Fascism watch revisited

Many posts ago I started a fascism watch on this blog, but in my comings and goings I haven't followed up. Too much vacation and moving and such, so many incidents to report, so little time. But here's a classic, showing the merger of the U.S. military with politics of the Bush administration, which is doing its best to characterize its occupation of Iraq with its "war on terror." Note in Centom's news release that the "terrorist attack" was directed at a military target, no civilians were harmed, not even as "collateral damage." If that makes the insurgents terrorists, what then are we?

Take heart, oh ye of little faith!

Rasmussen Reports, a conservative poll that publishes its results daily, shows Bush's job-approval number (45%) near his lowest ever, and of greatest significance shows the "strongly disapprove" percentage at 41.

What the hell is this?

Zarqawi's forces have a flag--a black flag--and they'e flying it over a city in Western Iraq? They're burning video stores and womens' beauty parlors--enforcing fundamentalist Muslim dictates--and openly occupying the area?

And Bush says we're making military, political and social progress in Iraq?

Too good to be true?

Could it be that George Tenet will come clean, will no longer tolerate the role of scapegoat for the various intelligence failures under his watch? Could it be that he would write a memoir that laid the blame on Bush and Cheney and their minions? Stay tuned.

Here's what's wrong with our system of government

A United States District Judge who up to now has been relatively receptive to the ACLU's claim to full disclosure of the grossest Abu Ghraib videos and photos, now relapses into judicial mumbo-jumbo, giving deference to the testimony of military types who say that such disclosure would injure the war effort and cause death to our military forces.

Look, Judge Hellerstein, the citizens of this nation are its owners, are its bosses. How dare you stand in the way of an informed citizenry, depriving them of information about their nation's most important facet--war-making--by hiding behind some separation-of-powers nonsense, or worse, a facile fact-finding function! It's the judges, under article 3 of the Constitution, who were placed in the position of reining in the legislative and executive branches of government, who were the guardians of the public's right to know and to express themselves knowledgably, despite the efforts of those who govern them to hide facts and functions.

Judge Hellerstein, there's no debate, no doubt. The voters need to know what their employees, the government, has done in their name. You must order the photos and videos released to the public or else America becomes--no doubt about it--just another nation doomed to destruction by its own lack of honesty and virtue. And you, Judge Hellerstein, are early on the list of those who enabled, ensured, its demise.

The cost of war

Here, finally, is a comparison of the dollar cost of the US madness in Iraq to its madness in Viet Nam. No wonder his administration couldn't afford to build levees around New Orleans.

Happier than pigs in shit?

Yup, that's it. That's what Rove and Cheney and Bush are feeling right now. They've got their Wag the Dog event, their urgent distraction from the reality of Bush's malfeasances in Iraq, in economic policy, in everything he touches: Hurricane Katrina, a Godsend for Bush, will be exploited by him and his comrades to bail him out of the onslaught of terrible news from home and abroad, to explain the rising gas prices, to allow him to be a savior (a false one, again), to deflect the news (the MSM news, certainly) from everything that's gone before.
How does he do it? How does Bush slide through a life of evil, corrupt, and worthless acts and somehow emerge unscathed, even heroic? A miracle, truly. No wonder he believes in a personal God and in Jesus as miracle-maker.

Ya gotta love him

Venezuela's president, Hugo Chavez, wants his country's state-owned oil company, CITGO, which operates hundreds of gas stations in the US, to offer its gasoline at half price to the poor in America. No doubt it won't happen--too many logistical and financial obstacles--but he sure knows how to get under the skin of the conservatives, especially George Bush, and lately Pat Robertson, the assassin.

What is there about this name, Chavez? First Caesar, now Hugo. Troublemakers, both. Heroes too?

Strange bedfellows

While the Left chides Democrats (except for the few who consistently opposed the war in Iraq), the Right berates the NeoCons who plumped for this war. A few Democrats are coming around, now demanding an end to the war, and a few Republicans, too. Very few of each so far, but more today than yesterday, and more on the midterm election day in 2006 than today. Could it be that by then the Left and the Right can coalesce on this one issue: End the war and with it the reign of the madmen who brought it on?

It's the inequality, stupid!

This book, by an accomplished social researcher, documents and explains why those at the low end of the economic and social ladder suffer greatly, even if their standard of living exceeds, in material terms, that of their forebears. It's the standing in current society, in the economic and social hierarchy, that matters; which explains why nations such as the U.S., with great wealth, still lags in many health categories among the poorest classes. The relative standing of the poor causes the misery, and in the U.S., with the greatest gap between rich and poor, the poor suffer greatly.

A tremendous argument for socialism--especially potent to me, an inveterate socialist.

Fuzziness

There's been much Internet chatter about the squishy positions of "liberal" groups like MoveOn.org and others on the topic of withdrawal of US troops from Iraq; and even more hollering about the ridiculous positions of Biden and H. Clinton that troops levels should be increased. Well, as I hope readers of this blog know, the author has always demanded immediate withdrawal--from the day our troops entered Iraq to this moment. Just checking, just making sure you're sure. Out today, out yesterday, out in March, 2003, out forever.

As for what happens in Iraq if we withdraw immediately? Nobody knows. Just like nobody knows what will happen if we don't, except that the US will lose more troops, more money, and more standing in the world.

