What a Great Freakin’ War!!
What a ding-dong I am!
For months - nay, years! - I’ve been ranting about how screwed up the war in Iraq has been, and how disastrous have been its consequences.
What a fool I’ve been! In reality, it’s actually turned out pretty great.
That’s what I learned when I read William Kristol’s recent New York Times piece, “The Democrats’ Fairy Tale”. In a stroke of thoughtfulness, generosity and uncanny prescience, the Times was kind enough recently to hire Kristol to write a regular column for their op-ed page. I guess that’s because Ariel Sharon was unavailable and David Duke was on vacation.
And bless his little heart, Kristol knows a thing or two about a thing or two. Heck, he’s the one who got us into Iraq in the first place! He’s been telling us for a long time what a cool thing it would be to knock over that tin-pot Saddam Hussein crank, and damned if he didn’t convince the president to do it, despite Bush’s decades of foreign policy experience.
But it’s been a rough couple of years for Ol’ Bill, ’cause the whole damn country went into some sort of narcoleptic, apoplectic, pathogenic tizzy about the war, crying fickle and foul at every turn and seeming like all everyone wanted was to end the darned thing. Imagine that. What a bunch of whiney little self-interested twits, squealing like a continent full of Europeans, and utterly failing to see the great wisdom of Young William’s Grand Adventure In Mesopotamia. It’s really quite nauseating, isn’t it?
In his article, Kristol really rips the Democrats, and don’t they ever deserve it. Now that Iraq appears to be marginally more peaceful than it was last year at this time, Kristol is angry because, as he puts it: “It’s apparently impermissible for leading Democrats to acknowledge - let alone celebrate - progress in Iraq”.
Bill is angry because the Democrats (and the public - but, oddly, he doesn’t mention that part) still want to end the war - even though it’s been a huge success! They should “celebrate” it instead! Fortunately, he is clever enough to suss out the real reason for this childish intransigence. It’s not, as Hillary put it, because the Iraqis know the Democrats will shut off the supply valve of endless wasted dollars and soon-to-be casualties headed to Baghdad. As Kristol notes, “That is truly a fairy tale. And it is driven by a refusal to admit real success because that success has been achieved under the leadership of … George W. Bush. The horror!”
I must admit I’ve suffered from some of the same confusion as the Dumb Dems, whom I think we can all agree are simply hopelessly naive pacifists intent on allowing our country to be taken over by Very Bad People (of less than fully white complexion) who mean us harm. You know the type I mean, like George McGovern, who flew all those bombing missions during World War II while Little Bush, Cheney, Ashcroft, Kristol and the rest fought … valiantly … in … Viet … oh, never mind. Anyhow, that hopeless and dangerous idealism is why, just one year before the Iraq war, every single Democrat in the Congress opposed the invasion of Afghanistan except for … well, except for … every single Democrat in Congress other than one. Okay, never mind on that one too.
Look, let’s get down to brass tacks here. Kristol just gets it. The rest of us don’t. He realizes that in the grand scheme of things - “World War IV” as his pappy likes to call it - what’s important is not the big picture, but the very narrowest.
You may think, for example, that promulgating egregious lies in order to shove your way into am Iraq war that no one else wants is stupid and counterproductive, damaging the credibility and interests of the United States, and probably accounting for the lack of allied support in a more credible war in Afghanistan. But Bill Kristol knows better.
You may think that fighting a war that massively drains military, diplomatic and financial resources away from the real enemies of the country in order to pursue a pet project that has nothing to do with those genuine threats would be idiotic and suicidal. But that’s ’cause you’re not as smart as William Kristol.
You might believe that it was a ludicrous waste of blood and treasure to kill 4,000 Americans and one million Iraqis, while borrowing and spending a trillion bucks (fast going up to two) in order to invade a country that had neither attacked us nor threatened us. And that doing so was an extremely poor choice of resource allocation, especially when we have tens of millions of children doing without healthcare in this country. But if you were a clever neoconservative like Bill Kristol, you’d know better.
