Mickey Z
Cool Observer
Monday, March 20, 2006
Does anyone really need another article?
- ¨&k feel your pain. I’m not well published, not on your level, my friend, but I am a writer too. I’ve been published at opednews.com, informationclearinghouse.info, and counterpunch.org, but mostly just publish myself at my website. There’s always so much I want to say, but it’s tough to do it without it sounding like yesterday’s news. How to make it relevant? The two methods I try to rely on are to show how learning the mistakes of the past are relevant for the near future, or to just try to do what’s already been done but better than anyone else has done it. I’m working on a book. Since it’s on Iraq, its depending upon both of these methods. It’ll just have to be the best book on the topic, or it’ll never get published.
Posted by Jeremy on from Taiwan 03/20 at 08:47 AM I know exactly how you feel Mickey. My last two posts at my place kind of deal with something similar. In positive terms, I think we need to establish our own aims, render irrelevant the newsmakers, and set our own tempo. In negative terms---after witnessing the most dismal anti-war action yet---who is this imaginary “we” I keep talking about anyway...?
Posted by Keir on from The Hague 03/20 at 09:02 AMGood morning!
I disconnected from my computer for more or less the whole weekend - needed to do it - takes some catching up here after a couple of days!
Mickey your article today mirrors my feelings after attending the protests and marching on Saturday.
On Sunday after thawing out & digesting the previous day’s events and watching some of the news and coverage of so many non-events, I proclaimed succinctly: “We’re so fucked”.
Many of the comments over the weekend relate, Keir mentioned that since corporations function on a global scale, workers should unite on a global scale as well. Very very true. But - unions are far from the bastions of virtue and worker protection that they once were, and as sure as we can be that a globally united force of working class would effect positive change, so can we be sure that union management will remain as corrupt as those for whom they manage and prevent any real progress from being made.On that lovely note, I’ll say adieu until I see you all a little later.
Posted by Amelopsis on from Canada 03/20 at 09:09 AMHappy Spring to Jeremy, Keir, Mickey and all MZ’ers.
Nice Op-ed there, Mickey. You make it seem so hopeless...only because maybe it really is hopeless. Talking, writing, vigiling, protesting...nothing works to bring about change. They have the money, the bombs, and the media. All we have are our ideas. No idea ever survived a bomb, right? We have to find a new and different way to do things. I am out of ideas but thoughts of Venezuela keep popping up in my mind.
I find myself fantasizing a presidential ticket of Bellefonte and Davis, or Angela and Harry. At least Harry has the courage on national media to call the MAN a “Terrorist and Oppressor”. Maybe today will just be a “I’m just wild about Harry” day for me. He was just on Democracy Now.Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 03/20 at 09:13 AMHi Amelopsis...Did you get as cold as I did on Saturday? I got sooo cold that I actually started to stagger and almost passed out (probably low blood pressure from the cold). I must have looked funny while holding on to the side of a building. Next time I will wear a hat.
Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 03/20 at 09:20 AMHi RMJ,
I’ll join you in having a “Wild about Harry Day” possibly in part because as a little tiny kid when I had a crush on Big Bird, I also just loved Harry Belafonte! I’d like to fantasize about a presidential ticket with his name on it...maybe in our New Utopian Imperium Mudge & I can make that happen, although I’m not sure what need we’ll have of any president.
It was odd on Saturday, the sun shone most of the day, but tall buildings eclipsed it much of the march, and funnelled the cold wind, eventually I couldn’t feel my face and when I finally managed to get a hot coffee after being out for about 5 hours, I just wanted to hold it. Next time (I hope there’s not a next one but that’s nothing new) I think some of those hand warmer packs will be in order after I find out that they’re not hopelessly toxic or some such.
Can’t watch Harry just now - give him my regards
Posted by Amelopsis on from Canada 03/20 at 10:19 AM---Ideas might be the only thing to survive bombs---
Captcha sez: “question”. We must continue despite the apparent hopelessness.
