Still Waiting, Not Seeing

At the day job, I work with a man who, I think, would agree with me if I characterized him as a partisan of the Democratic Party. I'm not using his real name anyway, so maybe that doesn't matter. In any case, I was talking with "Bill" some months ago, and he was telling me how it was that President Obama (Bill always includes the title -- told you he's a partisan) would be withdrawing all The Troops from Iraq before year's end. I was skeptical. I asked if he was sure it wasn't just "combat" Troops that would be leaving, as there seem to be other sorts of Troop; how many American mercenaries (Blackwater Xe employees and the like) would be staying, and so on. Bill's an honest man; he admitted that there could be some definitional weaseling going on, and that some careful parsing might be in order. At conversation's end, we agreed to disagree, as we usually do; I said I'd have to wait and see what the situation would be at year's end.

Well, here we are. It's 20 December, and you've all seen the news, replete with reports of the very last Troop crossing over into Kuwait, keys to various reinforced-concrete fortresses being handed over to our gallant allies, the Cuddly Iraqis™ (those being our direct-report employees among the wog population). So, a few days ago, Bill naturally had to tease me a little, reminding me that I was supposed to be waiting and seeing, and asking me whether I was ready to credit the O-bomber -- excuse me, The President -- with ending Iraq War II. Now, Bill's a friend, and I certainly don't begrudge him his fun. But I had to say that no, my waiting-and-seeing was still incomplete. Plenty of waiting, but not so much seeing. I mean, presumably we're leaving an ambassador, right? In fact, we're leaving this "embassy" that's really a downsized city, sitting in a Green Zone that had better be hermetically sealed within some very thick walls; who's manning the walls? ("You want me on that wall; you need me on that wall ...") So, it's fair to assume that there'll be at least a smallish army providing embassy security ... but they're not combat Troops. Then, in the dutifully-transcribed Pentagon news releases that pass for reportage from our lapdog press, I've seen some vague references to military "trainers" who're supposed to be getting the Cuddly Iraqis up to speed as Modern Warriors, but those references have been notably shy about numbers. And, in any case, I'm sure that a trainer is also not a combat Troop.

How large a garrison will be left in the wholly-owned American subsidiary called Kuwait? Surely a withdrawal across that oh-so-formidable international border has to be regarded as purely administrative, doesn't it?

Now, I'm not saying I don't trust our government. I'm not saying our government would lie to us. I'm just saying ... well, all right, I'm busted -- I'm saying exactly those things. I'm saying I trust "our" government just as far as I could (over)throw it: a microscopic distance, indeed. I'm saying that "our" government can be relied on absolutely to lie to us, again and again, in multiple and conflicting versions. I'm further saying that to read or view the "news" supplied by the corporate press is exactly the same thing as consuming the info-waste products excreted by our secretive, lying, murderous government. I'm saying that to really know what the American military presence remaining in Iraq is, I'd have to go there and search the place, which I'm obviously not going to do. Thus, I go on about my mundane affairs, while waiting ... and not seeing.

Ugly Stupid Ugly and Stupid American

Please file this away somewhere in your memory, where it'll be easy to find when considering the profound question: Why do they hate us? It's how overcredentialed, underbrained, sawed-off twits get to talk when seeking the presidential nomination of Caucus A of the War Party:

Taking a hard line on a U.S. foe in the Middle East, Republican presidential front-runner Newt Gingrich indicated Wednesday that he would unilaterally "replace" Syrian President Bashar al-Assad because he is running a "bad dictatorship."

The former House speaker was asked on a morning radio show in Chicago to offer a "30-second" answer to what he would do about Syria, where anti-government protests have led to a violent crackdown. Gingrich said, "I can give you a three-second answer. Replace Assad. I mean Assad is our enemy. He is an ally of Iran. It is a bad dictatorship. It is to our interest to get rid of dictators of this kind."

Gingrich did not say how he would remove Assad, and acknowledged there would be "consequences" to such an overt U.S. action. He said that as president, it would be his job to manage them. "Now that means you have consequences and have to be much better at managing the consequences than this administration has been," he said on the Don Wade & Roma radio show. "But I think none the less getting rid of Assad will lead to a better future than keeping him there."

Faced with a tossoff performance like that one from the Newtster, I don't even know where to start. His is the hyper-banal voice of unreflective -- no, antireflective -- entitlement. The good news: he won't be elected president. The bad news: someone smoother and more plausible, but fundamentally no better, will be elected president ... I suppose either Killer Romney or Killer Obama, not that it matters which. The best news, however: given that famous Mayan-calendar thing, someone will be elected president, but no one will be inaugurated in January 2013, because the world will have ended and there won't be any January 2013. Obama's the last prexy, and he's a one-termer (slightly less than one full term, even). To those who are about to tell me that the whole Mayan-calendar business is a gross misunderstanding, I say: please be quiet -- I'm having such a nice dream. Thank you.