You might think that wrecking our military and compromising American security over a non-problem - indeed, a problem that people like Bushes and Cheneys and Rumsfelds and Reagans once very much created and encouraged - would be a stupid choice of priorities. But that’s only because you don’t have the foreign policy insight of someone like Bill Kristol.
And let me guess - I bet you also think that launching a war that brings chaos to a vital and volatile area, and that massively increases the power of an Iran run by radical theocrats was a really, really dumb idea. But if you were Bill Kristol, you’d realize that all we need is a third war against an Islamic country, and we can clean up the whole mess all at once!
Or maybe you’re like all those American intelligence agencies, who collectively reported last year that the Iraq war was actually creating anti-American terrorists rather than eradicating them. But if you were as smart as Mr. Bill and his Kristol Ball, you’d know that they’re all just a bunch of long-haired and bearded blame-America-first left-wing Berkeley rejects running covert ops for the CIA, NSA and other intelligence agencies. Of course they’re going to diss the war! It’s going well, and those unpatriotic spooks can’t stand that because they hate America!
Maybe you’re angry because you think the same American soldiers whom people like George W. Bush are always hiding behind should actually have adequate armor to fight the war they’ve been thrust into, rather than their families having to hold bake sales to buy it for them. And maybe you also think they should be treated a wee bit better than they have been at Walter Reed (and far beyond) when they come home wounded, or they have to fight harder than in Anbar to get the benefits owed to them out of the military. But what Bill Kristol knows is that you can’t make an omelette without breaking some eggs! So lighten up on that whole concern-for-the-troops thing already. (Unless you’re the president doing a photo-op, of course.)
Don’t tell me you’re chagrined at the idea that American forces may be in Iraq for another decade, or even for a full “generation”. Probably that’s just because you or someone you know might have to go fight there. People like Kristol never do, of course, so why should he worry?
Are you angry that well-connected cronies and corporations got rich off this war? That eight billion dollars in cash went completely missing in Iraq? That multi-billion dollar no-bid contracts got paid out for jobs never done? That American soldiers worked and bled and died for peanuts alongside mercenaries making four times as much salary? That we will be paying for this war in interest on loans and expensive treatment of the wounded for generations to come? Yeah? Well Bill Kristol thinks you should get your priorities straight!
Have you somehow come to the conclusion that turning one-fifth of Iraq’s 25 million people into either corpses or refugees hasn’t exactly been a great liberating service to that country? You know, sorta like when we told them to rise up but then stood by and watched Saddam mow them down. Or when we turned a blind eye to Saddam’s use of chemical weapons against his own people, and even protected him from condemnation for those crimes at the UN? Bill Kristol thinks that’s because you just don’t know the true value of freedom and democracy. Oh, and you put too much emphasis on that whole not-getting-killed thing.
Are you one of those whiney liberals who believe that this war - whether one supported the idea of it originally or not - has been ridiculously mishandled from the beginning? That there were never enough troops sent in? That allowing rampant looting was stupid? That failing to have plans for the occupation of a country of 25 million people constitutes criminal negligence? That firing the Iraqi army was just as idiotic as sending thousands of armed and angry men home unemployed sounds like it would be? That purging the national government and infrastructure of all Baath Party members was a prescription for chaos? That allowing civil war between Sunni and Shiite was disastrous? Yeah, well, Bill Kristol knows better. He understands that what’s really important is that the massive levels of violence and pandemonium of these last FIVE years (count ‘em) are now possibly slightly lower than the outrageous levels they’ve long been at, and could conceivably stay that way.
Can’t you see the small picture here? Kristol can. I guess that’s why he has a New York Times column and you don’t. I guess that’s why the president listens to his advice and not yours.
Who could blame him for being angry and vituperative toward dangerously silly Democrats who don’t see the peril facing our civilization?
Such quibblers! So what if the war was sold on completely fabricated lies, was supposed to be a cakewalk but has now lasted longer than World War II, has divided the country and made the world hate us, has squandered our (borrowed) resources and broken our military, has brought instability to a volatile and crucial region and allowed a real national antagonist to double its power, has diverted our resources from the still-uncaptured guy who supposedly attacked us on 9/11, has become a factory for producing anti-American terrorists, has wiped out over a million innocent people and turned more than four million into refugees? So what if this war has now supposedly been ’saved’ by precisely the same strategy that was vehemently rejected by the same people in the beginning?
