Three Paths

It seems to me some changes should be made in American involvement in Iraq.

Since we created the mess that country is in, it would make sense to commit more troops and resources to securing the country and stopping the insurgency. This is basically John Mc Cain’s (and others’) recommendation.

On the other side, there seems to be some wisdom in starting the withdrawal of U.S. forces. It might reduce the insurgency by taking away the strongest argument the insurgents have for recruiting new fighters: “The Americans are occupying our country and they are not going away”.

Furthermore, withdrawal might help increase support for the effort back here in the States if Americans could see some light at the end of the tunnel for our commitment there.

Lastly, drawing down the U.S. military presence would create a situation whereby the Iraqis would have to take control of their own security-for better or worse.

Senator Kennedy is now strongly encouraging the withdrawal of troops, though it has been the point of view of many liberals and a few conservatives for a while now.

So, it seems we have three paths: Escalate (McCain), withdrawal (Kennedy), or do nothing different (Bush).

Unfortunately, because of Bush’s inherent stubbornness (he calls it “resolve”), we will most likely see America taking this third path, one that appears to be heading steadily downward.

A Father's Advice

"Be studious, stay in school and stay away from the military. I mean it." --Marine Staff Sgt. Russell Slay in a letter home to his 5-year old son before he was killed in Iraq, November 2004.

Creationism Wins!

In America, creationism wins in a landslide.

The Gallup Organization does periodic polling of Americans about their beliefs in creationism vs. evolution. The results are startling, disturbing, really.

About 45% of adults surveyed believed that God created humans pretty much the way they are in the last 10,000 years. This represents a literal interpretation of the Bible.

Only about 10% of American adults believed in evolution of humans from less-advanced life forms over millions of years, without God’s hand in it.

Remarkably this seems to be an American phenomenon. In Europe, the evolution believers run about 70-80% of the population. Even among priests, bishops, and ministers in Europe, very few believed the book of Genesis (Adam and Eve, etc.) literally.

All across America there are stacks of National Geographic magazines apparently just collecting dust.

Masters Of War

Back in October a large group of musicians got together for some shows to encourage citizens to “Vote For Change” as the concert series was called. One of the highlights was Eddie Vedder’s take on Dylan’s song “Masters Of War. This song was written over 40 years ago at the very beginning of the U.S. involvement in Vietnam. The words couldn’t be more pertinent to the situation we face today under the current masters of war.


Come you masters of war
You that build all the guns
You that build the death planes
You that build the big bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks

You that never done nothin'
But build to destroy
You play with my world
Like it's your little toy
You put a gun in my hand
And you hide from my eyes
And you turn and run farther
When the fast bullets fly

Like Judas of old
You lie and deceive
A world war can be won
You want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain

You fasten the triggers
For the others to fire
Then you set back and watch
When the death count gets higher
You hide in your mansion
As young people's blood
Flows out of their bodies
And is buried in the mud

You've thrown the worst fear
That can ever be hurled
Fear to bring children
Into the world
For threatening my baby
Unborn and unnamed
You ain't worth the blood
That runs in your veins

How much do I know
To talk out of turn
You might say that I'm young
You might say I'm unlearned
But there's one thing I know
Though I'm younger than you
Even Jesus would never
Forgive what you do

Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul

And I hope that you die
And your death'll come soon
I will follow your casket
In the pale afternoon
And I'll watch while you're lowered
Down to your deathbed
And I'll stand o'er your grave
'Til I'm sure that you're dead

Copyright © 1963; renewed 1991 Special Rider Music

Chain Of Command

George Bush may want to wash his hands of all that has gone wrong during the occupation of Iraq but many of the main players in the mishandling of this fiasco are still part of his inner circle. Seymour Hersh's book Chain Of Command (September 2004) is an excellent reveiw of all that went wrong and why and who is involved. The final section summarizes where things stand in the Middle East since 9/11. This is a startling piece of reporting and not very hopeful for the near-term future.

It may be out in paperback soon, hopefully with any relevant updates as this story is continuously unfolding.

Spirit of Saddam

Human Rights watch has concluded a study that indicates abuse of citizens being held by the Iraqi regime by intelligence teams and police forces including physical beatings and torture. They conclude also that the recipients of the brutal treatment included children.

Saddam Hussein in the 1980's and 90's?

No, this study is of the new Iraqi Government conducted July through October, 2004.

14 Points

Dr. Lawrence Britt of a group called the Liberty Forum has examined the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia) and several Latin American regimes. Britt found 14 defining characteristics common to each:

1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism

Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public
displays.


2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights

Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.


3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause

The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.


4. Supremacy of the Military

Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.


5. Rampant Sexism

The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Divorce, abortion and homosexuality are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family institution.


6. Controlled Mass Media

Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.


7. Obsession with National Security

Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.


8. Religion and Government are Intertwined

Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government's policies or actions.


9. Corporate Power is Protected

The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.


10. Labor Power is Suppressed

Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed.


11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts

Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts and letters is openly attacked.


12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment


Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.


13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption

Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.


14. Fraudulent Elections

Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.


Anything sound familiar?


"If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator."
—Geo. W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Dec. 19, 2000, four weeks before taking the Oath of Office for President of the United States

The 48ers

The American Prospect has an article (available on-line) worth reading. Michael Tomasky wonders what our current situation would be like if we had some of the players in Washington now who addressed the rising threat of communism back in 1948. He writes:

"If we had had Truman and Acheson’s equivalents in the White House and at Foggy Bottom since September 11, there’s no doubt in my mind that we’d be witnessing a great effort -- flawed, perhaps containing seeds of future tragedies, but great nevertheless -- to roll back terrorism, to strike at its training camps, to surround it and isolate its sponsors diplomatically, and to try to neutralize its popularity by understanding its causes and offering decent Muslim people an alternative. We would not -- absolutely not -- have seen a war in Iraq."

