Political Rants

Last resort.

Bin Laden has been found. Why doesn’t it surprise me that he was living in a luxurious gated community, not a cave? Used to better things, I suspect. Given the history of his involvement with the Afghan-Pakistani-American covert war against the Soviets in the 1980s, it is also unsurprising that he would make his home in the heart of perhaps the most militarized garrison town in Pakistan – a place literally crawling with ISI operatives, no doubt. It is simply inconceivable that at least some elements of the Pakistani military and/or intelligence services were not aware of his presence. (One wonders what the reaction might have been had he been discovered in a highly fortified mansion in a garrison village just outside of Damascus or Teheran.) 

The interpersonal connections between ISI and networks like Al Qaeda were built up over the course of decades. How else could such a notorious terror leader hide in plain sight, except by the same kind of tolerance shown to killers like Jose Posada Carriles and Orlando Bosch?

Okay, so… that’s done. Now, when do we accord justice to those guys who used our military to destroy Afghanistan and Iraq, killing hundreds of thousands of people? I’m not suggesting execution, of course, but a trip to the Hague might discourage copy-cat criminals. I’m just saying.

Then there’s the question of killing Bin Laden’s brainchild, the bottomless Afghan war. Let us face it, getting stuck in Afghanistan is precisely what he wanted us to do. This is not guess work – he said it numerous times. (Rachel Maddow’s recent pieces on this have been pretty solid.) Bin Laden drew satisfaction from the fact that he had helped bleed the Soviet Union dry by supporting the Mujahadeen in Afghanistan and Pakistan during the 1980s. That wasn’t the first empire battered by such an adventure. He was confident that we would destroy ourselves with an open-ended commitment there. (Iraq was just a bonus coup-de-grace we administered to ourselves.)

The fact is, I can already hear Bin Laden cackling from his watery grave as we expend more lives and treasure on the fool’s errand that is the Afghan war, drawing funds from vital health care, education, public works – you name it.  It’s time that enterprise received what he got, before it finishes us.

Usual Rubbish

Open season.

Whoa, was that a week from hell or wasn’t it?  Spring is here, after all, and the planet’s wrecked. Time to cultivate another one. Any preferences? Neptune, perhaps? Or…. maybe we can just open the mail bag.

Here’s one from a local:

Dear Big Green,

I think I saw one of your number tagged in a photo on Facebook, dressed up in a ludicrous leprechaun get-up. What’s up with that? Are you going to start playing traditional Irish music now? Should I look for you on Thistle and Shamrock any time soon?

Best,

Rich Taggert
Toad in the Hole, NY

Well, Rich…. that does seem to be my name, so perhaps it’s me. I may be a secret leprechaun, or perhaps I fell asleep at a St. Patrick’s Day bash and simply don’t remember what happened next. (Distinct possibility.) Then again, Marvin (my personal robot assistant) may have put me in the ludicrous outfit while I was sleeping and then invited local children in to have their photo taken with the funny, funny elf. I’m guessing here.

The closest we’ve come to Irish music is a Christmas number Matt wrote some years back called “McBridy”, which later segues into a country song called “Evening Crab Nebula”. Written around the times of the troubles in Northern Ireland – now thankfully past – the McBridy lyric went something like this:

Well, hiddly- hi, in the Christian World, it’s eye for eye
And hiddly-hi, we’ll get another try
It’s the same dear thing McBridy sang
before he caught up with the plan
that threw him on his back one Christmas ‘morn

McBridy, McBridy! You lived in a wholly Christian world
But still you blow your brother away
McBridy, McBridy! You lived in a holy Christian world
But died another link in the chain.

And no, not Thistle and Shamrock… but possibly Pagan FM, if you listen regularly.

Next missive…

Dear Big Green,

I don’t exist, and you can’t make me.

Yours truly,
Chester Ether

Thanks for writing, Chester. A lot of our listeners are in much the same condition. It’s a sign of these difficult times, as I’m sure you – a non-existent person – can truly appreciate.

Now back to work, damn it.

Political Rants

Obama’s twenty.

I dimly recall an old Chris Rock routine about Bill Clinton back in the 90’s. It was that bit about Bill Clinton being the first black president; Rock’s proof was simple: “He hands them a twenty, and they hold it up to the light.” That pretty much defines the dynamic that brought about this week’s revealing of Obama’s long-form birth certificate. There’s a clear effort towards delegitimizing the president not so much because of his policies (which merit some substantial criticism) but rather on the basis of his being black. No, Donald Trump is not standing there saying Obama shouldn’t be president because of his skin color. He is merely amplifying the overtly racist insistence that the man hasn’t adequately proven his identity, that he must – again and again, in an ever-proliferating variety of forms – present his papers on demand. When has this ever in our lifetimes been demanded of a president of the United States?

This started with the Clinton campaign and was expanded by the McCain campaign with the ominous warnings from both halves of that ticket that Obama was “not like you and me.” True enough, if “you and me” is white people. It was the birth certificate, the church he belonged to, the African garb he wore on a trip, the middle name his parents gave him – all these attempts to make him appear alien and, therefore, threatening to middle America. (No need to enhance the fear factor on the far right- they were there already.) For the most part, it’s really just a process of drawing people’s attention to the fact that he’s African American, by subtracting the “American” part.

Stephen Colbert did a decent job of explaining this – hilariously – on his show this past week. (I think it was Wednesday night’s show.) Of course, Obama’s effort to still the beast by giving it something to chew on is a bit like paying off blackmailers. And sure enough, they’re already on to the next thing.

Got to go – papers to write. (End of the semester again.)

luv u,

jp

Weird ass music since 1986