Posted by Amelopsis on from Canada 03/20 at 10:22 AMMan… not sure if that article was the most depressing thing I’ve seen lately, or the most hilarious. I did enjoy it, though. Really hits the mark, man. And um… maybe classy black and white’s the way to go. Like in general, I mean… oh never mind.
Gotta not let these gloomy thoughts distract me at work too much, agh.
Posted by James on from work 03/20 at 11:01 AMJames...Sorry but here are some more gloomy thoughts to depress and distract you…
“By Matthew Schofield Knight Ridder NewspapersBAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqi police have accused American troops of executing 11 people,
including a 75-year-old woman and a 6-month-old infant, in the aftermath of a raid last Wednesday on a house about 60 miles north of Baghdad.
The villagers were killed after American troops herded them into a single room of the house, according to a police document obtained by Knight Ridder Newspapers. The soldiers also burned three vehicles, killed the villagers’ animals and blew up the house, the document said....”Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 03/20 at 11:15 AMEven if one knew all this stuff already, good writing is always welcome ;) I was just reading columns of a man whose politics is quite anomalous (he lionizes Reagan and the last pope, for instance) but his capacity to turn out phrases like ‘the Green Peril from Araby’ and ‘mawkish human interest stories’ keeps me coming back to his page:
http://tinyurl.com/j9gdvPosted by sk on from 03/20 at 12:39 PMMickey, Amelopsis, James, RMJ, sk, Keir, Jeremy and all Expendables everywhere:
I had a similar bout of frustration a couple days ago, Mickey, in that I felt I was saying the same thing over and over and over again, with slightly different images and words… and here we are, five years into our ever-evolving theofascist dictatorship… and the bastards are STILL hovering around 35% popularity in the latest corporate polls!
It’s getting to the point where I don’t even buy the corporatist media mass hypnosis theory anymore; there is literally no excuse for the masses to remain stagnant and inert in the face of what’s going on. A massive super-cyclone just hit the north coast of Australia… and last night on 60 Minutes, they interviewed the NASA/Goddard scientist who’s been censured by the Bushies for saying we have 10 years to significantly address global warming issues, or it will be too late to save life on the planet.
Is there ANYTHING that could more important than that?
I just heard that congress has met for a grand total of 47 hours through the first two months of the year, and they took the entire week off last week for St. Patricks. Surely they will come back into session with some serious work on the table, right? Oh, yeah—they’re going to push for a Constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, and they’re taking another stab at passing into law a requirement that under-18 year old women must get parental notification to get an abortion. I’m sure there’s a flag-burning amendment in the works, as well.
The planet is choking itself off at the neck, and these idiots are either playing golf or pushing stupid social agendas that don’t even begin to address the seriousness of our predicament.
And the populace slumbers, content in its crushing debt, its lack of healthcare, its underemployment and its total abandonment by our so-called elected representatives.
So yeah, I’m feeling pretty impotent these days, as well. It’s like I never belonged on this planet to begin with, but since I’ve been living here for 43 years, I thought I’d at least try to express a little independent thinking along the way—maybe get some folks to ponder why they repeatedly shoot themselves in the foot. At this point, I’m ready for a Mother Ship right home....
Posted by Hawk on from Boulder, CO, USA 03/20 at 01:01 PMUh… Mother Ship ride....
Posted by Hawk on from Boulder, CO, USA 03/20 at 01:04 PMHey Hawk, yeah… and Rosemarie goddamn if that’s not one baby that won’t threaten democracy anymore. Ugh. Burn the village to save it…
Okay, Mickey’s article isn’t that depressing, or even condescending, it’s just tongue in cheek, right? Because there was plenty of stuff in it that I didn’t know, like that Hamas was created by the U.S. and Isreal…
Okay, that’s all the ignorance I’ll confess for now, along with how Knight Ridder news always makes me think of bad 70s tv shows.
Posted by James on from work 03/20 at 01:13 PMI hear you Hawk - thank goodness the Mother Ship is within and without or I’d have gone apey already.
