RE: Why Pro Choice is Bad For Democrats
America is the most powerful empire the world has ever known. Yet our political discourse is dominated by religiously-tinged issues that, while important to some, really don't compare to the truly relevant issues of the day. Abortion is an issue that affects women's health, and strikes some people, as noted in this piece, as immoral. It's an issue people care about and its worth discussing. On a local level.
In the meantime, America contributes a 25% share to greenhouse gases with only 5% of the world's population; we have unleashed a pandora's box of horror in the middle east through Dick Cheney's personal enrichment program known as the Iraq war; the current crop of Presidential candidates have no serious solution to either problem. We also have a nuclear North Korea and an Iran hell-bent on joining the club. Thomas Friedman has been reporting on the death of 4 million people in the Congo. Special interests from big oil, big pharma, mega-agriculture, the prison-industrial complex, the defense industry, the gun lobby, etc., all are taking home our hard-earned tax dollars to either produce record profit or stay afloat. And here at home we've got a large swath of the population that casts its vote entirely based on the abortion Kabuki.
The fact that the American people have allowed our political discourse to be shaped by whatever conspiratorial forces, whether its the sickening Machiavellian maneuverings of Karl Rove, the detested 30 second sound bite that passes for campaign discourse, the cowardice of news organizations who present entertainment rather than real news (try watching CBC's "The National" if you live close enough to the border for an entirely different reality) -- it doesn't matter. It is totally depressing, not to mention a great danger to world peace, that the meaningful discussion of significant issues has been drowned out in a sea of local-level issues like abortion, stem-cell research, and Christmas parades. My feeling is that politicians have tacitly allowed this to happen, because in order to campaign, they need to fill their war chest with money from the special interests who all benefit from the smoke screen created by the focus on these types of issues. Al Gore is right in his new book, and if the American people don't wake up, there's going to be very, very serious consequences.
22 June 2007
07 June 2007
Their Finest Hour
RE: Defeat's Killing Fields
To The Editor--
The author's of this article make many vague, grandiose statements that I think are a misguided attempt at a Roosevelt- or Kennedy-esque statement of vision and leadership. While I respect the courage in even professing to have an unambiguous vision in this time of wiffle-waffle sieve-like philosophical and ethical moorings, I find the lack of substance or adherence to anything resembling reality in their statement to be both tiresome and dangerous.
Some key points: What is meant by American defeat and victory? Is victory an indefinite occupation of a foreign land, or more South Korean like, an indefinite unliked but tolerated occupation? It is clear that regardless of the consequences, the American people have no stomach for the long-term occupation (10-20 year minimum seems to be the going rate) that creating a more civilized police state would require. Speaking of an Iraqi democracy is pure hubris at this stage in the game as the Iraqi parliament has largely left the building for the summer.
And in their discussion of the Vietnam war, they never address the plain and simple fact was that the reason we lost is the same reason the British lost when the American people decided they no longer wished to be subservient to the crown: we wanted to be free more than they wanted to suppress the rebellion. Victory then in the case of Vietnam or in the case of Iraq means imposing a reality the native people don't want, and "father knows best" doesn't work on the scale of nations -- especially nations whose boundaries were so capriciously drawn up by the British in the wake of WWI.
Such a shallow simplistic attitude is what got us into this mess -- well that and no lack of greed and avarice on the part of Mr. Dick Cheney -- and it certainly isn't going to get us out anytime soon. Who knows what would have happened in Southeast Asia if we hadn't gone in, but what's done is done, and what we've done in Iraq is unpardonable and irreconcilable, and it's time for these dreamers to wake up and realize that the only dignified thing to do is get out of the Empire game of conquest, go home with our tail between our legs, and let them figure it out for themselves.
And if America and her people are truly at war, then we will starve the beasts that foment the armies of destruction: we shall all, as one, in the most Churchillian manner, cease to have anything to do whatsoever with the black gold that finances the whole nefarious operation. We must stop buying oil from Iran and Saudi Arabia immediately. We must lead with bold vision in action, and not just foist our hopes on our volunteer army while the rest of us continue to shop on the web and kill ourselves slowly in an orgy of corn syrup and discount children's clothing from China. Shame on the American people for not having the vision or courage to truly do what is right, which is to give up our Imperial way of life that our Military might makes possible, and that costs so much in economic and human terms.
To The Editor--
The author's of this article make many vague, grandiose statements that I think are a misguided attempt at a Roosevelt- or Kennedy-esque statement of vision and leadership. While I respect the courage in even professing to have an unambiguous vision in this time of wiffle-waffle sieve-like philosophical and ethical moorings, I find the lack of substance or adherence to anything resembling reality in their statement to be both tiresome and dangerous.
