Thursday, October 04, 2007

Event: Beating an Undead Horse.

New York Times: Secret U.S. Endorsement of Severe Interrogations.

Yeah, I know that a subject so often repeated loses its viscerality.
I also know that a lack of progress or change inspires a feeling of futility.
And I know that the more drastic a comparison is, the more cliche and stale it seems.

Still, we have to recognize the importance of these things, no matter how frequent we hear it and how futile we might feel. Because they're still doing it. All of it. Secretly. Behind closed doors. In freezing, wet, clamorous rooms.

Significantly, one needn't fall back on a cliche likening this administration's "interpretation" of the law to a Soviet political purge. They've taken that step themselves:

With virtually no experience in interrogations, the C.I.A. had constructed its program in a few harried months by consulting Egyptian and Saudi intelligence officials and copying Soviet interrogation methods long used in training American servicemen to withstand capture. The agency officers questioning prisoners constantly sought advice from lawyers thousands of miles away.

It may be that the closest we ever get to a real sense of what the C.I.A. has been doing is this.

---

Here is, for your mollification, a list of Democrats who voted for the Military Commissions Act, a piece of legislation that allegedly "dealt" with these abominations once and for all, while quite capably taking the matter out of the hands of the U.S. Courts.

SENATE
Carper (D-DE)
Johnson (D-SD)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Lieberman (D-CT)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Nelson (D-FL)
Nelson (D-NE)
Pryor (D-AR)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Salazar (D-CO)
Stabenow (D-MI)

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Andrews
Barrows
Bean
Bishop (GA)
Boren
Boswell
Boyd
Brown
Chandler
Cramer
Cuellar
Davis (AL)
Davis (TN)
Edwards
Etheridge
Ford
Gordon
Herseth
Higgins
Holden
Marshall
Matheson
McIntyre
Moore
Peterson (MN)
Pomeroy
Ross
Salazar
Scott (GA)
Spratt
Tanner
Taylor (MS)

May we never have to accuse anyone of waterboarding our captured troops. It will be a difficult argument to make.

Labels: civil rights, EVENT, politics, war

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Event: We Say Petraeus, Sallust Says Petreius

Evidently, Sallust was also familiar with a General Petraeus:

When he had satisfied himself on every point, Petreius sounded the signal and ordered the cohorts to advance slowly, and the same movement was made by the enemy. On reaching a distance at which the light troops could engage, the two armies raised a great shout and charged each other, standard to standard.

All they have in common is their name, however.

Sallust's Petreius was sent into war by Cicero, one of the greatest political minds of all time, in a decisive strike against Catiline, a wealthy citizen who had successfully raised an army in insurrection against Rome.

Our Petraeus, on the other hand, was sent into war by Bush, one of the most persistantly one-sided political minds of all time, in an decisive bid against Congress to continue a war waged for reasons subject to an unprecedented case of national amnesia.

I wonder what Sallust would write about our Petraeus.

Labels: EVENT, history, war

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Event: Six Years Later.

from bill-in-portland-maine:

Most of the 9/11 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia, yet that country has paid no price for producing and harboring terrorists. Neither has Pakistan, the country in which Osama bin Laden is now hiding.

The PDB said: Bin Laden determined to Strike in U.S.

Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. 9/11 had nothing to do with Iraq.

Sitting in a classroom for seven minutes after being told "America is under attack" is a poor display of leadership, especially if you're America's president.

If the administration had tried to sell the Iraq war based on anything other than the fear of weapons of mass destruction, we never would have invaded.

Colin Powell, the most trusted man in the administration, said: "My colleagues, every statement I make today is backed up by sources, solid sources. These are not assertions. What we're giving you are facts and conclusions based on solid intelligence."

There were no WMDs. Not "in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat," and not even in the Oval Office "somewhere."

Four and a half years after declaring that "major combat operations have ended," major combat operations have not ended.

Taunting the insurgents by sneering "Bring 'em on" was really dumb because the insurgents brought it on.

The insurgency wasn't "in its last throes" then, and it isn’t in its last throes now.

The Taliban has bounced back in Afghanistan. The Maliki government has flatlined in Iraq.

Osama bin Laden has not been caught, either dead or alive. He is still making videos.

And here's a bonus from Bill Maher:

New Rule: If you were surprised that the Chinese don't care about toy safety, then the child who needs protecting is you. Over the last couple of months, American consumers have been learning a shocking lesson about supply and demand: if you demand products that don't cost anything, people will make them out of poison, mud and shit. ... They don't care if your precious little Britney sucks a little lead. Because in China, their kids aren't playing with the toys, they're the ones in the factory all day making them. ...

