In my latest journey in the United States, I visited the Jersey shore. If 21st century America is distinguished by its media,then we should pay close attention to their content and style. These little trips are the only time I get to listen to talk radio and watch television.
Right-wing radio is very different in the New York-Tri-State area. In the Midwest, it is round the clock social conservatism--warnings about Obama as an enthusiastic abortionist and lover of The Gay. Given the higher economic status in the New Jersey, New York, Connecticut area, the themes are the "progressive socialist" agenda of Barack Obama and the real threats posed by estate taxes, hikes in the income taxes for the top brackets and corporate taxes. To avoid this you have to elect pure conservatives and buy gold coins. Every portfolio needs gold because of the horrors that are to happen--not what has happened. Democrats are pursuing their progressive agenda that was created by Franklin Roosevelt, who has re-emerged as the devil, and was continued on through Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and now Barack Hussein Obama (emphasis on the Middle Name). Barack Obama wants to cap the amount you earn and wants everyone's wages to be the same because he is an egalitarian. He is doing this because liberals are committed to redistributive economics and reparations to the victims of our society. If he is not stopped, then our experiment in self-government is threatened. The nervousness about our ability to govern ourselves is a curious and ominous undercurrent to alot of conservative talk these days.
The collapse of the financial system in 2008 was the fault of Bill Clinton, Barney Frank and Fannie Mae. On one aspect they did get it right: Clinton signed the Republican bill that de-regulated the derivative market. Fannie Mae promoted home ownership for minorities. And Barney Frank is of a certain ethnic identity and is gay. Now Obama is punishing the productive sectors of society with his large tax increases (so far I have yet heard from anyone who can tell me what taxes he increased). If corporations were free--like they are not, our economy would be in fine shape.
The callers were predominantly white males in their fifties, who worked for the "financial sector". They attacked Obama for trying to "take over" the economy through the Wall Street Reform bill. To them, President Obama--they never call him President--is a dangerous ideologue, who wants to increase the federal government. No one mentioned that George W. Bush increased both the size and power of the executive branch of government to the largest extent since FDR. In fact, none of the talk show hosts or callers even mentioned George W. Bush or Dick Cheney. They have been airbrushed out of history.
One woman called. She is a Republican candidate for Congress from the Jersey Shore. She claimed the average family income in her district was $33,000 and that Barack Obama was going to increase the taxes of everyone over $21,000 and these poor souls can't afford this. Since I am only aware of tax-hikes over $250,000, she must have new information. She also warned that the marriage tax would come back. The host cheered her on.
One host surprised me--Bob Grant. Bob Grant has been reduced to two hours a week. While he professed support for the tea party movement, he objected to their behavior. He urged his listeners to vote for the moderate Republican, who may have defeated the tea party candidate because he said the Democrats were the enemy. Callers denounced him saying that only "true conservatives" would implement the policies the country needs and that RINOs were traitors. Poor Bob Grant still thinks that politics is sometimes the art of compromise. One woman provided the comic moment--she was a teabaggers from Brooklyn but couldn't find another Republican in the whole borough.
A theme that was repeated was that voters in the Tri-State region should support Carly Fiorina in California because she was a former CEO. Somehow the theme that business types would actually make good politicians survives since the days of Lee Iacoca and Ross Perot.
The New York Post has the tone and content of the New York Times if it is compared to the fare on television. In some ways, the explanation of Fox News is in comparison to other cable television entertainment shows, not compared to news shows. The 100+ channels have taken Jerry Springer to an intergalactic level. Aside from watching shows on Greg Nettles and Whitey Ford on the Yankee channel, I watched an endless stream of people engaged in every vice, admitting to the most horrible personal failings and dressed in the tackiest fashions on the planet. The 24/7 entertainment shows revealed the most horrendous taste in everything anyone can imagine--even food.
Demographics clearly affect the schedule. One show highlighted a young woman as a radio announcer who partied with her girlfriends and some young studs and spent the night snorting cocaine. Another show encouraged parents to surrender their children to the cops before they went bad. Parents had their children handcuffed and taken away to jail. A paternal police officer tells the distraught father,"it's for the best" as his son is carted off to the patrol car. Geraldo Rivera or Jerry Rivers as some of us remember him recreates the murder of the American tourist in Aruba. This time it's nice to see that the special correspondent is Geraldo's son. Another show is Jersey Couture--believe me, there really is none. Or Desparate Houswives in New Jersey--neurotic women with bad taste who have too much time on their hands. What's interesting is that no one in these shows is rooted to a specific place or neighborhood. For a region teeming with ethnic enclaves and neighborhoods, the shows are peopled with individuals of indeterminate race and ethnicity and slightly above white trash in terms of economic class. This is the new homogenization of suburbia.
There is one disgraceful fact about America which its citizens refuse to confront or debate. The United States has more prisoners than the entire world combined! So what do you do with these prisoners--you make television shows. A foreigner looking at these shows must think we are the latest version of the movie Brazil. There is a series called Lockdown, which focuses on the searches of prisoner's cells for contraband and the placement of prisoners into isolation. The series gives you a tour of the United States. I saw San Quentin, Nashville, New Mexico, and Angola in Louisiana in just two nights. The prison staff are interviewed in the beginning about all the horrible things they have experienced and then we cut to troops of helmeted riot squads pepper spraying an inmate and dragging him out of his cell for the inspection. This scene is repeated in every episode in all the prisons.
Once in a while there is a break. At Angola, you get to see the new program for constructing nice coffins for the elderly inmates and an inmate saying that he has built a good life in prison while building these rather handsome caskets. In New Mexico, they set up a rather sadistic scene of a middle-aged Hispanic man, expecting parole in 48 hours, being told that there was a clerical error. Prison officials forgot to add three months to his parole because of infractions four years ago. It's clear the prison officials got a charge at screwing the guy and the television producers got terrific television.
Liberals can contend with the state's public broadcasting network. This has grown more sophisticated since the days I lived there. They hosted a Carole King-James Taylor concert, a Kris Kristofferson retrospective, and a Pete Seeger memoir.
Since we are talking New Jersey, there is a regular show called Mob Talk, which is a tour of famous places where mob hits went down. At least this show portrays real neighborhoods. I watched two shows on slain mob boss Angie Bruno, who lived in Philadelphia. Then there appeared a strange show on Tommy James and the Shondells. Doug Payne and I interviewed Tommy James for our book on rock and roll stars from the past. Well, Tommy has a new book out about his relationship with the New York mafia and how his record label and his producer was mobbed up. I never knew. He recounted how he played Red Bank and the mob concert organizer wouldn't pay him until Tommy pulled his own credentials on the guy. He paid up in minutes.
Is media real or Memorex? Do people watch to feel better about themselves or do they want to imitate what is on the screen? I've never decided. But I think you can understand the appeal of Sarah Palin if you watch the entertainment shows on American television. She is a perfect character from these shows and is readily understandable to the audience. The same applies to Fox News. Fox News is just a type of reality show but with more cleancut people. In other words, you watch Fox for the same emotional pitch but can feign you're a snob over the people who watch Lockup. You are part of the Jacobin elite if you're watching Fox.
American politics becomes reality television--what a concept!
Monday, June 14, 2010
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
June Primaries
Last night I watched as every network, pundit, Politico, Karl Rove predicted Bill Halter would win the Democratic primary in Arkansas. Virtually everyone in the Beltway predicted it. So there is a lesson here--the pundits don't know anything and they are overpaid to not know anything. It was an early night as Blanche Lincoln won her primary. Either way, it looks like the next Senator from Arkansas will be the extreme-right wing Republican Boozman. Of course, Blanche received a little help with some suspicious closing of stations in her rival's areas of strength.
The sultry Sikh Nikki Haley is on the verge of winning the Republican nominee for Governor of South Carolina. She promises to resign if people really prove she had two affairs. In the state, the shocker for Republicans was that incumbent congressman Bob Inglis looks like he will lose the run-off to an even farther right-winger. The other upset was the impossible victory of Alvin Greene, an unemployed vet, as the Democratic nominee to run against Jim DeMint.
It was not a good night for Mike Huckabee, almost all the candidates he backed lost their primary bids. The good news is that all of them were from the Christian Right. Sarah Palin endorsements have been hailed as important but on closer look that doesn't look like much. She backed Nikki Haley, and the California girls, but her congressional candidates lost. Even the Chicken Lady, Sue Lowden, who was backed by Palin, lost. And Palin's previous support in Idaho boom-a-ranged on the candidate.
As for the great new hot shots picked by the Republican Congressional Committee, all three in Iowa lost and four others have lost in previous primaries. These were the hand-picked candidates of the party, who were given wads of money. They were beaten by people who had served in elected office before and campaigned on local, not national issues.
The new theme of the media is that this is the year of Conservative Women. I guess the anti-incumbent theme was not working out. But to make that work, you have to include Carly Fiorina and Meg Whitman as conservatives and not robber barons. Whitman spent an astonishing $70 million of her own money to win the Republican primary in California; Fiorina $7 million of her own. While both went hard-right, it's ironic that both had contributed to the Gore and Boxer campaigns in the past. The only real right-wing high profile winner last night was Susan Angle, the John Bircher woman in Nevada.
