Karma or vibes: Abu Ghraib and Arizona governor’s office

January 29, 7:19 AMPhoenix Progressive ExaminerDebbie Jordan

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What do a notorious Iraqi prison and the highest office of the Grand Canyon State have in common? Some might call it karma; others, spirits. A third, less intense, group might say it’s vibes. No matter what it’s called, I can’t help wondering about the way history tends to repeat itself.

               Will karma prevent the next Arizona governor from serving full terms too?

First, I heard that Abu Ghraib is about to be reopened as--you guessed it!--a prison. During the reign of Saddam Hussein, the place was a torture center. Then came the U.S. invasion and a new regime, but no higher purpose for the detention facility, though I’m sure there was a difference in the level of depravity between the two administrations. Still, that doesn’t make what our fellow Americans did to their Iraqi prisoners any less criminal.

In its newest incarnation, the notorious institution will be known as Baghdad’s Central Prison. That’s because authorities fear the name Abu Ghraib has left a "bitter feeling inside Iraqis’ hearts," according to deputy Justice Minister Busho Ibrahim. But with the U.S. handing so much responsibility to Iraqis, there’s a shortage of resources and space to manage the growing number of prisoners in their care. "We have crowded prisons and the opening of Baghdad's Central Prison will help ease the problem," Ibrahim said.

Still, I can’t help worrying about the vibes in that space. That’s why it’s imperative that authorities keep a close eye on things, at least for a while, just to make sure the guards in the "new" prison don’t succumb to the spirits and slip into old habits again.

Next, an Arizona Republic article by Richard Nilsen reminded me of a point I’d noted a day earlier in a chart listing the 22 people who’ve served as governor of Arizona. It seems more than half of these people either entered the office without being elected or left it without serving out their full term.

In fact, this strange situation began with a peculiar dance between the first two men in the parade of chief executives who kept trading the position with each other through all but two of the first 21 years of the state’s history. Two later governors died in office, one was impeached and another resigned following a conviction, and two, including Janet Napolitano, left to serve at the federal level.

I know you can’t compare the seriousness of a notorious prison to the fact that so many people in a single office don’t follow the routine in their comings and goings. But the interesting juxtaposition of articles made me wonder just how much karma, or spirits, or whatever you want to call it, has to do with it all.