Then, tracking broader news, the realization dawns that America isn’t American anymore. What happened to the country that stood for human rights, freedom and government by the people for the people? It’s strange, but I always thought 1984 was a novel of dystopian horror. Constant surveillance, media control, disappearing citizens, torture — these were the very things that made Orwell’s world so shocking. Yet here we have lawmakers giving the President power to detain whomever and whenever, determine for himself what constitutes torture, and deprive suspected (read: alleged, unproven) “enemy combatants” of the rights granted by habeas corpus. I understand that we‚re afraid of another attack in the vein of Sept. 11. But why are we so quick to believe the Bush Administration when they say they need these extraordinary new powers? From the 9/11 Commission Report and past responses to terrorist attacks (e.g. the Oklahoma City bombing), to the fact that the Bush Administration knew bin Laden was determined to strike in the U.S., there’s no reason to accept the Bush Administration’s claims that it knows how to make Americans safer.

The way to deal with terrorism is through diligent law enforcement work, good communication between anti-terror agencies and the people’s steadfast refusal to give in to fear by compromising one’s values. Yet all these laws being passed, all these secret surveillance programs, all these calls for using more extreme methods of “interrogation,” point to an America that treats 1984 as a utopian model of safety and peace of mind. It is, frankly, shocking.

It Gets Worse

Of course, that‚s just the bleak cake beneath very bitter icing. School shootings. The ongoing corruption scandal centering on lobbyist Jack Abramoff. And now reports of congressman Mark Foley‚s outrageous behavior sending sexually-charged messages to young boys serving as pages ˆ a scandal that could spill over to Republican leaders based on what they knew about it and when. The sheer lack of morals in politics today is staggering and quite depressing.

An Unlikely Source of Fresh Air

So imagine my surprise when, in trying to hang on to some small ray of sunshine, it falls to Gov. Schwarzenegger to offer a bit of a good amidst all the dreadful news. Since taking office, he always struck me very much as a business as usual politician. Broken promises, political grandstanding, little to no progress on California’s pressing issues. You know, par for the course. Then he has to pull a stunt like, gasp, sticking it to a Bush Administration in denial about global warming. I refer, of course, to the recently signed bill that commits California to cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by 2020. This is a particularly inspired move on the governor’s part since it has an international scope. This shows that if Uncle Sam won’t do anything, California can roll up her sleeves and take care of business herself in conjunction with countries like Britain and Japan.

The point: I’m willing to give credit where credit is due, and the governor actually did do something worth applauding. An interesting corollary to all this is that it represents how the Conservative Liberal smackdown is oftentimes just a manufactured argument. Preserving the environment is as much a conservative value as a liberal one. This legislation, which brought together Republicans and Democrats, shows what real bipartisanship cooperation can look like in politics. Ahhhhh, yes. There is fresh air to be had. It’s a shame it won’t last in this really topsy-turvy world.