In the anti-incumbent fever generated by the media, someone walked back the Gallup polls over the last two decades where over 40% of Americans didn't want their own congressman elected. Comparing the years with return of the incumbent, this blogger found that it was roughly 85% incumbents being re-elected. This person explained that this was logical because our system is a majority system and roughly 40% of Americans always want their incumbent out.
There is nothing in last night's elections that given any clue of some over-arching theme this year. In Nevada, it looks like voters will split their ticket--vote against Rory Reid, and vote for Harry. The Republicans actually nominated someone normal in Brian Sandoval, who beat sex-scandal plagued Gibbons. The great GOP targeting of Harry Reid is looking like it's going up in smoke.
Americans don't seem to care for rank amateurs. Jerry Brown easily won the Democratic nomination for governor in California; and former Governor Terry Branstad won the Republican nod in Iowa. And, Obama as the Black Bogeyman seems only to work in the already Republican south. People seem more interested in local affairs and not the political line du jour. Even the "white supremacists" in Montana didn't pull off the coup in the Republican primaries. Maybe Americans really don't like overtly creepy people.
I was devastated by the loss of Moldovan-Israeli karate expert Orly Taitz, the Queen of the Birthers. It would have made the Secretary of State race in California interesting.
Even Judge Roberts embrace of America by the corporations, for the corporations doesn't seem to be panning out so well. The Supreme Court has knocked out the Arizona Fair Elections law, which would have allowed state funding of elections. The timing would benefit John McCain but no one else. But even still, the heavily corporate funded Republican "hot shots" lost. The wealthy candidates like Whitman, Fiorina and Linda McMahon have won but on their own dime.
So far, I'm still at a traditional view of the 2010 election--usual losses of the president's party according to historical lines--nothing so dramatic.
I keep watching the Texas governor's race. it seems the GOP is taking no chances but trying to facilitate the Green Party getting on the ballot.
The sultry Sikh Nikki Haley is on the verge of winning the Republican nominee for Governor of South Carolina. She promises to resign if people really prove she had two affairs. In the state, the shocker for Republicans was that incumbent congressman Bob Inglis looks like he will lose the run-off to an even farther right-winger. The other upset was the impossible victory of Alvin Greene, an unemployed vet, as the Democratic nominee to run against Jim DeMint.
It was not a good night for Mike Huckabee, almost all the candidates he backed lost their primary bids. The good news is that all of them were from the Christian Right. Sarah Palin endorsements have been hailed as important but on closer look that doesn't look like much. She backed Nikki Haley, and the California girls, but her congressional candidates lost. Even the Chicken Lady, Sue Lowden, who was backed by Palin, lost. And Palin's previous support in Idaho boom-a-ranged on the candidate.
As for the great new hot shots picked by the Republican Congressional Committee, all three in Iowa lost and four others have lost in previous primaries. These were the hand-picked candidates of the party, who were given wads of money. They were beaten by people who had served in elected office before and campaigned on local, not national issues.
The new theme of the media is that this is the year of Conservative Women. I guess the anti-incumbent theme was not working out. But to make that work, you have to include Carly Fiorina and Meg Whitman as conservatives and not robber barons. Whitman spent an astonishing $70 million of her own money to win the Republican primary in California; Fiorina $7 million of her own. While both went hard-right, it's ironic that both had contributed to the Gore and Boxer campaigns in the past. The only real right-wing high profile winner last night was Susan Angle, the John Bircher woman in Nevada.
In the anti-incumbent fever generated by the media, someone walked back the Gallup polls over the last two decades where over 40% of Americans didn't want their own congressman elected. Comparing the years with return of the incumbent, this blogger found that it was roughly 85% incumbents being re-elected. This person explained that this was logical because our system is a majority system and roughly 40% of Americans always want their incumbent out.
There is nothing in last night's elections that given any clue of some over-arching theme this year. In Nevada, it looks like voters will split their ticket--vote against Rory Reid, and vote for Harry. The Republicans actually nominated someone normal in Brian Sandoval, who beat sex-scandal plagued Gibbons. The great GOP targeting of Harry Reid is looking like it's going up in smoke.
Americans don't seem to care for rank amateurs. Jerry Brown easily won the Democratic nomination for governor in California; and former Governor Terry Branstad won the Republican nod in Iowa. And, Obama as the Black Bogeyman seems only to work in the already Republican south. People seem more interested in local affairs and not the political line du jour. Even the "white supremacists" in Montana didn't pull off the coup in the Republican primaries. Maybe Americans really don't like overtly creepy people.
I was devastated by the loss of Moldovan-Israeli karate expert Orly Taitz, the Queen of the Birthers. It would have made the Secretary of State race in California interesting.
Even Judge Roberts embrace of America by the corporations, for the corporations doesn't seem to be panning out so well. The Supreme Court has knocked out the Arizona Fair Elections law, which would have allowed state funding of elections. The timing would benefit John McCain but no one else. But even still, the heavily corporate funded Republican "hot shots" lost. The wealthy candidates like Whitman, Fiorina and Linda McMahon have won but on their own dime.
So far, I'm still at a traditional view of the 2010 election--usual losses of the president's party according to historical lines--nothing so dramatic.
I keep watching the Texas governor's race. it seems the GOP is taking no chances but trying to facilitate the Green Party getting on the ballot.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Go-Kart Races at Gitmo
Now we know why we can't close Gitmo--the US spent $500 million to construct a Go-Kart track, a Taco Bell, a Starbucks franchise and nifty neon signs that say "Welcome to the Pearl of the Antilles". I hope they allow the Uighurs to hold go-kart races to pass the time.
Rod Blagovich showed up at court today with the man who taught me how to write a lead graph for newspapers--the one and only Jimmy Breslin. In the prehistoric age, Breslin wrote for the New York Daily News and spent his time smoking stoogies in the newsroom, while I was to write a piece on the Angolan Civil War. "What's the most interesting thing you experienced?" "Walking along a riverbed at night guided by diamonds. shining in moonlight." "That's your lead." Then he went back to cheerleading the newsroom on to call into a local station, which was running a poll "Are you straight?" or "Are you gay?" . The gays had just taken a lead but with Jimmy's prodding the newroom pushed the poll back to a lead for straights. Cheers went up and deadline was just ten minutes away and he sat down and pounded out his column right on time.
Chris Hedges posted an article on Truthdig "The Christian Fascists are Growing Stronger". While I agree with his analysis, I disagree that they will become the force I had feared. Just keep them away from the school system.
Bernard Henri-Levy wrote a scathing op-ed in Europe against the Free Gaza Flotilla and lamented that a writer of the stature of Henning Mankell could fall trap to the disinformation. He did spend one sentence lamenting the stupidity of Israel's actions. But unnoticed was Henri-Levy's communications within Israel itself, where he asked Israelis to act more responsibly because people like himself, who had defended Israel against the European Left for years, have found it tougher to get traction in light of recent actions.
Former McCain aide, Tony Cordesman send a blast across the bow with the CSIS publication "Israel as a Strategic Liability". The piece found its way into articles in the New York Times. Cordesman warned that the depth of America's moral commitment to Israel does not justify or excuse actions by an Israeli government that unnecessarily make Israel a strategic liability when it should remain an asset. So far, there hasn't been the usual AIPAC blowback against Cordesman but there will be.
However, the same day of the seizure of the Turkish ferry, the head of Mossad Meir Dagan addressed the Knesset and said openly that Israel had become a strategic liability to the United States. A speech that received little press in the United States. He attacked the notion that it was somehow because Obama was elected President of the United States. He said he had been quietly warned by the George W, Bush administration about this and that the problem doesn't go away by waiting out Obama's term.
Even conservative columnist Ross Douthat has published two pieces now that call on Israel to adopt new strategies or else face destruction from within.
We've now had the Turkish Prime Minister vow to join the next flotilla, accompanied by the Turkish Navy. This was followed by Iran vowing to send its aid agencies escorted by the Revoutionary Guard. And, to top it off, German Jews are going to send their own ship to Gaza filled with musical instruments. "All tactics, not strategy" Bibi is now transitioning from F troop to McHale's Navy. We should have some naval battles shortly.
The good news is that there is now a spirited debate within Israel among the elites over the whole fiasco. For the last two days,Haaretz running op-eds blasting the "commando complex" and the "bunker mentality" of the coalition government. Prestigious voices such as Amos Oz and David Grossman have weighed in, arguing that Israel must understand the limits of forces. Doron Rosenblum quotes an Israeli official as actually calling the absence of Palestinian terror a "propaganda problem".
Kadima chairwoman Tzipi Livni submitted a motion of no-confidence motion in the Netanyahu government for its botched handling of the Gaza flotilla and claimed Israel could have avoided the international isolation it now faces. She accused the government of destroying Israel's stance in the world and its security in the Middle East. "This is not just a temporary event that will pass. This is a continuous process under which Israel is becoming isolated from the world." Naturally, Bibi demanded the opposition stand by him as he did the government during Operation Cast lead and the Second Lebanon War.
Meanwhile Joe Biden was trapsing around Egypt saying that the United States would be seeking ways to ameliorate the effects of the Gaza embargo and like a good scout called on the continuation of the proximity talks.