Let’s keep our priorities straight here, people. All that really matters is that we’ve seen a possible slight improvement in levels of violence in Iraq over the last couple of months (all of which may be due to a host of possible factors, including that there aren’t many people left alive to fight there anymore). Get it?
Some people think that burning down your neighbor’s house and having your own catch fire as a result is a highly stupid and really criminal thing to do. What neocons like Bill Kristol understand, though - and what naive liberals will never get - is that what really matters is whether you can slightly diminish the rate at which the flames consume those dwellings, five years after starting the fire. That’s what’s genuinely important - not the ashes where the houses once stood.
If you understood that simple principle, you wouldn’t be complaining about this war so much. Rather, you’d be “celebrating” how well it’s going.
If you understood this logic, you’d have supported the war from the very beginning, as William Kristol did. (Which of course has nothing to do with his apparent defensiveness about it today, we can all rest assured.)
In fact, if you were as smart as Bill Kristol and the other fine folks who brought you the invasion of Iraq, you’d quit with all your smug complaints, once and for all.
And you’d realize what a great freakin’ war this really is!
David Michael Green is a professor of political science at Hofstra University in New York. He is delighted to receive readers’ reactions to his articles (dmg@regressiveantidote.net), but regrets that time constraints do not always allow him to respond. More of his work can be found at his website, www.regressiveantidote.net.
You know, in the process of ousting Saddam, we shot ourselves in the face. That’s a wound that hasn’t healed and Karma is gonna make sure it never does.
It is indeed going swimmingly - ask any defence contractor! Plus, it’s serving as a great distration while all other areas of the US government & economy are trashed and looted for corporate gain. Nothing but success at every turn!
thank you david michael green. great observations. i might add that another factor contributing to the slight improvement in the levels of violence: the propoganda/spin machine operated by cheney and rove. or, just tell the public what they want to hear.
thanks for staying focused on the major problem facing this country, as well as this planet, today.
of course now, mr. green, you’ve opened yourself up to posters here who wish to keep you contained within their circle of government “statistics” and “guesswork”.
Kudos, Mr. Green. It’s wonderful to see someone passionately railing against the powers-that-be. We’ve become complacent over the past five years, and have allowed idiotic semantics like that of Mr. Kristol to placate us. I’m happy to see such passion–and moral indignation–still exists. I seem to have rediscovered all my old outrage again, buried in the back of the closet, dusty and wrinkled. Shake it off a few times, show it around, and its as good as new.
Thank you!
Good Morning KEM PATRICK.
kristol, the blood-drenched pig, recentely said ‘israel is fighting four out of five of our wars for us’ this lie says so much, frames things backwards: he seeks to see Iran and israel at war, the US drawn in, and when the radioactive dust settles, israel is an oil rich country the size of texas.
He does one thing: He nakedly and obviously advances the interests of the ZioNazi’s. That’s it.
With rove fraud and diebold deception mccain will win. ww3 is coming, courtesy of the Jewish State. kristol is on point in the US media.
hey kem, no offense, but I take offense at what you say about karma. Karma heals all wounds.
by the way, drink a tall one for me and I’ll do likewise.
Peace,
Ken
When the European Americans put all the Native Americans on reservations, killed all the buffalo, pitted tribe against tribe, spread small pox on purpose, broke treaties, etc… they stepped back and said what a glorious thing we have done! History repeating itself.
That number 1/5th of people killed or driven away is hard to imagine.
That means one in five of every person they know is dead or driven away because of us in the USA… If they have 10 family members that is 2 of them gone…
My thanks to George W. Bush.
Nixon went to China.
Ray-gun went to Gorbachev.
Clinton murdered the Social Safety Net.
George murdered the Empire.
2008/2009 the bankrupt staggering monster craters and collapses.
Pity it took so long. And the beautiful irony, this bloody merciless country did it to itself.
