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October 30, 2003
The 'Savage' Left
by Cara"I want one person to dare to write to this newspaper and say with a straight face and a clear conscience that the Iraqi people would be better off now if we had left Saddam Hussein in power. Just one.? Johann Hari, the Independent (via Michael Totten)I would go one step further and ask the Democratic Presidential candidates to dare to say with a straight face and a clear conscience that the Iraqi people would be better off now if we had left Saddam Hussein in power, because they are coming way too close (for and to Comfort) to saying that these days. Clark literally said that ?this war was unnecessary?.
I have to say that I agree with Roger Simon and the Democratic Senator Zell Miller on this one. Unless the delusions of the far ?left? stop infecting these candidates, unless they stop hallucinating that Iraq is Vietnam, unless they get off the opportunists bus they?re riding on, unless they see that the (party) problems of nine little candidates don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world, and if the election were held today, even though I disagree with Bush domestically, I would have to vote for George W. Bush. No contest.
These guys, as well as the rest of the American and European ?left?, are profoundly far away from reality. ?Conservatives believe it when they see it and Liberals see it when they believe it?* is horrifically appropriate these days. This period will be written about as the era that the ?left? totally abandoned every last stitch of moral progressive principle in favor of the adrenaline rush of the Bush=Hitler Rage Fest. They have totally lost it.
Does anyone remember the few British WWII ?Lefties? who, over time, outright supported Hitler, claiming fascism in their country was just as bad as in Nazi Germany so what did it matter if Hitler defeated England? In 1942 D.S. Savage wrote, ?Hitler requires, not condemnation, but understanding...we do not lift a finger to help either Britain or Germany ?win?; but there would be a profound justice, I feel, however terrible, in a German victory.? What a sweet pacifist thought. And Alex Comfort wrote, also in 1942, ?We are going to be entrusted with the job of saving what remains of the structure of civilized values from Hitler or alternatively from Churchill and his bladder-prickers.? Comfort was actually under the grandiose delusion that people like himself (you know, the good people who openly speak for peace and understanding and stuff) would remain alive and well under Hitler, just like the ?left? today wrongly thinks they will be spared from outright attack because they?re the good people trying to ?understand? theocratic/secular fascism, blaming America as it?s root cause and claiming America is the largest threat to the world. The ?left? is literally following in the footsteps of Savage and Comfort...and perhaps even the Lindbergh/America First crowd, anti-Semitism and all: here, here, here, here, here, here. The ?left? loves Dr. Seuss, right? Well, here?s the Seussian wisdom of 1941:
"The Appeaser"
The ?Savage? Left? Is that how they want to be remembered? And, oh yes, there is a big difference between 1940s and now. Fortunately for England, in the ?40s there were only a few like Savage. Unfortunately, I can?t say the same for today.
Anyway, I will from now on, refer to this ?left?-melting-into- ?right? group as the ?Savage? Left, because I?ve realized, for real, that?s what they are.
-Cara
* While we're decidedly not fans of Dick Armey, we have to give him credit for this one-liner (even he has admitted it's not entirely water tight).
Posted by Cara at 10:13 PM | Comments (28) | TrackBack
October 29, 2003
Terror is Not Religion
by Jeremy
The Rev. Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas thinks the above monument would be a fitting way to commemorate the brutal murder of Matthew Shepard five years ago for the crime of being gay (article link via Randal Robinson). Phelps is requesting that it be placed in a public square in Shepard?s hometown of Casper, Wyoming. The plaque reads "Matthew Shepard entered hell Oct. 12, 1998, at age 21 in defiance of God's solemn warning."
That the mere request for this is an act of hate is beyond debate. What compounds the outrage in this story is that Phelps is claiming that the Town of Casper, Wyoming has to allow the monument since they permitted a private organization to erect a ten commandments monument in the same public square. If you allow one form of religious monument, Phelps argues -- and plans to litigate -- then you cannot close the door to any other form of religious expression.
Now I?m an atheist and I have little affection for publicly funded or embraced displays of religious icons, but I find myself deeply offended by the equation being made between the ten commandments and the open incitement to violence and the assault on the family of a murder victim that Phelps? monument clearly represents. It appears, though the relevant governing council of Casper unanimously rejected the Phelps monument, that they are assessing whether or not it would be wise to remove the ten commandments monument so as to be less vulnerable to the lawsuit the Phelps is promising to file. This would be a huge mistake.