Some key points: What is meant by American defeat and victory? Is victory an indefinite occupation of a foreign land, or more South Korean like, an indefinite unliked but tolerated occupation? It is clear that regardless of the consequences, the American people have no stomach for the long-term occupation (10-20 year minimum seems to be the going rate) that creating a more civilized police state would require. Speaking of an Iraqi democracy is pure hubris at this stage in the game as the Iraqi parliament has largely left the building for the summer.
And in their discussion of the Vietnam war, they never address the plain and simple fact was that the reason we lost is the same reason the British lost when the American people decided they no longer wished to be subservient to the crown: we wanted to be free more than they wanted to suppress the rebellion. Victory then in the case of Vietnam or in the case of Iraq means imposing a reality the native people don't want, and "father knows best" doesn't work on the scale of nations -- especially nations whose boundaries were so capriciously drawn up by the British in the wake of WWI.
Such a shallow simplistic attitude is what got us into this mess -- well that and no lack of greed and avarice on the part of Mr. Dick Cheney -- and it certainly isn't going to get us out anytime soon. Who knows what would have happened in Southeast Asia if we hadn't gone in, but what's done is done, and what we've done in Iraq is unpardonable and irreconcilable, and it's time for these dreamers to wake up and realize that the only dignified thing to do is get out of the Empire game of conquest, go home with our tail between our legs, and let them figure it out for themselves.
And if America and her people are truly at war, then we will starve the beasts that foment the armies of destruction: we shall all, as one, in the most Churchillian manner, cease to have anything to do whatsoever with the black gold that finances the whole nefarious operation. We must stop buying oil from Iran and Saudi Arabia immediately. We must lead with bold vision in action, and not just foist our hopes on our volunteer army while the rest of us continue to shop on the web and kill ourselves slowly in an orgy of corn syrup and discount children's clothing from China. Shame on the American people for not having the vision or courage to truly do what is right, which is to give up our Imperial way of life that our Military might makes possible, and that costs so much in economic and human terms.
03 June 2007
02 June 2007
It's a YESKING TING
It's a Yes King Ting where-ever you are. Anyone looking for the jamming summer mixtape that will not leave your box for the rest of the season... go to this site and download the mix.
01 June 2007
David Brooks, ever the self-hating Jew
My latest letter to my favorite Republican Jew:
Dear Mr. Brooks-
Sometimes you point out interesting scientific discoveries, such as the fact that we are all emotional irrational blobs of impulses that the rational mind pretends to have control over. Moving from there, I can see how you might find Al Gore's attempt at "rational discourse" discomfiting. It is after all an intellectual work that even references some rather well known academic scholarship. It reflects on you somewhat poorly to be so hostile to this sort of thing.
George Bush (well and Jimmy Carter too) has shown us what leadership from the heart looks like: it's not very effective, even if you do want to drink a beer with the guy. The role of our leaders is not to set the feel good agenda that you are so fond of, but to effectively and competently govern our country to insure the welfare of its citizens. This is often best achieved with a cold and calculating manner devoid of the irrational exuberance that brought us the war in Iraq, Terry Schiavo, Abu Gharib, New Orleans, etc.
Your faith in the Santa Claus like figure of the benevolent Republican really scares me, because you are smart enough to know better. I found myself wondering the other day if you had ever lived through an extended period of poverty or suffering. I am often troubled by Jews who are Republicans, it feels like something you only do if you're a self-hating Jew. My grandfather was a Republican who never went to synagogue and was obsessed with being a WASP. My assumption was that you hadn't truly suffered, and that maybe you weren't even Jewish, for all Jews suffer just by being alive, or surely you wouldn't fall for the "can't we all just get along with a nice warm hug" a la Mr. Rogers.
Dear Mr. Brooks-
Sometimes you point out interesting scientific discoveries, such as the fact that we are all emotional irrational blobs of impulses that the rational mind pretends to have control over. Moving from there, I can see how you might find Al Gore's attempt at "rational discourse" discomfiting. It is after all an intellectual work that even references some rather well known academic scholarship. It reflects on you somewhat poorly to be so hostile to this sort of thing.
George Bush (well and Jimmy Carter too) has shown us what leadership from the heart looks like: it's not very effective, even if you do want to drink a beer with the guy. The role of our leaders is not to set the feel good agenda that you are so fond of, but to effectively and competently govern our country to insure the welfare of its citizens. This is often best achieved with a cold and calculating manner devoid of the irrational exuberance that brought us the war in Iraq, Terry Schiavo, Abu Gharib, New Orleans, etc.
Your faith in the Santa Claus like figure of the benevolent Republican really scares me, because you are smart enough to know better. I found myself wondering the other day if you had ever lived through an extended period of poverty or suffering. I am often troubled by Jews who are Republicans, it feels like something you only do if you're a self-hating Jew. My grandfather was a Republican who never went to synagogue and was obsessed with being a WASP. My assumption was that you hadn't truly suffered, and that maybe you weren't even Jewish, for all Jews suffer just by being alive, or surely you wouldn't fall for the "can't we all just get along with a nice warm hug" a la Mr. Rogers.
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