In America, there is nothing more sacred than a bargain. And that even includes the war. Yeah, there's too much lead in the kids' toys, but not nearly enough on the Humvees in Iraq. "Let's have a war and cut taxes; what could go wrong?" "Let's give mortgages to the homeless. Sounds like a plan." "Let's buy toys from a Communist police state. You just know they'll put in a little extra love."

Speaking of which, you know why today's modern Chinese capitalist puts lead in the paint that goes on toys? Because it makes colors brighter. You've got to love America, a country that's literally being killed by the stuff that makes objects shiny.

Labels: EVENT, foreign policy, war

Event: Socialist Convention.

The Democratic Socialists of America are throwing a convention this November 9-11, in Atlanta of all places.

I wish I had more money, so that I could go.

I also wish they had better web design, so that I could read about the convention without feeling like I'm reading about a preschool Easter Egg hunt. That has to be the least flattering picture of Bernie Sanders ever.

Labels: civil liberties, diplomacy, economics, environment, EVENT, health care, politics, poverty, U.S.A., war

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Five Years Later...

Wow. They finally admitted it.

THE PRESIDENT:      You know, I've heard this theory about everything was just fine until we arrived, and kind of "we're going to stir up the hornet's nest" theory. It just doesn't hold water, as far as I'm concerned. The terrorists attacked us and killed 3,000 of our citizens before we started the freedom agenda in the Middle East.

Q What did Iraq have to do with that?

THE PRESIDENT: What did Iraq have to do with what?

Q The attack on the World Trade Center?

THE PRESIDENT: Nothing,

Isn't that remarkable? The little things that just slip out, inexplicably?

THE PRESIDENT:      except for it's part of --

Here it comes.

THE PRESIDENT:      -- and nobody has ever suggested in this administration that Saddam Hussein ordered the attack. Iraq was a --

Excuse me? (Note. A Philadelphia lawyer has just informed me that the word "ordered" is operative here. That way Bush can deny earlier attempts to link bin Laden with Hussein, and then point to a technicality if he's called on it).

THE PRESIDENT:      the lesson of September the 11th is, take threats before they fully materialize

To paraphrase Eminem:

THE PRESIDENT:      Rana Rana Rana Rana Rana Rana Rana Rana Rana Rana Terrorism

And so we're back to more of the same old same old. As a well-known Wall Street Journal editorialist recently opined, with some people "progress is always just beyond the horizon."

And yet, for one tiny moment, didn't that just feel great? That

Q What did Iraq have to do with that?

THE PRESIDENT: What did Iraq have to do with what?

Q The attack on the World Trade Center?

THE PRESIDENT: Nothing,

It kind of opens the chest up so you can fill your lungs with air!

Labels: EVENT, u.s. executive, war

Friday, August 10, 2007

Event: The Emphasis? Emphatic.

One of my perennial complaints against the Democratic Party at large is that they play a defensive game. Not in terms of their foreign policy, but in terms of their political strategy. They are too caught up in number crunching and trying to out-tough the Republicans to actually hold their ground against the Republicans in issues in which progressives have the advantage.

Not wanting to make the same mistake, and to be thereby hypocritical, I'm going to deal with something upfront, possibly over-reacting (after all, it seemed like a blogbomb, and I don't know if the guy's even going to come back and hear about how his comment was received), but at least I can make an articulated case for the political agenda that Blue Skies Falling has promoted from the beginning.

---

Today, on my post Freedom House Rankings I received the following comment from Chris whose blog is here. His comment ran as follows:

United States gets a top ranking. Yet this country continues to be demonized and called the evil empire. If people spent as much time trying to bring about freedom for others as the amount of time they do hating America, perhaps more people in this world would have a chance to live freer lives as they should.

I wrote the following back:

I don't usually delete comments, Chris, but your point only connects with the post by the barest thread. And your point is vague and generalizing and (most likely) simple Republican sloganeering. Though you can correct me if I'm wrong. And you don't offer any evidence to back your claim up.

Sometimes it's hard not to delete comments, but often it's very easy, becase when you post something as carelessly and hastily written as this, you're only making yourself look foolish.