For trivia nuts, Bibi Netanyahu is a Facebook friend of Orly Taitz, the Queen of the Birthers, who is running for Secretary of State in California. If conservatives face an epistemic closure, the Likud party and their allies are also, surrounding themselves in the American echo-chamber of the right surrounded by people like Rev. John Hagee and others of the Religious Right. The tea Party movement itself is funded by two of Likud's biggest donors.
Until this Gaza episode, I had not known there were actually Israeli self-styled " neoconservatives" with journals and think-tanks of their own. From some of their writings, they appear to be very Americanized in their arguments. One of which argued that Israel should use the threat of its nuclear arsenal to make Arab states do what Israel wants. It's like they were channeling Dick Cheney's American nationalism. We now have Israeli exceptionalism but American-style. It's so strange that Ariel Sharon now towers over this crew as a wise statesman. It almost seems like he should wake up from his coma to shake some sense into the ruling coalition.
Col. Wilkinson has appeared now for an extensive three-part interview on Dick Cheney and his effects on America. Col. Wilkinson argues that Cheney is not a neo-con but an American nationalist, harkening back to the days of the America Firsters. While I had always associated America Firsters with isolationists,he argues that it was really not so. Instead,they argued for American nationalism and unilateral action abroad. What we conveniently forget is that the George W. Bush era was in fact the time of "National-Greatness Conservatives", the brainchild of William Kristol. Part of this greatness would be achieved by adopting the policy of "pre-emptory war" and massive de-regulation to fuel the economy. The glorious aftereffects we will be feeling for a long time to come.
If you like the idea of a more small ball America, Peter Beinart has a new book out--The Icarus Syndrome: A History of American Hubris (Harper, 2010)--in which he argues that the United States as the world's sole superpower has faded with the disaster of the last administration and can be replaced by an America that focuses on its internal development and cultivating a different relationship with the world. Once I've digested it, I'll report on its ideas.
Today are the primaries in about a dozen states, which will be interesting to the extent that lunatics win their party's nominations. Off everyone's radar are the primary races among Republicans in Montana where there is a good chance the "white supremacists" will seize the party. South Carolina continues to amuse with charges that the Republican woman candidate for governor is a "ragtop", who is ashamed of her God (she's a Christian) and whose father, a Sikh, is organizing a Sikh conspiracy to take over the State. Also, she has been accused of having two affairs. For Democrats, the race to watch is the primary between Blanche Lincoln and Bill Halter. But it's an all-Republican show. By tonight, we will know whether Nevada will pit the Chicken Lady or the Teabagger against Harry Reid.
Lastly, Sarah Palin's new fence is higher than the old Berlin Wall. Joe McGinness is probably the greatest threat to our national security.
Rod Blagovich showed up at court today with the man who taught me how to write a lead graph for newspapers--the one and only Jimmy Breslin. In the prehistoric age, Breslin wrote for the New York Daily News and spent his time smoking stoogies in the newsroom, while I was to write a piece on the Angolan Civil War. "What's the most interesting thing you experienced?" "Walking along a riverbed at night guided by diamonds. shining in moonlight." "That's your lead." Then he went back to cheerleading the newsroom on to call into a local station, which was running a poll "Are you straight?" or "Are you gay?" . The gays had just taken a lead but with Jimmy's prodding the newroom pushed the poll back to a lead for straights. Cheers went up and deadline was just ten minutes away and he sat down and pounded out his column right on time.
Chris Hedges posted an article on Truthdig "The Christian Fascists are Growing Stronger". While I agree with his analysis, I disagree that they will become the force I had feared. Just keep them away from the school system.
Bernard Henri-Levy wrote a scathing op-ed in Europe against the Free Gaza Flotilla and lamented that a writer of the stature of Henning Mankell could fall trap to the disinformation. He did spend one sentence lamenting the stupidity of Israel's actions. But unnoticed was Henri-Levy's communications within Israel itself, where he asked Israelis to act more responsibly because people like himself, who had defended Israel against the European Left for years, have found it tougher to get traction in light of recent actions.
Former McCain aide, Tony Cordesman send a blast across the bow with the CSIS publication "Israel as a Strategic Liability". The piece found its way into articles in the New York Times. Cordesman warned that the depth of America's moral commitment to Israel does not justify or excuse actions by an Israeli government that unnecessarily make Israel a strategic liability when it should remain an asset. So far, there hasn't been the usual AIPAC blowback against Cordesman but there will be.
However, the same day of the seizure of the Turkish ferry, the head of Mossad Meir Dagan addressed the Knesset and said openly that Israel had become a strategic liability to the United States. A speech that received little press in the United States. He attacked the notion that it was somehow because Obama was elected President of the United States. He said he had been quietly warned by the George W, Bush administration about this and that the problem doesn't go away by waiting out Obama's term.
Even conservative columnist Ross Douthat has published two pieces now that call on Israel to adopt new strategies or else face destruction from within.
We've now had the Turkish Prime Minister vow to join the next flotilla, accompanied by the Turkish Navy. This was followed by Iran vowing to send its aid agencies escorted by the Revoutionary Guard. And, to top it off, German Jews are going to send their own ship to Gaza filled with musical instruments. "All tactics, not strategy" Bibi is now transitioning from F troop to McHale's Navy. We should have some naval battles shortly.
The good news is that there is now a spirited debate within Israel among the elites over the whole fiasco. For the last two days,Haaretz running op-eds blasting the "commando complex" and the "bunker mentality" of the coalition government. Prestigious voices such as Amos Oz and David Grossman have weighed in, arguing that Israel must understand the limits of forces. Doron Rosenblum quotes an Israeli official as actually calling the absence of Palestinian terror a "propaganda problem".
Kadima chairwoman Tzipi Livni submitted a motion of no-confidence motion in the Netanyahu government for its botched handling of the Gaza flotilla and claimed Israel could have avoided the international isolation it now faces. She accused the government of destroying Israel's stance in the world and its security in the Middle East. "This is not just a temporary event that will pass. This is a continuous process under which Israel is becoming isolated from the world." Naturally, Bibi demanded the opposition stand by him as he did the government during Operation Cast lead and the Second Lebanon War.
Meanwhile Joe Biden was trapsing around Egypt saying that the United States would be seeking ways to ameliorate the effects of the Gaza embargo and like a good scout called on the continuation of the proximity talks.
For trivia nuts, Bibi Netanyahu is a Facebook friend of Orly Taitz, the Queen of the Birthers, who is running for Secretary of State in California. If conservatives face an epistemic closure, the Likud party and their allies are also, surrounding themselves in the American echo-chamber of the right surrounded by people like Rev. John Hagee and others of the Religious Right. The tea Party movement itself is funded by two of Likud's biggest donors.
Until this Gaza episode, I had not known there were actually Israeli self-styled " neoconservatives" with journals and think-tanks of their own. From some of their writings, they appear to be very Americanized in their arguments. One of which argued that Israel should use the threat of its nuclear arsenal to make Arab states do what Israel wants. It's like they were channeling Dick Cheney's American nationalism. We now have Israeli exceptionalism but American-style. It's so strange that Ariel Sharon now towers over this crew as a wise statesman. It almost seems like he should wake up from his coma to shake some sense into the ruling coalition.
Col. Wilkinson has appeared now for an extensive three-part interview on Dick Cheney and his effects on America. Col. Wilkinson argues that Cheney is not a neo-con but an American nationalist, harkening back to the days of the America Firsters. While I had always associated America Firsters with isolationists,he argues that it was really not so. Instead,they argued for American nationalism and unilateral action abroad. What we conveniently forget is that the George W. Bush era was in fact the time of "National-Greatness Conservatives", the brainchild of William Kristol. Part of this greatness would be achieved by adopting the policy of "pre-emptory war" and massive de-regulation to fuel the economy. The glorious aftereffects we will be feeling for a long time to come.
If you like the idea of a more small ball America, Peter Beinart has a new book out--The Icarus Syndrome: A History of American Hubris (Harper, 2010)--in which he argues that the United States as the world's sole superpower has faded with the disaster of the last administration and can be replaced by an America that focuses on its internal development and cultivating a different relationship with the world. Once I've digested it, I'll report on its ideas.
Today are the primaries in about a dozen states, which will be interesting to the extent that lunatics win their party's nominations. Off everyone's radar are the primary races among Republicans in Montana where there is a good chance the "white supremacists" will seize the party. South Carolina continues to amuse with charges that the Republican woman candidate for governor is a "ragtop", who is ashamed of her God (she's a Christian) and whose father, a Sikh, is organizing a Sikh conspiracy to take over the State. Also, she has been accused of having two affairs. For Democrats, the race to watch is the primary between Blanche Lincoln and Bill Halter. But it's an all-Republican show. By tonight, we will know whether Nevada will pit the Chicken Lady or the Teabagger against Harry Reid.
Lastly, Sarah Palin's new fence is higher than the old Berlin Wall. Joe McGinness is probably the greatest threat to our national security.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
The Free Gaza Flotilla
Friends don't let friends commit suicide. Bibi Nentanyahu frequently invokes Masada like the teabaggers and Glenn Beck invoke the Alamo. So is the heroic ideal really to be extinguished in a futile military operation? The Jewish defenders of Masada committed suicide to prevent capture by the Romans. Is this the only viable policy option for Tel Aviv today? Do we really believe the Free Gaza Flotilla presented an "existential threat" to the state of Israel? From some of the commentary here in the States you would believe so.