(I’m just still getting a handle on all the controls)Posted by Amelopsis on from Canada 03/20 at 01:14 PMI can’t say I disagree with a single word here.
As for the writing, MZ, I reckon it’s hugely important. HUGELY important. And so frustrating, it really is. I’ve written two novels, a shitload of stories & more articles & reviews than I know what to do with.
My total earnings from writing in my whole life are about ÂŁ850, and ÂŁ400 of that was a mistake (but I kept the money as the paper concerned had messed me around, so #### ‘em). But the idea of keeping something going is the drive - money comes second. Although given the amount of work my whole writings have taken, I feel I should get something. And there are times when I feel seriously despondant about not having my work out there in more places ... but so what? It’ll come, and if it doesn’t, it won’t be for lack of trying.
As to the message of the media, as so eloquently addressed by Hawk - we just have to keep plugging . It goes up one brick at a time, so maybe it’ll come down the same way.
As for global warming, uh ... shit! Sorry, no idea how to make that seem any better. Nice to know that when we all choke our last breaths down Dick Cheney will be shuffling vast bank statements through his porky fingers ... that guy would be a Bond villain if he just had the TINIEST sense of style.
Posted by Chris Wood on from Manchester, England 03/20 at 01:31 PMThree years ago right now, I was in solitary confinement, waiting to be finger printed so I will spout on about my thoughts for the day. I already know that Mudge disagrees with me on this issue, so do most of my other friends but since we are all so frustrated here today, I will throw this out to all of you. I think that we, all of us, have been directing our energies in the wrong direction. We constantly criticize the people running the government. Think about that. They have been ingenious at achieving their goals. ExxonMobile set new records for corporate profit. Compare Halliburton stock prices now to what they were before the war. If we are to succeed in making any change we should be directing our energy at all of the rest of us. The problem is that so many of us excuse what the military does because “they are just poor guys who had no other economic opportunities”. If we excuse those poor guys who actually fire the weapons for personal economic gain, then it follows that we should also excuse Bush, right?
We can’t have it both ways. OK for the poor troop, but wrong for Bu$h. Sorry to go on like this, but I don’t understand why there is not overwhelming outrage at the slaughter. Even ABC news aired the video a night or 2 ago of the killings in the house. Finally ABC showed some civilian blood. Where’s the outrage? More important, will there ever be any outrage directed where it might do some good. We all see the dead babies, but no one is to be called a “Baby killer”. Instead we call them “heroes”.Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 03/20 at 02:19 PMSadly I believe that far too many of us are FAR too comfortable in our western lifestyles to bother our “pretty minds” about the problems of those people whom most have been brainwashed to think of as sub-humans.
Far too many cringe at even thinking about it, largely because they know that it would be as uncomfortable as they imagine, and that they might feel compelled to do something RADICAL like attend a protest!
I don’t even know a single person in my personal life who’s mentioned the protest - never mind attend one! It makes me bloody mad and I try to converse as much as possible without causing serious strain on what are otherwise casual professional aquaintances. Part of that is my fault too....I should just say ‘#### it’ and ram my opinion down their throat - or at least nicely? It’s a difficult proposition....easier said than done.
I share your frustration RMJ - it’s why every sidewalk gawker with a look of oblivious suprise on their face along the march route got a good eye to eye lingering look from me - or at least as many as I could.
Posted by Amelopsis on from Canada 03/20 at 02:56 PMYou’ve hit on something here, Mick. I came to your site long ago because of your excellent writing style and unique take on the issues of our world. During those low times (which we all go through) when you voiced your frustration...about making change, about feeling hopeless, about breaking through...I shared your frustration. It’s a tough business...it’s a tough world. I don’t know where I’m going with this exactly, other than I sympathize.
Posted by JOS on from Chicago 03/20 at 02:58 PMRosemarie, I need to look up that KR News story when I get home… and if I’ve never said so clearly before, I wish that your time in jail/court could have been even half as easy as mine was, even though the food was terrible, court costs more than I’d preferred… still wasn’t all that bad looking back at it.
