Heartrending times we live in?I avoid TV. It's worse than usual. Gone are the red-meat charges and counter charges between MS-NBC pundits and the clowns on Cluster Fux. That's to the good. But in its place is the real stuff in Haiti. The scenes are ... lurid and evocative. Even Trophy Wife, who loves E.R., will not look. I turn off my radio in the middle of an NPR reporter's eye-witness account of a flatbed truck going by him with bodies piled so high they have to be roped down. What's next for Haiti? I can imagine, so I don't want to go there... I shudder and try to find something middle-of-the road stimulating on C-SPAN: nothing more than a panel of ACLU-types moralizing about airport security. Finally, I settle on a book.
I'm been too busy these days to focus on current events. All I got is a few unfocused observations.
Barack Obama has got to be seen as pulling out all the stops to reduce Haitians' miseries. After all, look what he's says he's doing for Obamastan,
And you have the Republican dead-enders such as Rush Limbaugh and Pat Robertson demonizing the Haitians for the Good ol' Party (GOP)'s standard reasoning: no tax-payers' money goes to the poor people, anywhere, anytime.Republicans don't deserve to be credited with being a political party. Not even a tea party. Maybe a fraternity party. Americans should see to it that Republicants are never again allowed to come close to governing. Because Republicants don't like government. And when they get reasonably close to government, they try to stick the worse possible people into office.
For evidence, I cite the first decade of this 21st century. You don't have to look further back than the 2008 presidential campaign when the Republicant presidential nominee accepted - accepted - Sarah Palin as
My God, my fellow Americans! Who's dumber than a stump if it's not John McCain? (The people who voted for him?) If he's not guilty of idiocy, he's certainly guilty of
By now, if my readers haven't gotten a clear enough reason why I want to drop out of all political consciousness, I better quit right here.
Hat tips to The Guardian and Bildungblog for graphics.
ReplyDeleteWe're sending $100 million in aid to Haiti. Ha!That's what we spend in one day for the Afghanistan War.
ReplyDelete"Maybe a fraternity party."
ReplyDeleteIt occurs to me that the GOP is a lot like the spoiled suburban classmates I had in university -- guys who justified their privilege however they could and had utter disdain for the less fortunate. When confronted with reasonable explanations for why some are poor, they either rejected them outright or twisted them into ways to blame the poor for being poor.
Its pretty tough out here in blogoworld. I agree, politics have gone Christ in a sidecar, the world is tumbling down or blowing itself up... the first capture of me for Obama during the campaign was this: HOPE. I'm sticking to it and I'm also saying to you Vig, I HEAR YOU, can't blame you for tucking back. The real fear I feel in this crisis on the island is that the monies will be (per usual) squandered away by greedy fuckers who allowed this to happen by not taking responsible action with monies that flowed in time and time again in the last twenty years. It's to cry over.
ReplyDeleteApt description of the New Republicans. I agree with you mind and heart in that!
If it wasn't for the fact that natural resources (gold and oil) is being raped from Haiti,by other nations ,maybe they could weather this disaster?
ReplyDeleteVigilante,
ReplyDeleteDisgusted and frustrated as we may be, we CANNOT just drop out and go our merry way. Our inaction, apathy, and inattentiveness will enable the far right to lie, cheat, and sneak its way back into total power by default, and they will then continue the disastrous W "legacy." This MUST NOT and CANNOT be allowed to happen! Don't despair, my friend---dig in your heels and keep kicking that conservative Republican ass!
It's as simple as this: if we allow them to get back in, we'll be in worse shape than we were on January 19, 2009. If we keep them from power and even further reduce their numbers and influence, we have a much better chance of steering the country in the direction it needs to go. These Repubs are all sitting en masse on the right side of the bus. That's why it's been such a bitch to turn the bus left. If we can kick even MORE of them off the bus, it will be easier to eventually turn the bus around. But that won't happen through inaction or if the GOP picks up seats this fall.
The election this fall and in 2012 is even more crucial than was the election of 2008. Mark my words, my friend.
So I am straight on this Vigilante. The righties want us in Afghanistan because we're killing people. But they don't want us in Haiti because an earthquake and not us killed people.
ReplyDeleteAs weird as this is, it sounds like a typical right wing explanation. Perhaps if we could get Obama to frame this as an attack by a terrorist earthquake that hates us because we are free, then the right would wantus to be there. As long as we're killing somebody and defense companies are making money. God forbid nobody make any money on death.
"treasonable negligence"
ReplyDelete-well said friend.
You'd think Rush and others would just have the decency to shut up during a time like this. Typical, predictable reactionary tactics is what they are serving up.
Limbaugh is accusing everyone of trying to infuse politics into a relief effort, as he actually does that very thing.
-SJ
You are mistaken about your comments with regard to Afghans wanting to see our "backside." The recent polls show just the opposite. When given a choice between the Taliban and NATO forces they will take the latter over the former any day.
ReplyDeleteThat being said I am with Jack. I will NEVER give up, nor will I ever join the other side, either figuratively or literally, in my writings or my speech. Once again I don't always agree with the president but if we don't support him, and at least be patient, you might just find "she who must not be named" as president. This country has turned nutty and I guarantee that nightmare can become a reality if we don't stick together. If the worse should happen then your blog will be well-named. Just think of all the stuff you could write about then my friend.
Look on the bright side about Pat Robertson's comments about Haiti signing a pack with the devil.
