Sunday January 30
Little Boys
Michael Jackson says "Please keep an open mind and let me have my day in court. I deserve a fair trial like every other American citizen. I will be acquitted and vindicated when the truth is told," he added. Jackson Protests Leaks, Predicts Acquittal [USAToday.com].
That's what Scott Peterson claimed, too. And this time there's no fishing alibi, because the gloved one from Neverland admitted on national television that he likes to have little boys sleep in his bed. Sadly, the next time we see this M.J. it will be when they handcuff him after his conviction for child molestation.
Posted by glenn at 03:08 PM
Saturday January 29
Fair & Balanced?
Carl Frank at No Oil for Pacifists has, once again, used me as his whipping boy, this time suggesting that I am some sort of lefty pacifist who is opposed to the U.S. using military force against terrorists.
Frank says I wrote him that "I don't 'resent' Bush, I just think it's ironic that a war started to stop an imminent threat that turned out not to be imminent." NO! Carl has disingenuously ommitted the most important part of my emailed comment, without even including an elipses.... Here's what I actually wrote:
Anyone who could just edit out all the stuff after the first dash is obviously not interested in a balanced or fair discussion of the issue. And any conservative who doesn't face up to the fact that the present rationale for the Iraq war -- making Iraq safe for democracy and to save Iraqis from Saddam's oppression -- is an ultra-liberal, leftist justification (Wilsonian foreign policy at its worst) is either self-deluding or just hypocritical. Without WMDs, the only reason for this war is "human rights," Jimmy Carter's albatross. Running away from accountability while presenting a shifting, neo-Wilsonian idealization of a war that started as a way to disarm a dictator who was said to have nukes pointed at Jerusalem and dirty bombs ready for explosion in New York is worse flip-flopping even than the greatest flip-flopper of them all, John Kerry.
Lest one think this is just another liberal or elitist Democrat talking (I am neither by the way), here's what George F. Will -- certainly not a liberal, leftist or even a Democrat -- says:
Duh. Will characterized the Bush doctrine of democratic nation-building as "the stunningly anticonservative idea animating the administration's foreign policy." Bush won't say "human rights" because it would expose him as a foreign policy liberal. His inauguration address was straight from John Kennedy in 1961, i.e., "bear any burden, pay any price . . . to ensure the survival of liberty" around the world. And to make matters worse, the day after the inauguration, the Administration immediately backtracked, using anonymous "sources" to announce that the speech did not mean what it said, that America would not intervene militarily in other nations to free people from tyranny and oppression.
Bush wants it both ways and so does his lapdog Frank. But reality has a way of intruding on idealism, which is what we have here. There needs to be an asterisk after the inauguration speech's stirring rehtoric about defense of freedom and liberty, namely "unless your country has lots of oil (e.g., Saudi Arabia) or supports the U.S. in the war on terrorism (e.g., Russia, Pakistan)." The rest of the world has long thought that American foreign policy was hypocritical because for decades this country supported dictators and repressive regimes out of Kissingerian realpolitik concerns. That caused the Iranian revolution in 1978 which started the whole Shiite Muslim backlash against America and the West.
Now we're finally at least fighting one war on the side of the oppressed, but our government is still caught in the same hypocritical trap. Putin and Musharef are oppressive, anti-democratic depots -- no need even to mention the House of Saud -- yet we support them without even a word of criticism. Oppressed people in other nations will rightly look at this, once again, as cynical, in turn devaluaing American ideals and the strength of our foreign policy. As Jonathan Alter observed, calling the liberty justification "a suspiciously convenient, third-string rationale for war:"
But Bush prefers Ronald Reagan to Wilson as an exemplar, which begins to explain where his vision falls short. Reagan wasn't much interested in promoting democracy except as a weapon to destroy the Soviet Union from within. All over the world, dictators like Saddam Hussein cheered his election. Reaganism was effective and inspiring but also hypocritical -- the kind of ersatz idealism that apparently allows Bush to press for democracy in every Middle Eastern country except the ones that sell us oil or help us fight terrorism. That's a rather long list.
