Evict Bush!

Saturday, June 14, 2003  

The American Dilemma

As many people warned before Bush took us into war, the problem was not the war itself. The really ugly problem would be dealing with the aftermath. Well, now we are well and truly stuck in a quagmire, with no end in sight. Today when the costs of empire are being exposed and both our soldiers and the Iraqis are dying, it looks increasingly like there are no good answers to our dilemma: how can we extract ourselves from this mess without creating greater carnage and leaving even more disaster in our wake?

One of the principle objectives of the Bush Cabal was to create the American empire. They believed that the reason America was endangered by terrorism was because it was not sufficiently assertive. Right after 9/11, the Weekly Standard published an article called The Case for American Empire stating that after dealing with Afghanistan, America should then take care of Iraq.

Once Afghanistan has been dealt with, America should turn its attention to Iraq. It will probably not be possible to remove Saddam quickly without a U.S. invasion and occupation--though it will hardly require half a million men, since Saddam's army is much diminished since the Gulf War, and we will probably have plenty of help from Iraqis, once they trust that we intend to finish the job this time. Once we have deposed Saddam, we can impose an American-led, international regency in Baghdad, to go along with the one in Kabul. With American seriousness and credibility thus restored, we will enjoy fruitful cooperation from the region's many opportunists, who will show a newfound eagerness to be helpful in our larger task of rolling up the international terror network that threatens us.

So, now we have our empire, but it is messy (or as Donald Rumsfeld put it "untidy"). And it looks like the opportunists that they were counting on to help run the country are not quite the partners we were hoping to find to help us with our war on terrorism.

Steve Gilliard has a couple of excellent posts up at Kos's place that summarize the problems (here and here).

The situation for our troops is becoming more untenable as Steve Soto reports. Now that it is increasingly evident that our troops are there for the long haul and starting to get pretty unhappy about this, what is the response from their leadership? Why, provide them a patriotic magazine that tells them what a wonderful thing they've done and why things are just peachy. (Courtesy of LesterNYC in a dKos comment thread.)

This seems so apropos of the Bushies. Remember how providing better media coverage of the US to the Arabic world was supposed to let them know that we are the good guys and we're on their side? The funny thing is, they see their propaganda working here, so they think that they just need to "massage" the message right and everyone will be happy and dumb. Why can't they understand that sometimes people want to have real substance and not just a fluffy ad that promises one thing, but never delivers. If the Bushies had really wanted to make an empire work in Iraq, they would have at least figured out how to get the hospitals, electricity and water back up and running before turning their attention to selling the oil.

Better Bloggers

Head over to the Barricades to find Renaissance Woman speaking about health care. Good stuff.

Courtesy of Alas, A Blog, I found this Trish Wilson post that previews her upcoming article on the "Use of Psychological Syndromes Against Mothers In The Courtroom". Also, check out Ampersand's praise of online cartoonists. (Full disclosure, Ampersand is a cartoonist himself, and a good one. See.)

Magpie keeps an eye on Walmart, the employment situation in Australia, and the current downward spiral of Israel and Hamas as each side becomes ever more intent on wiping out the other completely.

The Eyeranian talks about the kind of regime change the people of Iran want for themselves, and the fronts being used by the (perhaps ironically named) People's Mujahideen to manipulate US public opinion into believing that violent, foreign sponsored overthrow is included in that.

I Protest takes on the Michael Savage lawsuits.

Courtesy of TBogg, South Knox Bubba tells us about kidnapping and the Underground Church. A story of fundamentalist paranoia (they do genuinely believe that the UN is planning to outlaw religion everywhere) gone bad. As if there was any other way for it to go, you ask...

Uppity Negro brings us some fun BtVS essays, and swears on the basis of a Joss Whedon quote never, ever to apologize for the title of his blog. (Aside: They've really got to bring back Firefly, and soon.)

Electrolite reminds us that when liberty dies in us, no document or court of law can save it. Also, how well rounded should a geek have to be, anyway? One commentor (and you must read the comments thread if you have any interest in geekdom) posted a great quote from Bruce Sterling, excerpt follows:

...You may be a geek, you may have geek written all over you; you should aim to be one geek they'll never forget. Don't aim to be civilized. Don't hope that straight people will keep you on as some kind of pet. To hell with them; they put you here. You should fully realize what society has made of you and take a terrible revenge. Get weird. Get way weird. Get dangerously weird. Get sophisticatedly, thoroughly weird and don't do it halfway, put every ounce of horsepower you have behind it....