Okay, Just Call Me Pollyanna, Then

Doesn't it seem to you that the office, the institution, of the American presidency is shrinking like a wool sweater in a red-hot dryer? That's how it feels to me, contemplating the political "news" concerning the troop of clowns pursuing the GOP nomination to oppose the tiny little corporate puppet now inhabiting 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. I mean -- the latest up-and-coming Republican dwarf is Newtie? It's hard to describe the little toad as "evil," because to be evil should surely require some substance. Mr. Gingrich fails to rise to the threshold level of evil. If he grew up, maybe he'd be evil. Then there's the Obummer: Bush Part Three, without the pseudoTexan pseudotwang ... and certainly without anything that could possibly be mistaken for integrity, or even a coherent political philosophy.

And, on the whole, that's good news. As the United States weakens, the national figurehead's identity becomes less important; and, as the United States weakens, its ability to destroy other people's lives, families, and homes on a worldwide basis also diminishes, and that's a diminution that's plainly required, in the interest of elementary decency.


So count me among the smiling, as 2012 arrives in a few weeks. It's an election year, and the cracks, rust, dangling wires, and loose fittings on the machinery of tyranny show up best at such times. I may not (will not) be voting, but that doesn't prevent me from being a campaign worker. I believe I'll go and volunteer for Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho, the logical president for Amur'ka 2012!

Somebody Else Can't Stand the Smell

No, I'm not going to vote for Ron Paul in the Republican primary. There are several good reasons for that. One is that the Indiana primary happens in May, by which time Rep. Paul probably won't still be campaigning; another is that I don't vote any more, and all of my reasons for that still apply. Having said that, I'll go on to say that you've still got to love you some Ron Paul from time to time, especially when you juxtapose this:

Gingrich: “How Could You Turn Down the Donald?”

with this:

Paul Says No to Trump Debate

'Nuf said.

One Good Thing About Military Conscription

Back around 1970, American college campuses saw substantial unrest over the Vietnam war. Today, there's zero campus unrest over our current sand wars, probably because no one's being drafted -- not directly, anyway, although our crap economy could be regarded as a kind of not-quite-official near-draft. But, if students don't get upset about wars that they don't have to go and fight, at least they do get upset about something:

Chanting "We want Joe" and damaging lampposts and parked vehicles, Penn State students flooded into downtown State College late Wednesday to protest the university board of trustees' decision to fire football coach Joe Paterno.

At least two young women were hospitalized, one who got gasoline in her eyes after a TV van was pushed over, and another who was hit by an object thrown from a balcony.

Police would not confirm making arrests, but at least one person was seen being taken into custody.

Students crowded by the hundreds into the area of the borough known as Beaver Canyon, where students in 2008 rioted after a victory over Ohio State. In addition to their cheers for Paterno, they shouted "We are Penn State" and "One more game."

"The board of trustees has no loyalty," read sign held by one student. "We will not be quiet." Police were out in riot gear.

A lamppost was ripped down about 11:30 p.m. Police later reported two others were pushed down. Officers attempted to guide students back onto the sidewalks, but then a TV van from Altoona station WTAJ was tipped over. A car also was overturned. Students rushed the CNN van, but police turned them away.

Well, that's America, the 2011 edition: we don't sweat the small stuff -- the wars abroad, the police-state stuff at home, the absolute corporate ownership of government. Maybe if there was an active draft, middle-class people's priorities would be different. But instead, we save our outrage for the truly vital things, like a college football coach getting fired.

For me, it's another Murray Sperber moment. I'd love to see big-time intercollegiate athletics disappear. I'd love to see the end of the "athletic scholarship." I'd like to see the pursuit of research grants end. In short, I'd love to see the American university dedicate itself to undergraduate education, first and foremost. I'm sure it's not going to happen. I certainly wish it would, though.

And Your Point Is ... ?

Shock! Surprise! Embarrassment! Sarkozy tells Obama that Netanyahu's a liar!

"I cannot bear Netanyahu, he's a liar," Sarkozy told Obama, unaware that the microphones in their meeting room had been switched on, enabling reporters in a separate location to listen in to a simultaneous translation.

"You're fed up with him, but I have to deal with him even more often than you," Obama replied, according to the French interpreter.

The technical gaffe is likely to cause great embarrassment to all three leaders as they look to work together to intensify international pressure on Iran over its nuclear ambitions.

In other late-breaking news, film-based cameras caught Vito Corleone in a gaffe, telling his key assistant Tom Hagen:

"Tattaglia is a pimp. He could never have outfought Santino. But I didn't know until this day that it was Barzini all along."

It was not known if this gaffe will cause great embarrassment to these three leaders as they work together to squeeze out the rest of New York's Five Families, or not.