I dearly hope the town of Casper does not accede to this awful man?s pressure. Let it go all the way to the supreme court before allowing the false connection between religious expression and hate to be reinforced, since this is what Phelps is really trying to accomplish.
I wouldn?t advise spending too much of your time looking for wisdom in the words of Justice Clarence Thomas, but he made the point admirably when the court recently ruled to uphold a Virginia anti cross-burning law:
"Just as one cannot burn down someone's house to make a political point and then seek refuge in the First Amendment, those who hate cannot terrorize and intimidate to make their point."
If you doubt the frightening scope of hate Fred Phelps represents, consider these questions in the FAQ?s on his church?s website (the answers are as bizarre as they are irrelevant):
Why do you say "Thank God For September 11?"Why do you say "Thank God For AIDS"?
And this assertion, in response to the suggestion that his church is as bad as hate groups like the KKK.
?The only true Nazis in this world are fags.?
This is as disgusting as the perversion of religion perpetrated by Islamofascist terrorists -- these people must not be appeased.
-Jeremy
Posted by Jeremy at 09:43 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
October 28, 2003
"I Have a Dream...or at Least a Slogan...Though I'm Not Sure What it is at the Moment"
by JeremyTrue heroes of progress throughout history have put their lives on the line so that -- though their dreams may not be realized within their lifetime -- at least their message will be heard.
Some would-be progressive heroes, by contrast, quite literally don?t know what their message is, as deliciously demonstrated in this Salon account from the recent ?End the Occupation? protest in Washington:
Allan Johnson, a high school English teacher and debate coach from Fairfax, Va., held a sign saying "U.S. Troops Out of Iraq. Bring Them Home Now!" at Saturday's "End the Occupation" rally in Washington. In fact, though, Johnson isn't sure he wants to bring the troops home now, or to end the American occupation of Iraq. At least, not yet.* * *
Why, then, was he marching at an End the Occupation rally? "I don't agree with all the people here, believe you me," he said. But his own sign? He glanced at it, startled, and explained that someone had handed it to him. "I didn't even look at it," he said. "I was just waving it.
UPDATE: The giggle I had over the above quote, as I think on it now, does not convey the real nature of this salon article: it's a really good piece, well worth reading in its entirety. So, as they say, "read the whole thing."
-Jeremy
Posted by Jeremy at 02:06 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 26, 2003
O That I Were Suddenly Googleable
by Jeremy
The Google gods have chosen me. Only a few weeks ago a google search for "Jeremy Brown" would put me behind vast numbers of imposters. I never got farther than 150 or so pretenders to my name before giving up trying to find myself in the results. Now I come up number three. I am officially visible. Hundreds of Jeremy Browns have stepped aside and are pointing at me so the monster of transparency will choose me and not any of them. And all I can say is "cripes!"
-Jeremy
Posted by Jeremy at 10:52 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 24, 2003
Does the "Left" Have Garlic In It's Soul?
by CaraI have the feeling that some of my ?lefty? former collective co-workers would automatically be suspicious of Chief Wiggles toy program (see post below). During the war in Afghanistan I heard one of my co-workers laugh and sneer at the food aid packages dropped from U.S. planes and then he went on to complain about the toys the soldiers were distributing to Afghan children saying that it was just a way to convert them to Christianity, and how insensitive of them! (Remember, this was a country where, under the Taliban, toys were literally illegal.) No, I?m not kidding about this or exaggerating. This was the type of delusional spew I had to not only endure but was expected to nod dutifully to (which I never did) day after day within the sacred ?lefty? collective walls where, I might add, I experienced more censorship than from any of John Ashcroft?s big ideas. (Negative criticism of the government/capitalism -- oh & of some customers too - was really the only form of critical expression allowed.) This from people I really thought I knew and a collectivist model I really thought might improve the world. (yeah, right!) Funny how all of the ?left?s? little blind spots suddenly grew right before my eyes to Grand Canyon size proportions in the wake of 9/11. Will they ever be embarrassed? Probably not. They only seem to become more morbidly self-righteous, indignant, angry, and irrational as time goes by.