Two more things. First, Frank implies that I am opposed to preemptive war and American unilateralism. Not true. As I blogged 18 months ago, well before the 2004 presidential race even really began, "Unilateralism is one thing -- something I most definitely can approve of -- but ginning up fake rationales is quite another." Second, Frank ends his ranting post with this admonition to me: "My recommendation, Glenn: courage" (which he links to a Wikipedia entry on Dan Rather, whom I have always detested). Well, that was also the name of Walter Cronkite's sailboat (his old one, before retirement). The same Cronkite, liberal and all, who by coming out against Lyndon Johnson and the Vietnam war changed the course of history. And it's the heart of JFK's book Profiles in Courage, from another liberal Democrat. So yes, Carl, "courage" indeed. Like the president you admire so much, you too are a closet liberal.
Oh, and my 13-year old son says "Don't mess with my dad." He's bigger than you, Carl (in so many ways, including character), so watch out!
Wednesday January 26
Liberal Bias or Alzheimer's?
Conservatives and Republicans love to rant about the supposed "liberal bias" in America media. I think it's the opposite -- that the right has so intimidated journalists that they afraid to do real reporting and point out the obvious.
Take today's story in the Washington Post about the President's new budget, which includes a record $427 billion deficit. A big part of that is another $80 billion for the Iraq war, bringing the total from 2003-2005 to $277 billion. "That $80 billion would come on top of $25 billion already appropriated for the war this year, pushing the total cost of fighting to $105 billion, up from $88 billion in 2004 and $78.6 billion in 2003." Record '05 Deficit Forecast.
That's not so bad. What is astounding, however, is that nowhere in the news story or the commentary does the Post point out that in the 2004 election debates, Bush-Cheney excoriated the Kerry-Edwards ticket for saying that the war would cost "$200 million." VP Cheney roundly chastized Edwards on October 5, 2004:
CHENEY: Well, Gwen . . . [w]ith respect to the cost, it wasn't $200 billion. You probably weren't there to vote for that. But $120 billion is, in fact, what has been allocated to Iraq. The rest of it's for Afghanistan and the global war on terror. . . . So your facts are just wrong, Senator.
Same thing in the last (October 13) presidential debate.
Well, the facts were NOT wrong. The United States spent $166.6 billion on the Iraq war in '03-'04 and is spending another $125 billion this year. That's way more than $200 billion, but no one in the "liberal" media has the cohones or gray matter to point it out. They're not biased liberals, they're forgetful cowards.
Tuesday January 25
Privacy of Consenting Adults
Supreme Court Justice Scalia warned of it in 2003 year when the court ruled sodomy laws unconstitutional, and now it has happened. A federal judge in Western Pennsylavnia has decided that the government has no right to outlaw the private consumption of obscene materials in the privacy of one's home. Handed down last week, but only highlighted on Nightline last evening, this decision could be an historic change in the status of "morality" legislation in the United States.
That is, as the court held, "the federal obscenity statutes burden an individual's fundamental right to possess, read, observe and think about what he chooses in the privacy of his own home by completely banning the distribution of obscene materials."
Ah, I am sure those red-state social conservatives are just pining away for the days of "Reefer Madness." Well, we've come a long way baby.
Monday January 24
Dove of Democracy
This photo of Ukraine's Victor Yushekno releasing a white dove as part of the celebration of his election as president -- and the "Orange Revolution" behind it -- is poignant and moving.
.
Now if only Russia and Vladimir Putin can keep their mitts off long enough to permit democracy to triumph over czarist despotisim, then the dove might actually signify something other than false hopes.
Sunday January 23
Let It Snow
You've gotta love how those who live in sunny (or at least relatively warm) climates treat a snowstorm. It's always the "worst of the century" and a "devastating" weather event. Airports and Highways Snarled as Blizzard Pounds Northeast [SeattleTimes.com].
But the reality is that two feet of snow -- which is what Boston experienced over the weekend -- is hardly a lot compared with snowfall from the 19th and 20th centuries, including as recently as 1978. And airport closures have nothing to do with how bad a storm is, only that clearing snow always takes a while.