I'm into technical people who attack pop culture. I'm into techies gone dingo, techies gone rogue -- not street punks
picking up any glittery junk that happens to be within their reach -- but disciplined people, intelligent people, people with some technical skills and some rational thought, who can break out of the arid prison that this society sets for its engineers. People who are, and I quote, "dismayed by nearly every aspect of the world situation and aware on some nightmare level that the solutions to our problems will not come from the breed of dimwitted ad-men that we know as politicians." ...

Winning the female vote

Steve Soto reports that Republicans are already rubbing their hands in glee at the prospect of winning a significant percentage of female voters from the Democrats in the upcoming 2004 elections because of the Republican edge on national security.

I think the real fight for women's vote comes down to hope vs fear. When women are terrorized by fear (because of the ubiquitious terrorist evil doers we hear so much about from this administration), then they'll vote for "the strong father" who promises safety at a steep price. However, if women understand that the choices in this election are either to let fear push you to vote for the "strong guy" government that delivers less or to trust that there is a future and ask for more from our government, then women will vote for the choice that works best for them.

American women need tools and policies that empower them to create better lives for their children and their parents. They need policies that empower them to find the best balance between work obligations and homelife, ones that help support good childcare because although it would be nice to have women stay home with their kids, most women need to work, and they also need to know their children are okay while they are working. They also need good policies that can help find healthcare and other options to care for an aging relative. [For you who are not part of the sandwich generation, just try to imagine being responsible for your children, your parents and your job so that none of them are cheated and all of them believe that you contribute to their well-being. Good policies can help.]

Democrats need to articulate messages that let women know that women can build a better world for their kids and their parents, but this is not done in a vacuum. It really does take a village to raise a child, and it takes that same village to help with dad and mom when they are old. But, women will vote for the Democrats IFF (If and Only If) Democrats can provide a solid message about why it is worth their while to vote Democratic.

BTW: I look at the Republican "wooing of the female vote" somewhat like the story of the abusive lover (a la: The Collector), who tells the lovely young thing, those guys are out to get you, but, I, your protector, will take care of you: all you have to do is to trust me. Meanwhile, he, the slimy cad, is the one who is trying to trap you into a home where he will control everything you think, do or believe. Sorry to be so cynical, but so many of these guys in the Republican leadership exhibit some of the worst characteristics of the stepford wives' husbands or that of Foster's collector.

The issue is not just choice about pregnancy (who decides), it is ALL choices that women need to make that is at risk under this hyper-paternalistic regime.

Lies They've Told Us: "Everybody hates Hillary Clinton"

Uh-huh. And nothing says back off bee-atch like record book sales.

..."Living History" sold more copies -- 40,000 --- in its first day of release than any other nonfiction book in Barnes & Noble's history, the company said Tuesday.

On Amazon.com, Clinton's book ranked second behind pre-orders for the next Harry Potter book, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" by J.K. Rowling, which is scheduled for release June 21. ...

Israel and Palestine

After recent horrible events have brought Team Bush to the realization that peace is harder than summits, it seemed like a good opportunity to highlight recent posts on the topic:

Flagrancy to Reason brings us the map of the future Palestinian state currently on the table. Not the roadmap, mind you, but the geographical map. It doesn't exactly build confidence in the negotiation process.

Courtesy of Ampersand, we find that Pedantry has concisely explained why there can be no moral equivalence between the actions of the Israeli government and those of factions within a stateless group of people. It's good, so if you only click on one link in this post, make it this one.

And, in a depressing closer, the Mad Prophet takes on the old charge that Some People are teaching their kids to hate Other People.

Update: According to the Mad Prophet, from whom we originally picked up this hateful children story, it has been refuted by WorldNetDaily. While this is somewhat like saying that something has been refuted on the 700 Club, or that Geraldo Rivera swears it isn't true, they could in theory be correct. However, since I'm going to spend next couple days lounging, hiking, and generally pfaffing around (certainly not diligently researching stories from half a world away), it's only fair to note that there's an opposing viewpoint.

