Astronomers have downgraded Pluto from planet to dwarf planet. Does this mean that the Bush administration is a dwarf presidency?
In fact, the Bush administration has shrunk so much politically that its moons are no longer in orbit. At their height immediately after the 2004 election, President Bush was the center of a sprawling political apparatus that included his political operation, K Street lobbying groups, conservative think tanks like the American Enterprise Institute, right-wing talk radio, and the religious right.
The links between the Bush administration and the conservative apparatus started loosening as a result of Bush's declining popularity. However, with the failure of Israel's attack on Lebanon, the Bush planetary system began to break up. Conservative think tanks and radio hosts like Rush Limbaugh and Laura Ingraham have started talking about the "failure" of the Bush administration and begun to set their own right-wing agendas of bigger, better wars. The FDA decision to allow Plan B contraceptives to be sold over the counter indicates that the Bush administration is no longer master of its own domain as well.
Now, it might be better to think of the Bush administration as part of a right-wing asteroid belt rather than a presidency. Like the James Buchanan and Herbert Hoover administrations, Bush is beginning to look more like Ceres and Pluto than Jupiter or Saturn.
Friday, August 25, 2006
Thursday, August 24, 2006
George Allen: The Bullying Roots of His Racism
Last week, Sen. George Allen of Virginia made a lot of news with the "macaca" epithets he directed at an Indian-American journalist. There's not much doubt that it's racism on Allen's part. He has a long history of collecting Confederate memorabilia and lynching images.
So, where does Allen's racism come from? He grew up in Southern California, is smart enough to have gotten top grades in law school at the University of Virginia, and would have spent some time around black people as the son of George Allen, the legendary football coach.
There's some evidence that Allen's racism grew out of his bullying personality. Yesterday, Ryan Lizza of the New Republic published some excerpts from a book that Allen's sister Jennifer Richard wrote about growing up in the Allen family.
What's interesting about Allen's bullying is that it was both style and behavior. Allen's behavior was the kind of rough stuff that's no longer tolerated by the authorities--hanging his sister over the rail at Niagara Falls, beating up his brothers and sisters regularly, and persistently vandalizing an out-of-place Green Bay Packers fan. His sister's term for Allen's style is "country thug." Allen loved "Hee Haw" and especially the dumbest character on the show. According to Allen's sister, "[George's] favorite character was the big, slow-witted Junior. Junior tried to tell jokes yet always failed to remember the punch line. There was also something mildly country-thuggish about Junior that I think George felt akin to."
That's Allen in a nutshell--the super-smart guy who got a huge kick out of feeling superior to the ignorant hick stereotype, such a kick that he adapted the country thug style for himself with its "pork-chop sideburns, greasy-haired scalps, and almost the same broken-toothed look as the inmates on George's favorite album, Johnny Cash, Live from Folsom Prison." By adapting the determined ignorance of the "hick" style, Allen could always feel superior to his environment even as he identified with the environment. It looks like George Allen was somewhat like George Bush in always feeling uncomfortable with equality. Unlike George Bush, however, Allen was successful in adapting a persona that eliminated equality from his life.
Allen's racism must have come easily to him. The bullying personality, the refusal of equality, the country thug personality--post-sixties white racism speaks to all of that. Unlike the racism of the post-segregation South, a significant strand of the white racism that emerged after the sixties was more of a reveling or celebration of refusing equality to blacks more than anything else. Allen's romance of the Confederacy did not develop because his ancestors had fought for Robert E. Lee or had emotional commitments to segregation. In Allen's commitment to the Confederacy, racism served and continues to serve as a celebration of bullying and ignorance.
So, where does Allen's racism come from? He grew up in Southern California, is smart enough to have gotten top grades in law school at the University of Virginia, and would have spent some time around black people as the son of George Allen, the legendary football coach.
There's some evidence that Allen's racism grew out of his bullying personality. Yesterday, Ryan Lizza of the New Republic published some excerpts from a book that Allen's sister Jennifer Richard wrote about growing up in the Allen family.
What's interesting about Allen's bullying is that it was both style and behavior. Allen's behavior was the kind of rough stuff that's no longer tolerated by the authorities--hanging his sister over the rail at Niagara Falls, beating up his brothers and sisters regularly, and persistently vandalizing an out-of-place Green Bay Packers fan. His sister's term for Allen's style is "country thug." Allen loved "Hee Haw" and especially the dumbest character on the show. According to Allen's sister, "[George's] favorite character was the big, slow-witted Junior. Junior tried to tell jokes yet always failed to remember the punch line. There was also something mildly country-thuggish about Junior that I think George felt akin to."
That's Allen in a nutshell--the super-smart guy who got a huge kick out of feeling superior to the ignorant hick stereotype, such a kick that he adapted the country thug style for himself with its "pork-chop sideburns, greasy-haired scalps, and almost the same broken-toothed look as the inmates on George's favorite album, Johnny Cash, Live from Folsom Prison." By adapting the determined ignorance of the "hick" style, Allen could always feel superior to his environment even as he identified with the environment. It looks like George Allen was somewhat like George Bush in always feeling uncomfortable with equality. Unlike George Bush, however, Allen was successful in adapting a persona that eliminated equality from his life.
Allen's racism must have come easily to him. The bullying personality, the refusal of equality, the country thug personality--post-sixties white racism speaks to all of that. Unlike the racism of the post-segregation South, a significant strand of the white racism that emerged after the sixties was more of a reveling or celebration of refusing equality to blacks more than anything else. Allen's romance of the Confederacy did not develop because his ancestors had fought for Robert E. Lee or had emotional commitments to segregation. In Allen's commitment to the Confederacy, racism served and continues to serve as a celebration of bullying and ignorance.
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Bush Blowhards at War
John McCain made an interesting statement in Ohio yesterday complaining about the Bush administration's rhetoric in the war on Iraq.
"Stuff happens, mission accomplished, last throes, a few dead-enders. I'm just more familiar with those statements than anyone else because it grieves me so much that we had not told the American people how tough and difficult this task would be."