What's worrisome to a supporter of the state of Israel is that the only people supporting it around the world are the extreme right in the United States, which has anti-semitic problems of their own, and politicians who have been conditioned over the years to provide Israel with a blank check for operations, which have become increasingly clumsily carried out and counter-productive to providing the country with true security.
Robert Fisk, someone who has been anti-Israel throughout his dinstinguished career as a Middle East journalist, wrote in the Independent this past week about the stunning lack of control by Israeli forces in combat for the past decade and raised real questions about their competence.
The events surrounding the Free Gaza Flotilla have spurred an outbreak of temporary insanity in some circles in the United States. The Associate Editor of the very mainstream New York Jewish Week calls for the bombing of all future humanitarian flotillas along with Iran. Given the quality of the response this past week, I have severe doubts Israeli forces could bomb Iran even if they wanted to. Liz Cheney, never one to stick to reality, blasted President Obama for calling the deaths "tragic". The Associated Press ran a story based on an interview with the former head of French counter-terrorism that the Turkish charities who supported the flotilla were linked to Al Qaeda, which if true means that they have finally adopted a very effective strategy of non-violence.
Congressman Brad Sherman, a Democrat from Sherman Oaks, California, called for the trial of all Americans involved in the Free Gaza Movement based on a mid-1990s law that prohibited Americans from providing aid and comfort to Hamas. I would love to see Ambassador Peck, Reagan's anti-terrorism chief, to be tried in open court for this. Or how about trying 28-year military veteran and former State Department official Ann Wright on this charge. Unfortunately, both have been calm and articulate spokespeople for the Free Gaza Movement. Or we could try Alice Walker of Color Me Purple fame, who wrote today an eloquent essay on the non-violence underlying the movement on Electronic Intifada.
The other part of Sherman's suggestion is to bar all foreigners involved from coming to the United States. This would mean that , besides Graham Greene, who was banned since the 1960s until his death, I would be deprived of hearing from Henning Mankell, the Swedish master of the crime novel. Mankell, who has become to mysteries what John le Carre means to spy novels, recounted for the Guardian his experience as the night watch on the "Sofia", which accompanied the Mavi Marmara. Mankell was detained by Israeli authorities, who confiscated his wallet, credit cards,his mobile phone, Ipod. "They even took my socks." Having been seized in international waters, he was charged with entering Israel illegally. He did not know about the deaths on the Turkish ferry until he was on the plane out of the country. Mankell with his Inspector Wallander series is the number one mystery writer in Hebrew. Unfortunately for Israel, he plans a detailed publication on the whole event complete with photos.
Mankell told the Guardian, " I believe so strongly in solidarity as an instrument ot change the world, and I believe in dialogue, but it's action that proves the word."
Early this morning the Rachel Corrie was seized about 25 miles from Gaza. It had tried to avoid the Israeli navy by travelling along the coast of Egypt. prior to its seizure, it offered to have an international team inspect its cargo for any items of military use. The passengers consisted of the former UN Secretary of State for Humanitarian Aid, an Irish winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and aides to government officials in Malaysia.
The killings, including one American murdered with 4 shots to the head, have provoked revulsion in Europe. Sweden and Norway are refusing to unload freight from Israeli ships and the Turkish government, once a strong ally of Israel, is conducting its own investigation and vows to severely curtail its relations with Israel. In the progressive blogosphere, the events have triggered duelling comments by pro-Israelis and pro-Palestinians which reveal the intensity of feeling on both sides.
To their credit, "J" Street has maintained its cool by issuing a statement that this tragedy should be used as a opportunity to move forward to a two-state solution and a resolution of the Gaza tragedy. I believe the Israeli negotiator to the Palestinian talks that if the Palestinians can maintain their non-violent actions then the Israelis will remain slow-footed and unable to respond to such a challenge.
What the Free Gaza Flotilla has done is to focus the world's attention on the very real humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Unbelievably there is actually a dispute here in the States whether such a thing exists. Of the 1.5 million people in Gaza, some 800,000 are children. Save the Children claims that this population is suffering malnutrition and severe food shortages. We know that over 60% of the adult women suffer from anemia. Part of the reason for this is that because of the Gaza blockade, Gazans can't mount the type of fishing fleets they did in the past and the population has not been getting their diet of fish like before. We also know that the farmers are routinely shot at by the IDF because their farms, the only real agricultural land, is cheek and jowl by the heavily armed border.
Critics of Israel maintain that there are not allowing in the necessary foodstuffs and other materials necessary to ease the crisis. Israelis claim that all materials would be delivered by them to Gaza, something that press reports contradict. On the other side, people claim that Hamas itself prevents the distribution of humanitarian goods to the population. Having gone through this when the PLO controlled refugee camps in Lebanon, I tend to believe this as well.
A solution to this is to allow international groups to deliver the materials and have international organizations distribute the goods. Even Hamas announced they would allow foreign groups to come in and rebuild the bombed out schools and houses with the building materials Israel has confiscated.
While American commentators are slipping into the weeds on debating the minutiae of the events of the past week and the appropriate response,it is clear that the neo-con dream of Israel as our proxy fortress against Islamic terrorism and fundamentalism is wrong-headed. It was never viable and puts Israel's security really at risk. Movement to a two-state solution is needed to defuse this unnecessary crisis in the Middle East.
What's worrisome to a supporter of the state of Israel is that the only people supporting it around the world are the extreme right in the United States, which has anti-semitic problems of their own, and politicians who have been conditioned over the years to provide Israel with a blank check for operations, which have become increasingly clumsily carried out and counter-productive to providing the country with true security.
Robert Fisk, someone who has been anti-Israel throughout his dinstinguished career as a Middle East journalist, wrote in the Independent this past week about the stunning lack of control by Israeli forces in combat for the past decade and raised real questions about their competence.
The events surrounding the Free Gaza Flotilla have spurred an outbreak of temporary insanity in some circles in the United States. The Associate Editor of the very mainstream New York Jewish Week calls for the bombing of all future humanitarian flotillas along with Iran. Given the quality of the response this past week, I have severe doubts Israeli forces could bomb Iran even if they wanted to. Liz Cheney, never one to stick to reality, blasted President Obama for calling the deaths "tragic". The Associated Press ran a story based on an interview with the former head of French counter-terrorism that the Turkish charities who supported the flotilla were linked to Al Qaeda, which if true means that they have finally adopted a very effective strategy of non-violence.
Congressman Brad Sherman, a Democrat from Sherman Oaks, California, called for the trial of all Americans involved in the Free Gaza Movement based on a mid-1990s law that prohibited Americans from providing aid and comfort to Hamas. I would love to see Ambassador Peck, Reagan's anti-terrorism chief, to be tried in open court for this. Or how about trying 28-year military veteran and former State Department official Ann Wright on this charge. Unfortunately, both have been calm and articulate spokespeople for the Free Gaza Movement. Or we could try Alice Walker of Color Me Purple fame, who wrote today an eloquent essay on the non-violence underlying the movement on Electronic Intifada.
The other part of Sherman's suggestion is to bar all foreigners involved from coming to the United States. This would mean that , besides Graham Greene, who was banned since the 1960s until his death, I would be deprived of hearing from Henning Mankell, the Swedish master of the crime novel. Mankell, who has become to mysteries what John le Carre means to spy novels, recounted for the Guardian his experience as the night watch on the "Sofia", which accompanied the Mavi Marmara. Mankell was detained by Israeli authorities, who confiscated his wallet, credit cards,his mobile phone, Ipod. "They even took my socks." Having been seized in international waters, he was charged with entering Israel illegally. He did not know about the deaths on the Turkish ferry until he was on the plane out of the country. Mankell with his Inspector Wallander series is the number one mystery writer in Hebrew. Unfortunately for Israel, he plans a detailed publication on the whole event complete with photos.
Mankell told the Guardian, " I believe so strongly in solidarity as an instrument ot change the world, and I believe in dialogue, but it's action that proves the word."
Early this morning the Rachel Corrie was seized about 25 miles from Gaza. It had tried to avoid the Israeli navy by travelling along the coast of Egypt. prior to its seizure, it offered to have an international team inspect its cargo for any items of military use. The passengers consisted of the former UN Secretary of State for Humanitarian Aid, an Irish winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and aides to government officials in Malaysia.
The killings, including one American murdered with 4 shots to the head, have provoked revulsion in Europe. Sweden and Norway are refusing to unload freight from Israeli ships and the Turkish government, once a strong ally of Israel, is conducting its own investigation and vows to severely curtail its relations with Israel. In the progressive blogosphere, the events have triggered duelling comments by pro-Israelis and pro-Palestinians which reveal the intensity of feeling on both sides.
To their credit, "J" Street has maintained its cool by issuing a statement that this tragedy should be used as a opportunity to move forward to a two-state solution and a resolution of the Gaza tragedy. I believe the Israeli negotiator to the Palestinian talks that if the Palestinians can maintain their non-violent actions then the Israelis will remain slow-footed and unable to respond to such a challenge.
