Recently in War Category

I thankfully had other pursuits at the end of my long summer rather than watch the Democratic National Convention. I could care less about the Michelle speech or the Kennedy idolatry, but that would require energy spent when it wasn't necessary. The protesters are hitting my radar though.

Are the anarchists behind all this ? Fortunately, that's not a copyrightable thing, so we can only assume that those "A's" in the middle of the anecdotal evidence that anarchists were in fact present. There were no similar incidents during the LP convention in May, but maybe they lay off a party that claims 30% membership of their own (pfffft - yeah right). Or perhaps, as what is all too often repeated, they aren't anarchists.

Over fifty million is being spent on security at each of these conventions. Better to spot light the jackboots busting up the skate boarders (my apologies in advance to that cool and peaceful group) than to look into the more nefarious aspects of surveillance and control. We need a 100x 1968 effort in Denver right now . . .

Jeff Dulgar, a columnist at the 'Daily Nexus' at the University of Santa Barbara has created a snit piece about third parties and the Libertarian Party particularly. While this appears to be the indulgence of a youthful prattler for the status quo, as a former Californian, I have many Republican relatives on the left coast who feel the same as Mr. Dulgar, even if it is based on vague assumptions and chocked with common platitudes.

While it may be acceptable to engage in Limbaugh tactics when it comes to smelly liberals and the like, Dulgar displays his ignorance of the Third Party fight as well as any apologist for the Red & Blue. It may indeed be inevitable that the two parties will win based on the winner take all aspect of the system, but it is by no means certain that alternative issues and concerns will be well placed in the mainstream sensibilities. Asking activists to play in the muck of pluralism is one thing, but projecting one's own failure is another. The Ron Paul campaign is evidence that any 'libertarian' spirit in the GOP tops out at 3-7% of those eligible voters. Mr. Dulgar really ought to check with his comrades in the duopoly about the battle for ballot access, the war on drugs, the national debt, creeping Empire and the free bottle of pills in his grandmother's medicine cabinet. Sorry, but I remember Jim Jones in the seventies and I'd rather not be associated with the ultimate ruin of the country at the hands of mealy mouthed politicians who will do anything to get elected.

My Life as a Kurd and a Terror Suspect

There is a Fox News meme that has been going around since early March which includes the case of Yassin Aref. It has provided fodder for every right wing blogger who sees terror plots around every corner. Hopefully the release of Son of Mountains will persuade thoughtful people to counteract this hit job, not only in the blog world, but everyday life about such matters.

Even when the local news and national news broke about this arrest in August 2004, I had extreme doubts and reservations about a 'sting' and the alleged ties to a real terrorist plot. After reading Aref's book all those doubts are washed away. The man was framed, setup and hung out to advance the political agenda of Karl Rove and his unwitting conspirator George Bush. Fortunately that's not even what the book is about. Aref's life as a Kurd, his suffering, forbearance, faith and understanding about the human condition may well become the bellwether for literature in the 21st Century. We've certainly had enough from the poor rich bastard stuck at Yale in the 20th Century.

The recent flak about William Larkin's comments about troops etc. has reminded me of this piece back in June 2003. I've probably refined my thinking on this but will let it ride for it was.

Who is it that doesn’t support the troops when they are deployed by the United States ? Is it the snot nosed college kids ? Sure they protest, but I think you would be hard pressed to find them not supporting their friends who are currently serving. That sentiment is reserved for a few boomers who slammed their peers when returning from Vietnam. This is surely a different time. Is it the cranky middle-aged, middle income white guy ? Nope. He’s making sure FOX gets ratings, not shouting at the boys in uniform.

Is it the most extreme neo-fascist holed up in the woods waiting for Armageddon and spouting about the new world order ? Nope. We really don’t use the UN anymore. The fringe left-wing militants ? Perhaps. But it is awful hard to get one to speak coherently about his feelings for the actual troops. Even an ardent Libertarian who opposes the war based on his frugal taxpayer considerations or obstinate constitutionalism, does not complain about the public employee that is paid to kill the enemy. The policy wonks maintain control at the party levels, with its limited ideological spectrum. The rest is trickle-down beliefs and assertions.