Peaceful

Pleading the Fifth

Anwar al-Awlaki, an American citizen, was assassinated by the Obama Administration in Yemen on 30 September 2011. Mr. al-Awlaki was suspected of inciting terrorism but had never been put on trial or convicted of a crime. He was innocent until proven guilty. The U.S. government's willingness to assassinate one of its own citizens is indefensible. The Fifth Amendment to the Constitution guarantees every accused criminal the right to due process of law. The Fifth Amendment is part of the Bill of Rights—inalienable rights, not privileges or legal niceties—due to every citizen of this country, regardless of what crimes he or she supposedly committed. Due process includes the right to a fair trial; it is also your right not to incriminate yourself under oath. We hold those rights so sacred that police officers are required by law to remind you of them before they arrest you. How ironic, then, that in this case the Fifth Amendment was violated so casually by the U.S. government, and without public protest. The Obama Administration has apparently determined that it can dispense with a citizen’s right to due process if he’s supposedly a bad man. It has made itself judge, jury, and executioner. What the government seems to have forgotten is that neither the President, nor anyone else, can determine which Constitutional rights citizens enjoy or which must be honored. The President is duty-bound to uphold them all. In the United States, citizens do not live at the mercy of their government; we are the government.

So why aren’t your elected representatives fuming about the Executive Branch’s violation of Mr. al-Awlaki’s (and, by extension, your) right to due process? Or why isn’t Congress moving to censure the Obama Administration for overreaching its Constitutionally limited powers? Probably because you and I don’t elect them to care about such things and won’t hold them responsible for not pursuing it. Why doesn’t the Supreme Court hold the Obama Administration accountable for violating Mr. al-Awlaki’s Fifth Amendment rights? No one has brought the case to them. Where are the conservatives on the Right who claim to love and uphold the Constitution? Their silence belies their rhetoric. And where are the defenders of civil liberties on the Left who claim to speak truth to power? Their silence also belies their rhetoric. Why isn’t there public outrage over the assassination of Mr. al-Awlaki? Perhaps because he was a Muslim with an Arabic name? American law does not discriminate on the basis of religion or ethnic heritage. Are we unmoved because Mr. al-Awlaki was a suspected terrorist? In the United States, you are innocent until proven guilty and even criminals have Constitutional rights. Is it because he was assassinated in faraway Yemen? It is not acceptable for the U.S. government to deny one of its citizens due process on American soil or anywhere else. More shockingly, maybe you and I are unfazed by the assassination of Anwar al-Awlaki because we didn’t even know that it happened. Ignorance is a scary prospect because the government can easily misinterpret silence as tacit permission. An even more frightening prospect is that if no one holds the U.S. government accountable for violating Mr. al-Awlaki’s Constitutional rights, no one is likely to hold the U.S. government accountable when it violates yours.

I still believe that in the United States of America you are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law by a jury of your peers. Apparently, in the case of Mr. al-Awlaki, the Obama Administration does not. Do you?

take your parents to work day

In honor of Father's Day, my family had a Thursday par-tay which we deemed "Take Your Parents to Work Day." It was also Career Day at Los Prietos so I put them to work.

Dad told 85 incarcerated youth about his job. What I have learned about work from Dad:
1. Show up.
2. Have a good attitude.
Recently, he added:
3. Have good knees, but that is for his employees.

Mom was in charge of crane driving and general harassment of firefighters.
She found out that we had our car appraised and it was found to be worth $500. She was pretty serious that she would pay me $500 if the firefighters would let her use the Jaws of Life on the car as a "demonstration for the kids," of course.

After my event was done, we went to visit Dan at work and had lunch and the grand tour. What a great day!

I am so glad that my parents are MY parents. We are perfect for each other.

Some highlights from the past year with my dad:
1. Buying me kleenex and Ben & Jerry's when they came to visit last time and I got really sick.
2. Making a headboard with me, and finishing it when I ran out of time.
3. Encouraging me to take the leap and apply for my new/old job.
4. Working in my garden, after he came up and helped me make extra beds last year.
5. Weekly (short) phone calls. I guess I got my lack of love for phones from you.

So, this is in honor of you, The Best Dad I Got. (You should be happy, because all Mom got for Mother's Day was my cold.)

Love you!

blogworthy

Andrew passed his Ph.D. exams with flying colors. He now has three years to write a dissertation.

I got a promotion at work. I am now a manager, officially.

We have time off next week. Like time off at the same time. :)

We hope life is as peachy for you.

kindle

I got one for my birthday. I love it. Thanks mom and dad. I have been reading nonstop.

to do list

Getting better from the epic cold. And epic week.

Career Day, not really check but over.
Julina & Enrique's wedding, beautiful check.
Taxes, check.
This year's seeds started: check.
Getting to see the newest Jeppesen: UNcheck.

Go away, cold. I have new friends to meet.

apparently the night is not over yet...

Because shortly after he left, I decided to exercise for real and changed into my exercise clothes, cranked up Britney AGAIN and then the missionaries stopped by.
Double Awkward. With ties. And tight pants. Respectively.

my evening

I have to work -11 hours tomorrow to make 40 for this long week. Just got home, found Andrew's note that he was at a lecture. Cranked up the most random guilty pleasure- Britney Spears- and was completely and utterly rocking out. Knock on door... father-in-law stops by unannounced.
Awkward.

look mom, no hoods

hey, i got some new shoes on

I love Zappos. Free shipping both ways, so I never have to enter a store. I decided about eight months ago that I wear the same three pairs of shoes all the time, so the next time I buy shoes I am not doing Payless... I am going to buy a pair of actual shoes that are comfortable after 10 hours in them. So I bought a pair of heels that feel like little buttery clouds every time I wear them, no matter how long I wear them. Bliss.

Then I started wearing them like every day, or at least four days a week. So, they are well-loved and I am in need of a second pair to rotate. Back to Zappos, where I make my best guess on four pairs, intending to pick one. They arrive a day later. (See "I love Zappos", above.) I try each pair on after dinner for a few nights just to make sure they are what I want.

Tonight, I am explaining the virtues of Zappos to an ever-attentive Andrew. I tell him how one pair is too big, and one too pointy that it squishes my toes, and how one pair makes me 6'2" (not that there is anything wrong with being 6'2" Rebecca but they were too TALL for me to walk) and how the last pair was kind of a risk in that they have a peep toe which I normally don't care for. As you can imagine, Andrew is enthralled... aka reading news about the Middle East while making supportive sounds when I pause... I am wearing the last pair, black patent leather peep toe, worrying that perhaps they are too shiny and gosh when you wear open-toed shoes, your toes always have to look nice.

Andrew (hearing a chance to earn husband points): "You always have nice toes."
Michelle: (Turning around to give him a weird look as he has consistently said for years he hopes our children get all of my attributes except for my toes.)
Andrew: "Well... maybe not. They ARE really weird."