You see Americans, white Americans NEVER believed in the Constitution or the Bill of Rights. That’s why they could be taken away so easily. White America believes in White Male Supremacy; Human slavery (as long as they aren’t the slaves); Gender Slavery (for all females); Massive Child Abuse (installs free-floating rage essential for Constant War); Constant War; & Genocide. This is our HIStory.
Let it end soon. Better smoking rubble here than a planet in chains ruled by psychotic Richfilth and their Overseers. If this country collapses soon, the planet may yet have a chance to recover from us. If the psychotics continue for another generation, there will be nothing left on Planet Earth to rebuild with.
Peace.
COCK O’ THE CAKEWALK (CHICKENHAWK-BATTLECRY POETRY CORNER)
THE RED BANDWAGON
(apologies to William Carlos Williams / The Red Wheelbarrow)
So Much Depend$ Upon
The Red Bandwagon
Glazed With Bloodshed
Beside The Gray ChickenHawk$
COUP CLUX CLAN
(apologies to T.S. Elliot / The Hollow Men)
We are the Chickenhawks,
We are the NeoCons, Armchair-deployed,
Mindset filled with Ain’t-Broke WarFix, alas!
Our feather-
pillowed Imperial Urges (macho-hissy-fitted, bawking-together)
are morally Void as wind in dry grass
(or CakeWalk-prints in blood-Stained Glass…)
http://artistgeneral.com
Insert any Bush backers name for Kristols and see how reads. If you are one of them then you can read that you alone are responsible for the deaths of a million human beings and displacement of another 4 million. And will you continue your killing spree because you can`t admit a mistake.
David Michael Green, I’ve always enjoyed your writing and have looked forward to seeing new pieces, but this time you go too far!
Surely you can’t be seriously endorsing Bill Kristol. Maybe you should re-think and re-visit his writings! Or take a long vacation!
As it is, I can only pray for your speedy recovery.
they’ll bring the troops and mercenaries home when its time to bring the war home…
did any one else read about the 200 bill they are trying to pass in America to fight gangs and gun violence. looks like they are preparing for something.
Ya got to keep the poor people in line, keep ‘em from stealing food.
Because as we know all poor people are lazy, stupid or both.
Kathy, Kathy, Kathy.
Hold your tongue firmly in your cheek and say William Kristol three times.
Down! the new Up!
You’re not loosing money on your homes, they’re still standing aren’t they? The banks are still sound, not a chance that they’ll fail at all. The Government hasn’t ever lied either, they’ve just redefined what the truth is…
The land of the free needs to have constant surveilence so as to prevent anyone from not been free (to be listened in on). The Home of the Brave needs to cower in their duct taped homes in order to demonstrate their courage. Ballots should be electronic only as you also need to save paper…
Oh, fuck it.
Bill Kristol is a wonderful example of a corporate mouth piece.
“And will you continue your killing spree because you can`t admit a mistake”
There is no mistake Tom, make no mistake about that! The fact is that just because things didn’t go according to plan following “Shock and Awe” is just in the nature of warfare. “Shit happens”!
It was the deliberate invasion of another country, in other words an act of aggression pre-planned and initiated illegally and without foundation or reason under International Law. Similar to South east Asia. Same horrifying result and we’re not going to lose this one just as NATO must succeed in Afghanistan for credibility is at stake as it was when Clinton bombed Yougoslavia illegally. Think Depleted uranium and not that as with Vietnam it was a mistake though done initially with the best of intentions. Nothing of the sort from a political elite and military that is tied hook line and sinker to the stinker Israel. That mistake is deliberate and a stain on the conscience of all fair minded people the world over. US support there is only reflected in Iraq. That is what we have all become when Zionism is supported by Jew or Christian. Its abominable and thrives in the USA and among some European elites. The wall must fall and “Ich Bin ein Palestinian” should resound across the middle east. Iraq too is utterly distroyed and like Humpty Dumty cannot be put together again. God Bless the good ould US of A.! Right?