Then I was worried that I might be sticking my foot down my throat. I went to Chris' blog, and after just a few minutes of scanning I found the following directed against that figurehead of irresponsible revolutionary action, Eddie Vedder:

Eddie seems to be of the All Things Bush Are Bad camp, the very same camp who would say, if they found out that they and Bush liked the same music, they'd say he listens to it the wrong way, the moron. This is the group of people who completely shun a Pro-Democracy In Iraq, Let The Troops Win The War point of view. This is the same group that wants a cowardly exit from Iraq, to let the Freedom Fighters win and for the illegally occupying U.S. troops to leave in shame. Shame! When Eddie brings this into a concert then it ruins it and it's dangerous 'cause it poisons the minds of impressionable listeners. Why should the U.S. pack and leave as quickly as possible? If it could happen in three days, wouldn't that be great, Eddie? Allow Iran to take over Iraq. Allow Iraq to become a Free Zone for al Qaida, to live and thrive and train and plan to kill me... and to kill you... and your family.

Now I don't want to be a total prick. To be fair, Chris does link to a large number of (seemingly) non-partisan charities; they're actually his most prominent links. His blog isn't strictly political, and I do think he's well intentioned. But I have to say that I really hate comments like his. I hate them. They're almost as bad as spam. They involve practically no effort to understand or respond to the subject posted, they offer almost nothing by way of a supportable argument or reasonable alternative, and ultimately, they're disrespectful. If I have the audacity to go onto a conservative blog (and I do sometimes) and send up some vibes against its author and readers, you sure as Hell better expect that I

1) understand the argument they're making and how mine applies,
2) have something worthwhile to say, and
3) say it respectfully.

So I don't feel too bad about calling Chris out today. He's basically just supplying me with straw men anyway. As for his comments, both in response to my post and on his own blog, it doesn't even really take much work.

I'd ask Chris first if he thought that Clinton was unreasonably and prejudicially attacked as a result of the Starr investigation. If he doesn't think so, then I think it's easy to prove a level of hypocrisy, since Clinton's tribulations were essentially confined to titillating scandal, whereas Bush has largely subverted the rule of law governing the Executive Branch. After all, Clinton didn't override judicial restraints on wiretaps, didn't flout congressional oversight, and he certainly didn't legalize torture. Which all ought to make Bush problematic to Chris, since he cares about the freedom and civil liberties of Iraqis.

With regards to people "hating America" (and I can only assume that Chris means his fellow Americans' "hate" for America) and the absurd argument supplied for staying in Iraq, I'm going to post, in its entirety, a speech Barack Obama had the foresight to write back in October, 2002. And no, I'm not saying this as a diehard Obama supporter. I haven't haven't decided yet who I support; I have reservations with all of our (nevertheless inordinately qualified (relative to Republican options)) Democratic candidates. Regardless, it's impressive that Obama could say in 2002 what some people are having a difficult time admitting today.

---

Good afternoon. Let me begin by saying that although this has been billed as an anti-war rally, I stand before you as someone who is not opposed to war in all circumstances. The Civil War was one of the bloodiest in history, and yet it was only through the crucible of the sword, the sacrifice of multitudes, that we could begin to perfect this union, and drive the scourge of slavery from our soil. I don't oppose all wars.

My grandfather signed up for a war the day after Pearl Harbor was bombed, fought in Patton's army. He saw the dead and dying across the fields of Europe; he heard the stories of fellow troops who first entered Auschwitz and Treblinka. He fought in the name of a larger freedom, part of that arsenal of democracy that triumphed over evil, and he did not fight in vain. I don't oppose all wars.

After September 11th, after witnessing the carnage and destruction, the dust and the tears, I supported this administration's pledge to hunt down and root out those who would slaughter innocents in the name of intolerance, and I would willingly take up arms myself to prevent such tragedy from happening again. I don't oppose all wars. And I know that in this crowd today, there is no shortage of patriots, or of patriotism.

What I am opposed to is a dumb war. What I am opposed to is a rash war. What I am opposed to is the cynical attempt by Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz and other armchair, weekend warriors in this administration to shove their own ideological agendas down our throats, irrespective of the costs in lives lost and in hardships borne.

What I am opposed to is the attempt by political hacks like Karl Rove to distract us from a rise in the uninsured, a rise in the poverty rate, a drop in the median income - to distract us from corporate scandals and a stock market that has just gone through the worst month since the Great Depression. That's what I'm opposed to. A dumb war. A rash war. A war based not on reason but on passion, not on principle but on politics. Now let me be clear - I suffer no illusions about Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal man. A ruthless man. A man who butchers his own people to secure his own power. He has repeatedly defied UN resolutions, thwarted UN inspection teams, developed chemical and biological weapons, and coveted nuclear capacity. He's a bad guy. The world, and the Iraqi people, would be better off without him.

