Is Anyone Safe?
Sad to say we were not able to attend the Papal Mass this morning ... snafu with credentials (don't get me started). And then we couldn't get through to Zimbabwe in time for me to nail down the interview with Ofeibia and then get out of here to make my way over there. It was always going to be tough to do the show and get to the Mass - which is on the other side of town - but the security in place for this visit just adds a whole other layer, the credentialing process, the police presence. It's all a bit surreal. On my way home last night there were police cars stationed at every corner on what I assume was the Pope's route home from the prayer service with the Bishops and Cardinals held at the Basilica of the National Shrine.
This is the kind of thing that reminds me of how the world is right now - or at least how law enforcement thinks the world is (which is their job, after all, not questioning it).
I can remember going overseas as a college student and being shocked at the sight of soldiers with machine guns patrolling the airport in some in some European city I visited. I wouldn't be shocked now if I saw that here, but big events like this - where there are elaborate plans to keep dignitaries and their events "safe" - make me think about who is really "safe."
Yesterday was the one year anniversary of the Virginia Tech shooting where more than 30 people were killed. It was a horribly traumatic experience. All who were affected (and even some who weren't) can still attest to that fact. And yet in Philadelphia, where last night's Democratic presidential debate was held, on the police department's web site there's a homicide counter showing that as of March 20 there were ONLY 61 killings in the city, which is being seen as a GOOD thing since that represents a drop of about 27 percent from the same period a year before. And today, in Bagdad, some 50 people were killed in a bombing. Five years into the war and the people are not "safe." We talked to the UN's representative to the Democratic Republic of the Congo about the UN's efforts to support the peace there. Five years after the civil war "ended," the people - especially women - are not "safe." Rape is still a widely used weapon against women and the brutality of the attacks are truly beyond words. I refer you to an interview my colleague, ATC host Robert Siegel did with a filmmaker who reported not only the stories of the victims of rape in the Congo but also the stories of the rapists.
Who is safe? What makes us safe? There's a bumper sticker that says if you want peace work for justice ... but is your justice my justice? The Supreme Court is asking that question in regard to the desire of six states to reimpose the death penalty in cases of child rape. What is just? To punish men who commit these awful acts, to express our abhorrence, to ensure they'll never do it again? OR to ensure that the state, which the facts and history show has often wielded its power in a remarkably racist way, can not repeat its errors? That was our lede story today - a look at how the Supreme Court is addressing death penalty issues.
That brings me back to the Pope's visit. Observers of every quarter have been wondering what the Pope's message will be. His spokesmen have told us it will be a message of hope and healing. We could probably use one right now.
3:56 PM ET | 04-17-2008 | permalink