What the Free Gaza Flotilla has done is to focus the world's attention on the very real humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Unbelievably there is actually a dispute here in the States whether such a thing exists. Of the 1.5 million people in Gaza, some 800,000 are children. Save the Children claims that this population is suffering malnutrition and severe food shortages. We know that over 60% of the adult women suffer from anemia. Part of the reason for this is that because of the Gaza blockade, Gazans can't mount the type of fishing fleets they did in the past and the population has not been getting their diet of fish like before. We also know that the farmers are routinely shot at by the IDF because their farms, the only real agricultural land, is cheek and jowl by the heavily armed border.
Critics of Israel maintain that there are not allowing in the necessary foodstuffs and other materials necessary to ease the crisis. Israelis claim that all materials would be delivered by them to Gaza, something that press reports contradict. On the other side, people claim that Hamas itself prevents the distribution of humanitarian goods to the population. Having gone through this when the PLO controlled refugee camps in Lebanon, I tend to believe this as well.
A solution to this is to allow international groups to deliver the materials and have international organizations distribute the goods. Even Hamas announced they would allow foreign groups to come in and rebuild the bombed out schools and houses with the building materials Israel has confiscated.
While American commentators are slipping into the weeds on debating the minutiae of the events of the past week and the appropriate response,it is clear that the neo-con dream of Israel as our proxy fortress against Islamic terrorism and fundamentalism is wrong-headed. It was never viable and puts Israel's security really at risk. Movement to a two-state solution is needed to defuse this unnecessary crisis in the Middle East.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Afternoon at the Last Manatee Cafe*
*we changed the name because the owner doesn't drink anything but coffee.
Michael Savage , the San Francisco rightwing talkshow host,has it down on the Free Gaza Flotilla incident. The Israeli government betrayed the commandos because they didn't go aboard the ship in a group but one by one. They were only allowed to carry paintball guns. (Even though one American citizen was shot four times in the head.) Bibi was told to conduct the raid that way by none other than Barack Hussein Obama, who controls Israel like a puppet. Israeli officials should resign said Savage. The reason the raid was carried out this way was because Obama was advised by-----Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn, who are sympathetic to the Free Gaza movement.
More enlightened voices are emerging from Israel. Gideon Levy, writing in Haaretz, blisters Benjamin Netanyahu. " We haven't had anyone like him since David Ben-Gurion. He's a genuine prophet whose every prediction comes true,one after the other" he snarks. "This country now has a blind captain in the cockpit, flying his blindfolded passengers with exemplary position toward the destination he envisioned. If there had been any object of his scaremongering that has not yet been attained before this week, along came the outrageous seizure of the flotilla, and that goal too was in the bag. "
"Some 7 billion human beings (less about 5 million Israeli Jews) are wrong. ...The world is wrong and Netanyahu, with us in tow, is right. We will not lift the blockade. For four years it has yielded not an ounce of benefit, just damage, but what does that matter? Giddyup! Let's fulfill Netanyahu's vision. We'll become an even more despised country and won't have a single friend left in the world, not even the United States." Ouch.
Meanwhile up at Harvard, David Souter took aim at Tony Scalia's notion of originalist judging. "It has only a tenuous connection to reality." Souter said to the commencement audience " how egregiously it misses the point to think of judges in constitutional cases as just sitting there reading constitutional phases fairly and looking at reported facts objectively to produce their judgments." Souder went on to say that "the Constitution embodies the desire of the American people, like most people, to have things both ways. We want order and security, and we also want liberty. And we want not only liberty but equality as well." Because these desires clash, courts are "forced to choose between them, between one constitutional good thing and another one." No wonder he retired.
Novelist Stephen King described Glenn Beck as "Satan's mentally challenged younger brother."
Commenting on Glenn Beck, the Buffalo Beast makes this succinct contribution to our wisdom:
"If the dumbing down of political commentary continues along this trajectory, the next pundit to make the grade will be a hyena. Even the leather-winged shouting heads at Fox News look like intellectual giants next to this bleating, benighted Cassandra. It's like someone found a manic, doom-prophesying hobo in a sandwich board, shaved him, shot him full of Zoloft, and gave him a show. What makes Beck special, aside from appearing to have derived his entire geopolitical outlook from a five-minute segment about Iran on "The 700 Club", is the folksy "golly gee" manner in which he accuses his guests of collaborating with terrorists. At least Hannity and O'Reilly have the decency to act like bellicose pricks when they're engaging in breathtaking cheap shots."
The Associated Press reports that more than 2,000 candidates are running for Congress this year, the most ever and most as Republicans. Now that small government is dead as a Dodo after the Gulf Oil spill, people over at Crooks and Liars are saying the Republicans are now running as anarchists. How will this square with the authoritarianism of the Washington party? There's alot of truth to what they say. How can you square the teabaggers and libertarians with the authoritarian discipline that someone like Tan Man Boehner demands? I received my invitation today to join the John Boehner for Speaker Club. Meanwhile wingnut Joseph Farah is demanding a purge of the Republican congressional leadership.
Grover Norquist gave a Memorial day interview celebrating the fact that there are only a couple million World War II veterans still alive and that the "Greatest Generation" would soon be dead. He blamed them for creating the social welfare state and that it will be easier to dismantle it when they are gone. Class Act.
Bill Robinson has a great idea. His company Corrections Concepts, Inc, a non-profit organization founded by a group of Christian ministers and lay people, believes the time is now to create an All-Christian prison. He is proposing to create a 600-person facility in Wakita, Oklahoma. Wakita. about fifty miles from the Kansas border, had its fifteen minutes of fame in the 1996 film Twister.
The prison would be open to Christian inmates facing their last 12-30 months of incarceration. The inmates would work full-time at private industries that would operate within the prison and they would earn money to pay restitution to their victims and pay room and board. Apparently,this prison labor idea has been used by companies like Microsoft, Victoria's Secret, Starbucks and Shelby Classic Cars. For every job for these companies filled by prisoners , more than one is lost in the private sector.
Robinson's full plans include juvenile facilities as well as a geriatric section. The prison will be administered by Christian officials, attended by Christian guards and will adhere to Christian programming. Sounds like a job for Blackwater.
But Bill Robinson brings something special to the task. He worked for several years as an actor, writer, comedian, director and producer. He claims he revamped and sold radio stations, built and operated dinner theaters and was a partner in an outdoor advertising company operating in nine states. In 1962, he went to prison for white collar crimes, which he blamed on alcohol and drugs. He served 7 1/2 years in prison. He was born again in March 1980 and when that didn't take he made "Jesus Christ the Lord of His Life" in March 1983. Jesus called him into the prison ministry in 1984.
Apparently, many civil liberties groups have a slight problem with the whole concept, not the least of which is public funding to a specific religion. But he is trying Oklahoma. So, stay tuned.
Michael Savage , the San Francisco rightwing talkshow host,has it down on the Free Gaza Flotilla incident. The Israeli government betrayed the commandos because they didn't go aboard the ship in a group but one by one. They were only allowed to carry paintball guns. (Even though one American citizen was shot four times in the head.) Bibi was told to conduct the raid that way by none other than Barack Hussein Obama, who controls Israel like a puppet. Israeli officials should resign said Savage. The reason the raid was carried out this way was because Obama was advised by-----Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn, who are sympathetic to the Free Gaza movement.
More enlightened voices are emerging from Israel. Gideon Levy, writing in Haaretz, blisters Benjamin Netanyahu. " We haven't had anyone like him since David Ben-Gurion. He's a genuine prophet whose every prediction comes true,one after the other" he snarks. "This country now has a blind captain in the cockpit, flying his blindfolded passengers with exemplary position toward the destination he envisioned. If there had been any object of his scaremongering that has not yet been attained before this week, along came the outrageous seizure of the flotilla, and that goal too was in the bag. "
"Some 7 billion human beings (less about 5 million Israeli Jews) are wrong. ...The world is wrong and Netanyahu, with us in tow, is right. We will not lift the blockade. For four years it has yielded not an ounce of benefit, just damage, but what does that matter? Giddyup! Let's fulfill Netanyahu's vision. We'll become an even more despised country and won't have a single friend left in the world, not even the United States." Ouch.
Meanwhile up at Harvard, David Souter took aim at Tony Scalia's notion of originalist judging. "It has only a tenuous connection to reality." Souter said to the commencement audience " how egregiously it misses the point to think of judges in constitutional cases as just sitting there reading constitutional phases fairly and looking at reported facts objectively to produce their judgments." Souder went on to say that "the Constitution embodies the desire of the American people, like most people, to have things both ways. We want order and security, and we also want liberty. And we want not only liberty but equality as well." Because these desires clash, courts are "forced to choose between them, between one constitutional good thing and another one." No wonder he retired.
Novelist Stephen King described Glenn Beck as "Satan's mentally challenged younger brother."
Commenting on Glenn Beck, the Buffalo Beast makes this succinct contribution to our wisdom:
"If the dumbing down of political commentary continues along this trajectory, the next pundit to make the grade will be a hyena. Even the leather-winged shouting heads at Fox News look like intellectual giants next to this bleating, benighted Cassandra. It's like someone found a manic, doom-prophesying hobo in a sandwich board, shaved him, shot him full of Zoloft, and gave him a show. What makes Beck special, aside from appearing to have derived his entire geopolitical outlook from a five-minute segment about Iran on "The 700 Club", is the folksy "golly gee" manner in which he accuses his guests of collaborating with terrorists. At least Hannity and O'Reilly have the decency to act like bellicose pricks when they're engaging in breathtaking cheap shots."