So for those who get out their worry beads when the white flakes start to fall back East, don't worry. It's just snow.
Friday January 21
Banana Republic
Last evening on ABC's World News Tonight, commentator George F. Will said that the unprecedented security surrounding the presidential inauguration made America "look like a banana republic worried about a restive tank regiment at the edge of town. It was unworthy of the occasion." (Too bad they don't post transcripts on the ABC Web site.) It is really scary not only what 9/11 has done to liberty in America, but also that Will and I (once again) agree.
Thursday January 20
Police State Security
The media reports predicted that the security precautions for today's 55th presidential inauguration in Washington, D.C. would be "unprecedented." Well, one had to be there -- as I was this morning and afternoon -- to appreciate what 9/11 and the like have done to America.
Whole sections of downtown were locked off, blocked by buses and guarded by SWAT teams with high-powered rifles. Iron barricades lined all of Pennsylvania Avenue, so spectators were crammed together into small cordoned-off areas, and police and military personnel formed a human barrier for 1 1/2 miles down the entire parade route. In the skies surveillance aircraft hovered constantly, riot police with billy clubs in hand were everywhere, snipers positioned on every rooftop and it seemed like every other person in the crowd had a Secret Service radio ear-piece. (The photo below -- click for the full-sized shot -- is the presidential motorcade passing by on its way back to the White House. Note the salutes from the sailors on the right and across the street at the Justice Department.) Unbelievable. And scary.
All of this contrasts sharply with Dubya's attempt at stirring rhetoric of freedom and liberty. I remarked months ago that 9/11 was making D.C. look like Beirut. Today it looked more like the "Green Zone" in Baghdad. The ideals of America and our Constitution are indeed a beacon of hope. But while most of the country and the world will see only the photo op of Bush walking, smiling and waving for 1/2 block in front of the White House, the reality is that this Administration is so spooked it is afraid of its own citizens. Abraham Lincoln and John Kennedy are turning over in their graves. It's just hard to understand how a president can pretend to represent the people when he governs inside a fortress, walled off from those who wait hours in the cold just for a glance. We now have a president and a government of the FBI, by the Secret Service and for the military -- not the people.
So the question is, does Bush "put up" with this like Clinton, or does he really like the sterility of a capitol city and political culture in which the citizenry and its leaders are separated by guns, military squadrons and miles of barriers? I hope it is not the latter, but fear that's exactly what is going on here.
Wednesday January 19
Growing Into the Job
David Ignatius of the Washington Post, hardly a paragon of conservatism, says that George W. Bush has grown into his role as president. Bush's Next Test [washingtonpost.com].
I disagree strongly with a lot of his positions, but agree that Bush has indeed grown into the post over the past four years. Now if only, like the rest of us mere mortals, he could admit error from time to time.
Thursday January 13
Comet-Blasting
So our NASA engineers have design a comet probe -- dubbed Deep Impact -- that will smash into the Comet Tempel 1 millions of miles away near Jupiter at about 23,000 miles an hour on July 4, snapping images until the last minute. The probe is designed to give researchers their closest look yet at a comet's surface and help decipher the origins of the universe, as comets are remnants of the beginnings of solar systems after the Big Bang. Comet-Blasting Mission is 'Go' for Launch [MSNBC.com].
But if that's the case, why can't our Pentagon engineers make a suborbital rocket that can hit an inbound nuclear missile? "Star Wars" for comets, but not people. Food for thought.
Monday January 10
The End of Brett?
In an article rightly titled Sunset on the Frozen Tundra?, Michael Wilbon todays asks:
I hope Wilbon's wrong and that Favre is not finished and does not retire. But if he does, I will feel especially happy that I got to watch Brett in person at Lambeau Field engineering one of his patented two-minute drill comebacks this season. See the photos. As I commented then, it was an almost religious experience.