"The American people"--What's McCain talking about? Of course the American people weren't prepared for a long occupation. The Bush administration itself was unprepared for the war. Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Rice were all addicted to their own tough-guy posturing. Saddam was a "pushover." American troops would be "greeted with flowers." Iraqi population had a "highly educated," "secular," population. Oil revenues would pay for the war. We'll be "out by Christmas." "Freedom is on the march." Bush's people believed that "Mission Accomplished" banners meant that the mission was already accomplished. That's why they did no planning, didn't commit enough troops, didn't seal off the borders, and didn't destroy the weapons caches until it was too late.
The second fact about the Bush administration is that they didn't have the political courage it took to win the war after things got tough. By summer 2004, the Mahdi army uprising in Najaf and the insurgent takeover of Fallujah should have let everybody know how difficult the Iraq occupation would be. But the Bush administration did not have the courage to go back to Congress and the American public to ask for more troops, more money for economic reconstruction, and a generally higher level of commitment in Iraq. Instead, the Bush administration and surrogates like Joe Lieberman worked out the rhetorical trick of claiming that every escalation of the insurgency was a sign of insurgent "desperation" and their ultimate demise. That's what Cheney meant by his "last throes" comment. Ultimately, the Bush administration tried to talk the insurgency to death rather than defeat it.
Perhaps the American military could not have stabilized the situation in Iraq even with higher levels of troops and resources. However, the blowhard spirit and political spinelessness of the Bush administration ensured that the occupation would wind up in failure.
"Stuff happens, mission accomplished, last throes, a few dead-enders. I'm just more familiar with those statements than anyone else because it grieves me so much that we had not told the American people how tough and difficult this task would be."
"The American people"--What's McCain talking about? Of course the American people weren't prepared for a long occupation. The Bush administration itself was unprepared for the war. Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Rice were all addicted to their own tough-guy posturing. Saddam was a "pushover." American troops would be "greeted with flowers." Iraqi population had a "highly educated," "secular," population. Oil revenues would pay for the war. We'll be "out by Christmas." "Freedom is on the march." Bush's people believed that "Mission Accomplished" banners meant that the mission was already accomplished. That's why they did no planning, didn't commit enough troops, didn't seal off the borders, and didn't destroy the weapons caches until it was too late.
The second fact about the Bush administration is that they didn't have the political courage it took to win the war after things got tough. By summer 2004, the Mahdi army uprising in Najaf and the insurgent takeover of Fallujah should have let everybody know how difficult the Iraq occupation would be. But the Bush administration did not have the courage to go back to Congress and the American public to ask for more troops, more money for economic reconstruction, and a generally higher level of commitment in Iraq. Instead, the Bush administration and surrogates like Joe Lieberman worked out the rhetorical trick of claiming that every escalation of the insurgency was a sign of insurgent "desperation" and their ultimate demise. That's what Cheney meant by his "last throes" comment. Ultimately, the Bush administration tried to talk the insurgency to death rather than defeat it.
Perhaps the American military could not have stabilized the situation in Iraq even with higher levels of troops and resources. However, the blowhard spirit and political spinelessness of the Bush administration ensured that the occupation would wind up in failure.
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Another Strain on the American Psyche
CNN has a banner headline on its website about John Mark Carr making "unsolicited comments" to law enforcement officers.
How desperate can the media be to have people care about John Mark Carr. Pretty soon they'll be reporting on Carr going to the bathroom.
Oops, the media has reported on that too.
How desperate can the media be to have people care about John Mark Carr. Pretty soon they'll be reporting on Carr going to the bathroom.
Oops, the media has reported on that too.
The Strain on the American Psyche
Yesterday, President Bush claimed that the war in Iraq is "straining the psyche of our country."
You could say that.
The Bush administration went into the invasion thinking that George Bush was Abraham Lincoln and George Washington reincarnated, that the invasion and occupation would be as easy as the Ohio State Buckeyes beating New Mexico State, and that we'd be out of there in six months after Iraq became a fluorishing democracy.
But Bush turned out to be another James Buchanan, the occupation looks more like 0-11 New Mexico State than Ohio State, and Iraq is not going to have a fluorishing democracy any more than the Arizona Cardinals are going to the Super Bowl.
That's a "strain" on the American psyche because of the central role of domination/humiliation images in American culture. Take your pick of images--Simon Cowell and off-key singers, Dr. Phil and the the world of ineffective losers, Jack Welch of GE firing the bottom 10% of his executives every year, Grand Theft Auto, or all the women who get rejected on the Bachelor.
We're a society that's fallen in love with the feeling of domination and we get a special kick out of humiliating anyone who looks like a failure. So, our psyche is "strained" now that we as a nation are on the frustrated, don't know what to do next, pretty sure nothing's going to work side of the track.
That might not be a bad thing though. We might have been on the wrong path anyway.
You could say that.
The Bush administration went into the invasion thinking that George Bush was Abraham Lincoln and George Washington reincarnated, that the invasion and occupation would be as easy as the Ohio State Buckeyes beating New Mexico State, and that we'd be out of there in six months after Iraq became a fluorishing democracy.
But Bush turned out to be another James Buchanan, the occupation looks more like 0-11 New Mexico State than Ohio State, and Iraq is not going to have a fluorishing democracy any more than the Arizona Cardinals are going to the Super Bowl.
That's a "strain" on the American psyche because of the central role of domination/humiliation images in American culture. Take your pick of images--Simon Cowell and off-key singers, Dr. Phil and the the world of ineffective losers, Jack Welch of GE firing the bottom 10% of his executives every year, Grand Theft Auto, or all the women who get rejected on the Bachelor.
We're a society that's fallen in love with the feeling of domination and we get a special kick out of humiliating anyone who looks like a failure. So, our psyche is "strained" now that we as a nation are on the frustrated, don't know what to do next, pretty sure nothing's going to work side of the track.
That might not be a bad thing though. We might have been on the wrong path anyway.