The Associated Press reports that more than 2,000 candidates are running for Congress this year, the most ever and most as Republicans. Now that small government is dead as a Dodo after the Gulf Oil spill, people over at Crooks and Liars are saying the Republicans are now running as anarchists. How will this square with the authoritarianism of the Washington party? There's alot of truth to what they say. How can you square the teabaggers and libertarians with the authoritarian discipline that someone like Tan Man Boehner demands? I received my invitation today to join the John Boehner for Speaker Club. Meanwhile wingnut Joseph Farah is demanding a purge of the Republican congressional leadership.
Grover Norquist gave a Memorial day interview celebrating the fact that there are only a couple million World War II veterans still alive and that the "Greatest Generation" would soon be dead. He blamed them for creating the social welfare state and that it will be easier to dismantle it when they are gone. Class Act.
Bill Robinson has a great idea. His company Corrections Concepts, Inc, a non-profit organization founded by a group of Christian ministers and lay people, believes the time is now to create an All-Christian prison. He is proposing to create a 600-person facility in Wakita, Oklahoma. Wakita. about fifty miles from the Kansas border, had its fifteen minutes of fame in the 1996 film Twister.
The prison would be open to Christian inmates facing their last 12-30 months of incarceration. The inmates would work full-time at private industries that would operate within the prison and they would earn money to pay restitution to their victims and pay room and board. Apparently,this prison labor idea has been used by companies like Microsoft, Victoria's Secret, Starbucks and Shelby Classic Cars. For every job for these companies filled by prisoners , more than one is lost in the private sector.
Robinson's full plans include juvenile facilities as well as a geriatric section. The prison will be administered by Christian officials, attended by Christian guards and will adhere to Christian programming. Sounds like a job for Blackwater.
But Bill Robinson brings something special to the task. He worked for several years as an actor, writer, comedian, director and producer. He claims he revamped and sold radio stations, built and operated dinner theaters and was a partner in an outdoor advertising company operating in nine states. In 1962, he went to prison for white collar crimes, which he blamed on alcohol and drugs. He served 7 1/2 years in prison. He was born again in March 1980 and when that didn't take he made "Jesus Christ the Lord of His Life" in March 1983. Jesus called him into the prison ministry in 1984.
Apparently, many civil liberties groups have a slight problem with the whole concept, not the least of which is public funding to a specific religion. But he is trying Oklahoma. So, stay tuned.
Better Days, Baby, Better Days Are Coming True
Here at the Last Manatee Saloon, we're surveying the wreckage of recent times. We know we're going to have a hard summer--Obama always does. The earth keeps eating all my favorite places--this time Guatemala with the world's most awesome sink hole--a perfect, huge cylinder with no end. The BP oil spill may lead to the extinction of the Sperm Whale. The final death count will take a decade. Hopefully, the Blue Heron can survive.
And if American Christians have gone crazy, then we have a line-up of great religions going in the tank. The Sikh Republican candidate for Governor of South Carolina now had to deny a second affair. The Dalai Lama admitted he was a Marxist. And Vatican is still being investigated for pedophilia. And now the Jews have abandoned Maimonides and embraced F Troop.
At least our great deliberative bodies--state legislatures--continue the people's business. Here in Virginia, the House of Delegates debates changing the open carry law in bars so that gun-toting patrons can now drink also. Should make fights over sporting events interesting. In Louisiana, the legislature , preoccupied by the oil spill disaster, are debating an open carry law for churches. Instead of the "Amen"chorus, you can fire into the air when you like the sermon. The same body during Hurricane Katrina, debated an anti-abortion law in case Wade v. Roe were overturned. Meanwhile, the cops were shooting down blacks trying to flee New Orleans.
Bibi was in fine form yesterday, saying that the Free Gaza Flotilla was "Not the Love Boat, but the Hate Boat." The Israelis produced weapons they claim they found on the ship. But in this day of the internet, this great coup was quickly discredited because bloggers noted that the serial numbers matched those of guns seized by the IDF in 2006.
Former UN Assistant Secretary of State and former USAID Baghdad official Denis Halliday is on the Rachel Corrie en route to Gaza. Mr. Halliday emphasized the non-violent nature of the relief mission and noted that the Rachel Corrie could not simply hand the materials to the Israelis because they were carrying cement. The NPR interview came before the news that the ship's engines had been sabotaged by the IDF, which announced this publicly in the Israeli papers.
The White House stated that the blockade of Gaza was not sustainable, despite Joe Biden's vigorous defense of Israel on the Charlie Rose show. While Bibi thanked Obama for America getting the UN to water down the resolution on the incident, this did not stop the neocons from slamming Obama for his lack of support for Israel. But, voices within Israel are emerging demanding the end of the Gaza blockade and claiming that once Palestinians use traditional civil disobedience the Israelis are simply flat-footed in response. One of the weirder defenses of the blockade by the government was that they are preventing Iran from building a base on the Mediterrean. Like Egypt and Israel would tolerate this.
It's not the condemnation that hurts. Israel is used to that. But the ridicule has been devastating. Even the Free Gaza Flotilla people are talking condescendingly about the "young Israeli commandos" who panicked when people used folding chairs to defend themselves. Some wag suggested the commandos get training to defend against Islamic folding chairs.
Even Hamas seems to feel sorry for the Israelis. Their spokesman said that if the Israelis fear cement and the credit Hamas would receive building anything for the people of Gaza, then Hamas would allow non-governmental organizations into Gaza to use the cement themselves to build schools, hospitals and housing. Hamas would stay out of it.
Johns Hopkins diagnosed David Frum as having an "inordinate fear of cement" and suggested he de-tox at a farm.
Whatever the eventual outcome of this episode, the idea of Israeli Commandos as F Troop or the guerrillas in Woody Allen's Bananas seem to fit the deteriorating narrative of Middle East struggles-- what with Al Qaeda operatives blowing their gonads off and all. Think if the Israelis actually tried to eliminate Iran's nuclear sites? Maybe Groucho would make an appearance. "Freedonia's gone to War!"
Maybe the Israelis caught something from us. George W. Bush told a Michigan crowd that he would "waterboard again" and was proud of the decision to commit a war crime. He didn't say war crime but that's what he proudly announced.
The Gallup Poll's generic race records that Republicans have the largest lead since 1950. The Gallup poll also records that Democrats approval rating has stabilized at 43% and Republicans sank further to 31% in a month. As my African colleague loves to say when projects get screwed up, "People are confused." If you can square these results, you're better than I am.
A group of conservative attorneys in California say they are on a mission from God to unseat four judges. The four San Diego Superior Court candidates are backed by he religious right, gun enthusiasts and anti-abortion activists and opponents of gay marriage. Craig Candelore, one of the candidates said,"We believe our country is under assault and needs Christian values. Unfortunately, God has called upon us to do this only with the judiciary." Two of the Republican candidates for governor have announced they favor ousting Supreme Court justices who legalized same-sex marriage.
And in envirommental news, it appears that fish taken from the Connecticut River in Vermont tested positive for Strontium-90 because of nearby nuclear power plants.
And if American Christians have gone crazy, then we have a line-up of great religions going in the tank. The Sikh Republican candidate for Governor of South Carolina now had to deny a second affair. The Dalai Lama admitted he was a Marxist. And Vatican is still being investigated for pedophilia. And now the Jews have abandoned Maimonides and embraced F Troop.
At least our great deliberative bodies--state legislatures--continue the people's business. Here in Virginia, the House of Delegates debates changing the open carry law in bars so that gun-toting patrons can now drink also. Should make fights over sporting events interesting. In Louisiana, the legislature , preoccupied by the oil spill disaster, are debating an open carry law for churches. Instead of the "Amen"chorus, you can fire into the air when you like the sermon. The same body during Hurricane Katrina, debated an anti-abortion law in case Wade v. Roe were overturned. Meanwhile, the cops were shooting down blacks trying to flee New Orleans.
Bibi was in fine form yesterday, saying that the Free Gaza Flotilla was "Not the Love Boat, but the Hate Boat." The Israelis produced weapons they claim they found on the ship. But in this day of the internet, this great coup was quickly discredited because bloggers noted that the serial numbers matched those of guns seized by the IDF in 2006.
Former UN Assistant Secretary of State and former USAID Baghdad official Denis Halliday is on the Rachel Corrie en route to Gaza. Mr. Halliday emphasized the non-violent nature of the relief mission and noted that the Rachel Corrie could not simply hand the materials to the Israelis because they were carrying cement. The NPR interview came before the news that the ship's engines had been sabotaged by the IDF, which announced this publicly in the Israeli papers.
The White House stated that the blockade of Gaza was not sustainable, despite Joe Biden's vigorous defense of Israel on the Charlie Rose show. While Bibi thanked Obama for America getting the UN to water down the resolution on the incident, this did not stop the neocons from slamming Obama for his lack of support for Israel. But, voices within Israel are emerging demanding the end of the Gaza blockade and claiming that once Palestinians use traditional civil disobedience the Israelis are simply flat-footed in response. One of the weirder defenses of the blockade by the government was that they are preventing Iran from building a base on the Mediterrean. Like Egypt and Israel would tolerate this.
