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12/15/2003 Archived Entry: "Leave it to me to miss an opportunity."
Leave it to me to miss an opportunity.
Hey, given the Big News that came out yesterday and the wave of triumphalism that washed over America yesterday, you'd think I would have been in front of the ol' laptop blogging my ass off yesterday.
But noooooo. I posted that one article at some ungodly hour of the morning, then went back to sleep.
There's a lot of speculation that Ol' Saddam's capture has sealed the deal for Bush in '04. I'm inclined to call it a wash at this point. Sure, he'll get a bump for a while, but if the troops in Iraq continue to be attacked (I wish it weren't true, but I think at this point the oppo will roll on - I'm not that convinced that Saddam was running the show in the first place, and the administration's actions in Iraq have pissed people off regardless of Saddam), this won't help anywhere but in the rhetoric in Bush's speeches.
I'm working on a timeline animation that shows US troop deaths in the time that Bush was out raising over $80 million for his 2004 campaign (and it's more than a little hair-raising, kids). Someone suggested this morning that there may be another timeline - troop deaths in the wake of Saddam's capture - waiting to be laid out.
I'm wishing for the safety of our troops, but grabbing Saddam out of a hole in the ground doesn't improve my optimism much.
Oh, and today is 'Write like Nedra Pickler Day.' I'll have an entry or two on that a bit later. For those who need a primer on Ms. Pickler, Atrios is all over it, as this handy link he provided shows.
Replies: 11 people speak up
i cant remember whether it was the bbc or the cbc on cspan, but last night i watched a piece about reaction in the arab world to saddams capture. it ranged from noncommital approval from the egyptian government (in english i might add, id be interested to see what they said in arabic to their own people, who are probobly less thrilled about it) on the other end of the spectrum, was sadness and outrage from the arab street and especially palestine. many people were outraged by the fact that they shaved his beard (a terrible offense in the muslim world, to forcibly shave a mans beard) and outrage over the degredation of his medical exam. we have to remember that saddam hussein was seen as a hero to many arab nationalists. regardless of the fact that he was a murderer, and regardless of the fact that we put him in power to begin with, we have to realize that the people of iraq will feel the same offense that those people feel, regardless of how much they hate saddam, they still see a fellow muslim being mistreated by a christian invasion force. if we dont give him a fair trial (and we wont) you can only expect things to get worse. also lets not forget that the people attacking our troops are not baathists, or terrorists, they are iraqis, and they are legitimately fighting an illegal invasion force. preemtive attacks are a war crime, plain and simple. i feel bad for our troops being shot at over there, but this is a war, you cant expect a war to be fought one sided, even when you attack unilaterally.
Posted by justin @ 12/15/2003 12:53 PM NY
Paragraphs dude, paragraphs. You need to start hitting that tab key every once in awhile. Long posts are okay, but just break them up. And capitalize first words in sentences, it makes it easier to follow.
You're getting better, but you need to work at it. Ugh, just looking at that post above takes work.
Posted by Stentor @ 12/15/2003 01:37 PM NY
Justin,
I agree with Stentor. I like what you have to say, but the read is difficult. Stream-of-consciousness is great, but paragraphs and CAPITALIZATION are lovely grammatical devices. Besides, rumor has it that Dubya also eschews paragraphs and capitalization. And you wouldn't want to be compared to Dubya now, would you?
Must...resist...urge...to...use...reverse...psychology...
Anywho, it would appear that Wall Street is a bit less enthusiastic about the bold, daring, manly capture of Saddam Hussein than our hyper-ventilating mediawhores. All the major indices were down today. Pity poor Wolf, he just looks more foolish every day.
And I'm starting to get a little sick of seeing that exhilarating capture footage over and over and over again. Get over it already. The bastard should've shot himself. It's there's one thing I hate more than a sociopathic, murdering dictator it's a cowardly, sociopathic, murdering dictator. (I'm referring to Saddam, of course. I wouldn't want there to be any ambiguity).
Posted by Metropolitan99 @ 12/15/2003 04:11 PM NY
It is a propaganda shit storm out here right now. I don't really care that they got Saddam, it doesn't change a thing. The Iraqi people are not any more liberated than they were on April Fools Day.
Frankly, I'm pissed that the looped tape of Saddam's physical is going to get more air time than the Halliburton scandal and the exclusion of several of our Nato Allies, Russia and China from Iraq will get altogether.
I was coming from a United for Peace and Justice meeting yesterday, a block away from 42nd Street, and when I got to Times Square every single news ticker, and every big screen was telling us "SADDAM CAPTURED! YOU ARE HAVING MULTIPLE ORGASMS! SADDAM CAPTURED! YOUR GRANDMA HAS BEEN RAISED FROM THE DEAD!"
It was seriously the first time I actually felt like Winston Smith (from 1984); people throw around the Big Brother references, but with this story, the war, the party line, and the media line it is truly pertinent today.
I resent that the media, especially the TV media, now more than ever, are totally telling us what we're supposed to think, and how we're supposed to embrace Saddam's capture like a Christmas gift.