Hi ~Buffalo~ Yeah she heals everything, but it won’t be our healing that transpires. We think this war had been costly, we are really gonna pay for it in the near future.
Come on folks… think harder.
Things are not going badly for the Bushistas…. they ar going PRECISELY according to plan.
The plan is not to control oil, or to establish ‘full spectrum dominance’ or to gain a strategic foothold.
The aim is to transfer as much dough from the TAX BASE to the DONOR BASE, in as short a time as possible.
It has been thus since Abe Lincoln was giving away railroad concessions to his mates and denigrating ‘n!ggers’ at every opportunity, and it will be thus until the party political system is overthrown. Democrat? Repubiclan? Give me a break… herpes and genital warts, tapeworm and hookworm, leukemia and myeloma. The two ’sides’ are just variants of the same parasitic metastatisizing corrupting genus.
It’s just a game, ladies and gents. Brown folks gotta die so that Dick Chicanery can make more millions through his stock options and so the CEO of some ‘Defence’ stock can leave with a cheque for $100 million.
And if you are a partisan for EITHER party (or in fact for ANY party) you are part of the problem.
Start starving the political beast of attention, and you might get somewhere… but feeding one side of the party beast is like shouting your love for herpes as compared with gonorrhea.
Cheers
GT
France
http://marketrant.blogspot.com
Yeah, Buffalo,
Speaking of the ‘Big Picture,’ why don’t you have a look at it? In our Great Cosmos Earth’s come and go. So why the long face, Mr. Horse?
Earth or no Earth,
What’s the fuss?
Kathy Heckman - Have you ever heard of sarcasm? Ridicule? Irony? You might want to re-read the article to find out what Mr. Green is really saying.
David Michael Green, yet another wonderful article! I am going to use this to counter the liberal bashing that sometimes goes on at the poker table.
Brown & Blue instead of Green & Blue…she’s dying….
That’s what Ev said.
What happened to Greenland? It’s been all white for as long as I can remember.
Either Kathy Heckman has pushed dry sarcasm to the point of desiccation or she has succombed to that government thought changing technology she’s always posting about …
When orbiting the darkensed side, the people in the space station say it’s a world on fire.
Not lights from the cities, HUGE FIRES in the rain forests of Africa, S America and SE Asia.
Arguably there could be no punishment severe and proper enough for people like Kristol in a just society.
here’s an analogy.
If some redneck says to his family, the neighobor’s burned out corvette in the bushes is going to turn into “Christine” (killer car) and kill us all if we don’t steal it from them and fix it all up nice and pretty.
Then, in the process, the neighbor family gets massacred, your brothers get killed, the family goes bankrupt, and you find out that the car never would have turned into “Christine” in the first place.
But, look at this beautiful vette baby! It works. We fixed it up! It was a huge success!
Wait a minute, you massacred a family, bankrupted your own, and lost two brothers for a broken car that was never a threat in the first place, and now because the old junker runs you call the whole debacle a huge success?
What planet is the GOP from? They are plain old nutso if they consider the Iraq
War a success.
From a PR standpoint alone, the USA has never, ever, been as universally detested as it currently is…
WE LOVE BOMBS! build more and drop them from thirty thousand feet, that way you dont have to see the women and children with their skulls shattered and limbs torn off. WHO ARE THE REAL TERRORISTS?
John McCain should stop talking about the cost of the “bridge to nowhere” and start telling us about the “war to nowhere” instead.
What gall this man has!
Bill Kristol is nothing but shit with skin on it…..
Where the piss is published from high,
Paid by shares in the millionaires sky,
It still stinks in the sewer flush,
And the word shit is cleaned up with a brush.
All piss on the foriegn nation,
Blow them up with lies inflation,
Let the gangsters and profiteers rule,
Trumpet the victories using Bill Piss Tool.
Bleed the poor, ratchet up their debt,
Turn money into death bombs dropped hi-tech.
Bomb, rape, imprison, and torture, to have your fill,
Petrol in your SUV tank, thanks to Bill.