Posted by James on from work 03/20 at 03:02 PMHello Expendables. It’s excellent to see so many of you here today. I’m “running” around too much to stay long but...thanks for all the above comments. Provocative stuff.
Big Country, how’s the new gig?
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 03/20 at 03:33 PMRobert Fisk in today’s Independent says, “...What was it Bush told us a few weeks ago? That 30,000 Iraqis had been killed since the invasion, his very words a racist admission; for what he actually said was: “30,000 more or less”. More or less, give or take a few hundred. Would he have dared to say that US casualties were “2,000 more or less”? Of course not. Our dead are precious; they are individuals with widows and children. The Iraqis? Well, they are lesser beings whose casualties cannot be revealed to us by the Iraqi Ministry of Health, on orders from the Americans and British; creatures whose suffering, far greater than our own, must be submerged in the democracy and freedom in which we are drowning them; whose casualties “More or less” are probably nearer to 150,000. After all, if 1,000 Iraqis could die by violence last July - in Baghdad alone; and if they are being killed at 60 or 70 a day, then we have a near genocidal bloodbath on our hands. Iraqis, however, are now our Untermenschen for whom, frankly, we do not greatly care....”
Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 03/20 at 04:22 PMJames… Here is part of the official police report. The KR article is up on the Huffington Post....The slaughtered are:
Turkiya Muhammed Ali, 75 years
Faiza Harat Khalaf, 30 years
Faiz Harat Khalaf, 28 years
Um Ahmad, 23 years
Sumaya Abdulrazak, 22 years
Aziz Khalil Jarmoot, 22 years
Hawra Harat Khalaf, 5 years
Asma Yousef Maruf, 5 years
Osama Yousef Maruf, 3 years
Aisha Harat Khalaf, 3 years
Husam Harat Khalaf, 6 monthsPosted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 03/20 at 04:37 PMRMJ #21:
Great comment, re: “more or less.”
In case the world hasn’t figured it out yet, we in the 99% who are not W’s super-rich bretheran are Untermenschen. It’s true that some are more “unter” than others, largely depending on skin color and geographical location, but the fact remains that most of the planet’s population is considered useless rabble that must be thinned-out (i.e., slaughtered and starved) so as to remove the blight from a dying planet. We are dealing with some heartless people at the top, who will not hesitate to unleash the fires of hell if it means another corporate windfall for their club.
We must be “strong”....
Posted by Hawk on from Boulder, CO, USA 03/20 at 04:40 PMHawk...You make the point that I tried to make in # 16. It is the “unters” who are killing the “unters”. The 1% on the top could not do it without our help. There is no arguement that could be made to change the minds of the 1%. We have to start directing our attention and our outrage to those in the 99% group who are doing the killing.
Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 03/20 at 04:55 PMPROSECUTE THE WAR CRIMINALS
“To initiate a war of aggression…is not only an international crime, it is the supreme international crime, differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole.” - Nuremberg TribunalPosted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 03/20 at 05:07 PMWhere does the term Undermenschen come from, & what does it mean (originally, or at least outside this context)?
I think opening as many eyes to the horror of war is essential ... on British TV now is the shitfest “Rules of Engagement”... your enemy is a different ethnicity, & you & your buddies are heroes. What total bullshit.
(incidentally, US Marines Rules of Engagement states that the USMC should outnumber the enemy 3 to 1 ... how fucking brave!)
As many people as possible should be encouraged to read books of war memoir, from people who’ve described the appalling, unimaginable horror. Will many / most Americans or Brits ever see our own forces as oppressive, murderous, cruel, stupid & often wantonly used? Doubt it, but every pair of open eyes is a bonus, I reckon.
I think the time for outrageous PR stunts is at hand. MZ, do you fancy storming any red carpet event in NYC stark bollock naked with the words “Howard Zinn is sexier than Jesus” on your chest?
