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Monday, Jul 31, 2006
David Brooks S. Broder: Grand Master Concern Troll
"Doctor" Laura: Patriarchal Hegemon
I listen to KSFO HateTalk 560 from time to time just to see what's going on with the American Taliban. "Dr." Laura is on if I'm doing mid-day errands.
I've gotten used to her old-timey views. I've gotten used to the idea of a Jewish woman giving props to fundamentalist Christians. But a call today really surprised me.
A woman with a very slight, possibly Arab or Persian accent called in to say that her husband "got rough with" her when she declined sex. They had had a difficult argument the previous day, she wasn't quite over it, and simply wasn't in the mood. While describing her feelings in the aftermath of this, she said in strong terms that she had the absolute right to refuse sex with her husband, and said "no means no."
Under the circumstances of recent physical abuse, the way she expressed herself was perfectly reasonable, but not to the good "doctor". Ms. Schlessinger accused the caller of spousal abuse for saying no. And her refusal was just as bad as what the husband did, although his act is illegal. Schlessinger also said that the woman was part to blame. Hear that bitches? All your sex is belong to your man! Submit quietly like a good vassal, and everything will work out fine.
Thanks for the insight "doctor". Now here's some advice for both "Dr." Laura and the caller's husband: Go fuck yourselves.
Tony Blair: More than just a poodle
I've been struggling to find the right metaphor for Tony Blair. Bush is easy to characterize: he's the intellectually lazy, emotionally stunted scion of a family used to wielding vast power on a global stage. Bush is such a stooge, the parody writes itself.
Tony is the poodle, of course. Not the noble puddel hund bred as an aquatic specialist by German hunters whose names are lost to time. Not that kind of poodle, but rather a non-threatening toy poodle with the fine coiffure, trained to jump through whatever ridiculous set of hoops it's commanded to.
But that image doesn't catch it all. In his own way, he's a smart one. He must cringe inside as he hears Bush clumsily dissemble. Unless flustered by Bush's magnificent presence, Blair is able to display a command of vocabulary, diction, grammer, logic and facts that is worlds beyond Bush's meager capacity.
But Blair is also an idiot in his own way, failing to grapple with the fundamental questions of his day with any constructive impact. Thus I dub the brilliant idiot sidekick of the know-nothing mean-spirited scion to be hereafter known as:
Recently Tony revealed his deep grasp of history, as he drew lessons from one sectarian struggle to brilliantly illuminate the path through the problems of the present day ...
Terrorism brings the reprisal; the reprisal brings the additional hatred; the additional hatred breeds the additional terrorism, and so on.
In a small way, we lived through that in Northern Ireland over many, many decades.
Now, what happened after September the 11th -- and this explains, I think, the president's policy but also the reason why I have taken the view and still take the view that Britain and America should remain strong allies, shoulder to shoulder, in fighting this battle, is that we are never going to succeed unless we understand they are going to fight hard. [...] But it is not a reason for walking away. It's a reason for staying the course and staying it no matter how tough it is: because the alternative is actually letting this ideology grip larger and larger numbers of people.
Oh wait, I meant the opposite. Gosh, that means ... Oh my word, what have I done?
Thursday, Jul 27, 2006
Who's this "we", white man?
Victor Davis Hanson
Monday, Jul 24, 2006
Mmmm ... Cheetos
Saturday, Jul 22, 2006
Shorter Condoleezza Rice
All we are saaaying is give war a chance.
David S. Cloud & Helene Cooper
New York Times
WASHINGTON, July 21 — The Bush administration is rushing a delivery of precision-guided bombs to Israel, which requested the expedited shipment last week after beginning its air campaign against Lebanon, American officials said Friday.
The decision to quickly ship the weapons to Israel was made with relatively little debate within the Bush administration, the officials said. Its disclosure threatens to anger Arab governments and others because of the appearance that the United States is actively aiding the Israeli bombing campaign.
[...]
Implicit in the eventual diplomatic package is a cease-fire. But a senior American official said it remained unclear whether, under such a plan, Hizbullah would be asked to retreat from southern Lebanon and commit to a cease-fire, or whether American diplomats might depend on Israel’s continued bombardment to make Hizbullah’s acquiescence irrelevant.
Vietnam and the Presidency
American RadioWorks has an hour long documentary of conference hosted by the JFK Library in Boston. The conference was devoted to discussing the legacies and lessons of the American War in Vietnam. Since some of the policy makers were present, and were subjected to questioning by the audience, it was quite revealing of the egos and thought processes behind the quagmire. Kissinger, in particular, show that an assimilated immigrant can easily become an Ugly American.
Kissinger and others will go to their graves thinking we could have won if only we had had the will to kill more civilians.
The lesson reinforced is that cruel and violent people shouldn't be put in charge of the most powerful military in the history of the world.
Hmmm. Do I make the leap of getting a YouTube account to see the possibly "inappropriate" video of Pamela and the Sweater Puppies fighting the good fight against Islamofascism?
What Happened?
In high school and college I had a few occasions to spend time digging through archives of magazines (typically bound volumes) and newpapers (typically microfiche) to get some background for writing a paper. Being easily distracted, sometimes I'd wander off the path and start looking other stories that occurred contemporaneously. In addition, the ads give a sense of what was going on in consumer culture.
These methods of archiving allow one to get a snapshot of what was gone on at a particular time, but are tedious to search. Digital technology allows much more rapid access to information, but at the same time typically rips it out of context.
