Our very own Traitors' Gate (posted June 18, 2002)

[arendt]

Our very own Traitors' Gate
by arendt (June 18, 2002)

On June 10, American jurisprudence reverted to the protocols
of the English tyrant Henry VIII.

Under the authority of George Bush, an American citizen was
removed from the criminal justice system, from his lawyers,
from his rights. He was placed in a military prison, in which
he can be tried by secret tribunal, convicted without evidence
or appeal, and executed on the say-so of Mr. Bush. As Governor
of Texas, Mr. Bush demonstrated many times his willingness to
approve executions, and he also demonstrated the hypocrisy of
his so-called Christianity by cruelly mocking Karla Faye Tucker.

In the 16th century, anyone who displeased the king could
be thrown into the Tower of London and kept there, executed,
or released, all at the king's discretion. Such people were brought
by boat to the "Traitors' Gate" entrance to the Tower, often in
the middle of the night - shades of Nazi "nacht und nebel"
(night and fog). Inconvenient people, such as Henry's ex-wives,
lingered a while in the Tower, and then went to the chopping
block.

And what was the motor for this grisly machinery? It was religious
warfare - why is this no surprise? Henry had single-handedly
embroiled England in the religious conflict dividing continental
Europe at the beginning of the Reformation, switching from Defender
of the Faith to apostate because it suited his cynical policies. At that
time, Henry decided to demolish Catholic authority simply because
it was in the way of his getting a divorce. It also didn't hurt that he
confiscated immense amounts of Church property, enriching his
regency and buying the consent of the nobility with it.

Americans today seem to have fallen for the same kind of
inflammatory demonization of entire religious communities
for the acts of a few. During the Reformation, Manicheanism
reigned. Each side saw itself as purely good and the other side
as purely evil. (There's that "evil" word again.) There was no
middle ground. Citizen's were required to swear oaths (later
called "Test Acts") of religious correctness.

Today Americans are quick to label anyone they disagree with a "traitor",
and just as quick to ignore criticism of the Bush Administration's reluctance
to immediately nuke Iraq. Why? Because the hawks are "on God's side".
I guess no one ever remembers Dylan's "With God on Our Side".

Given the sad state of our news media, it is no surprise that Americans
do not remember the history upon which our liberties were founded.
However, it is a scandal. Let's call it "Traitors' Gate" - the willingness to
overthrow our Constitution the minute any rightwinger utters the word
"traitor".

Naming a scandal is the easy part. Recovering our rights as citizens in
a democracy is going to be the hard part. One may recall that a hundred
years after Henry, England was still blighted by religious strife that ended
in the dictatorship of Oliver Cromwell.