Case in Point

An article in the current New Republic describes how attacking Iran could trigger a wider war and why it might do just that.

Dark Mirror

Today is the 60th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Nagasaki, three days after Hiroshima. "Anniversary" seems such a strange word here, implying something worth celebrating. But then I don't what words could possibly be appropriate to describe such an obscene event. An article in last Friday's LA Times caught my eye belatedly today, "The Myths of Hiroshima":

The bomb was dropped, as J. Robert Oppenheimer, scientific director of the Manhattan Project, said in November 1945, on "an essentially defeated enemy." President Truman and his closest advisor, Secretary of State James Byrnes, quite plainly used it primarily to prevent the Soviets from sharing in the occupation of Japan. And they used it on Aug. 6 even though they had agreed among themselves as they returned home from the Potsdam Conference on Aug. 3 that the Japanese were looking for peace.

Oppenheimer warned of a "sleazy sense of omnipotence". What a perfect description of the men (and women) who are, even as we speak, leading us toward another war, this time in Iran, with "bunker-busting" nukes as part of their intended arsenal.

The myths of Hiroshima keep us from acknowledging the enormity of the crime that was committed on August 6 & 9, 1945. They keep us believing that destruction on such a massive, random, heartless scale can be justified, even efficacious. They keep us believing that we are by definition the good guys, and that the rest of the world would realize that if they just woke up. In fact none of that is true.

Acknowledging our own capacity for evil might rid us of some of that "sleazy sense of omnipotence". It might even engender some humility. Unfortunately, at the highest levels of this government, humility is non-existent. And the mask of innocence that we hold up to the world isn't fooling anyone anymore, only ourselves.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre

• 49 - the number of vacations that Bush has taken since he was inaugurated in 2001


• 5 - the number of weeks that Bush will spend on vacation, starting yesterday Tuesday; it is the longest presidential vacation in at least 36 years
  


• 319 - August 3, 2005 was the 319th day Bush has spent on vacation since his 2001 inauguration
  


• 20% - the fraction of Bush's presidency that he has spent on vacation*

*Reposted from here.

I know that with modern communications technology one can as easily make a call to, say, the president of Uzbekistan from a ranch in Texas as anywhere--and one can certainly ignore the news of the day as easily from there as anywhere else--but doesn't Bush keep reminding us that he is a "wartime president"? He is either completely blind to the impression that he (correctly) gives of someone who has only a superficial interest in the consequences of his actions--for others--or he doesn't give a damn.

That is, he doesn't give a damn that he doesn't give a damn, and that we all know it.

Conclusion: When the going gets tough, the tough go on vacation.

The troops he has placed in harm's way for the sake of his bullshit crusade don't get a vacation so neither does he, sez I. He wants to clear brush? Let him do it in Baghdad.

Faith-Based Wedgie

George Bush thinks that so-called "intelligent design" should be taught in schools. What a surprise.

Sez he:

“I think that part of education is to expose people to different schools of thought,” Bush said. “You’re asking me whether or not people ought to be exposed to different ideas, the answer is yes.”

I mean, give me a break. George Bush wouldn't recognize a "different idea" if it crept up his shorts.

CAFTA/ SHAFTA (and other exercises in futility)

Well hell, I've moved (again!), that's why I haven't posted. You'd think one of these days I'd figure out that moving always takes longer than I think it does.

So now here I am (temporarily) in Florida, the Sunshine Hurricane State. The state flag: a blue tarp.

And not one, but two politicians named Bush.

In the meantime, there is all manner of things Rove. There is John Roberts, who looks like some kind of Stepford husband/judge and who may have scary views on individual rights. There is the usual cynical exercise that passes for policy-making, like the passage of the Central America "Free Trade" Agreement in the House tonight. Personally, I think every Democrat who voted for CAFTA should be targeted for defeat in the next election. And that includes my own representative, Jim Matheson, who has managed to hang onto his endangered seat in this (that is, Utah), the reddest of red states, by toeing the conservative line.

What the hell does Utah stand to gain from trade with Honduras? I mean, we send them Mormons and they send us...what?? It's an ideological ass-covering in the case of Matheson, who dares not offend the rural redneck majority in his district, I guess.

Got lots of news to catch up on. Later....

Why They Call 'Em Sheep

450 Sheep Jump to Their Deaths

Making The World a Safer Place (sort of)

I think this can only be placed under the category of WTF??

Iraq Signs Military Pact With Iran

Responding to the suggestion that the thaw in ties with Iran would anger Washington, [Iraqi Defense Minister] Dulaimi said: "Nobody can dictate to Iraq its relations with other countries."

I suppose I should be heartened that some independence, if not democracy, is taking hold in Iraq.

(But I'm not.)

R.I.P.

Governor Jeb Bush today ended the farcical investigation into the circumstances of Michael Schiavo's 911 call after the Florida state attorney found no cause to suspect that criminal activity was involved in Terri Schiavo's collapse.

About time. Rest in peace, wackjobs. Not that you will be deterred by anything so straighforward as a complete lack of evidence.

Only Sorrow

There are lots of things that can be said or speculated about--about the conduct of the "war on terror", about what the response of the British and American public will be, etc. We'll know more in the days to come. I don't have the heart for politics or the assigning of blame today...only sorrow.

We're All Londoners Today

The law of unintended consequences?

The Left Coaster has some interesting commentary on how the outing of a double agent by the Bush administration may have caused the collapse of a British investigation into a network of Al-Qaeda cells last fall.

What Goes Around...

Are you kidding me?