I will personally turn Vegan if you do.RMJ re 16 - I don’t think most soldiers join up because they are poor & disenfranchised, although doubtless many do. I think the majority are dim, bloodthirsty, proud, crude or otherwise ridiculous. None of the soldiers I have known socially (friends of friends, usually) have been thick ... they just have HUGE blind spots in their reasoning.
Posted by Chris Wood on from Manchester, England 03/20 at 05:24 PM3 years of slaughter, RMJ. The number of Iraqi innocents murdered is perhaps 100 times larger than the 2000 US killers who have died after volunteering to “fight for freedom” and follow the orders of known war criminals (almost anyone in our government in Washington, at any time in our history). Thank you for reminding of this…
#20 - Big Country, how’s the new gig? It is going extremely well...Good people...interesting work...and as a company of 8, I am not working for a big corporation. Best situation I could find. Once I settle into an apartment I am going back to my writing with all of my spare time.
Posted by JOS on from Chicago 03/20 at 05:44 PMChris you should be in the PR business!
UnterMenschen, from German:
Unter = under or below
Menschen = PeopleMany german words are two words put together in very matter of fact manner such as this example.
I’m not certain exactly how or when the phrase was coined but it certainly had popular use during the Third Reich’s propaganda posters in their ramp up of public vilification of any impure Germans.
Posted by Amelopsis on from Canada 03/20 at 05:49 PMRosemarie thanks for listing those names of the murdered. I haven’t made it to further reading yet, but they (among many others) are in my thoughts tonight.
Posted by Amelopsis on from Canada 03/20 at 05:50 PMAt long last, I have made it to your great blog, Mickey! Thanks for another enlightening if slightly depressing post - and here’s another article about the media now beating the war drums re Iran as if they had learnt nothing from the Iraq debacle:
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=67&ItemID=9910And hi, Jeremy, Keir, Amelopsis, Rosemarie, James, sk, Hawk, Chris Wood, JOS
All the expendables are back - good!
And go ahead and prosecute the war criminals - I am with you, Rosemarie.Auf Wiederemailen, all!
Captcha ‘hot’ - not too hot today in Daylesford: about 76F
Posted by Helga Fremlin on from Daylesford, Australia 03/20 at 05:52 PMOh, and Mr and Mrs Helga feel pretty impotent these days as well, Hawk! Must be quite widespread ..
Posted by Helga Fremlin on from Daylesford, Australia 03/20 at 06:10 PMOne last thing: thanks for the Fisk link, Rosemarie! I have now finished reading ‘The Great War for Civilisation’ - a big book but sooo worth reading.
Posted by Helga Fremlin on from Daylesford, Australia 03/20 at 06:20 PM“Time travel runs in the family.”
We sat still, exchanging worried glances at this lunatic who seemed so normal at first. The spectacular view his red haired head was partially blocking, lavender-covered fields and a distant line of acacias, was deceptively peaceful…the world had completely changed and yet it looked the same.
“Oh…really?” Lame lame lame I thought as I stirred my mimosa with a pinkie, forcing floating pulp down into the vineyard’s blah champagne…oh do pardon, sparkling white wine. “And how is this thesis supported by evidence?”
Xochitl laughed, covered her mouth to muffle some of the sound, and turned away. Arabella’s lip-corners twitched. She offered, “Perhaps we’ll learn if we avoid pretentious demonstrations of our newly minted doctorate.”
“Oh dear, Doctor Sarcasmo, I forgot that one’s academic and age cohort seniors must be given free access to the smart quips first. I am so sorry.”
Arabella’s lip-twitches spread to her hands, in the big-sister-hormone rush that almost visibly screamed “KILL THE LITTLE PISHER.” Having seen the expression and the twitch all my life, I got into position to run.
“Dear Doctor it is I who must apologize for my nasty attitude. Let’s attend to William’s increasingly… fantastical…yarn, yes?”
“No, no, no, I am not insane, and I don’t need to be humored, and will you please just let me speak.” Our Cousin William, of whose existence we’d been tangentially aware at best, wasn’t sounding as upset as his words would lead one to believe. “I’ll explain in detail, and I’ll give examples…data…and I’ll make sure you have an hypothesis to test, Cousin Doctor Alfred.”