It's not the condemnation that hurts. Israel is used to that. But the ridicule has been devastating. Even the Free Gaza Flotilla people are talking condescendingly about the "young Israeli commandos" who panicked when people used folding chairs to defend themselves. Some wag suggested the commandos get training to defend against Islamic folding chairs.
Even Hamas seems to feel sorry for the Israelis. Their spokesman said that if the Israelis fear cement and the credit Hamas would receive building anything for the people of Gaza, then Hamas would allow non-governmental organizations into Gaza to use the cement themselves to build schools, hospitals and housing. Hamas would stay out of it.
Johns Hopkins diagnosed David Frum as having an "inordinate fear of cement" and suggested he de-tox at a farm.
Whatever the eventual outcome of this episode, the idea of Israeli Commandos as F Troop or the guerrillas in Woody Allen's Bananas seem to fit the deteriorating narrative of Middle East struggles-- what with Al Qaeda operatives blowing their gonads off and all. Think if the Israelis actually tried to eliminate Iran's nuclear sites? Maybe Groucho would make an appearance. "Freedonia's gone to War!"
Maybe the Israelis caught something from us. George W. Bush told a Michigan crowd that he would "waterboard again" and was proud of the decision to commit a war crime. He didn't say war crime but that's what he proudly announced.
The Gallup Poll's generic race records that Republicans have the largest lead since 1950. The Gallup poll also records that Democrats approval rating has stabilized at 43% and Republicans sank further to 31% in a month. As my African colleague loves to say when projects get screwed up, "People are confused." If you can square these results, you're better than I am.
A group of conservative attorneys in California say they are on a mission from God to unseat four judges. The four San Diego Superior Court candidates are backed by he religious right, gun enthusiasts and anti-abortion activists and opponents of gay marriage. Craig Candelore, one of the candidates said,"We believe our country is under assault and needs Christian values. Unfortunately, God has called upon us to do this only with the judiciary." Two of the Republican candidates for governor have announced they favor ousting Supreme Court justices who legalized same-sex marriage.
And in envirommental news, it appears that fish taken from the Connecticut River in Vermont tested positive for Strontium-90 because of nearby nuclear power plants.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Israel's Big Fail
Where to begin with Israel's attack on the Gaza flotilla? I'm getting old and soft. I don't believe you get anywhere by starving out your adversaries. The embargo against Gaza, contrary to the pundits in the Beltway, has created a humanitarian crisis as documented by every international aid agency. And there is no evidence that it has lessened the hold of Hamas on the area. In fact, the constant impoverishing of the population makes it certain that an alternative will not arise anytime soon.
I spent the last two days watching videos from the activists and the Israeli government accounts. Israel is real lucky that the Holocaust survivor who wanted to come had to stay behind in Crete because of illness. Can you imagine the PR disaster of a Holocaust survivor being killed by Israeli commandos? The optics of this whole enterprise was an unmitigated disaster for Israel with a break with their ally, Turkey, almost inevitable.
Apparently, within the controlled media world in Israel, no one has heard of YouTube or instant communications. The Israeli television claimed that the flotilla was being funded and organized by Islamists. Israeli peace activists had the Turkish charity on the phone responding simulatenously to these charges. The charity in question is linked to the governing party of Turkey, which as of yesterday was aligned with Israel. Although to be frank, it probably is islamist. Israeli officials maintained that they feared the ship contained arms only to be refuted by the Turkish customs officials who explained how and why the government inspected the ship to ensure there would be no arms. The Israeli version was widely broadcast in the United States. David Frum claimed that Hamas could use the cement on the ship for military purposes. (Like building catapults to sling cement slabs across the border.)
Then the use of force, Objective observers claimed that the Israeli should have just escorted the boat to Gaza and then mounted it. Originally, Israeli officials claimed that the commandos were just using paint guns on the activists until they were shot upon. Unfortunately, the guns found were Israeli handguns activists took away from the commandos. This morning, Israeli diplomats admitted the government decided to use force because the ship was too big. American tabloids like the New York Post claimed terrorists were at the helm and were trying to lynch the commandos. The attack weapons seemed to be wrenches and pipes against automatic weapons, hardly the material for overkill.
The first real problem Israel faced in the optics department were the actual activists on board. Now they say several dozen were jihadists, which may ultimately prove to be true. But the first interviews we got to see were former Ambassador Peck calmly describing being waken at 4am by israeli commandos in full combat gear and calling the seizure of the ship an act of piracy. Only hours before Al Jazeera interviewed a former woman Colonel in the American military and former State Department official who was on board talking about the humanitarian mission to Gaza. Next we heard from two German MPs, who were shaken and claimed there were no weapons on board and none of the passengers or organizers fired any weapons. Then, lo and behold, an Israeli MP waltzes off the ship to denounce the whole operation. So far Israeli Foreign MinisterAvrigdor Lieberman's claim Al Qaeda was on board didn't materialize and even the Israeli press laughed at him. Oh, yes, there was a US naval veteran who had survived the Israeli attack and sinking of the U.S.S. Liberty in 1967. Quite a collection.
Even pro-Israeli websites Stratfor and Debka questioned why the Israelis, knowing the flotilla was a provocative act, fell right into the trap. From Israel, the decision to seize the ship was made by the full cabinet a week before but as the Israeli press noted, the "inner cabinet" or the war cabinet never made the decision as required by protocol. Stratfor went on to say that the Israelis actually gave the Palestinians an Exodus moment, after the legendary tale of the ship Exodus immortalized in film.
For those of us who remember Entebbe, this was not it. The vaunted Israeli commandos blew this operation in ways the world has not seen before. There seems to be a new level of Israeli incompetence we have not seen before. Previously, Israeli agents assassinated an Hamas leader in Dubai. American conservatives gleefully sent me the videos but the situation was actually disturbing. The agents were all caught on surveillance cameras and they used real European passports, which sparked public diplomatic inquiries. Either the Israelis wanted to be blatant about the hit or were incredibly clumsy and stupid. I opt for the latter. These were no Steven Spielberg Mossad agents.
The flotilla incident immediately sparked off some fascinating debates on international law. For instance, the ship was flying a Turkish flag, hence it was a ship of a NATO country. Under Article 5 of NATO, an attack on one NATO member is an attack on all. NATO naturally had to meet to confer on the issue, something any Israeli strategist should avoid at any cost.
Then we have the issue of piracy. Remember the bad joke,"What do you call the P.L.O.? Push Leon Overboard. The seizure of a passenger ship at sea by the PLO and their throwing wheelchair bound Leon Klinghoffer overboard prompted the international community to re-write the laws on piracy, which would make the Israeli actions violations of the very laws they proposed. Israeli cabinet members seemed to be channeling their inner Dick Cheney by saying Israel could do whatever it felt necessary on the high seas.
We also had the Irish Prime Minister immediately weigh in claiming the Israelis had kidnapped an Irish national when they seized the ship. And of course, a spate of demonstrations erupted throughout the world against Israeli embassies.
Meanwhile Hillary Clinton was on the phone 24/7 to heads of state to dial down the anti-Israeli rhetoric only to comment later, "People are just furious." Robert Gibbs tried to put out an anodyne statement, only admitting under questioning, "We're the only ones that believe the Israelis." Bibi Netanyahu's visit from Canada to kiss and make up with Barack Obama was cancelled by the Administration. The visit was to coincide with the resumption of proximity talks with Palestinians.
After the initial support of Israel by columnists, breaks have occurred in the punditry recognizing this event was a pure disaster for Israel. The Weekly Standard lamely tried to cover its behind with a statement from Sarah Palin about the lamestream media and Obama strengthening the enemies of Israel. While the neo-cons marched together with Israel, non-ideological Jewish commentators lamented the situation and urged, at best, it was too soon to judge. Ken Adelman actually urged a time-out and invoked the Hebrew term for a period of "self-reflection" for both Americans and Israelis. The commentary today now concerned how do you handle it when your ally screws up royally.
Jimmy Carter was soundly criticized when he talked about the Israeli-Palestinian problem using the loaded word "apartheid". Strangely, this episode reminds me of the waning days of the apartheid regime in South Africa--not the content but the feel. Here you have a situation where on the northern border of Israel Syria has replenished the Hezbollah with thousands of Scud missiles and Iran barks about wiping the country off the map and Israel blunders by reinforcing its disproportionate response to the Palestinians. The country has literally only one friend left--the United States--and is globally isolated. This was only superficially true before because they enjoyed covert relations with most of the Arab states and polite relations with Europe. In South Africa, after the usual braggadocio, they understood they could not withstand the isolation. They had to change.
Back up to Joe Biden's trip to Israel earlier in the year. Biden wanted Bibi to suspend the settlements on the West Bank and in Jerusalem. If Israel returned to proximity talks with the Palestinians, they would receive simultaneous recognition by all the Arab states. That's just for talking. Instead, strengthened by visiting right-wing visitors from the United States, Bibi stiffed the Vice President. Now today,after the Gaza flotilla incident,that opportunity may have been lost for some time to come.