- Cara
Posted by Cara at 04:45 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
October 23, 2003
Help Chief Wiggles Help Iraqi Kids
by Jeremy
I don?t like being told what to blog about and I?m sure you don?t either, but this one is worth nagging bloggers over, and I?m ashamed it took a politely accusatory ?ahem? from Glenn Reynolds to get people like me to do it.
Chief Wiggles has, with the help of people like us, been giving toys to Iraqi children. This is a good thing. Don?t underestimate the importance of this: this is the first generation of kids in a very long time who may have something like a future to look forward to, but their world is very scary and very tough and they need and deserve to have a shot at a bona fide childhood.
Check out Operation Give for more info. Below is some of the Chief?s advice as to what we should and shouldn?t send, so let?s mull it over (let?s see...GI Joe? NO!! Winnie the Pooh? Yes!! ... Socks and underwear? Those too!!)
You should definitely not send: NO Guns of any kind NO Violent action heroes NO Violent toys NO Barbie dolls or dolls scantily dressed NO Toys that shoot something, no projectiles NO Water guns NO Makeup Also, please be careful with anything that requires electricity. Electricity isn't available everywhere in Iraq, and where it is available, it uses a voltage (220v) that is incompatible with most American electronics. Most electrical devices made in America will not work in Iraq without modification. Excellent choices you should think about including:Toys
Balls
Stuffed animals
Puppets
Kaleidoscopes
Pinwheels
Small cars and trucks (non-military)
Flying discs
Non-military toy planes
Kites
Coloring booksNon-toy items
Flip-flops
Candy (hard candy is better, chocolate melts in the heat)
Toothbrushes & toothpaste
Dental floss
Brushes and combs
Socks and underwear, for both boys and girls, aged 3-18.School Supplies
Pencils and small pencil sharpeners
Lined paper or colored paper
Colored pencils
Rulers
Pens and markers (Avoid crayons, they melt in the heat)Other than that, follow your heart and use common sense. These kids have nothing, so even small things matter a lot.
- Jeremy
Posted by Jeremy at 10:49 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Our New Slogan
by JeremyThanks to Randal Robinson I have found a new slogan for this blog in the words of Washington sniper John Muhammed:
"Well, the whole truth. What is the whole truth? The whole truth, what I found out when I asked that is, Don't take anything away from the truth, which means when we take something away from it, it's not a whole anymore. If we do that, that's a lie. If we do that, we are deceiving. What's nothing but the truth? Well, that means you don't add nothing to the truth. If we do that, we [are] deceiving. We are telling a lie, so this is why it's important that we tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth. But how do we jump from the truth to the whole truth to nothing but the truth when at one time all we had was the truth? Jesus said, "You shall know the truth." He didn't say you shall know the whole truth and nothing but the truth. The truth. For what happened between that time and this time to where we got to deal with three truths?"
That's just the kind of hook, the kind of mnemonic device that will help people to remember who we are and that we stand for truth and objectivity, and stuff.
I don't have the patience to scuba dive through the features of TypePad long enough to figure out how to put this catchy new slogan up under our banner, but I'd appreciate anyone who has us in their blogroll adding this as a tagline underneath our name.
I only regret that these wise words came out of the mouth of a disgusting, subhuman serial murderer (that's "alleged disgusting, subhuman serial murderer.")
-Jeremy
Posted by Jeremy at 08:42 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 22, 2003
Healing Iraq
by JeremyIts been a busy week and I've been under the weather so I only just now got around to reading the new Iraqi blog Healing Iraq, that Jeff Jarvis coaxed into existence. Read it, it's really something -- see if you don't feel you're witnessing something historically significant. It actually made me a bit tearful.
Zeyad delivers horribly troubling news:
I heard some very distressful news today. Someone has been writing graffiti all over Baghdad threatening to kill children who accept the new schoolbags that are to be gifted to them by UNESCO for the new school season. Also warning that any hand waving to the infidel Americans will be cut.
and extremely heartening news in the same post:
This so called resistance is getting hated more and more by Iraqis everywhere. I'm sure this will only add to that scorn exponentially. They are losing any sympathy they may have had earlier. The terrorists have turned out to be MUCH dumber than I thought.