I'm a 19 year-old kid, I've got buddies in the service deployed in the Gulf, and I hope their lives become easier now that this asshole is in prison; but Saddam's capture cannot become a consecration of this unjust war and occupation that has kids my age dying 5 times a week.
It is insulting for the media to sell us the stupid idea that Saddam's capture somehow makes Bush right. People have gotta know that the wingnuts in Bush's administration will try to invade Syria, Libya, Iran or N. Korea if Bush is reelected.
In his last column, Paul Krugman noticed Wolfowitz's honesty about the Iraq contracts and what they're for: "Limiting competition for prime contracts will encourage the expansion of international cooperation in Iraq and in FUTURE EFFORTS" said Wolfowitz. I added that emphasis.
The truth is not even a factor for the political and media establishment right now, but there's no reason to doubt that the Democrat who spots the U.S. public's proverbial line in the sand and shows Bush stuck on the other side of it can beat him next November.
Peace, and my apologies for the long, ranty post, I guess the points you made sparked a little flame in me today...
Posted by Kalonji @ 12/15/2003 05:05 PM NY
Hey people, somone has turned the unelectable google bomb into a shadow web address?
Posted by Damfa @ 12/15/2003 05:07 PM NY
Sorry, its hard to compose a viable paragraph in this little box. I swear, i have a college education, i just tend to type conversationally. I will try harder from now on.
Anyway...... it would have been a better story if Saddam had gone out guns blazing, after all, they are going to kill him anyway. Then again, if you were pulled out of a hole at gun point, you might see it differently.
The book "1984" has and always will be very relevent, because it gets right to the heart of fascism, and how it works. It's a brilliant book, and people will always see their own time period reflected in it. On the other hand, it has never been more relevant than now, because so much of it is coming true (especially when you see the European Union forming,[IE Eurasia] along with the aliance of the US and UK [IE Oceana] and the slow but steady solidifying aliance between the Non-West [ which diverts from the book a bit, but hell the man wasnt a profit, they could very easily fill the roll of EastAsia])
Let there be no confusion that England didnt switch to the Euro, this is after all really a war against Europe anyway.
By the way, Iran is clearly next. Ive been hearing all day about how Osama is hiding in Iran, and how Iran is building nukes, and how Iranians eat babies (ok, not really, but they might as well throw that in too). Evil Inc. seems to be on a new country every year plan, so if he is relected we can expect Iran and Syria to go too. I dont think we will fuck with Korea, they kicked our ass the last time. Not to mention the fact that their army can march really well, any country that can goose step in the shape of their flag is not a country to fuck with...
Posted by justin @ 12/15/2003 06:19 PM NY
Hmmm, I always thought "1984" was about Communism not Fascism.
With regard to OBL, the concensus is that he's hiding in mountainous terrain between Afghanistan and Pakistan, not in Iran (we'll have to use the nu-kyu-lar weapons program rationalization to go after them yet again).
But I do agree, the North Koreans are pretty scary. In any event, I won't be doing any of the fighting, I'm too old to be cannon fodder. Wars of liberation are wonderful when someone else has to do the fighting.
Posted by Metropolitan99 @ 12/15/2003 06:35 PM NY
blah blah blah
Where's my passport, honey?
Posted by ed @ 12/15/2003 07:55 PM NY
Do you really think that? That Bush is going to lose in '04? As much as I would like to agree with you, I'm not entirely convinced of that at this point. Mainly the only other options are the democrats and they can't seem to focus enough among themselves to come up with a hard core stance. I'm worried personally... Very worried.
Posted by Tek @ 12/15/2003 08:37 PM NY
Well, 1984 applies equally to any totalitarian state. In both communism and facsicm, the means of production are controlled by the government, in communism that controll is in partnership with the workers, in fascism that controll is in partnership with the industrialists, but it adds up to the same basic equation.
In both forms of governments, there is only one political party that has power, and the people have no say in the government. 1984 could just as easily be applied to a technocracy, or an oligarchy or a corporate feudalism.
I do however get your point, the government of Oceana in 1984 was a communist government, because at the time, the communists were the main example of totalitarianism, on the other hand, you have to admit that at the time it was written, the governments of Hitler and Stalin both must have provided quite a bit of inspiration for the book.
As for the other part, about Osama, im just telling you what i heard CNN's foriegn analyst saying, he said: there will be proof coming out in print over the next few weeks that Iran is hiding Osama Bin Laden in its territory, and that Iran is also funding all of the terrorist attacks in Iraq.
Sounds like the war drums are beating again to me......
Posted by justin @ 12/16/2003 02:16 PM NY
an interesting read, that clarifies a lot of what is in 1984 is one of orwells earlier works called "You & The Atom Bomb" you can find it at http://www.blancmange.net/tmh/articles/abombs.shtml
actually the site it is on is called the memory hole, and it has a lot of good reading on it
http://www.blancmange.net/tmh/welcome.html
Posted by justin @ 12/16/2003 02:31 PM NY