Monday, August 21, 2006
The Future of the War
Hopefully, the future of the Iraq War will be approached with a lot more honesty than the war itself. Much of that future will be the care of Iraq War veterans--vets with amputated limbs, vets with post traumatic stress disorder, vets seeking college education, vets who are unemployed, and vets who have a lot of difficulty with civilian adjustment.
As was the case with Vietnam, the nation owes Iraq War vets an enormous debt for demanding that they fight in such a pointless, counter-productive war. We should be careful that we devote the full measure of the resources needed to assist returning vets just as the vets were ready to give the full measure of their devotion to our country when they were in Iraq.
CNN had an item today on a study that revised the number of Vietnam vets who suffered post-traumatic stress disorders down from 30% to 18%. Given that many vets have served several tours in Iraq, it seems likely that Iraq vets will have an even higher rate for post-traumatic stress. If the U. S. draws down it's troop commitment to Iraq as quickly as we should, we're going to have at least 100,000 men and women seeking re-entry into mainstream American life. They should be greeted with just as much enthusiasm and warmth in the U. S. that Dick Cheney wrongly predicted they would be greeted with in Baghdad.
As was the case with Vietnam, the nation owes Iraq War vets an enormous debt for demanding that they fight in such a pointless, counter-productive war. We should be careful that we devote the full measure of the resources needed to assist returning vets just as the vets were ready to give the full measure of their devotion to our country when they were in Iraq.
CNN had an item today on a study that revised the number of Vietnam vets who suffered post-traumatic stress disorders down from 30% to 18%. Given that many vets have served several tours in Iraq, it seems likely that Iraq vets will have an even higher rate for post-traumatic stress. If the U. S. draws down it's troop commitment to Iraq as quickly as we should, we're going to have at least 100,000 men and women seeking re-entry into mainstream American life. They should be greeted with just as much enthusiasm and warmth in the U. S. that Dick Cheney wrongly predicted they would be greeted with in Baghdad.
The Republicans Get Their Lieberman
The Republicans like Joe Lieberman so much they've now got their own Lieberman, Sen. Chuck Hagel from Nebraska.
Sen. Hagel is just as out of touch with the Bush administration and the Republicans as Lieberman is with the Democrats. Yesterday on Fox News Sunday, Hagel sounded more like John Murtha or Ned Lamont than a conservative Republican from the Great Plains. Hagel views Iraq as being just like Vietnam, wants to withdraw American troops within a year, opposes the Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping program, and wonders how the Republicans became the party of big government.
And Hegel is a particular thorn in the Bush administration's side. Because Sen. Hagel served in Vietnam, he has an aura of authenticity on the war that draft dodgers like Dick Cheney and George Bush can't match. That's why progressive Democrats like Arianna Huffington are as quick to headline the criticisms of "war-hero" Chuck Hagel as the Bush administration is to trumpet "liberal Democrat" Joe Lieberman.
Red State Impressions agrees a lot more with Hagel and the Democrats than Lieberman and the Republicans. In a way, however, both Hagel and Lieberman serve a crucial function in the war debate. By bucking the dominant position of their own parties, Hagel gives the public an opportunity to focus on the facts of the situation in Iraq and form their own judgment.
As Hagel said, the war in Iraq is a "real" as opposed to just another wedge issue.
Sen. Hagel is just as out of touch with the Bush administration and the Republicans as Lieberman is with the Democrats. Yesterday on Fox News Sunday, Hagel sounded more like John Murtha or Ned Lamont than a conservative Republican from the Great Plains. Hagel views Iraq as being just like Vietnam, wants to withdraw American troops within a year, opposes the Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping program, and wonders how the Republicans became the party of big government.
And Hegel is a particular thorn in the Bush administration's side. Because Sen. Hagel served in Vietnam, he has an aura of authenticity on the war that draft dodgers like Dick Cheney and George Bush can't match. That's why progressive Democrats like Arianna Huffington are as quick to headline the criticisms of "war-hero" Chuck Hagel as the Bush administration is to trumpet "liberal Democrat" Joe Lieberman.
Red State Impressions agrees a lot more with Hagel and the Democrats than Lieberman and the Republicans. In a way, however, both Hagel and Lieberman serve a crucial function in the war debate. By bucking the dominant position of their own parties, Hagel gives the public an opportunity to focus on the facts of the situation in Iraq and form their own judgment.
As Hagel said, the war in Iraq is a "real" as opposed to just another wedge issue.
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Strange Bedfellows in the Religion Wars
Just like the politics of terrorism, the politics of Christianity makes strange bedfellows. In the world of terrorism, the Bush administration and al-Qaeda feed off each other relentlessly. It is well known that the invasion of Iraq made turned George Bush into al-Qaeda's best recruiter. Likewise, the main effect of al-Qaida schemes is to increase support for the Bush administration in the U. S.
Maybe they're working together.
The same is the case with the religion wars in America. The cranky purists who sue over every religious symbol in a public place are actually helping evangelical activists by giving them a reason to portray American Christianity as "under attack." Every time someone who is super-senstive about the Ten Commandments, Santa Claus, and the Easter Bunny sues a school system, it inspires evangelical activists then push even harder to put up monuments to the Ten Commandments in every nook and cranny of public space. This, in turn, motivates the cranky purists to file more lawsuits.
Yesterday's Tulsa World reported on a case in Haskell County, Okahoma where a court upheld the construction of as monument to the Ten Commandments on the court house lawn. The idea and money for the monument came pastor Mike Bush who though that God had burdened him with the idea while the lawsuit was filed by Stigler residents with the support of the ACLU. Both the religious and anti-religious activists gained money and publicity from the lawsuit.
Maybe they're in it together.
Maybe they're working together.
The same is the case with the religion wars in America. The cranky purists who sue over every religious symbol in a public place are actually helping evangelical activists by giving them a reason to portray American Christianity as "under attack." Every time someone who is super-senstive about the Ten Commandments, Santa Claus, and the Easter Bunny sues a school system, it inspires evangelical activists then push even harder to put up monuments to the Ten Commandments in every nook and cranny of public space. This, in turn, motivates the cranky purists to file more lawsuits.