- Jeremy
Posted by Jeremy at 07:53 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 21, 2003
My Humble Apology
by Jeremy
-Jeremy
Posted by Jeremy at 08:39 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
October 19, 2003
Help De-Purge Easterbrook
by JeremyIt's been widely reported by now that Gregg Easterbrook has been fired from his ESPN job and -- adding considerably to the creepiness -- his entire collection of columns has been disappeared from ESPN's archives.
This is a disturbing move by ESPN that we bloggers ought to raise our voices over. Now, I'm not crying in my soup over this, since Easterbrook wrote some provocative stuff and not very carefully and because he knowingly invoked the name of his boss in a searingly negative way: he took a huge, calculated risk. But ESPN's extreme and immediate action is the kind of thing that has been turning journalism into saccharine mush by raising the specter of reprisal over every word a journalist writes (UPDATE: And, more common of late, the flipside of this phenomenon in which a blank check is given to journalists whose substandard rhetorical maneuvers happen to square with the corporation's predilections and then the resulting inducement to engage in this kind of stuff.) I wouldn't want to be an ESPN writer or commentator these days.
Meryl Yourish has spoken to Easterbrook and has a suggestion as to how we can help. I think it makes sense, so go there and read it now if you haven't yet.
Again, I think it would be a big mistake for anyone to feel remorse for having piled on during the outraged response to Easterbrook's infamous post. He has issued a real apology, taken responsibility for the aftermath, and apparently is not blaming the blogosphere for this whole mess. Part of the whole point of blogging is that we will express strong opinions as they come to us, we will occasionally mis-word, we will perpetrate Freudian slips, and others will slam us to the wall when -- intentionally or not -- we are seen to have crossed an important line. This is what blogging is. It's easy for me to say this, of course, since Cara and I have a small blog and have not yet been blasted for any of our transgressions. But It's not inconceivable to me, if I wrote something negative about the head of the labor union I work for and my superiors had a ready excuse to fire me, that I could lose my job due to a ill conceived blog post.
I was going to write the name of the union I work for and the name of its president, just for yuks, but frighteningly enough, I chickened out. That's what's scary about this stuff. Fortunately for me a labor union is far less likely to punish someone for free speech than a corporate entity like ESPN. But I'm not going to test this until there's a good reason to do so.
Just as we should continue to hold each other accountable for our screw ups, I'd like to think we'll stand by each other when one of us is unfairly attacked. So I don't take back my criticisms of Easterbrook's words, but I plan to add my voice to the chorus now in his support.
-Jeremy
Posted by Jeremy at 08:44 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
October 18, 2003
Find the Anti-Semitic Horseshit
by JeremyJust the other day I reflected that one of the forms of bigotry I feel is the most dangerous is the kind that cloaks itself in the haute couture of simulated intellectual inquiry. I wrote it then in the context of a comment thread on Roger Simon?s blog. Roger was speaking out against the anti-Semitic content in a piece by Gregg Easterbrook. Easterbrook has since written a lengthy and apparently sincere apology for the words quoted below:
?Disney's CEO, Michael Eisner, is Jewish; the chief of Miramax, Harvey Weinstein, is Jewish. Yes, there are plenty of Christian and other Hollywood executives who worship money above all else, promoting for profit the adulation of violence. Does that make it right for Jewish executives to worship money above all else, by promoting for profit the adulation of violence??
I buy his apology -- that he did not mean what it seems he meant, that his wording was stupid -- though he fails to acknowledge this as a sign that there is at least a drop of passive, received anti-Semitism in him. I don?t think there is anyone who has not had to face something ugly in himself or herself, who has not had the shock of seeing something in their own character that had to be faced and repudiated. Easterbrook might best have seen this as such an occasion, a time to face a demon publicly and put it -- publicly -- behind him. I hope he is at least tackling this in his private thoughts.
Why hold another person to such a high standard? Because, given realities like this next item, it?s crucial that we not get in the habit of whitewashing bigotry, even when it?s our own.