This time Arabella laughed, and Xochitl, dutiful daughter, twitched.
Posted by Mudge on from Austin 03/20 at 06:34 PMOh, and howdy to all. Job interviews tomorrow. No temp gig yet.
Scroodles of love all ‘round
Posted by Mudge on from Austin 03/20 at 06:35 PMChris #26...I agree. Many are dim, very dim, very blood thirsty, psychotic sadists. The problem is that too many excuse what they do because some are also poor. My thought is that if it is not OK to go around killing US children because you are poor, the slaughter of Iraqi children should be treated the same way...with criminal prosecutions. We should lead the way with mock trials. Only then will some of them learn that what they are doing over there is not OK. Everyone in the US, and Canada, and Britain, and Australia etc who is not talking about war crimes trials is complicit. We should be following the example of Ramsey Clark.
Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 03/20 at 06:43 PMRMJ - bravo, & I agree wholeheartedly. I would like nothing more than to serve on the jury given the priviledge of assessing Tony Blair’s complicity in the murder of 30,000 + human beings (or “30,000, more or less,” as that inspirational GOP fed shitheel George Bush puts it).
How many lives & how much money? Another matter is the accountability of the Dyncorps (sic?) lead mercenaries, who are of course not bound by international treaties. When I hire killers to do my dirty work, it’s time to stop believing a word I say. Al Capone couldn’t pull it off when the Chicago press (rarely & bravely) asked him how he felt about alcohol influenced gang violence ... & nor should Blair.
As to Bush? I suggest you guys punish him with the same crude punitive force he advocated whilst governor of Texas ... appoint him a cheap, shit for brains lawyer & stick him on trial before a jury who hate his guts ... finding 12 people who would cheerfully flip the switch on the mad brute themselves shouldn’t be hard.
National awareness - some people don’t even think their leaders CAN be held accountable. Didn’t Nixon say that, if the president does it, it CAN’T be illegal? This horrendous myth should be debunked as far, wide & wildly as possible. So if the prez wants to rape your kids or burn your grandma’s house, that’s cool.
Your premier & mine should be hung by the heels.
Mudge - all the best for tomorrow, old bean. The luck of the Woods goes with you (eek!).
Captcha says “job” - I’m off mine tomorrow due to sickness, so I’ll give off a few kharmic thoughts at hopefully the right time. If they’re lucky they’re hire you & get your inestimable skills!
Posted by Chris Wood on from Manchester, England 03/20 at 06:56 PMHi to Every Expendable who’s turned up today...Helga, I trust that all’s well in Daylesford despite the cyclone?
I know you might not be back tonight, so, biss Morgen!
Posted by Amelopsis on from Canada 03/20 at 07:00 PMRosemarie #24 said "We have to start directing our attention and our outrage to those in the 99% group who are doing the killing."
Point well-taken. I just read a headline from Informationclearinghouse.info: Killing Children: The “My Lai phase” of the Iraq war. This makes me think that war opposition is entering a new phase, as well—which is to say, it’s time for some radical class-consciousness awakening, such that the less well-to-do are made aware that they have been duped into destroying their own brothers and sisters. Direct participants in Bush’s imperial wars must be confronted with their crimes; they can’t get away with hiding behind political rhetoric anymore. I’m not saying that we spit on returning soldiers and call them baby killers… but treating them as heroes is also out of the question. The fact is, most of them are casualties of one sort or another, and they are dropped like hot potatoes as soon as they reach U.S. soil—used and discarded, left to figure out for themselves what we’ve been screaming for years and years.
Countering military/intelligence recruitment facilities/programs seems like a good place to start.
Posted by Hawk on from Boulder, CO 03/20 at 07:01 PMHelga #31: Great to be back, even when I’m feeling down. Maybe that’s the best time to be here, eh? I know where to go when I need friends....
You guys have got me “covered”....