Yesterday's Tulsa World reported on a case in Haskell County, Okahoma where a court upheld the construction of as monument to the Ten Commandments on the court house lawn. The idea and money for the monument came pastor Mike Bush who though that God had burdened him with the idea while the lawsuit was filed by Stigler residents with the support of the ACLU. Both the religious and anti-religious activists gained money and publicity from the lawsuit.
Maybe they're in it together.
Friday, August 18, 2006
Imploding Republicans
George Allen's racial comments may be the tip of a looming Republican meltdown. Kentucky Republicans have been falling apart publicly over the ineptitude of indicted Gov. Ernie Fletcher, Ohio's governor has been convicted of misdemeanors, and Tennessee Republicans still have not recovered from the bitter primary to nominate a candidate for Bill Frist's seat. Republicans could lose their grip in all three states.
Now, Texas Republicans are imploding over Tom DeLay's old district in the Houston burbs.
DeLay started the downhill plunge by quickly withdrawing after winning the Republican primary. It then turned out that Texas law prevented the Republicans from replacing him on the ballot while DeLay ruled himself out by declaring himself a resident of Virginia.
The Republicans still could have campaigned around a write-in candidate with a decent chance of winning in a heavily Republican district. However, Texas Republican precinct chairmen have endorsed Houston Councilwoman Dr. Shelley Sekula-Gibbs over Sugar Land Mayor David Wallace and the protests of at least one county delegation in the district. If both Republicans continue to campaign, Democrat Nick Lampson is a shoe-in.
The Republicans have been winning close elections because they've been more coherent, more self-confident, better organized, and better funded than the Democrats. If the Republicans continue to implode, they will lose all of those advantages except the money. The Democrats may very well sweep in November.
Now, Texas Republicans are imploding over Tom DeLay's old district in the Houston burbs.
DeLay started the downhill plunge by quickly withdrawing after winning the Republican primary. It then turned out that Texas law prevented the Republicans from replacing him on the ballot while DeLay ruled himself out by declaring himself a resident of Virginia.
The Republicans still could have campaigned around a write-in candidate with a decent chance of winning in a heavily Republican district. However, Texas Republican precinct chairmen have endorsed Houston Councilwoman Dr. Shelley Sekula-Gibbs over Sugar Land Mayor David Wallace and the protests of at least one county delegation in the district. If both Republicans continue to campaign, Democrat Nick Lampson is a shoe-in.
The Republicans have been winning close elections because they've been more coherent, more self-confident, better organized, and better funded than the Democrats. If the Republicans continue to implode, they will lose all of those advantages except the money. The Democrats may very well sweep in November.
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Jon Benet and Pedophilia Voyeurism
Let Jon Benet Ramsey Die: If John Mark Karr is guilty of killing JonBenet Ramsey, the rest of us might finally be free of JonBenet voyeurism. The endless stream of Jon Benet pictures in the tabloids and talk shows have kept viewers reliving the death of the child beauty queen. Whichever picture was being used, the nation was always presented with the same two-sided coin--JonBenet's beauty and JonBenet's death. She was always "just about to die" but never allowed actually to die. It was like the trash media was committed to maintaining a creepy form of cryogenics--keeping JonBenet's perfect little face frozen so that her death would always be with us. We should just let the kids go.
Republicans Look Tired: Susan Estrich has a decent piece on the Fox web site about the desperation of Republican candidates for Congress. The Democrats are far from a shoe-in, but the Republicans are looking weak and unfocused themselves. House Speaker Dennis Hastert looked terrible in a picture from a Colorado fund-raiser--face bloated from food and booze, lethargic-looking, stomach hanging mountainously over his belt. His words didn't inspire either.
"We have to find someone that isn't weak and someone who will come to Congress and doesn't cave in and say wave the white flag . . ."
Not exactly Gipper material there.
The Voyeurism Angle: According to John Aloysius Farrel of the Denver Post, the Republican strategy adds up to "bunkering down in their gerrymannered districts, whipping up the party faithful and taunting the Democrats as craven sissies . . . "
But if Bill O'Reilly has anything to do with it, the Republicans will also become the party of pedophilia. For months, O'Reilly has been campaigning to get a "Jessica's Law" (for Jessica Lunsford, a Florida girl who was kidnapped and killed by a convicted child sex offender) passed in all fifty states and coming down hard on judges who are lenient on sex offenders.
This is self-interest as well as politics for O'Reilly. He's identifying an issue that's sensational enough to be a sure ratings winner for his show as well as hoping that Republicans will adopt it as "their issue."
But the O'Reilly crusade against pedophilia does not look like a winner. There's only so much "feel good" politics that can be taken out of the issue. Sure, it's good to "do something" about pedophilia. But, by talking about sex predators, pedophiliacs, and the sexual murder of little girls so relentlessly, O' Reilly keeps his own audience in the same kind of killing moment that the tabloids maintain when they obsess about JonBenet Ramsey. Most people don't feel comfortable with that kind of voyeurism because they're not pedophiliacs themselves.
Maybe O'Reilly could have helped the Republicans by doing more segments on JonBenet Ramsey.
Republicans Look Tired: Susan Estrich has a decent piece on the Fox web site about the desperation of Republican candidates for Congress. The Democrats are far from a shoe-in, but the Republicans are looking weak and unfocused themselves. House Speaker Dennis Hastert looked terrible in a picture from a Colorado fund-raiser--face bloated from food and booze, lethargic-looking, stomach hanging mountainously over his belt. His words didn't inspire either.
"We have to find someone that isn't weak and someone who will come to Congress and doesn't cave in and say wave the white flag . . ."
Not exactly Gipper material there.
The Voyeurism Angle: According to John Aloysius Farrel of the Denver Post, the Republican strategy adds up to "bunkering down in their gerrymannered districts, whipping up the party faithful and taunting the Democrats as craven sissies . . . "
But if Bill O'Reilly has anything to do with it, the Republicans will also become the party of pedophilia. For months, O'Reilly has been campaigning to get a "Jessica's Law" (for Jessica Lunsford, a Florida girl who was kidnapped and killed by a convicted child sex offender) passed in all fifty states and coming down hard on judges who are lenient on sex offenders.
