In Print and On the Air
Four Stanford faculty members and 15 other scientists have spoken out about the treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and other sites in a letter published April 30 in the New York Times. "We are deeply concerned that without serious debate, the United States has crossed the limits of acceptable practice in the treatment of prisoners," the letter stated. "The secrecy and the disdain for international law and opinion are contrary to the very ideals that our country has long stood and fought for." The signers, all members of the National Academy of Sciences, include physics Professors LEONARD SUSSKIND and DOUGLAS OSHEROFF; SLAC theoretical physicist emeritus JAMES BJORKEN; and chemistry Professor RICHARD ZARE. "Although this is not a scientific issue in the usual sense, we feel that to ignore it would be to abdicate our responsibility to the truth," the letter continued. "Therefore, we have felt compelled to speak out against human rights violations, including those committed by Americans. We are asking all people of good will to join us in demanding a quick return to our country's great traditions."
The San Francisco Chronicle reported April 30 that displays of anti-immigrant and anti-Latino anger in California and across the country have increased in the six weeks since massive immigrant-rights rallies began, and they are injecting a new note of vitriol into the nation's immigration reform debate. Sociology Professor SUSAN OLZAK said such developments have historic precedents. "Surges in the numbers of immigrants or migrants often produce certain kinds of political and collective actions, sometimes mob attacks," she said. "That has happened against the Chinese, Southern and Eastern Europeans and black migrants moving to the north."
Corruption, together with issues such as the war in Iraq and the economy, has the potential to reach a "tipping point" that could endanger GOP control of the House, the Senate or both, the Washington Post reported April 30. A recent Washington Post-ABC News poll found, for example, that 52 percent of respondents said they trusted the Democratic Party "to do a better job handling corruption in Washington." Political science Professor DAVID BRADY said corruption tends to be a bipartisan issue because voters distrust most politicians regardless of party. "All that said, it does appear to me that the Republicans are vulnerable in the 2006 elections to a national force which combines corruption, Iraq, fears about the economy et cetera in a fashion where the Republicans could lose Congress," he said.