Posted by Hawk on from Boulder, CO 03/20 at 07:03 PMJOS I’m glad to hear that it’s ‘so far, so good’ with the new job. Chris, hope you’re sickness passes quickly (a hot whiskey seldom goes wrong there, and since it’s not celebratory, it’s defacto in moderation?!)
Mudge - my very best utopian good wishes for your interviews tomorrow. I share your contempt of retail servitude, and anyone running an office would be a fool not to hire you on the spot. I hope you don’t run into any fools tomorrow.Captcha sez “result”
Posted by Amelopsis on from Canada 03/20 at 07:06 PMCBS just reported that the house of the slaughtered civilians was blown up by the USA to make it look like an air strike. The civilians, including the babies, had been executed from close up. In my opinion, an air strike would not have made the slaughter any more justifiable, but the military could then have just written the deaths off as collateral damage.
Chris...there have been some mock trials in this country of Bu$h. What is needed to turn things around are mock trials of the trigger men. That is not happening because too many are afraid of being labeled as unpatriotic. Many of the so-called peace marchers this past week-end had signs that said “Support the Troops”, that means that they support the executioners of those civilians.
MUDGE....Good luck tomorrow.
Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 03/20 at 07:23 PMYeah, patriotism needs redefining - it means “love of country” not “love of government,” right? I love some things about the USA - some of the writers, film makers, musicians & indeed people are among my faves, but your sleazy illegitimate & warped in the worst sense leaders do need identifying as the key defining crooks of our age.
Soldiers are of course conditioned to do as ordered; the old Nazi trick of making anyone a soulless executioner. (BTW, I read a while back that one of the worst Nazi death squads consisted of ... several lawyers, a lord mayor and a fucking opera singer!) This is one of my key contentions with the military - would you have such a huge moral choice made for you by a votesucker?
Of course logic & the scrambled mindset of the pack are a world apart. It would be wonderful if the gun lust of the US disappeared, but that’s just so much pie in the sky - it would be great to have no pollution or cruelty as well, but ...
I think one of the best moves is publicising the testimonies of the troops who come back with horror stories. Let everyone see what this rank foul patriotism results in.
Whoever sais “support the troops, bring ‘em home” got it dead right in my view. Maybe a sign with “I don’t want my heroes dead” or some such (even a vague pander to this shitty uniform worship is better than no access to their mini brains) would be worth while.
Posted by Chris Wood on from Manchester, England 03/20 at 07:59 PMRMJ - re 41 - just reread it & it sank in. Shit! I agree about the airstrike being inexcusable, but there’s a whole darker step in terms of killing children close up. That’s far worse in one way, although the same end result. What it says about the killers, at any rate ...
Anyone see “Capote”? In Cold Blood ... a phrase that fits this horrible shitstorm more every day.
Posted by Chris Wood on from Manchester, England 03/20 at 08:01 PMHowzabout a chuckle? For the sake of your sanity & a giggle, please download this:
Posted by Chris Wood on from Manchester, England 03/20 at 08:12 PMChris...you are pandering. Now is a time in history when pandering kills civilians. If you don’t support capital punishment would you say, “Support the executioners because we don’t want them to get a shock when they pull the switch.”?
Supporting the troops is the same thing as supporting the war. A troop is a part of the military machine. If there were no troops, there would be no wars. We should support farmers, shoe makers, cab drivers, plumbers, etc. Should we support killers?Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 03/20 at 08:17 PMChris....Thanks for #43...that one makes me feel better. I did not exactly agree with #42. The killing by execution of babies and children is something that is so evil it is almost incomprehensible to a normal human brain.
Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 03/20 at 08:29 PMRMJ, you’re right. I’m getting too far sucked into this whole vile propaganda head#### by wanting to appeal to some part of its low populist instincts. This is a mistake - my bad!
However, I’m not sure what approach is best. The way to drum up more support is to get people on your side in some form. I agree that what is going on is murder, pure & simple - but troops are dogs & killers. Our problem is how to get through to people who do not see, or accept, that beginning any war will lead to atrocities.