This is self-interest as well as politics for O'Reilly. He's identifying an issue that's sensational enough to be a sure ratings winner for his show as well as hoping that Republicans will adopt it as "their issue."
But the O'Reilly crusade against pedophilia does not look like a winner. There's only so much "feel good" politics that can be taken out of the issue. Sure, it's good to "do something" about pedophilia. But, by talking about sex predators, pedophiliacs, and the sexual murder of little girls so relentlessly, O' Reilly keeps his own audience in the same kind of killing moment that the tabloids maintain when they obsess about JonBenet Ramsey. Most people don't feel comfortable with that kind of voyeurism because they're not pedophiliacs themselves.
Maybe O'Reilly could have helped the Republicans by doing more segments on JonBenet Ramsey.
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Drug War as Metaphor for Terror War
Today's capture of Javier Arellano-Felix, the head of a particularly vicious Tijuana marijuana and cocain cartel is a significant accomplishment for the DEA and Coast Guard.
It's also a good reason why the War on Drugs is a good metaphor for the War on Terror. Since the Tijuana Cartel is particularly aggressive and vicious, capturing Arellano-Felix is a signal accomplishment. However, it probably took months or years of patient work to pinpoint Arellano-Felix on a luxury fishing boat off of Baja and all that effort is still not going to reduce drug use in the U. S. because of the enormous, almost limitless appetite for pot and cocaine in this country.
The same thing is true of the War on Terror. The U. S. military and intelligence apparatus can work for months on killing a terrorist leader like Zarqawi like they did last June only to see the overall situation in Iraq continue to deteriorate. The permutations of setbacks like the Samarra bombing seem to mushroom through time, while our accomplishments seem to have little overall effect. It's like the Iraq occupation has become the Middle Eastern version of the drug war.
The key here is that the Saddam leftovers, global terrorists, Sunni insurgents, and Shiite militias are stronger forces than either the elected government or the large part of the civilian population that is sympathetic to the government. Unless, the U. S. can change the balance of power, our accomplishments will never have an effect.
Meanwhile, the Bush administration remains clueless.
It's also a good reason why the War on Drugs is a good metaphor for the War on Terror. Since the Tijuana Cartel is particularly aggressive and vicious, capturing Arellano-Felix is a signal accomplishment. However, it probably took months or years of patient work to pinpoint Arellano-Felix on a luxury fishing boat off of Baja and all that effort is still not going to reduce drug use in the U. S. because of the enormous, almost limitless appetite for pot and cocaine in this country.
The same thing is true of the War on Terror. The U. S. military and intelligence apparatus can work for months on killing a terrorist leader like Zarqawi like they did last June only to see the overall situation in Iraq continue to deteriorate. The permutations of setbacks like the Samarra bombing seem to mushroom through time, while our accomplishments seem to have little overall effect. It's like the Iraq occupation has become the Middle Eastern version of the drug war.
The key here is that the Saddam leftovers, global terrorists, Sunni insurgents, and Shiite militias are stronger forces than either the elected government or the large part of the civilian population that is sympathetic to the government. Unless, the U. S. can change the balance of power, our accomplishments will never have an effect.
Meanwhile, the Bush administration remains clueless.
Fifty Ways To Be a Racist
The debate rages over whether Sen. George Allen is a racist? For John Dickerson, Allen is more of a boob; according to Rich Lowry, he just has a mean streak. There's also an undercurrent that Allen isn't all that bright.
Generally, the mainstream media isn't sure whether you're a racist or not unless you're a Klan member, or are a white guy using the n-word all the time,
That's part of the reason why the media needs to get out of the Beltway more. Here in Kentucky, there are plenty of signs that someone is a racist--
There's always the threatening letter to the black people who just moved into your county, neighborhood, school or dorm threatening to kill, bomb, or burn them out;
Add Confederate flags on your bumper sticker, Confederate flag hats, Confederate flag shirts, and Confederate flags in the back yard. Guys get into Confederate flag paraphernalia as a way to announce that they "don't give a shit about what people think," are proud to be "rednecks," "hillbillies," or "crackers," or think it's a funny way to be an asshole. They do it as a way to stick it to their parents, their teachers, church, and town elite as well as city people and the North. Oh yeah, and black people too;
Thinking that every black male you see in a city is going to rob you or not going to the cities because there are too many blacks; not going to State U because there are too many blacks or because you might be assigned a black roommate;
Dismissing hip hop, rock, jazz, and other musical styles as "n--music," loving NASCAR because it's all-white, worshipping the screaming white coach of your State U basketball team and assuming that the players need to be screamed at; disparaging State U's opponents in racial terms; disparaging professional sports in general and the NBA in particular as too black;
Telling blacks to "get over it," that "everybody is oppressed" and that "stereotypes (about blacks) are real;"
Bragging about how Southerner whites know blacks better than anybody else or how well everybody in the South got along before the "outside agitators" or "activist judges" came in or the "turmoil" of the Civil Rights Movement got started.
Claiming that Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Denzel Washington, Colin Powell, Condoleeza Rice, and other blacks you like aren't "really" black; really hating Spike Lee and other race conscious blacks because they're "so" black.
Arguing that anybody who complains about racism is a "racist" and that blacks who complain about racism are worst racists than the whites of the segregation era.