Rooney's Ass
Fox is refusing to air a commercial on the SuperBowl in which octagenarian Mickey Rooney -- in an ad for an over-the-counter cold remedy -- briefly shows his ass while in a sauna. Fox says that its "standards and development department" concluded that the commercial should be "deemed inappropriate for broadcast television." But that euphamism does nothing to disguise the simple fact that Fox is afraid of the FCC's unprincipled "indecency" campaign that started a year ago with Janet Jackson's "nipplegate" affair. That a major national broadcast television network cannot distinguish a breast from buttocks and titilation from advertisement is a sad testament to the terribly coercive media self-censorship resulting from the lack of any predictability to the FCC's politically motivated enforcement policies.
Friday January 7
Somebody's Crazy Here
OK, so this afternoon Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston announced they were splitting up after 4 1/2 years of marriage. The End of Brad and Jen [E! Online News]. This just a few weeks following a well-publicized caribbean cruise over New Year's featuring lots of kissing and cuddling. Well, that was all a charade, as they've been discussing separating for months.
More importantly, these two have got to be nuts. We're talking the number 1 stud in Hollywoon and an absolutely adorable (and talented) comedic actress. They were made for each other. It's a sad reality of the entertainment industry that most marriages look more like one-night hook-ups than anything resembling real commitment. Anyone who would throw either of these people out of their bed is definitely insane, or at least bi-polar, including both Brad and Jen themselves.
Monday January 3
The Barber of New York
The end of the NFL season for the New York Giants came last evening in The Meadowlands, as Eli Manning threw three touchdown passes and Tiki Barber scored a TD with just seconds left to cap an exciting comback win. That's a good note on which to finish a miserable football season for a 6-10 team that lost 8 straight games.
But it's also the feel good story of the year, since Barber broke franchise records for most career rushing yards and most rushing yards in a season on the game's final play. Especially because Barber was lambasted last year for fumbling -- something he did only once in 2004 -- and thought by many to be too small to be an every-down running back in the NFL, this must be especially rewarding for him. "This is fitting," said Giants' coach Tom Coughlin, who celebrated the TD with a fist pump that spun him 180 degrees. "He made up his mind that despite all the things that were being said about him, his skills were still there. He's been a great inspiration to his teammates."
We're Not Alone
By the end of 2004, seven percent of U.S. adults, or more than 8 million people, had written a blog, according to a recent study. Big Boost for Blogs in 2004 [ZDNet.com]. But at the same time, a majority of Americans still do not know what a blog is.
This amusing contradicton was brought home to me last week, at lunch with an old friend. He knew that blog was shorthand for "weblog," but had never seen one and just could not get his arms around the concept that ordinary people now are empowered to write about -- and publish on the Internet -- anything they want. So the blogosphere is gaining traction, but like the Internet itself will take some time before its mysterious DNA is explicable to the casual user. Back in the "old days" of 1994-95, the Web itself was the same way. In other words, everything new is really old!
Not that all this stuff is so great, however. Witness an article today in the New York Times about whacko politico-scientific "theories" for how the War in Iraq actually caused the Southeast Asian tsunamis of last week, i.e., revealing that even faced with real suffering by millions of people on this sphere we call Earth, "the blogosphere's tendency toward crackpot theorizing and political smack down could not be suppressed for long."
Sunday January 2
Permanently Ludicrous
This is a wickedly bad idea but one that fits perfectly with the Bush Administration's over-the-top approach to the war on terrorism. Now the Bushies want $25 million to transform the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba into a "permanent" prison for detainees "whom the government does not have enough evidence to charge in courts." [Reuters.com].
Although the Supreme Court decided emphatically last Spring that detainees must be afforded some process to challenge their confinement (writing that "a state of war is not a blank check for the President"), the Pentagon plans to build a 200-bed prison at Gitmo "to hold detainees who are unlikely to ever go through a military tribunal for lack of evidence," defense officials told the Washington Post. Even Lee at Right Thinking From the Left Coast calls this plan "lunacy" and "absolutely, unequivocally, fucking outrageous."
See, Lee, conservatism and libertarianism are not the same thing. As this sad episode shows clearly, the former often have far more in common with authoritarians -- a/k/a facists -- than democrats with a small "d." So no wonder that George W. Bush likes Russian President Putin so much. Putin rules with the iron fist that conservatives want to use here in America but are afraid to say so out loud.