Holder’s Letter, Obama’s Grandfather

Dear Mr. President,

An article in today’s NYT (“U.S. Letter Says Leaker Won’t Face Death Penalty” p.A4) is shocking and surreal. Holder’s letter to his Russian counterpart assured him that the U.S. won’t torture or kill Edward Snowden if he’s returned, even if death penalty charges are added. Imagine. The U.S. Department of Justice assuring Russia that we won’t torture or kill a whistle blower who exposed his government’s criminal activity and violations of the Constitution! Think about that, Mr. President, how far we’ve fallen from even the low standards of the Bush era. Who can believe Holder’s promise not to torture Snowden? Not Manning; he was tortured in U.S. military prisons for almost a year. Not any of the Guantanamo prisoners or the ones in Abu Ghraib or Bagram who were beaten, brutalized and waterboarded. And try telling it to any of the estimated 30,000 prisoners in solitary confinement on any given day in U.S. prisons. But aside from torture, how many people believe Snowden would last long in a U.S. prison? Some mysterious ailment, a previously unknown heart condition, he stops breathing; a prison autopsy, he’s buried in a prison graveyard or dumped out to sea like bin Laden, end of story. Holder’s assurances ring hollow. Government officials are not to be trusted, not even you, Mr. President; your word isn’t worth a plugged nickel. In Dreams from My Father your paternal grandfather, Hussein Onyango, was both feared and respected. Feared because he was mean and demanding but respected because he lived by a strict code of honor: to always do what he said he would do. Your aunt Zeituni tells you the story of a man who wanted to cross your grandfather’s land with a goat and your grandfather refused, “the goat will eat my plants.” But the man persisted and finally your grandfather said, “You can pass with your goat. But if even one leaf is harmed, then I will cut down your goat also.” Zeituni and your grandfather followed the man and sure enough, the goat soon started eating a plant. Whack! your grandfather killed the goat with his machete. “If I say I will do something, I must do it. Otherwise, how will people know that my word is true?” your grandfather said and the village council agreed, clearing him of charges. What happened in two generations? You are the opposite of Hussein Onyango; you say one thing and do another; you keep no promises, no vows, no pledges and no one believes you or trusts you. Your grandfather must be spinning in his grave.