Generally, the mainstream media isn't sure whether you're a racist or not unless you're a Klan member, or are a white guy using the n-word all the time,
That's part of the reason why the media needs to get out of the Beltway more. Here in Kentucky, there are plenty of signs that someone is a racist--
There's always the threatening letter to the black people who just moved into your county, neighborhood, school or dorm threatening to kill, bomb, or burn them out;
Add Confederate flags on your bumper sticker, Confederate flag hats, Confederate flag shirts, and Confederate flags in the back yard. Guys get into Confederate flag paraphernalia as a way to announce that they "don't give a shit about what people think," are proud to be "rednecks," "hillbillies," or "crackers," or think it's a funny way to be an asshole. They do it as a way to stick it to their parents, their teachers, church, and town elite as well as city people and the North. Oh yeah, and black people too;
Thinking that every black male you see in a city is going to rob you or not going to the cities because there are too many blacks; not going to State U because there are too many blacks or because you might be assigned a black roommate;
Dismissing hip hop, rock, jazz, and other musical styles as "n--music," loving NASCAR because it's all-white, worshipping the screaming white coach of your State U basketball team and assuming that the players need to be screamed at; disparaging State U's opponents in racial terms; disparaging professional sports in general and the NBA in particular as too black;
Telling blacks to "get over it," that "everybody is oppressed" and that "stereotypes (about blacks) are real;"
Bragging about how Southerner whites know blacks better than anybody else or how well everybody in the South got along before the "outside agitators" or "activist judges" came in or the "turmoil" of the Civil Rights Movement got started.
Claiming that Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Denzel Washington, Colin Powell, Condoleeza Rice, and other blacks you like aren't "really" black; really hating Spike Lee and other race conscious blacks because they're "so" black.
Arguing that anybody who complains about racism is a "racist" and that blacks who complain about racism are worst racists than the whites of the segregation era.
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
The Wider War Meme
How are right-wingers responding to the American failure in Iraq and the Israeli failure in Lebanon? First, a lot of them are bellying up to the bar of reality and calling the outcome of these enterprises by their proper name--"failure."
But the right always moves back to the more familiar ground of delusion.
It turns out that they believe that the current wars weren't conducted on a large enough scale to win. On the Laura Ingraham radio talk show this afternoon, conservative columnist Ingraham and Michael Ladeen of the American Enterprise Institute were blaming the failure of the American and Israeli wars on a failure to widen the wars to include Syria and Iraq. They weren't particularly clear on whether the U. S. and Israel should bomb the two renegade nations, invade them, or nuke and firebomb them as suggested by Cal Thomas and Rush Limbaugh.
After 9-11, right-wingers and Democratic Party toadies like Joe Lieberman were insisting that we "give war a chance." Now that the wars have turned into disasters for us and setbacks for the Israelis, the right is starting to demand that we give "really big wars" a chance.
Somebody should start asking Republican candidates if they agree that bigger wars are needed.
But the right always moves back to the more familiar ground of delusion.
It turns out that they believe that the current wars weren't conducted on a large enough scale to win. On the Laura Ingraham radio talk show this afternoon, conservative columnist Ingraham and Michael Ladeen of the American Enterprise Institute were blaming the failure of the American and Israeli wars on a failure to widen the wars to include Syria and Iraq. They weren't particularly clear on whether the U. S. and Israel should bomb the two renegade nations, invade them, or nuke and firebomb them as suggested by Cal Thomas and Rush Limbaugh.
After 9-11, right-wingers and Democratic Party toadies like Joe Lieberman were insisting that we "give war a chance." Now that the wars have turned into disasters for us and setbacks for the Israelis, the right is starting to demand that we give "really big wars" a chance.
Somebody should start asking Republican candidates if they agree that bigger wars are needed.
George Allen--The Boob as Racist
Senator George Allen's "macaca" comment was a typical boob approach to racism. Instead of calling opposition photographer Sidarth by one of the standard racist epithets for dark-skinned people, Sen. Allen thought that he would use a fancy French term for blacks that "no one would recognize."
Like it was his little secret!
This is almost precisely what it means to be a boob, to think that you're the smartest person in the room while you're making an idiot of yourself. Sen. Allen thought he was demonstrating his racial superiority, thought he was entertaining his all-white audience, and thought he was scoring points while he was NOT noticing that Sidarth was holding a camera and recording the whole soliloguy.
In a Slate article, John Dickerson treats George Allen as comparable to President Bush. That's unfair to Bush. Whatever the failures that make Bush one of the worst presidents in Americn history, Pres. Bush has too much "message discipline" to be caught making that kind of racist comment on camera even if he feels that way in private (and I don't think he does).
Perhaps the worst thing you can say about George Allen is that he is a much bigger boob than George Bush.
Not that such a thing would stop the Republicans from nominating him.
Like it was his little secret!
This is almost precisely what it means to be a boob, to think that you're the smartest person in the room while you're making an idiot of yourself. Sen. Allen thought he was demonstrating his racial superiority, thought he was entertaining his all-white audience, and thought he was scoring points while he was NOT noticing that Sidarth was holding a camera and recording the whole soliloguy.
In a Slate article, John Dickerson treats George Allen as comparable to President Bush. That's unfair to Bush. Whatever the failures that make Bush one of the worst presidents in Americn history, Pres. Bush has too much "message discipline" to be caught making that kind of racist comment on camera even if he feels that way in private (and I don't think he does).
Perhaps the worst thing you can say about George Allen is that he is a much bigger boob than George Bush.
Not that such a thing would stop the Republicans from nominating him.
Numbers Day in Kentucky
Kentucky Passes Texas in high school graduation rates: Like a lot of Southern states, Kentucky has long uttered the grateful prayer "thank god for Mississippi" because Mississipi is usually at the bottom of education, health, and income statistics. Today, we're celebrating that fact that we have also passed Texas. The Lexington, KY Herald-Leader released some numbers today on percentage of population with a high school education. With a 79% high school graduation rate, Kentucky has moved ahead of Texas but is still 49th in the country. Kentucky has made a big effort to increase high school graduation rates since the passing of education reform in 1990, but still suffers from previous generations of neglect. The situation is particularly bad in Eastern Kentucky where high school dropout rates are often over 20%.
Kentucky No. 2 in disabilities. Almost one-fith of the adult population in Kentucky is listed as disabled with only West Virginia having more people with disabilities. Mississippi, Arkansas, and Alabama--three other members in good standing of the Southern poverty belt--are right up there as well. In Kentucky, high levels of disability are driven primarily by the hazards of coal mining (probably logging as well), efforts to get around welfare reform, high levels of smoking, lousy diets, and the general effects of poor health. Some people become disabled because of poor health habits that are handed down through their families. That fits the Southern stereotype. At the same time, I know several women who are on the road to disability from strokes and diabetes from the super-human sacrifices they make in caring for and worrying about their families. Moderation is a tough sell in Kentucky and physical breakdowns are one of the results.