ReplyDeleteThe video clearly shows that he is a couple of steps away from complete dementia. He ain't far away from drooling on television and needing an adult Pamper on a regular basis.
Although, the hot African-American babe standing right beside him slightly nodding as he spouts off his dark, deranged fantasies is worrying.
Now Limbaugh worries me. I sort of figured he would self-destruct years ago but he appears to have built such a brain-dead following that he could get caught on to "Catch a Predator" with a thirteen year, talk a little bit about republican principles, and his zombies would ignore it.
As for quitting politics, I regularly tune out the static for days at a time. For me it just ain't healthy for such a persistent exposure to the putrid crap. But I always dive back in at some point.
Mad Mike's public opinion polling in Afghanistan is thoroughly debunked. Laughable.
ReplyDeleteCritics of Polling in Afghanistan rebutted.
ReplyDeleteNice point, Fearguth!
ReplyDeleteBoris, I've said elsewhere that going from door-to-door-to-tent in Afghanistan to conduct a scientific opinion poll boggles the mind. The stakes are high: if you ask the wrong person, you not only get the answer you're not looking for; you could become a hostage or worse.
Boris: Afghanistan expert! LOL LOL LOL!!
ReplyDeleteVigil I didn't know you had spent so much time in Afghanistan. Was it while in the military? No! You've never been in the military. Was it while serving with the foreign service? No. You've never been in the foreign service. CIA? No. A history teacher? No. A geography teacher? No. Political science? No. Oh well. I think I will go ahead and listen to those who have actually done some of those things. In the meantime you and Boris have a wonderful day:-):-) Peace out...
ReplyDeleteMadMike, having traipsed your way to Vietnam and back following the blind authority of Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara and William Westmoreland, you're more than willing to follow the blind authority of Barack Obama, Robert Gates, and Stanley McChrystal and send this generation of American fighting men and women on another expeditionary campaign to Afghanistan?
ReplyDeleteOn Polling in Afghanistan, Anand Gopal, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal writes:
ReplyDeleteThe way the surveys work is by recruiting, say, 34 people for the 34 provinces," [Gopal] writes. "Each of these people are then tasked with finding participants for the survey in their province. In rural Afghanistan, with geographical, logistical and security concerns, these people can't very well go door to door. Moreover, they can't randomly select phone numbers here ... Therefore the surveyors usually find participants by polling their friends and family. This means that you don't have a random sample, and the results of the survey depend entirely on the political outlook of [the] person in charge. Since the surveyors are often educated people who live in urban areas and have ties to the government (in most provincial urban centers, almost every educated person--and there's not many--have family members working for the government, because that's the only job available to them.), there's a heavy pro-government and pro-coalition bias in the surveys."
Thank you for your service, Mike.
ReplyDeleteBlind authority? Vigil what do you think soldiers do? I was a 21 year old kid. I didn't make judgments. I followed orders as did the 58K that were killed and the thousands more that served. It is what soldiers do and that is a good thing. The fact is Vigil there is no explanation that will satisfy you when it comes to Afghanistan. There are no polls, no pols, no military officers or advisers, experts all that would satisfy you. You are completely intractable on this subject. there was a time when I thought sending more troops was a bad idea until I spent weeks researching the why. That research, derived from peer reviewed articles and reliable sources, convinced me that even thought I HATE war, this one is sadly necessary, at least for the short run.
ReplyDeleteFinally there is one more thing soldiers don't do. They don't trash their commander in chief. They don't refer to Afghanistan as Obamastan and they don't whine constantly about coming home. They are brave men and women who know they are there to do a job. They are not plumbers. They are soldiers and I am damn proud of them. They are doing their job!
Thank you Boris. Thank you very much.
ReplyDeleteI had a feeling you were going to notice/mention that chick, double b.....I guess I'm getting to know you guys prety well, huh? Now, if she had only slapped him up side the head a couple of times. LOL
ReplyDeleteThroughout my pages I have tirelessly reiterated my firm belief that the men and women in our United States Armed Forces are the bravest, most professional, most conscientious, and most technically competent soldiers the world has ever seen. I have also stated that is all the more reason not to abuse their trust in their civilian commanders by sending them on ill-conceived missions which do not address our core national interests.
ReplyDeleteI honor your service AND your position, Mike. I just don't think that 18 more months (I question, too, the advertising of a time-line) of this type of strategy is going to accomplish anything. Like I think I've said before, I'm much more in favor of using technology, intelligence, and special ops. This, in that, yes, it has much less of a "whack a mole" feeling to it.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThanks Will. We agree to disagree. I appreciate that.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteI have removed my earlier post. It was unnecessarily harsh. The decision was reached not because of anything "Boris" wrote, he is inconsequential to me, but more of an understanding of the passion that Vigil has for his anti-war commitment. I will never agree with his position and he will never agree with mine. Enough said.
ReplyDeleteBoris: Retroactive Comment Moderation is in effect. Consider this a warning. I would prefer that you clean up after yourself.
ReplyDeleteI do hope I'm wrong, Mike. I'd much prefer to win a war and lose an argument than vice versa. I'm pretty sure that most of us feel that way.
ReplyDeleteOkay, Homie, OK! I understand why you bounced my comment.
ReplyDeleteCan I get away with saying that Mike is not only mad but depressed? Even Zoloft won't help him, so he blogs....?