M.I.A.

I have been very busy lately, preparing a few interesting – though not very lucrative — projects that I will hopefully discuss in the near future, and therefore have been missing in action. Nevertheless, I have still been thinking about many of the issues of the day, such as:

• Obama is not a communist. I repeat, he is not a communist. He is a sell-out, and his health care plan and proposals are nothing more than hand-outs to the status quo. To believe anything else is to have your head in the sand (or in the snow, Mrs. Palin). Nothing that he has done to date has been left of center.
• I don’t care about Tiger Woods. But we treat our athletes, actors and politicians like rock stars. Our culture sexes them up and tells women that these are the desirable men in society. Then the expected happens: these athletes, actors and politicians actually become rock stars, having sex with everything that moves. The press is fully aware of all of this, witness all of the infidelities and sexual escapades, and form a tacit agreement with the celebrities to remain silent (in exchange, the press gets exclusives; the same agreement the White House press corp has with the president). It is only the rare occasion when the celebrity crosses the line – crashing his vehicle or making a public spectacle of himself – when the press then reports on the matter and the celebrity is forced to apologize, teary-eyed. It’s all just too silly for me. Come on! We should just stop pretending anymore. They are all — every one of them — having sex, all the time, and very publicly. Get over it!
• Our enlightened press wants us to believe that White Christians who terrorize are not terrorists. Only Muslims and foreigners can be terrorists.
• Hillary is worried that Iran is becoming a military dictatorship. Look, I am not comfortable with Iran having nuclear weapons either, but Mrs.-We-Can-Obliterate-You’s reasoning doesn’t pass the laugh test: the Iranian military’s increasing relevance in the country’s politics and oil economy. That doesn’t sound at all like the U.S., where our military spending makes up for almost half of the entire U.S. budget, making it the largest military budget in the world, and where generals — not the commander-in-chief — are the ones dictating military policy instead of implementing it. Meanwhile, Iran has the smallest military budget per capita in the entire Middle East (after Dubai). Also, the U.S. would never use its military to promote its economic interests, would it, Haliburton? And of course, Hillary forgot to mention that every ally the U.S. has in the Middle Eastern is a dictatorship. Nice try. She should just admit that Iran is the new Sadam Hussein.
• Talking war when we aren’t winning two other wars is probably not very threatening to anyone. Committing troops to two completely unnecessary wars leaves us exposed before any real potential threats. It is pure national defense negligence.
• Our Justice Department thinks lawyers are scum anyways, so torture memos are kosher.
• Regardless of the facts – the Bush/Cheney White House mirandized and successfully prosecuted and convicted 175 terrorist suspects in civil court and was mostly unsuccessful and ineffective in trying suspects in military tribunals, the press and the Republicans want us to believe that Obama has suddenly changed course. And instead of the rule of law prevailing over how we treat terrorist suspects, it all comes down to what one guy in the Senate – a man named Lindsey – wants.
• Cheney once again on the stay out of jail tour: I disagree with Greenwald that Cheney thinks he is above the law and therefore is flaunting having broken the law. I believe he is scared that he may very well be prosecuted – heck, the British are investigating themselves, someday Americans may also demand a little accountability and transparency from their own government. Thus, Cheney’s only card is to turn breaking his right to break the law without impunity into a political football, not a question of maintaining the rule of law.
• My cousin, Grave Error contrarian par excellence, has started his own blog – Machiavellian. We thoroughly enjoy disagreeing without each other. Now you can join in the fun too. Check out his new blog.
• And more.