Time to put it on "ignore"
Bush’s War Watch
I’ve decided that I don’t really need to pay attention to Bush’s War much anymore. Why should I bother? The media clearly seem to want to ignore it. (The “handover” in June was the signal to the news networks that Iraq could be “Afghanistanized” onto the back pages.) Our right-wing brethren in this country seem to be perfectly happy ignoring the human and fiscal costs. That is it a rapidly deteriorating situation which could have been avoided is self-evident. That the true believers in Bush will continue to ignore the reality of the situation is also evident. Why should we bother to lose sleep over this gross injustice? It doesn’t help anyone, and it hurts us to stress about it.
The destruction of Fallujah, the “city of mosques”, is such an affront to the Islamic world that a recent Pakistani editorial was recently subtly entitled “I am become death – the destroyer of worlds”, in reference to Bush. The sexual humiliation and torture of Iraqi prisoners, of which the news of widespread horrors continues to come out in trickles as the Pentagon drolly talks about “a few bad apples”, is not winning us any friends. The Bush/Rumsfeld execution of this fiasco seems carelessly designed, or even careFULLY designed, to enrage the muslim world against us. A sane approach to foreign policy might just as carefully avoid enraging the entire muslim world, but that’s my Bush.
And so, you’ll pardon me if I don’t act surprised when the retributions for our torture and desecration bear the fruit of future death and destruction on Americans, even ones I know and love, even ones in my family, or ones I count among my friends. And yes, “they blew up the twin towers”. “They” did indeed. But “they” were not in Iraq. Remember that every person we’ve harmed in Iraq was innocent in 9/11. The karmic debt we have accumulated for letting a few a-holes run roughshod over more than 60 years of global law and American foreign policy is staggering, and it will continue to sweep more innocents into its net.
When the next attack comes, the administration will not say “maybe we shouldn’t have pissed off all of the Muslims in the world.” It will say, “See, we told you so!” and the bloodshed and mayhem will predictably be continued and intensified. We will have been Israelified to the point where only the leaders who call for the most blood of our enemies will be rewarded. Such a lovely future. But you’ll pardon me if I don’t want to watch it unfold too closely.
Bush Apologizes Watch
It turns out that the President can actually say he’s sorry. Check out this news story:
“President Bush Takes Responsibility for Prisoner Abuse
Washington (FA wire) - In the wake of yet another well-photographed Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal, President Bush today offered his apologies and took responsibility for the incidents. "I'm the Commander in Chief," he said in a press conference on the White House lawn. "The conduct of the military is therefore my responsibility. I want to apologize to the Iraqi people and the American people."
"When you look at what happened, you have to conclude that this abuse was a systemic problem," the President went on. "And there's little doubt that the fact that so many soldiers believed the Iraqis were partly to blame for 9/11 had something to do with these atrocities. In retrospect, I regret that I allowed and encouraged this misapprehension for the short-term benefit of securing popular support for the war - it definitely caused our soldiers to view themselves as avengers rather than liberators. That's my fault."
The President went on to concede that U.S. troops believing they were fighting an enemy that had stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction might have also fueled their rapacious behavior. "Another big 'oops,' there," he said. "When you consider that that the enemy had no terrible weapons, didn't really fight back, and wasn't even remotely responsible for any terrorism against Americans.... well, letting our soldiers believe that this was the case might not have been the greatest idea. That one's on me. My bad."
Oh wait – it turns out that this story is actually from the very funny comedy blog, Fanatical Apathy. That explains everything.
Dean Watch
The DNC will soon choose a new chairman and one of the possible people for the job is Howard Dean. He was my favorite candidate from the primaries, and though Democrats by and large did not vote for him, I found he was able to communicate Democratic principles and express a Democratic vision for the country the most articulately. He makes it sound so simple: why it is right to be a Democrat, how the Republicans have failed, and he never sounds apologetic about his convictions.
Recently, the DLC, a very corporatist piece of the national Democratic machinery, felt it was necessary to publicly denounce Michael Moore, because Republicans would like to see Moore’s name become a bad word. Why? Moore actually cares deeply about the subject of class in this country, and he also can reach large audiences through his medium. All this internecine fighting within the Democratic party may seem trivial, but the instinct on the part of this group to demonize one of Bush’s most effective critics seems retarded at best, quisling at worst. Moore worked his ass off through the election season, even through pneumonia, to get people out to vote, and to vote against Bush.
As the leaders in the Democratic party attempt to create new divisions within the party, wouldn’t it be nice to have a visible leader of the DNC who can express himself in this way? From today’s speech:
“Let me tell you what my plan for this Party is:
We're going to win in Mississippi
...and Alabama
...and Idaho
...and South Carolina.
...
Now we need to build on our successes while transforming the Democratic Party into a grassroots organization that can win in 50 states. I have seen all the doomsday predictions that the Democratic Party could shrink to become a regional Party. A Party of the Northeast and the Pacific Northwest.
We cannot be a Party that seeks the presidency by running an 18-state campaign. We cannot be a party that cedes a single state, a single District, a single precinct, nor should we cede a single voter.
As many of the candidates supported by my organization Democracy for America showed -- people in places that we've too long ignored are hungry for an alternative; they're hungry for new ideas and new candidates, and they're willing to elect Democrats. ... There is a Party of fiscal responsibility... economic responsibility.... social responsibility... civic responsibility... personal responsibility... and moral responsibility.
It's the Democratic Party.”
The excerpts of the speech don’t really do it justice. Go read the whole thing. The guy really can articulate a vision for a party that can’t seem to find one.
