Rule of Law, Misrule of Men

by Elaine Scarry

A passionate call for citizen action to uphold the rule of law when government does not. This book is a passionate call for citizen action to uphold the rule of law when government does not. Arguing that post-9/11 legislation and foreign policy severed the executive branch from the will of the people, Elaine Scarry in Rule of Law, Misrule of Men offers a fierce defense of the people's role as guarantor of our democracy. She begins with the groundswell of local resistance to the 2001 Patriot Act, when hundreds of towns, cities, and counties passed resolutions refusing compliance with the information-gathering the act demanded, showing that citizens can take action against laws that undermine the rights of citizens and noncitizens alike. Scarry, once described in the New York Times Sunday Magazine as “known for her unflinching investigations of war, torture, and pain,” then turns to the conduct of the Iraqi occupation, arguing that the Bush administration led the country onto treacherous moral terrain, violating the Geneva Conventions and the armed forces' own most fundamental standards. She warns of the damage done to democracy when military personnel must choose between their own codes of warfare and the illegal orders of their civilian superiors. If our military leaders uphold the rule of law when civilian leaders do not, might we come to prefer them? Finally, reviewing what we know now about the Bush administration's crimes, Scarry insists that prosecution—whether local, national, or international—is essential to restoring the rule of law, and she shows how a brave town in Vermont has taken up the challenge. Throughout the book, Scarry finds hope in moments where citizens withheld their consent to grievous crimes, finding creative ways to stand by their patriotism.

Genres: Nonfiction

191 pages, Hardcover

First published April 2, 2010

Reviews

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a generous 3 stars, mainly because I think it's important to keep civil liberties at the forefront of public discourse, and thus any and all polemics that advocate for them can't be all bad.

But I suspect if I were a trained lawyer I would think this book is incredibly bad. I'm not, and neither is Scarry, and even I can tell when I'm being fed a slanted version of legal fact. Scarry's politics are also unlikely to convince many; she applauds municipal resolutions against the Patriot Act as a kind of triumph of democracy, rather than simply a reflection that many towns and cities in the US have local governments that are pretty far out there to the left or right. (What, for example, would she make of all the redneck jurisdictions that have passed resolutions calling for President Obama's impeachment for various bogus reasons? Are these measures triumphs of democracy too, or simply the delusions of a few small-time kooks?)

I'm not in principle against authors going far outside their trained disciplines, but might have to make an exception for Scarry - apparently she's also tried her hand at making a hash out of physics with her work promoting TWA Flight 800 conspiracy theories. It makes me ill to parrot the words of every concern troll ever, but the left needs better messengers than this. Civil liberties are too important to have to depend on the C-team for their protection.

[William · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this at Uncharted Books immediately after watching Zero Dark Thirty at Logan Theatre.
I am so happy that I bought this little collection of three Bush II-era essays and promptly read them in one go.
The film was good but was C.I.A. propaganda. The book answered the film's "we're so fucked now because Obama won't let us torture" argument because it specifically addressed the danger of using torture under a President that liked torture and not using torture under a President who doesn't like torture: we are no longer a country under the rule of law unless we adress the problem by repealing laws designed to make government actions secret and private actions open; and prosecute those who tortured, all the way up to Cheney and Bush II.

[Rich · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's amazingly frightening how many people accept that the insidious Patriot Act is here with us for all time. I still scratch my head and wonder why no one arrests GWB, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Ashcroft for their parts in lying about getting us into war, torturing people, indefinitely detaining our own citizens, kidnapping foreign citizens, and generally profiting from killing our citizens and the citizens of foreign nations.

This book tells you some of the details of this invasive act, outlines some amazing resistance from small communities and reminds you that the Rule of Law must apply if we are to keep our status as a democratic nation.

Interpretations are not allowed. Justifications are not allowed. We need to move back towards doing the right thing.