There is a case of extremity here - on the one hand the classic simplicity of slogans like “make love not war,” on the other the detailed intellectual analysis of Zinn, Chomsky et al ... not the easiest idea to get across to people who don’t want to listen.
I think that when listening to Bill Hicks is more widespread, a lot of this difficulty will disappear. Maybe any future protests should have some of his wisdom blaring through the speakers?
Posted by Chris Wood on from Manchester, England 03/20 at 08:29 PMRMJ re 46 - so much evil! Taking that in, trying to make it in some form appreciable ... argh! I’m sure every brain has a filter whereby we aren’t conscious of what gets left out just because it’s too much - we have to force our noggins to accept these despicable acts.
Like the war film I watched tonight, it made me think of Platoon. One of its valuable qualities is showing the brutality of the grunt that doesn’t have any form of restraint. The pathetic evil whitewash of “Rules of Engagement” ends with a US soldier being saluted by a VC guy ... he threatened to execute 30 years ago ... after executing the man’s friend ... doubt he’d get saluted in real life, unless it was at gun point.
Shooting a child, it can’t get lower. The main problem is one of (sorry to get all wanky here) approach. People love guns n killing, they love control, power, righteousness etc etc. The problem is then the conditioning - these people are all bad, and not killing them is an act of perhaps mistaken charity.
I forget who said that “if you can make people believe absurdities then you can make them commit atrocities,” but it applies here. The executioners in that home, now then ... what could possible make that right in their mind? They may be just the most cold, brutal, sick warped madmen - and that’s easier for me, at least, to accept.
But probably they’ve been fed some Hitleresque line stating that every baby they kill saves two back home, or some other such garbage. I don’t know - I am guessing. It’s just that the (few) soldiers I’ve talked to at any length have some absolute idealistic umbrella covering whatever act is discussed, however foul.
WWII is a good example, as the most brutal acts of pretty much any time were committed then - or at least damn good contenders.
But what would be easier? Dropping an atomic bomb, or putting a gun to a child’s face?
Some form of imagery is required here, one of those posters where the main image is shown to be constructed by thousands of tiny square images of a related subject. A bomb exploding, with hundreds or thousands of pictures of slaughtered innocents forming the pixels.
After all, & given that I’ve demonstrated just now how easy it is to get distracted from the reality, an unarguable symbol of this shit is required.
30,000 dead - I’ve read reports of Marines opening fire on civilians at checkpoints, & of many other heinous massacres. But the bombs do the same job, they just seem (to me, at least) to be (gulp!) easier to accept than someone gunning down families.
Anyone ever read “Red Dragon” by Thomas Harris? It freaked me out when I read it, aged 16, & a friend of mine (& horror writer, so someone who knew the techniques) was so disgusted by it that, on his honeymoon when he read it, he didn’t touch his wife for four days ... & that’s about a deranged #### breaking into a house & slaughtering the family.
That sick twisted bastard could be wearing a US uniform, I reckon.
Posted by Chris Wood on from Manchester, England 03/20 at 08:45 PMWow...it feels like old times here. Hello everyone. Sorry I missed so much but I work on Monday nights now.
Excuse me if someone has already posted this, but here are some photos related to what RMJ is talking about: http://tinyurl.com/zduzl.
Glad to hear JOS’s gig is going well. Mudge is next.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 03/20 at 09:30 PMRMJ #45: Support Our Educators. Support Universal Healthcare. Support Equal Rights. Support The Constitution. Support International Law...Looks like ‘Ole Cart is gonna make him some homemade ribbons! Thanks for the inspiration, Rosemarie.
Posted by Cart on from near Warshington DC 03/20 at 09:43 PMAmelopsis, thanks for your interest. The cyclone actually raged in the NE of Australia while Daylesford is in the SE. It can be quite windy here at times, though, but nothing remotely resembling a cyclone.
Posted by Helga Fremlin on from Daylesford, Australia 03/21 at 08:07 PM
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