I’ve decided that I don’t really need to pay attention to Bush’s War much anymore. Why should I bother? The media clearly seem to want to ignore it. (The “handover” in June was the signal to the news networks that Iraq could be “Afghanistanized” onto the back pages.) Our right-wing brethren in this country seem to be perfectly happy ignoring the human and fiscal costs. That is it a rapidly deteriorating situation which could have been avoided is self-evident. That the true believers in Bush will continue to ignore the reality of the situation is also evident. Why should we bother to lose sleep over this gross injustice? It doesn’t help anyone, and it hurts us to stress about it.
The destruction of Fallujah, the “city of mosques”, is such an affront to the Islamic world that a recent Pakistani editorial was recently subtly entitled “I am become death – the destroyer of worlds”, in reference to Bush. The sexual humiliation and torture of Iraqi prisoners, of which the news of widespread horrors continues to come out in trickles as the Pentagon drolly talks about “a few bad apples”, is not winning us any friends. The Bush/Rumsfeld execution of this fiasco seems carelessly designed, or even careFULLY designed, to enrage the muslim world against us. A sane approach to foreign policy might just as carefully avoid enraging the entire muslim world, but that’s my Bush.
And so, you’ll pardon me if I don’t act surprised when the retributions for our torture and desecration bear the fruit of future death and destruction on Americans, even ones I know and love, even ones in my family, or ones I count among my friends. And yes, “they blew up the twin towers”. “They” did indeed. But “they” were not in Iraq. Remember that every person we’ve harmed in Iraq was innocent in 9/11. The karmic debt we have accumulated for letting a few a-holes run roughshod over more than 60 years of global law and American foreign policy is staggering, and it will continue to sweep more innocents into its net.
When the next attack comes, the administration will not say “maybe we shouldn’t have pissed off all of the Muslims in the world.” It will say, “See, we told you so!” and the bloodshed and mayhem will predictably be continued and intensified. We will have been Israelified to the point where only the leaders who call for the most blood of our enemies will be rewarded. Such a lovely future. But you’ll pardon me if I don’t want to watch it unfold too closely.
Bush Apologizes Watch
It turns out that the President can actually say he’s sorry. Check out this news story:
“President Bush Takes Responsibility for Prisoner Abuse
Washington (FA wire) - In the wake of yet another well-photographed Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal, President Bush today offered his apologies and took responsibility for the incidents. "I'm the Commander in Chief," he said in a press conference on the White House lawn. "The conduct of the military is therefore my responsibility. I want to apologize to the Iraqi people and the American people."
"When you look at what happened, you have to conclude that this abuse was a systemic problem," the President went on. "And there's little doubt that the fact that so many soldiers believed the Iraqis were partly to blame for 9/11 had something to do with these atrocities. In retrospect, I regret that I allowed and encouraged this misapprehension for the short-term benefit of securing popular support for the war - it definitely caused our soldiers to view themselves as avengers rather than liberators. That's my fault."
The President went on to concede that U.S. troops believing they were fighting an enemy that had stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction might have also fueled their rapacious behavior. "Another big 'oops,' there," he said. "When you consider that that the enemy had no terrible weapons, didn't really fight back, and wasn't even remotely responsible for any terrorism against Americans.... well, letting our soldiers believe that this was the case might not have been the greatest idea. That one's on me. My bad."
Oh wait – it turns out that this story is actually from the very funny comedy blog, Fanatical Apathy. That explains everything.
Dean Watch
The DNC will soon choose a new chairman and one of the possible people for the job is Howard Dean. He was my favorite candidate from the primaries, and though Democrats by and large did not vote for him, I found he was able to communicate Democratic principles and express a Democratic vision for the country the most articulately. He makes it sound so simple: why it is right to be a Democrat, how the Republicans have failed, and he never sounds apologetic about his convictions.
Recently, the DLC, a very corporatist piece of the national Democratic machinery, felt it was necessary to publicly denounce Michael Moore, because Republicans would like to see Moore’s name become a bad word. Why? Moore actually cares deeply about the subject of class in this country, and he also can reach large audiences through his medium. All this internecine fighting within the Democratic party may seem trivial, but the instinct on the part of this group to demonize one of Bush’s most effective critics seems retarded at best, quisling at worst. Moore worked his ass off through the election season, even through pneumonia, to get people out to vote, and to vote against Bush.
As the leaders in the Democratic party attempt to create new divisions within the party, wouldn’t it be nice to have a visible leader of the DNC who can express himself in this way? From today’s speech:
“Let me tell you what my plan for this Party is:
We're going to win in Mississippi
...and Alabama
...and Idaho
...and South Carolina.
...
Now we need to build on our successes while transforming the Democratic Party into a grassroots organization that can win in 50 states. I have seen all the doomsday predictions that the Democratic Party could shrink to become a regional Party. A Party of the Northeast and the Pacific Northwest.
We cannot be a Party that seeks the presidency by running an 18-state campaign. We cannot be a party that cedes a single state, a single District, a single precinct, nor should we cede a single voter.
As many of the candidates supported by my organization Democracy for America showed -- people in places that we've too long ignored are hungry for an alternative; they're hungry for new ideas and new candidates, and they're willing to elect Democrats. ... There is a Party of fiscal responsibility... economic responsibility.... social responsibility... civic responsibility... personal responsibility... and moral responsibility.
It's the Democratic Party.”
The excerpts of the speech don’t really do it justice. Go read the whole thing. The guy really can articulate a vision for a party that can’t seem to find one.
posted by ProfessorPlum | 7:00 AM
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