Kentucky No. 2 in disabilities. Almost one-fith of the adult population in Kentucky is listed as disabled with only West Virginia having more people with disabilities. Mississippi, Arkansas, and Alabama--three other members in good standing of the Southern poverty belt--are right up there as well. In Kentucky, high levels of disability are driven primarily by the hazards of coal mining (probably logging as well), efforts to get around welfare reform, high levels of smoking, lousy diets, and the general effects of poor health. Some people become disabled because of poor health habits that are handed down through their families. That fits the Southern stereotype. At the same time, I know several women who are on the road to disability from strokes and diabetes from the super-human sacrifices they make in caring for and worrying about their families. Moderation is a tough sell in Kentucky and physical breakdowns are one of the results.
Monday, August 14, 2006
Bush: Impotence on Parade
In his remarks to the media today, President Bush stated that Hezbollah lost the recent war because they would no longer be a "state within a state" under the terms of the UN cease fire.
What are the chances that Hezbollah would actually disarm or lose their status as an independent militia? And what can the U. S. do to ensure that the terms of the cease-fire are fulfilled.
There's practically no chance of meeting the terms of the cease fire and American impotence is going to play a role in the failure.
According to press secretary Tony Snow, all of these groups would have to cooperate for the terms of the cease-fire to be fulfilled.
"The people also within Lebanon, the Lebanese government has a role to play, the governments of Syria and Iran have a role to play, Hezbollah has a role to play, the Israelis have a role to play. And we'll have to see how all those things work out in the hours, days and weeks ahead."
The only entity out of this group that U. S. has any leverage over is Israel. The Bush administration lost our leverage over Lebanon when we gave Israel blanket approval to destroy their country. The Lebanese government may be in no mood to cooperate anyway, but we have no ability to ensure that they will. They threw away our leverage over Syria when the neo-cons started talking about invading them as well as Iraq. No chance of influence them to help us fulfill our foreign policy objectives. The same with the Iranians given that we refuse to communicate with them. Of course, we have no influence over Hezbollah and won't have any because we don't want any discussions with Hezbollah either.
Under current conditions, Hezbollah is going to stay independent of the Lebanese government, rearm themselves, and go into their next battle with Israel with a lot of confidence.
The only way this disastrous outcome can be prevented is by setting up some sort of negotiations between the Israelis and Hezbollah. The Bush administration forgot their disgust with negotiations when they co-sponsored the ceasefire with France. They should swallow their pride again and sponsor some sort of secret contact over the issues between Hezbollah and Israel.
What are the chances that Hezbollah would actually disarm or lose their status as an independent militia? And what can the U. S. do to ensure that the terms of the cease-fire are fulfilled.
There's practically no chance of meeting the terms of the cease fire and American impotence is going to play a role in the failure.
According to press secretary Tony Snow, all of these groups would have to cooperate for the terms of the cease-fire to be fulfilled.
"The people also within Lebanon, the Lebanese government has a role to play, the governments of Syria and Iran have a role to play, Hezbollah has a role to play, the Israelis have a role to play. And we'll have to see how all those things work out in the hours, days and weeks ahead."
The only entity out of this group that U. S. has any leverage over is Israel. The Bush administration lost our leverage over Lebanon when we gave Israel blanket approval to destroy their country. The Lebanese government may be in no mood to cooperate anyway, but we have no ability to ensure that they will. They threw away our leverage over Syria when the neo-cons started talking about invading them as well as Iraq. No chance of influence them to help us fulfill our foreign policy objectives. The same with the Iranians given that we refuse to communicate with them. Of course, we have no influence over Hezbollah and won't have any because we don't want any discussions with Hezbollah either.
Under current conditions, Hezbollah is going to stay independent of the Lebanese government, rearm themselves, and go into their next battle with Israel with a lot of confidence.
The only way this disastrous outcome can be prevented is by setting up some sort of negotiations between the Israelis and Hezbollah. The Bush administration forgot their disgust with negotiations when they co-sponsored the ceasefire with France. They should swallow their pride again and sponsor some sort of secret contact over the issues between Hezbollah and Israel.
Who Was First On Top of Things?
The Washington Post claims today that Hezbollah came out ahead in the Lebanon War. The first post on Hezbollah's relative success on Red State Impressions came out on July 19, only six days after the Israeli air strikes began.
Sunday, August 13, 2006
Reaching Out . . . And Getting Fired for it
Last June, Jeffrey Nielson wrote an op-ed column that disagreed with Mormon church leaders over gay marriage.
For which he was promptly fired by the philosophy department at Brigham Young University. In its faculty contracts, BYU has a clause forbidding anyone from disagreeing with church teachings. So, they were within their legal rights. However, the swiftness and vindictiveness with which BYU fired Nielsen is pretty typical of gay rights cases at Christian universities.
Last April, for example, the University of the Cumberlands here in Kentucky expelled Jason Johnson for saying that he was gay on his MySpace page. Like Nielson, the student broke the rules, but the university president betrayed the depth of his animosity over gay rights by sending officers to remove Johnson from campus without warning, a chance to appeal, or giving him an opportunity to leave voluntarily.
But after he was fired, something quite moving happened to Nielsen. Gay men and women began to contact him and then kept in touch with him and became friends. Gay couples invited Nielsen to their homes and showed him a loving atmosphere in their homes that belied the bigoted images of the Mormons or Latter-Day Saints (LDS).