The timing of this event couldn't have been worse. The United States had rounded up the Security Council to vote for stiffened sanctions against Iran. On this , they stiffed Barzil and Turkey on their negotiated settlement with Iran. I'm actually convinced by the Administration on the inadequacies of this deal. The Non-Proliferation Treaty group singles out both Iran and Israel. Israel claims that none of this pertains to them since they are not signatories. This was dutifully reported cheerfully by our neocons--who should have left the issue alone. At some point, more people are going to question the issue of Iran possessing enough enriched uranium for two bombs but Israel actually possessing over 250 real bombs. It didn't help that Israeli papers reported that there were three submarines with nuclear-tipped cruise missles off Iran today. Remember the Israeli nuclear arsenal is supposed to be secret.
Meanwhile the doctrine of Israeli exceptionalism seems to me to have a limited lifespan. American diplomats are quietly talking with Hamas. Hamas has said they would recognize Israel if it kept to its 1967 borders. This too one can take with a grain of salt. Yasir Arafat was offered 90% of all his demands at the Wye Plantation Conference under Clinton but simply could not seal the deal.
But the big change in all this is that Palestinians and Israeli peace activists are changing their tactics. By embracing ostensibly non-violent actions--despite their show of self-defense on the high seas--this increases the pressure on Israel. That's why the emergence of pro-Israeli groups like J Street will player a great role in shaping American public opinion. At some point, Israel will have to embrace more forward-thinking strategies to cope with their present problems. The old AIPAC fulminations have a limted shelf-life.
I spent the last two days watching videos from the activists and the Israeli government accounts. Israel is real lucky that the Holocaust survivor who wanted to come had to stay behind in Crete because of illness. Can you imagine the PR disaster of a Holocaust survivor being killed by Israeli commandos? The optics of this whole enterprise was an unmitigated disaster for Israel with a break with their ally, Turkey, almost inevitable.
Apparently, within the controlled media world in Israel, no one has heard of YouTube or instant communications. The Israeli television claimed that the flotilla was being funded and organized by Islamists. Israeli peace activists had the Turkish charity on the phone responding simulatenously to these charges. The charity in question is linked to the governing party of Turkey, which as of yesterday was aligned with Israel. Although to be frank, it probably is islamist. Israeli officials maintained that they feared the ship contained arms only to be refuted by the Turkish customs officials who explained how and why the government inspected the ship to ensure there would be no arms. The Israeli version was widely broadcast in the United States. David Frum claimed that Hamas could use the cement on the ship for military purposes. (Like building catapults to sling cement slabs across the border.)
Then the use of force, Objective observers claimed that the Israeli should have just escorted the boat to Gaza and then mounted it. Originally, Israeli officials claimed that the commandos were just using paint guns on the activists until they were shot upon. Unfortunately, the guns found were Israeli handguns activists took away from the commandos. This morning, Israeli diplomats admitted the government decided to use force because the ship was too big. American tabloids like the New York Post claimed terrorists were at the helm and were trying to lynch the commandos. The attack weapons seemed to be wrenches and pipes against automatic weapons, hardly the material for overkill.
The first real problem Israel faced in the optics department were the actual activists on board. Now they say several dozen were jihadists, which may ultimately prove to be true. But the first interviews we got to see were former Ambassador Peck calmly describing being waken at 4am by israeli commandos in full combat gear and calling the seizure of the ship an act of piracy. Only hours before Al Jazeera interviewed a former woman Colonel in the American military and former State Department official who was on board talking about the humanitarian mission to Gaza. Next we heard from two German MPs, who were shaken and claimed there were no weapons on board and none of the passengers or organizers fired any weapons. Then, lo and behold, an Israeli MP waltzes off the ship to denounce the whole operation. So far Israeli Foreign MinisterAvrigdor Lieberman's claim Al Qaeda was on board didn't materialize and even the Israeli press laughed at him. Oh, yes, there was a US naval veteran who had survived the Israeli attack and sinking of the U.S.S. Liberty in 1967. Quite a collection.
Even pro-Israeli websites Stratfor and Debka questioned why the Israelis, knowing the flotilla was a provocative act, fell right into the trap. From Israel, the decision to seize the ship was made by the full cabinet a week before but as the Israeli press noted, the "inner cabinet" or the war cabinet never made the decision as required by protocol. Stratfor went on to say that the Israelis actually gave the Palestinians an Exodus moment, after the legendary tale of the ship Exodus immortalized in film.
For those of us who remember Entebbe, this was not it. The vaunted Israeli commandos blew this operation in ways the world has not seen before. There seems to be a new level of Israeli incompetence we have not seen before. Previously, Israeli agents assassinated an Hamas leader in Dubai. American conservatives gleefully sent me the videos but the situation was actually disturbing. The agents were all caught on surveillance cameras and they used real European passports, which sparked public diplomatic inquiries. Either the Israelis wanted to be blatant about the hit or were incredibly clumsy and stupid. I opt for the latter. These were no Steven Spielberg Mossad agents.
The flotilla incident immediately sparked off some fascinating debates on international law. For instance, the ship was flying a Turkish flag, hence it was a ship of a NATO country. Under Article 5 of NATO, an attack on one NATO member is an attack on all. NATO naturally had to meet to confer on the issue, something any Israeli strategist should avoid at any cost.
Then we have the issue of piracy. Remember the bad joke,"What do you call the P.L.O.? Push Leon Overboard. The seizure of a passenger ship at sea by the PLO and their throwing wheelchair bound Leon Klinghoffer overboard prompted the international community to re-write the laws on piracy, which would make the Israeli actions violations of the very laws they proposed. Israeli cabinet members seemed to be channeling their inner Dick Cheney by saying Israel could do whatever it felt necessary on the high seas.
We also had the Irish Prime Minister immediately weigh in claiming the Israelis had kidnapped an Irish national when they seized the ship. And of course, a spate of demonstrations erupted throughout the world against Israeli embassies.
Meanwhile Hillary Clinton was on the phone 24/7 to heads of state to dial down the anti-Israeli rhetoric only to comment later, "People are just furious." Robert Gibbs tried to put out an anodyne statement, only admitting under questioning, "We're the only ones that believe the Israelis." Bibi Netanyahu's visit from Canada to kiss and make up with Barack Obama was cancelled by the Administration. The visit was to coincide with the resumption of proximity talks with Palestinians.
After the initial support of Israel by columnists, breaks have occurred in the punditry recognizing this event was a pure disaster for Israel. The Weekly Standard lamely tried to cover its behind with a statement from Sarah Palin about the lamestream media and Obama strengthening the enemies of Israel. While the neo-cons marched together with Israel, non-ideological Jewish commentators lamented the situation and urged, at best, it was too soon to judge. Ken Adelman actually urged a time-out and invoked the Hebrew term for a period of "self-reflection" for both Americans and Israelis. The commentary today now concerned how do you handle it when your ally screws up royally.
Jimmy Carter was soundly criticized when he talked about the Israeli-Palestinian problem using the loaded word "apartheid". Strangely, this episode reminds me of the waning days of the apartheid regime in South Africa--not the content but the feel. Here you have a situation where on the northern border of Israel Syria has replenished the Hezbollah with thousands of Scud missiles and Iran barks about wiping the country off the map and Israel blunders by reinforcing its disproportionate response to the Palestinians. The country has literally only one friend left--the United States--and is globally isolated. This was only superficially true before because they enjoyed covert relations with most of the Arab states and polite relations with Europe. In South Africa, after the usual braggadocio, they understood they could not withstand the isolation. They had to change.
Back up to Joe Biden's trip to Israel earlier in the year. Biden wanted Bibi to suspend the settlements on the West Bank and in Jerusalem. If Israel returned to proximity talks with the Palestinians, they would receive simultaneous recognition by all the Arab states. That's just for talking. Instead, strengthened by visiting right-wing visitors from the United States, Bibi stiffed the Vice President. Now today,after the Gaza flotilla incident,that opportunity may have been lost for some time to come.
The timing of this event couldn't have been worse. The United States had rounded up the Security Council to vote for stiffened sanctions against Iran. On this , they stiffed Barzil and Turkey on their negotiated settlement with Iran. I'm actually convinced by the Administration on the inadequacies of this deal. The Non-Proliferation Treaty group singles out both Iran and Israel. Israel claims that none of this pertains to them since they are not signatories. This was dutifully reported cheerfully by our neocons--who should have left the issue alone. At some point, more people are going to question the issue of Iran possessing enough enriched uranium for two bombs but Israel actually possessing over 250 real bombs. It didn't help that Israeli papers reported that there were three submarines with nuclear-tipped cruise missles off Iran today. Remember the Israeli nuclear arsenal is supposed to be secret.
Meanwhile the doctrine of Israeli exceptionalism seems to me to have a limited lifespan. American diplomats are quietly talking with Hamas. Hamas has said they would recognize Israel if it kept to its 1967 borders. This too one can take with a grain of salt. Yasir Arafat was offered 90% of all his demands at the Wye Plantation Conference under Clinton but simply could not seal the deal.
But the big change in all this is that Palestinians and Israeli peace activists are changing their tactics. By embracing ostensibly non-violent actions--despite their show of self-defense on the high seas--this increases the pressure on Israel. That's why the emergence of pro-Israeli groups like J Street will player a great role in shaping American public opinion. At some point, Israel will have to embrace more forward-thinking strategies to cope with their present problems. The old AIPAC fulminations have a limted shelf-life.
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