I'm wondering what will give people the "rich view" of the aughties that the old microfiches.gave to past decades. Newspaper archives views typically aren't organized based on "what happened on this day", but that view could be provided with the right software. The serial nature of blogs tends to better capture the intertwined naratives, but don't provide the breadth.
... just a random thought triggered by trying to find links to a 2-day old story. The blogs were the definitive index.
Shit -- or -- Lost in Transcription
I spent some time looking for a video clip of the "Yo, Blair!" exchange. I just wanted to see the look on the PM's face.
I never found it, but instead spent a fair amount of time looking at different versions of the "shit" clip. In most of the transcripts, and some of the video version, the marginally audible comments by Blair and Bush immediately following the "shit" clip are deleted. Or, at best, the transcripts show the exchange as inaudible.
Here's the gist from my viewing/listening to the video sequence. Blair is trying to bend Bush's ear, and in the process is using subordinate body language to Bush's imperial body language. He's trying get Bush to understand his desire to get international intervention in the Israel/Lebanon situation. This is also Annan's approach to the crisis. Bush is bashing Kofi, and seems to be clueless that Blair is backing similar ideas -- despite the fact that Blair had a press conference earlier in the day with Annan, and despite the fact the Blair is attempting to explain his position to Bush at that moment.
Then Bush interrupts this topic and comes up with the brilliant idea that "they", perhaps meaning the U.N., need to get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop that shit. This is followed by the "inaudible" section. To my ear, whatever the precise phrasing, Blair is reacting with shock. He can't believe Bush is really saying something that stupid. I hear something like this from Blair:
Blair proceeds to explain how mutliple issues are intertwined, and how we can't count on Assad to rein in Hezbollah. Bush, continuing his distracted, rude communication style pretends to understand. For this section, my interpretation varies from some of the transcripts out there. The text in brackets is mine.
BUSH [interrupting] Yeah, yeah, he's through.
BLAIR He's had it. And that’s what the whole thing is about. It’s the same with Iran.
Bush follows up with this gem:
I can just imagine the thought cloud. "Oh, dear. Oh fuckity fuck dear. I'm dealing with a man who can't rub two thoughts together to keep his own brain warm."
Tuesday, Jul 18, 2006
Yes, walking rather than driving would be healthy
But I don't think that's what Bill Kristol meant. Referring to his suggestion of "a military strike against Iranian nuclear facilities", Kristol opined,
Ahistory
Condoleezza Rice ABC's This Week, July 16, 2006
Wikipedia, Operation Ajax
World Affairs Council
I enjoyed Kinzer's book, until I misplaced it about a third into it. (I'll go look for it.) He's an engaging writer, but an even more engaging speaker.
Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change -- no direct link, search under Kinzer
Towards the end, during the Q&A, he had some comments about how to cause the Hamas election to turn into a debacle. The talk is from 4/1/2006.
OMGWTF?! 6-year n00b fucktard!
Not just any fucking retard, he's our Fucktard-in-Chief
Saturday, Jul 15, 2006
Bruce Tinsley is a Racist Cracker Ass Cracker
January 4, 2005
Date Unknown
Today
The can't-draw, can't-write-a-joke, racist cracker himself.
Everyone Thought Saddam Was A Threat!
Sadly, no.
Uncle Rummy's Words Of Wisdom -- "Progress"
"Each time I come to Iraq I see progress," Rumsfeld said.
Balad occupies a 25 square kilometer site As of Febuary 2006, Balad AB was home to about 25,000 U.S. troops.
The base is so large it has its own 'neighborhoods'. These include: 'KBR-land' (a Halliburton subsidiary company); 'CJSOTF' which is home to a special operations unit.There is a Subway sandwich shop, a Pizza Hut, a Popeye's, a 24-hour Burger King, two post exchanges which sell an impressive array of goods, four mess halls, a minature golf course and a hospital.
Wednesday, Jul 12, 2006
Cuz thatz the way we roll
The majority of the front page of the Merc is devoted to a tiny, pre-revenue start up that's trying to define its business model..
Sunday, Jul 09, 2006
Shorter David Brooks
The Liberal Inquisition
Saying "fuck that asshole" is equivalent to burning someone alive, preceeded by torture.
Global War on Accountability
Dog pile on Bill Bennett -- Meet the Tim Andrea. Watch the whole thing if you can, but this snippet is good. Even William "Nattering Nabob" Safire smacks around Bennett for being a fascist. Dana Priest is crisp, sharp and clear in her rebuke.
Bill Keller on Face the Schieffer just seemed annoyed. To have to explain how the press works to Schieffer, who's been in the business since what, the Kennedy administration, who "parried" by quoting talking points -- that would make anyone impatient.
.
Whoa! Actual Informed Opinion on American TV
On today's episode of Foreign Exchange, Fareed Zakaria has a thoughtful, informed discussion about the future of Iraq with Laith Kubba.
Kubba is a returning exile who sees Iraq ideally as a bi-national country, with the Kurds miantaining an autonomous region. He sees the Arab nationality as largely unified (historically speaking), and that recent sectarian differences (arising out of fear) are a passing phase that should not be institutionalized.
Also, here's a transcript of a Frontline inteview with Kubba.from October of 2003.
HateTalk 560 KSFO
By tuning to 560 on the AM dial, I can easily monitor the transmissions of the American Taliban. I'm usually not on the road early enough to hear Melanie Morgan. But other people listen, so I don't have to.
Below, Morgan extends the remarks she made over the air in an email to Greg Sargent.
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