In a column in today's Tribune, Nielsen writes:
"I have been able to personally witness the goodness in the homes of these couples and observe the nurturing environment where their children experience unsurpassed parental love and support. Committed gay and lesbian couples would add unimaginable strength to the institution of marriage. "
What Nielsen has done was move from the principles of his earlier article to developing personal relationships across the gay/straight divide that homophobic bigotry creates in American society. That's a big part of the work of creating a multi-cultural society. It's reaching out across the traditional divides of sexuality, race, and nationality, sharing the ups and downs of business, health, raising kids, maintaining houses, and commuting with them, and altogether living a common life. For Nielsen, there was a kind of moral excitement of discovering that the traditional taboos on gay people were just as irrational as he had thought. For his new gay friends, there was a satisfaction in demonstrating what they had always been even if the frustration and anger of being forced to live without the full breadth of social recognition remained.
But Nielsen doesn't seem to understand that the existence of loving gay families, effective gay teachers, respected gay scout leaders, and popular gay politicians (like state senator Ernesto Scorsone here in Kentucky) also serves to deepen the anger of those who are committed to the traditional taboos against the gay population. That's one of the reasons why BYU was so quick to fire him and why Cumberlands treated Jason Johnson with such animosity. It's also why organizations on the religious right are so eager to fight gay marriage, civil unions, partner benefits, and civil rights protections for gays. In their hearts, they know they're wrong and that sliver of self-knowledge makes them even more angry over gay rights issues than they would have been otherwise. It's the same with white racists, male supremacists, class snobs, and other people who are offended by the obvious facts of the equal worth of various groups.
That's why it is important to fight the right-wing on gay rights--to promote the legalization of gay marriage, answer the blizzard of specious arguments from the right wing media on homosexuality, and bear witness to the tremendous harm perpetrated in the name of the traditional taboos on homosexuality. Ultimately, defeating the right-wing is the only way that gay people will be able to share fully in the life of American society.
For which he was promptly fired by the philosophy department at Brigham Young University. In its faculty contracts, BYU has a clause forbidding anyone from disagreeing with church teachings. So, they were within their legal rights. However, the swiftness and vindictiveness with which BYU fired Nielsen is pretty typical of gay rights cases at Christian universities.
Last April, for example, the University of the Cumberlands here in Kentucky expelled Jason Johnson for saying that he was gay on his MySpace page. Like Nielson, the student broke the rules, but the university president betrayed the depth of his animosity over gay rights by sending officers to remove Johnson from campus without warning, a chance to appeal, or giving him an opportunity to leave voluntarily.
But after he was fired, something quite moving happened to Nielsen. Gay men and women began to contact him and then kept in touch with him and became friends. Gay couples invited Nielsen to their homes and showed him a loving atmosphere in their homes that belied the bigoted images of the Mormons or Latter-Day Saints (LDS).
In a column in today's Tribune, Nielsen writes:
"I have been able to personally witness the goodness in the homes of these couples and observe the nurturing environment where their children experience unsurpassed parental love and support. Committed gay and lesbian couples would add unimaginable strength to the institution of marriage. "
What Nielsen has done was move from the principles of his earlier article to developing personal relationships across the gay/straight divide that homophobic bigotry creates in American society. That's a big part of the work of creating a multi-cultural society. It's reaching out across the traditional divides of sexuality, race, and nationality, sharing the ups and downs of business, health, raising kids, maintaining houses, and commuting with them, and altogether living a common life. For Nielsen, there was a kind of moral excitement of discovering that the traditional taboos on gay people were just as irrational as he had thought. For his new gay friends, there was a satisfaction in demonstrating what they had always been even if the frustration and anger of being forced to live without the full breadth of social recognition remained.
But Nielsen doesn't seem to understand that the existence of loving gay families, effective gay teachers, respected gay scout leaders, and popular gay politicians (like state senator Ernesto Scorsone here in Kentucky) also serves to deepen the anger of those who are committed to the traditional taboos against the gay population. That's one of the reasons why BYU was so quick to fire him and why Cumberlands treated Jason Johnson with such animosity. It's also why organizations on the religious right are so eager to fight gay marriage, civil unions, partner benefits, and civil rights protections for gays. In their hearts, they know they're wrong and that sliver of self-knowledge makes them even more angry over gay rights issues than they would have been otherwise. It's the same with white racists, male supremacists, class snobs, and other people who are offended by the obvious facts of the equal worth of various groups.
That's why it is important to fight the right-wing on gay rights--to promote the legalization of gay marriage, answer the blizzard of specious arguments from the right wing media on homosexuality, and bear witness to the tremendous harm perpetrated in the name of the traditional taboos on homosexuality. Ultimately, defeating the right-wing is the only way that gay people will be able to share fully in the life of American society.
Saturday, August 12, 2006
The Right Never Deals
In Arizona, right-wing activists are pushing an aggressive social agenda. Most importantly, the right is campaigning for a state constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage and civil unions. The key to these bans is the petty animosity of people on the religious right who want to deny gay couples the health and other benefits enjoyed by married heterosexuals.
The bottom line for the religious right is their bitterness over the fact that most of America has accepted homosexual people living openly as gays, lesbians, and transexuals.
The activists of the religious right may not be picketing military funerals like Fred Phelps, but most of them are Fred Phelps conservatives in their disgust with America as a whole for the waning of homophobic bigotry.
The bottom line for the religious right is their bitterness over the fact that most of America has accepted homosexual people living openly as gays, lesbians, and transexuals.
The activists of the religious right may not be picketing military funerals like Fred Phelps, but most of them are Fred Phelps conservatives in their disgust with America as a whole for the waning of homophobic bigotry.
The Israelis Deal
No doubt Condoleeza Rice is going to spin the UN cease fire resolution as the end of Hezbollah as we know it. But the biggest change in the Middle East was the hesitation, confusion, and ultimate failure of the Israelis. According to today's Haaretz, critics of Prime Minister Olmert question the delays in the invasion, Olmert doubted that the IDF could meet its objectives, and Olmert and foreign minister Livni had a falling out because she was even more sceptical. After a discouraging visit to the Northern Command last Monday, Olmert decided to pull the plug despite his ostentatious approval for expanded military operations.
The Israelis took the cease-fire deal because it was the best way they could extricate themselves from the debacle.
The Israelis took the cease-fire deal because it was the best way they could extricate themselves from the debacle.
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