But I also know that Saddam poses no imminent and direct threat to the United States, or to his neighbors, that the Iraqi economy is in shambles, that the Iraqi military a fraction of its former strength, and that in concert with the international community he can be contained until, in the way of all petty dictators, he falls away into the dustbin of history. I know that even a successful war against Iraq will require a US occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences. I know that an invasion of Iraq without a clear rationale and without strong international support will only fan the flames of the middle east, and encourage the worst, rather than best, impulses of the Arab world, and strengthen the recruitment arm of Al Qaeda. I am not opposed to all wars. I'm opposed to dumb wars.

So for those of us who seek a more just and secure world for our children, let us send a clear message to the President today. You want a fight, President Bush? Let's finish the fight with Bin Laden and Al Qaeda, through effective, coordinated intelligence, and a shutting down of the financial networks that support terrorism, and a homeland security program that involves more than color-coded warnings. You want a fight, President Bush?

Let's fight to make sure that the UN inspectors can do their work, and that we vigorously enforce a non-proliferation treaty, and that former enemies and current allies like Russia safeguard and ultimately eliminate their stores of nuclear material, and that nations like Pakistan and India never use the terrible weapons already in their possession, and that the arms merchants in our own country stop feeding the countless wars that rage across the globe. You want a fight, President Bush?

Let's fight to make sure our so-called allies in the Middle East, the Saudis and the Egyptians, stop oppressing their own people, and suppressing dissent, and tolerating corruption and inequality, and mismanaging their economies so that their youth grow up without education, without prospects, without hope, the ready recruits of terrorist cells. You want a fight, President Bush? Let's fight to wean ourselves off Middle East oil, through an energy policy that doesn't simply serve the interests of Exxon and Mobil. Those are the battles that we need to fight. Those are the battles that we willingly join. The battles against ignorance and intolerance. Corruption and greed. Poverty and despair. The consequences of war are dire, the sacrifices immeasurable. We may have occasion in our lifetime to once again rise up in defense of our freedom, and pay the wages of war.

The consequences of war are dire, the sacrifices immeasurable. We may have occasion in our lifetime to once again rise up in defense of our freedom, and pay the wages of war. But we ought not -- we will not -- travel down that hellish path blindly. Nor should we allow those who would march off and pay the ultimate sacrifice, who would prove the full measure of devotion with their blood, to make such an awful sacrifice in vain.

Labels: EVENT, politics, u.s. executive, war

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Event: Get the Balance Right.

by Depeche Mode:

There's more besides joyrides,
Bumblebee from Transformers.

a little house in the countryside.
Daily Kos: Wishing for Good, Accepting the Truth.

Understand, learn to demand,
Daily Freeman: Hinchey calls for Bush, Cheney to be Censured.

compromise, sometimes lie.
Daily Kos: Signed, Sealed, & Delivered.

 

Get the balance right.
New York Times: Violence Rages in Iraq as Sunni Bloc Leaves Cabinet.

 

Be responsible, respectable,
The Detroit Free Press: Detroit named No. 1 sports city.

Stable but gullible
The Economist: Kazakhstan turns the screw.

Concerned and caring, help the helpless
The Flint Journal: Resource Center's Sybyl Atwood dies at 72.

But always remain ultimately selfish
Andrew Heller: And so goeth the story all over again.

 

Get the balance right.
MSNBC: Mr. Mayor vs. Mr. Moore.

 

You think you've got a hold of it all.
The Detroit Free Press: GM sales down, but improves on retail side.

You haven't got a hold at all.
Daily Kos: Just Like Kansas.

When you reach the top, get ready to drop.
Pollster.com: Bush Approval from 1/1/2005 through 07/18/2007.

Prepare yourself for the fall.
The Onion: There's No Such Thing as Bad Publicity.

You're gonna fall
New York Times: Stocks Are Flat After Sell-Offs in Asia and Europe.

It's almost predictable.
Project Censored Media: The Media Can Legally Lie.

 

Don't take this way. Don't take that way.
Emperor Valens' legacy.

Straight down the middle until next Thursday.
The Democratic Party.

Push to the left, back to the right.
Daily Kos: Media Narrative: The Mainstream Is Now "The Left".

Twist and turn til you've got it right.
The Economist: China's Chicago.

 

Get the balance right
Lollapalooza.

Every week is epic.

Labels: civil liberties, Detroit, diplomacy, EVENT, Flint, health care, politics, war