Hallelujah Halliburton

This post by Juan Cole is the first I've seen that raises the question of the impact of Islamic law in Iraq (now that the US has sanctioned it) on the myriad of corporate enterprises that were plundering that nation in the aftermath of our invasion. Wouldn't it be lovely if the mullahs decided to void all extant contracts as not in conformity with Islamic principles? Laugh, I thought I'd die!

The logic of withdrawal

The debate over withdrawal of our troops from Iraq has been cast by the Bushovics as "stay the course" versus "cut and run." Tragically, this has become the standard of discourse on the topic also, so that most Democratic politicians are buying into it, with H. Clinton and Joe Biden (two likely presidential candidates in 2006) calling for more troops in Iraq, not withdrawal. This thinking will also infect the upcoming midterm elections, probably, so that the American people will be left without a meaningful discourse on the possibility of immediate, or even early, withdrawal.

Such discourse is mandatory in a democracy, certainly over a war that has proven so disastrous and has been shown to have been the product of a fraudulent premise. And so it's heartening to find this essay, a sensible rationale for immediate withdrawal, stated in terms that demonstrate that it may be in America's interest to pull out now, as a strategic matter, not "just" as a moral one. Maybe, so clothed, the debate may find favor with politicians, who seem to prefer strategy to morality.

Baby on board?

No, I don't think so. Not if the baby's name is on the "no-fly" list.

Switzerland is so cool

They've frozen a deal to send some American-made armored personnel carriers to Iraq until they have assurances that they will be used only in noncombat situations. Neutrality rocks and democracy rules.

Intermittent outrage

It's true that lately my blogging has been sporadic. I took a long trip into the wilds of NW United States and Canada and blessedly left my 'puter in its bag; and on my return to SB was confronted with the need to find a new rental, which I've now accomplished and this post is authored from my new digs. So, while our soldiers don't have the luxury of being distracted by such silly excursions, I admit I have been.

However, I've still been doing my demonstrating, my tiny effort at informing those who pass by my streetside sign of the unending and lately mushrooming (to use Condi's word) US casualties in Iraq. And lately here's what I've experienced.

Last Saturday's march up and down State Street in SB was not only well received by the shoppers and tourists of this vacation town, but was positively uplifting. We got ceaseless honks and hoots and cordial expressions of gratitude--the strongest surge of support for our message, our chants and signs calling for an end to the Iraq war and the impeachment of Bush/Cheney that we've ever experienced in our two-plus years of weekly marching.

On the other hand, during my Sunday afternoon vigil, where I hold out my sign for an hour to the vehicular and foot traffic at the base of Stearns Wharf in SB, the reaction was muted, almost silent, as in embarrassed silence. Maybe it was Sunday, maybe it was because most folks were in a hurry to "do" their touristy stuff before they had to head back to LA...whatever. But silence, silence so constant it felt conspiratorial.

The United States has waged war, has invaded and is now occupying another foreign nation. Thousands of human beings were killed in the process, billions of dollars of destruction was wrought, millions of lives were eternally altered, all because of the faulty decision of a cadre of leaders "elected" by us to protect us from an enemy that is undaunted in its desire--and ability--to do us great harm.

I ask, and I'm not alone in asking, WHERE'S THE OUTRAGE? WHERE THE FUCK IS THE OUTRAGE?

King Solomon

And on the current state of cable TV "newscasting" check out this post.

Juan Cole speaks

One of the blogs I regularly visit is Juan Cole's. He's a college professer, shows up on liberal talks shows often. Here's a post that knowledgeably captures the current state of affairs in the oil game.

Beating a live horse

Okay, I've carped about this before, but on the sixtieth anniversary of the atom bombing of Hiroshima, it seems appropriate to reiterate a point about "terrorism."

The IRA, the German Baader Meinhof group, the Weather Underground, Osama bin Laden--these were hardly the first to use the death of civilians as a military/political tool. In just the last century -- not to mention the use of plague and disease as a weapon in previous times -- both the Allies and the Axis powers were "terrorists," as that term's being used now. The Nazis employed rockets, the V-1 and V-2, that were specifically designed to kill and frighten civilian Londoners to affect Britain's resolve to fight. We bombed Dresden, Tokyo and other cities that had no strategic value, precisely to break the will of our enemies to resist, and then, of course, there's Hiroshima and Nagasaki, cities without any military defense and no military value. We did so without warning, without at least trying to deploy the bomb on an unpopulated target to persuade the Japanese to cease fighting. We killed more civilians in our bombing of defenseless cities in 1944-45 than bin Laden can imagine.

Terrorism sucks, no doubt. But let's not forget its history.

Blood and guts

During the first three days of August, 27 US military service persons have been killed. This doesn't include Iraqi soldiers and police or civilians.

And yet, not a peep from any news source or Democrat (except those who opposed the war to begin with) that we should pull our troops out immediately.

Not even an explanation to the American public why these people are dying. The war has settled into a meat grinding operation, just like those who opposed it predicted, and Bush has the temerity to say that the recent deaths are a "grim reminder" that we're still at war. Reminder? Had he forgotten? Had the American people? Had the media?

I'm angry beyond words. So I'll stop typing.