Carson Quote

"Democracy means that anyone can grow up to be president, and anyone who doesn't grow up can be vice president."- Johnny Carson

Carson was joking, of course, about Dan Quayle in 1988. Trouble is, with the reality we face now in 2005, none of this is even funny anymore...

Robert Kennedy, Jr.

RFK, Jr. has his own view of the man in the White House. And it isn't pretty.

Bush's new book

Finally finished with "My Pet Goat", our boy George has moved on to a new book for the new term.

The author of this book, a guy named Natan Sharansky, speaks of a "town-square test". I'm guessing this is like the much-maligned global test, only a lot smaller. The idea with this town-square test is that a person knows he or she is living in a free society if he or she can walk out in public and express his or her views with out fear of arrest.

Bush was speaking of these very freedoms in his second inaugural address just as protesters were being dragged from the crowd below.

God's Politics

Jim Wallis has been making the rounds on interview shows, talking with Jon Stewart and Charlie Rose, among others to promote his book, God's Politics. The subtitle is "Why the Right Gets it Wrong, and The Left Doesn't Get It". He asks questions like "When did Jesus become pro-war, pro-rich, and pro-Republican?" It may provide some answers to how Democrats and independents should be addressing the issue of religion.

Fear Won

A post-election bumper sticker sums it up like this: Fear Won

Thanks Everybody

Thanks to everyone who signed the petition to Cancel the Inaugural Festivities. Here is how it read:

To: Inaugural Committee

We feel that in light of the sacrifices being made by the members of the armed services it would be inappropriate to celebrate the Presidential Inauguration in the usual fashion that involves parties and dinners and drinking and dancing.

At this time in our nation's history, with many of our service men and women being killed and wounded overseas, it is not a time for celebration but rather for sober reflection.

The planners of the inauguration are proposing a theme that would honor the men and women in uniform. We feel that removing the festive elements from this tradition would be the best way to honor our troops.

Furthermore, we feel that at least some of the $40 million earmarked for the parties and parades could be better spent providing for the protection and safety of those at war.

We present this petition in a non-partisan spirit and hope that the celebrations could be replaced by a day of respectful observance of the many sacrifices that are made by our fellow citizens in uniform and their families.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned


The petition was posted on two different online petition websites and we got decent response, despite having only a month to circulate it. Signatures came from all across the U.S

I e-mailed the petition to a number of sites that were organized by military vets opposing the current war in Iraq (to my amazement there are actually several), and got some positive response there. I also e-mailed it to bloggers and activists like Michael Moore, and anywhere else I thought it might be received.

After the December 26 tsunami in Indonesia there was additional motivation to reduce the inaugural expenses and divert the money to the truly needy.

Nevertheless, the parties went on as planned and the money was spent in the usual brash and reckless style of this ("conservative"?) administration. The champagne is gone ,the caviar consumed, the inaugural gowns left in tatters, but the shame on this White House remains.

Accountability Moment

Apparently, our boy George has completely washed his hands of any responsibility for all that went wrong in his first term. In a recent interview, Bush claimed that the 2004 elections were an “accountability moment”. In other words, the elections were the voters’ one and only chance to hold him accountable for anything.

W. says the voters looked at both candidates, fully aware of all the mistakes made in the Iraq War and elsewhere, and still chose him. Therefore, with the election win in November, his slate is wiped clean and he gets a fresh start. I guess the voters just should have been more alert. That was Bush’s accountability moment-and it has come and gone.

Sorry Everybody

If you suffered from the post-election blues, along with millions of other liberals, independents, and clear-headed conservatives, one site worth visiting is:

www.sorryeverybody.com

You'll quickly see you're not alone.

Mixing Up The Medicine

If you want a detailed biography of Bob Dylan’s career, don’t read Chronicles, Vol. 1 by Bob Dylan. But if you want an entertaining read about the folk music scene, about record making, about history, politics, fame, poetry, and women, then this book- his only autobiographical work (so far)- is a good one.

In fact, Dylan writes so little about the singer/songwriter that his fans are familiar with, if the names were changed it might be hard to figure out who this book is about. It has five chapters, the first two of which he spends addressing life in NYC before he even makes a record.

He moves from there to the point in his life where he is so famous that all his wants to do is escape to a quiet suburban family life with his wife and kids. He pretty much skips over everything that brought him the fame and notoriety he now wants to escape.

In Chapter 4, Dylan gives diary-like detail to the ins and outs of the making of one record, Oh Mercy. It is actually enjoyable and insightful to follow, but hardly the album fans would be most curious about. In the final chapter, he returns to his youth in Minnesota and follows the story line, like some Quentin Tarantino film, forward through the beginning of his story to his first recording contract.

Throughout, Dylan writes as if scribbling in a journal, or possibly writing a detective novel. It is a style sure to frustrate some readers, especially those who want Dylan to come clean about his past or maybe explain what he meant in all those lyrics on Highway 61Revisited. His use of metaphors and imagery are both poetic and hilarious. The narrative speeds up and slams to a halt quicker than a New York City taxicab. The book is an exasperating but fun ride.

Dylan is known to many of his fans for always giving his listeners what they least expect. He was booed and jeered when he first traded his acoustic guitar for an electric one in 1965 (but don’t expect to read about that either in this book). He has thrown together sloppy albums when his fans are anticipating something great, and great albums when they expect nothing at all. Dylan is elusive and impossible to predict and his new book illustrates that perfectly. Ultimately, it covers so little of his life that we’ll just have to wait for volumes 2 through 10.