair, the companies don’t throw the plastic into the ocean. But it ends up there, despite the little plea on the plastic bottles to “recycle.” Much of the plastic gets trashed. Think about that the next time you have a choice between a plastic bottle or a highly recyclable glass bottle or aluminum can. Remember, plastic takes 450 years to degrade.

                          (Your comments and suggestions are welcome) 

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Ripped from the headlines: I wrote this book in 2016. The plot was fictional then, but after this week's events with Iran, we are now getting close to part of it becoming reality. 

You can purchase a copy at Amazon.com, BN.com or get details on a reduced price bargain with my signature if you email me at HankSilverberg@gmail.com

    

The Campaign

By Hank Silverberg

No, this is not another plug for the novel I published in 2017. You can find details on that at the end of this blog. This is about the real-life drama of 2020, which is already hot 18 months before the election and six months before any primary voting. 

I have lost count of just how many people are running for the Democratic nomination. It’s more than two dozen. Next week there will be two debates, a top tier and a lower tier, where most of the Democratic candidates will get a chance to tell us their vision of America’s future.

I am not going to predict who will be the winner, and anyone who thinks they can make such a prediction should stay away from the betting window at the race track, because they are likely to pick the wrong horse.

Here are a few things I hope the Democrats will do:                                           

1)   Give us a reason to vote for you, not just a reason NOT to vote for Trump. (We know hundreds of those without your help.)

2)   You can differ on policy, that’s healthy debate, but don’t attack someone’s personality or private life.

3)   There is little debate that our country’s current immigration process is broken. Tell us how you will fix it, rather than pointing fingers at who messed it up.

4)    Some domestic issues that should be addressed: the cost of health care, the proliferation of guns, clarity on abortion rights, and cyber security.

5)   Avoid the use of the word “Socialism.” It has been abused and misused by Republicans, and is misunderstood by much of the electorate.  Give us practical solutions, not ideology.

6)    Set a positive tone for the party and the election this time around. Words the public does not want to hear include “collusion,” “emails,”  “Benghazi” and “impeachment.”

I would also like to hear some frank discussion on how to repair our foreign policy, which has been mauled by the Trump Administration. Or, how do we deal with Iran, North Korea, Russia and China?  Tariffs and their negative impact on our domestic economy fit in here. We also need to hear what you would do to repair relationships with our allies, which Mr Trump has severely damaged. The primaries and caucuses don't start until early 2020, beginning in Iowa. So there's plenty of time. Here's a map on the primaries.  

(Courtesy DNC)

                                      (Primaries, by color)

   February

   March 3 (Super Tuesday)

   March 7–8

   March 10

   March 17

   April 4–7

   April 28

   May

   June

   No 2020 date

  

For those of you who can spare a few hours of your busy schedule to watch these debates, listen to the candidate’s words,  but also watch their body language, general demeanor and ability to deal with both complex questions and the inevitable stupid ones. Also, watch how they deal with each other. Four years ago, the Republican debates were a rowdy disgrace. 

NBC made a major mistake by including highly partisan MSNBC commentator Rachel Maddow among the panelists in the upcoming debates. But the rest are highly experienced and qualified journalists, including anchor Lester Holt, and Meet the Press Host Chuck Todd among them,  so hopefully the questions will be to the point and productive. 

(The debates are June 26 and 27th, in two panels of ten candidates each night from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. on both NBC and MSNBC.) 

Some other observations about the campaign so far:

President Trump has said more than once he wants to serve a third, fourth, or even fifth term. That, of course, is against the 25th Amendment which limits a President to two successive terms. I would like to think he knows that and that he is just joking about three or more terms. But even joking about it is crossing a line that shouldn’t be crossed, and with Trump you never know when he is serious.  

The President also said this week that he would look at any dirty information on his opponent even if it came from a foreign source. And then “maybe” if he thought it was improper, he would turn it over to the FBI. He later changed his mind and said he would turn it over no matter what.

https://nypost.com/2019/06/14/trump-now-says-he-would-report-dirt-from-foreign-countries-to-the-fbi/

There IS a federal law prohibiting candidates for public office from accepting ANYTHING of value from a foreign government, even a friendly foreign government. That includes information on an opponent. It appears once again Mr. Trump has no knowledge of the law or more likely no understanding of it. 

News Briefs:

 We also learned this week that two tankers in the Persian Gulf were damaged by mines, which the U.S. government says were planted by Iran’s military. There is video showing what looks like an Iranian patrol craft removing one that did not explode.

(Courtesy of the U.S. Navy) 

 Our allies are questioning whether this is true—another example of the deterioration in our relationships with friendly countries. How will the unpredictable Trump Administration react? We should be worried about that!

Ironically, that novel I wrote in 2016 entitled “The Campaign,” had a war with Iran as a focal point of a Presidential campaign. Let’s hope the plot stays fictional. 

(You can purchase a copy of my book at Amazon.com, BN.com or by emailing me at hanksilverberg@gmail.com for a reduced priced and signed copy. ) 

                                       

         

(Your suggestions or comments on this blog are welcome below)