Count the dollars , swell the head
With the rich, its always good in bed,
When war is far away, on profits fed,
By rich corporate adverts, young truth is led.
ddell413 - that was funny about the “war to nowhere.” Now, if only it were true, we could simply say it was a misadventure - a wasted effort in controlling a non-problem. However, there are many dead, many many more displaced, and people are still not any wiser. It would be hilarious if not for the tragic consequences.
Don’t be a ‘hopelessly naive pacifist’
“Fight fear…. Fight chaos….. Join the Canadian Armed Forces”
(chaos)
noun: (Greek mythology) the most ancient of gods; the personification of the infinity of space preceding creation of the universe
noun: the formless and disordered state of matter before the creation of the cosmos
noun: a state of extreme confusion and disorder
Cost of the war may be closer to 2 trillion dollars but hey that is for control of a100 trillion barrel oil reserve at a 102 dollar per barrel (a 2% opportunity cost no?)
Let’s hope ranting will help to change our broken hegemonic market economic structure!
Surrogate Mother Wanted
(Add found in Galaxy classified)
Looking for a mother surrogate for apple pie Ma hood,
willing to nurture an empire that’s not especially good
might consider aliens except the ones from mars
or reformed ones not mired in non-stop wars.
must be able to rescue from the shock and awful blowback slide
and tolerate a couch potato populace that’s slightly on the spoilt side
must know true cost accountin, counter agit-prop and non gansta rap
and know some magic therapy to bring solid people power back
must practice non objective therapy to project what’s not shining and such
like greed good and nationhoods that open doors for the follow bunch
who bray like donkeys frightened by the image of an elephant guarded nest
while good better best chase after those who are reflected best
William Kristol will not tell you the real reason he thinks the Iraq war is going well. It .is.
1.Sadaam has been removed, daddy avenged and one-upped.
2.Iraq has been stopped from selling oil in euros
3.US sits on the oil
4.Iraq has been rendered harmless to Israel
5.Permanent bases to project US power have been built
6.Baghdad, with a huge emvassy is a center for espionage and control
It only cost .001% of the population dead and .01% wounded.
Iraqis themselves are fine and relatively happy as I see in the press.
1 trillion dollars. OK (zero killed)- a great success with cost overruns.That’s par for any government project isn’t it?
Bring on bomb,bomb,McCain! Good morning IRAN!
PEACE! What is it good for? NOTHING AT ALL!
‘Either Kathy Heckman has pushed dry sarcasm to the point of desiccation…’
Tom Phagan got it right…’tongue in check’, though I think the suggestion to repeat William Kristol’s name three times was alittle off.
And it’s Government Thought Reading Technology, not thought changing (but thanks for noticing).
The only thing not sarcastic in my post was I really do look forward to this bloggers post.
Of course Kristol is sociopathic but he was given this mouthpiece by the New York Times. How obscene is that??
Drop them a line and let them know -
executive-editor@nytimes.com
managing-editor@nytimes.com
Lizard has it right, especially Item 3. Mission Accomplished. We have the oil for business as usual another 10 - 15 years, depending on how fast Alaska, Texas and the North Sea are depleted. The rest is “collatoral damage”.
“LEAVE BRITNEY A-LONE!!!”
(we chortle,
rome burns…)
That’s really funny! Someone thinks the U.S. is going to last another 10-15 years? Haw-Haw! I don’t think so. Anyone that does should go and converse merrily with that CIA mole cluttering up the site with their “docile personality seeking sympathy” nonsense about thought interception. The CIA and the NSA sure do like to muddle up any and all forums, but what they don’t seem to realize is that all internet transactions are traceable.
Americans, the world doesn’t hate you, we hate Bush!
The Declaration of Independence was a blueprint for everyone not just for you. However, there is nothing in it remotely like “My country, right or wrong.”
How did you get into this mess? Nationalism, flag waving, the Star-spangled Banner and what do the French who gave us the Statue of Liberty know anyway?
Nationalism is the hidden racism - Americans are superior to peoples of other nations - Americans are the only people who count. You really have to knock that one on the head. It makes you ripe for fascism which loves flags, anthems and parades. Every dictator uses nationalism as a hammer to pound obedience into the people - defying him is defying the nation. That’s what Bush did.