Says Judith Miller:

"A promise of confidentiality once made must be respected, or the journalist will lose all credibility and the public will, in the end, suffer."

Excuse me?? Credibility? I think you lost that, Judy, when you allowed yourself to be used as a government shill to hype non-existent WMD. Now the public is suffering on account of the con job you facilitated. So excuse my total lack of empathy.

It's not that I think the principle of confidentiality isn't important or that it should only apply to journalists whose work I respect. And I can't claim to understand the fine points of all the speculation about what Miller knows and who she told, or what someone might have told her. But as someone pointed out earlier today, it's one thing to protect a source who comes forward to reveal a crime. It's another when coming forward is the crime.

And Judith Miller's martyr act doesn't change the fact that she's a hack. She and Robert Novak are two of a kind: except that she has pretensions to journalistic integrity, and he doesn't even have that.

It Just Makes You So Proud

Bush Falls Off Bike in Scotland

What I want to know is, was he eating a pretzel at the time?

I mean, I know I shouldn't laugh--being somewhat of a klutz myself--but jeez, the guy is a menace to humankind and he can't ride a bike down the sidewalk without running into someone?

Ah, the banana-lity of evil.

(insert sound effect here)

like I said...

My Brain is Compromised!

...baked and bludgeoned by summer heat into an inert mass, incapable of formulating even basic sentences about Supreme Court nominees, the price of gas, or the Atlantic hurricane season. It's been too long, I know. Forgive me. Better yet, put some cracked ice in a large plastic bag and apply it to my head. Please.

No Really....

John Nichols writes in The Nation about a resurgence of progressive politics at the local level. For those of us sometimes inclined to despair when we observe the national scene, it's good to be reminded that 1). people who are not wingnuts are still getting elected, and 2). there is reason to believe--well, hope--that there is a stirring at the grassroots that will ultimately challenge the corporate/fundamentalist deathgrip.

And not a moment too soon. In reading Jared Diamond's Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, I am reminded that many so-called "failed" societies actually lasted quite a bit longer than we have managed to do so far. Will this nation still exist in its present form 100 years from now? Or will we become the Easter Islanders of our time? Stay tuned....

Or more to the point: Stay hopeful. Stay active. Stay mad.

Things Heat Up

From the NY Times--is there finally going to be some attention paid to this administration's head-up-their-ass approach to global warming?

A White House official who once led the oil industry's fight against limits on greenhouse gases has repeatedly edited government climate reports in ways that play down links between such emissions and global warming, according to internal documents.

What a surprise.

Risky Business

The Washington Post reports that porn star (and former California gubernatorial candidate) Mary Carey and her boss, porn producer Mark Kulkis, will be among those attending a fundraising dinner for George Bush in June. According to Kulkis:

"...you won't find a group of people more pro-business than pornographers."

Contemplating a run for California lieutenant governor next year, the voluptuous actress says she hopes to network with GOP officials here. "I'm especially looking forward to meeting Karl Rove," she cooed in a statement. "Smart men like him are so sexy."

Define "network", please.

Wait a minute, Karl Rove is sexy?? Are we sure this isn't Jeff Gannon in drag?

First there was "military, male, discreet" Gannon/Guckert, and now this. Who knew Republicans were so kinky?

Uh, Why?

...is John Kerry now authorizing the release of his military records? They show, among other things, commendations from some of the same veterans whose criticisms of him did so much damage in the Swift Boat Vets' negative ad campaign. Said Kerry:

"...I felt strongly that we shouldn't kowtow to them and their attempts to drag their lies out."

There are lots of reasons why John Kerry was a lousy candidate. Running away from his VVAW experience and its applicability to the Iraq debacle was only one of many. Taking the goddamn high road in response to the Swift Boat campaign (and everything else) was another.

So John, why take the trouble now to remind us of why you lost? It's not as if anyone is going to take you seriously as a candidate in 2008.

Elephants in the Room

And yes, I would love to write about something other than Iraq and the religious right. Something witty and inconsequential. Unfortunately that would require something like the opposite of blinders, to see everything except what's right in front of me.

Let George Bush start to pull the troops out, or do anything else right in Iraq. Let the fundy ayatollahs and their stooges stop trying to take over. Let me complain about ordinary things again.

Please...make my day.

Things get Worse...

...by the day, as Dahr Jamail writes in his Iraq Dispatches. With civil war looming and the onset of another brutal summer with temps as high as 125 degrees and next-to-no electricity, Iraqis ask yet again:

“Two years of occupation…for God sake where is the rebuilding, where the hell are these billions donated to Iraq? Even not 1% improvement in services and electricity! They say again and again the terrorists are to blame and I would accept this, but why they do not protect these facilities? Do the American camps have cuts of electricity? No, no, and nobody will allow this to happen...but poor Iraqis, nobody would be sorry for them if they burn with the hell of summer, small kids and old men they get dehydrated because no electricity, no cold water, etc."

The billions are going to build massive permanent military bases in Iraq (14 at last count) and to fortify the so-called "Green Zone" so that American officials and their contractor buddies and their private armies can have the illusion of normal; going into the pockets of corrupt officials; going to pay for mercenaries to do what the US military is stretched too thin to do. Reconstruction for Iraqis?? You must be kidding. That would require some outside-the-box thinking, some shift in priorities that is obviously beyond the capability of our present civilian leadership, entrenched as they are in their fool's vision of empire.

Oh, and the Army has declined to release their recruitment numbers for last month until they figure out how to put a spin on their failing efforts. Not enough troops; no stomach for a draft that would be a political disaster. This ought to get interesting real fast.