Update the Second: Ampersand points out that there are indeed some problems with the story of the hateful schoolchildren as reported, and even some good news relevant to the subject matter. Post edited to remove the reckless quoting of Beatles' songs and a quote which appears to have been partially incorrect at the source; the author apologizes for getting a bit carried away, and having been listening too much to a good local radio station.

Better Bloggers Than Me...

How To Save The World has a follow up to an excellent prior post on how to establish new collaborative enterprises, a step to creating a post-consumer economy.

Ruminate This adds an important item to our activist to-do list: call your senator to oppose the nomination of William Pryor to the Federal bench. She links to Talk Left's excellent store of information on this family-leave-hating, anti-choice, civil-rights-opposing, no-environmental-protection-wanting, no-protection-needed for the (elderly/disabled/consumer/worker), and no-church-state-separation-please nominee. Tell your Senators (especially the Democratic ones) that you expect them to take this guy every bit as seriously as Miguel Estrada.

From the Agonist, Iranians have started demonstrating against their government. Again. Let's see if GWB can keep his mouth shut this time and let those people deal with their own problems, without being accused of traitorously working for America.

Cowboy Kahlil speaks persuasively on why people need to protest the deportation of 13,000 Arab and Muslim men whose only crimes appeared to have been a) waiting for the infernally slow INS to process their paperwork, and b) voluntarily appearing to register with the government when requested to do so.

PluckyPunk points out that the cowardly French have rescued Americans in Liberia, a country plunging into civil war, along with sundry other foreign nationals. But, as Flagrancy to Reason points out, no one seems interested in rescuing the Liberians.

Nathan Newman points out that if Senators voted in proportion to the population of the states they represent, filibustering Democrats would have a majority. Also, he finds that organized labor has a much better solution to dealing with graft than corporate America: make the buggers pay it back.

Sisyphus brings us the story of a bible-thumping Republican governor who's trying to reduce the tax burden on the poor of Alabama on the basis that Jesus said to take care of the least among you. Well alrightly then. If only this were the kind of thing that politicians had in mind more often when they talk about bringing morality back to politics.

Still Here goes looking for those Lucky Duckies who don't pay any tax.

Suburban Guerilla points out the elephant in journalism's living room; if you want high ethical standards and quality work, you have to budget for them. (links bloggered, scroll to The Real Story, 6/10/03)

Update (missed a couple): Ampersand brought us our Wednesday cartoon fix, wherein we are informed about the Bureau of Indian Affairs and it's endless shuffle to avoid actually doing its job. And a couple days ago, he pointed out this interesting post on the Head Heeb concerning the new Rwandan constitution.

The Sideshow quotes Joe Scarborough laughing about his dead intern, and brings us some biting commentary on empire run amok from two political insiders.

Quick Hop

As mentioned previous, very light posting out of me this week. But do please go read Late Night Thoughts (links bloggered) for the Thursday, May 29th, 2003 post on eduucation. Packs a mighty punch, so if you didn't catch it before I did, it's a must.

Then, BusyBusyBusy finds that Bill O'Reilly has the final word on whether or not the media is liberal. Verdict: No.

Peacetree Farm notices that someone eminently qualified to speak on the subject of presidential scandal is wondering whether the Bush administration's lies to congress constitute an impeachable offense.

The Bloviator writes about the pharmaceutical industry's lobbying agenda to stop cheap foreign prescription imports and dismantle public health care in Canada.

Ruminate This has a great Friday roundup of must read posts, and has written herself on the unpublicized denial of any Iraq-Al Qaida connection by Al Qaida detainees questioned before the war on Iraq.

Over on It's Still The Economy, Stupid, we learn about more government statistics that have been 'disappeared', and it turns out that they're unemployment numbers. Again. And they aren't pretty.

Electrolite brings us a highlight from the Crusading army in Iraq.

And Making Light has the kitchen wish list to die for. This was my personal favorite: "Optionally, I’d like an adjustable powered sauce and custard stirring device, with heat-resistant scraper blades, that I could attach to a saucepan for those “stir constantly at low heat for half of forever” recipes."

Update ('cause you can't have just one): The Left Coaster has been waging a one person letter writing campaign with his local newspaper as the focus, trying to raise awareness of the Bush administration's lies. He wasn't sure if anyone else cared, but it turns out that they do. If you've been despairing lately, or tempted to despair, you must go read this.