The Corporations have no care for national boundaries but the unions fighting for your jobs do - unions lose.
I’m an Australian activist fighting the same fascism in Australia. With the fight before us, we need to look at our flags, smile, and get over it.
If I happen to believe that your health care system is scandalous, your public housing non-existant, your social security system is dangerous (a free ride is okay for Wall Street and shysters, just not for the desperately poor), then I’m dismissed as some ‘pinko foreigner’.
Don’t worry, we are close on your tail to disaster as is Canada, Britain, Europe and none of us are the models we should be for the developing world to emulate.
So no, brothers, we don’t hate America or Americans because the power that is screwing up the planet isn’t American - it’s Global - time you got global too.
djwolf, you are so right, I hadn’t realized it until over the holidays I went to Europe to look for a new place to call home. Paris they can keep, supposedly tres chic and oh so sophisticated. Those women wear so much fur my eyeballs were burned, they are better now, thank you.
In Dusseldorf everyone was great, their ability, I suppose due to their countrys own litany of atrocities, to discern between Government and its people was a gift for me. I came home realizing that we actually hate ourselves more than many other countries do.
I fight everyday to get my country back and when I was there I decided I will stay here and keep fighting, it is what it is.
It is getting really disturbing starting new governmental departments and such.” which shall hereto forward be referred to as the ‘Center’. Thank you, Jane Harman, H R 1955 is a gem and a half.
The truth will set you free but it doesn’t mean you have to like it, just that you need to do something about it. There ya go.
“And will you continue your killing spree because you can`t admit a mistake”
David Green’s a terrific writer, but like so many folks who are NOT sociopaths he has difficulty entertaining the idea that the invasion and occupation ISN’T a mistake from the point of view of those who began it, as it has concentrated power in the executive branch and Republican party in an unprecedented way while substantially enriching the cronies of this gangster-president.
How is that a mistake, from their point of view?
Recall the famous scene from the film, The Third Man, where Welles and Cotton are high above Vienna and Welles gestures to the nearly invisible people below. He says,
“Look down there. Would you really feel any pity if one of those dots stopped moving forever? If I offered you 20,000 pounds for every dot that stopped, would you really, old man, tell me to keep my money? Or would you calculate how many dots you could afford to spare? Free of income tax, old man, free of income tax. The only way you can save money nowadays.”
American soldiers and Iraqi civilians aren’t human beings to Kristol and his ilk–they’re poker chips. Or dots.
That’s the way it was. But now those worthless scumbags are going to find out that they are the “dots”, and I’m sure they will find enlightenment and a new argument to present in a futile effort to preserve themselves. It’s always the same with their worthless kind, no matter which epoch of history.
Great article. I laughed so hard it hurt, or was it the other way around? My only criticism is with this line: “allowed a real national antagonist to double its power’…” Uh, what is the point of putting in anything that even slightly helps reinforce the idea that Iran is an enemy? Or did he mean Venezuela, and same objection. This phrase is very vague and yet contains the implication that there is some legitimate target out there that is getting stronger, least we wait too long.
Or am I parsing the content too closely?
I used to love reading the articles in commondreams, but now I think I think the blogs are even better. It is thrilling to read all these reasoned and passionate (and yes the two can co-exist) responses to reason and passion. I am in the belly of the beast; I work two full-time corporate financial industry jobs (get to watch the stock market fall in one and watch people debit and credit themselves to death in the other) so finding commondreams is like walking in a park in southern Iceland: one foot in the thermal spring rivulet, one foot in the glacial stream. You can’t help but have your eyes opened. The sensation is so intense.
It’s apparent to me that we have more than enough human resource to be the groundswell of a revolution. I agree that the present administration is preparing itself for just such a prospect (yes, someone here mentioned the extra money Bush wants to throw at police forces in the cities - just another brick in the wall). If the economy continues to slide, it will happen. I remember Argentina.
There is always more than enough human resource for a revolution. The scumbags which try to rule the world so that they can enjoy undeserved privilages are always a minority. Now that they are found out, they can never again disguise their evil design. Those worthless militarist A-holes which like to refer to themselves as “patriots” are going to find out firsthand what it is like to suffer, such as they enjoy inflicting on others. The rocks which are flying by the Earth and Mars this month are more than a warning, they are an awakening that, if not heeded, could spell the end of human civilization (in this era) on this ungrateful planet.
JMACNEIL
yes, not much publicity about those rocks is there? strange………
The war actually has gone very well for Dick Cheney. His stock portfolio has more than doubled, his friends have gone from multimillionaires to billionaires, we have taken over Iraq and are now finishing building bases over the oil fields, and also now have permanent bases near our “enemies” for quick strikes and bombing raids; and Israel, receiving 2-4 billion in aid each year, has us to provide all of its defense. A great success as long as Americans are so deluded as to keep giving up their children for the war and we as taxpayers continue to think spending 175 billion of our taxes per year is a great bargain. Who could ask for more success than that?
The U.S. may still be considered rich, but they are over-extended with more than 700 military bases worldwide in over a 140 countries. It is inevitable that the U.S. is going to collapse, especially since the other nations of the world have lost confidence in it. It is only necessary to review what happened to the Soviet Union in 1990 to realize how fast the disintegration can descend on what appears to the masses as a stable state. No doubt, there are many places, like Puerto Rico, which will be only too glad to be shed in the coming disorder.
Everyday I read more about Bush and Cheeny. So what, they still are sleeping in a better bed then me. You think they cut coupons. Call me when they go to jail.
And Kristol also doesn’t believe, that he is one of the biggest ASSHOLES, to ever come down the pike.
Whats sad is Kristol gets to be so egregiously wrong, and still keep a bully pulpit, and David Green gets to be so egregiously right, and still be (relatively) marginalized.
The war here is over American self-esteem. As long as Conservatives get to be so very wrong (about everything) and still, at the end of the day, pat themselves on the back for a ‘job’ well done, and Liberals get to be so very right (about everything) and still, at the end of the day, go back to their relatively marginalized lives…
this country is in great peril. It’s a great nation, but it cannot long survive such a prolonged and general mind-fvck as this.
Solutions? I don’t have any. But, I’d suggest that if Dems don’t take back control of the nations purse-strings soon, this nation will go the way of Rome and the Third Reich.
It is the pure undiluted pomposity of the Kristols of the world that thrills the soul of every asshole who loves the cha-ching sound of successful exploitation and bombs dropping. The NY Times supports Hillary. They tell what truth they tell in order to control it and shape it into a proper and civilized imperialist narrative.
Taxes in Europe help secure the common welfare. Taxes in America are 80% tribute to international criminals. The real power is not in the vote; it’s in the revolutionary idea of no taxation without representation.
I believe it’s Pappy Pod who likes to talk about WWIV. It’s possible that Irving Kristol has retained a shred of sanity. Hence, you never hear much from him any more.
Bill Kristol is just another educated savage and polished-ass neocon who managed to avoid military duty while he sits in his executive chair preaching “patriotism” to the ignorant masses who will support, as well as fight his ideological imperial wars.
woo hoo - kickass writing! good work . . . swan . . .
Wow! These are really interesting Opinions, thus comments.
What can one expect when a Nation knowingly allows two(2) Presidential elections to be stolen from the People, that’s us, yet, demands no Accountability.
Now we see possibly a third(3) election denying the Choices of The People.
Hell! False president, Vice President = False War.
Pretty Intellegent Ummmmmmmmm!
Soul Searching! Good night Grandma-Grandpa-Uncle Jeff–Aunt-Susy– Nite Ma –Pa. Thank youall for leaving us such a fuckedup mess for generations to come.
You seemed to have gained the world, however, you sold your soul. My question is ” For What, For What?”
Well since everything is going so well as a gesture of overwhelming confidence in their work, Bush and Co. should all move there outside of the “Green Zone”. They should stay for at least a year, dropped off in the middle of the night in one of the many safe areas. I am sure they love to see and fully experience the wonderful work they have done.