Mahatir Mohammed: Anti-Semitic Demogogue
The prime minister of Malaysia, Mahathir Mohamad said in a speech at the Islamic Summit Conference the other day that ?the Jews rule this world by proxy.? Throughout the speech the terms ?Jews? ?Israel? and ?the enemy? are used interchangeably. Is it just another expression of pure Islamist anti-Semitism? No. And that?s what frightens me the most about it. Mahatir is no Islamist. In the speech he criticizes Muslims for having thrown away their own progress in the world centuries ago by rejecting science in favor of theology. And he rejects the use of random violence to oppose ?the enemy? since it only hurts the interests of Muslims. Mahatir is a demagogue and a plainly anti-Semitic one. He speaks of Jews as some kind of race of evil geniuses who should be reviled and vanquished, yes, but whose evil tricks should be emulated.
?We are up against a people who think. They survived 2000 years of pogroms not by hitting back, but by thinking. They invented and successfully promoted Socialism, Communism, human rights and democracy so that persecuting them would appear to be wrong, so they may enjoy equal rights with others. With these they have now gained control of the most powerful countries and they, this tiny community, have become a world power. We cannot fight them through brawn alone. We must use our brains also.?
Who but we Jews would be so sick as to try to rule the world with our vile weapons of human rights and democracy. What cads we are. What vile potions will we cook up in our evil kitchens next?
Guys like this love to give the appearance that they are being reasonable, that they are engaging in a process of courageous, intellectual exploration, that they are saying things that some people may find uncomfortable, but that everyone really knows are true. But did the majority of his audience go home thinking ?wow, he?s right: terrorism hurting Muslims and Arabs more than it?s hurting the enemy.? Or are they saying ?wow, Jews really are controlling the world with their big brains.? You don?t have to be a brainy evil Jew such as my self to figure that one out. His ?intellectual? ambiguity doesn?t mitigate the violenct hatefulness of his real message. That?s what demagogues do, they confuse, they obfuscate, they use the illusion of complexity to make ordinary people stop thinking and simply accept what they?re told. Televangelists are expert at this: talk utter horseshit for hours and people go numb, until only the amphibian brain is listening, until only the most primitive of your exhortations will be swallowed and regurgitated.
The point is this: if there really is or is going to be a resurgence of anti-Semitism, it?s going to be this thinly modernized kind. It?s going to be a stinking barge-load of horseshit with a single gardenia of intellectual obfuscation placed on top. So let?s not stoop to smell the flower when we should be crying ?horseshit!?
-Jeremy
By the way, if you find yourself asking "what the hell are these guys smoking?" your answer may be found below:
Posted by Jeremy at 12:59 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
October 15, 2003
Correction
by CaraSo it seems Kevin McCullough has issued a ?partial retraction? and an apology for misquoting Asner in his recent article. As McCullough has a radio show, I was under the impression that the words he quoted were broadcast on the air, and therefore accurate. This was not the case, and I want to correct this as soon as possible. The interview was taped for the air but it turns out McCullough didn?t review the tape before committing it to print, and in the process he distorted the content (not cool) to make Asner?s intent look worse than it actually was:
?Upon reflection, I should have waited for the original audio so as to quote the parties involved as accurately as possible. Fairness and truth are what I am in constant search of and, therefore, when I am wrong I should be the first to admit such shortcomings. I do apologize to Mr. Asner for use of the inaccurate quotes regarding Joseph Stalin.
What follows is what I have been told are the actual quotes on the audio recording:
McCullough: "If you could portray an historical biography and you had an unlimited budget, unlimited support cast and everything you could ask for, who would it be?"
Asner: "Well, you know something, they've played Hitler, nobody has ever really touched Stalin, it just occurred to me. It's not because I am a liberal or anything like that. Stalin is one big damn mystery, I wonder why nobody has tried it? Many people, you know, speak of the fact that he killed more people than Hitler -- why does nobody touch him? It's strange. So, and he was about my size, my height -- with a wig I probably could do it."
This shows Asner is aware of Stalins?s deeds. And, I?m actually relieved. It has not been pleasant for me to see so many Hollywood greats I?ve admired for years give way to extremist politics that, in my opinion, make toast of their ?humanitarian? and ?liberal? principles. In addition, it is just as unpleasant to see journalists make toast of the truth.
- Cara
Posted by Cara at 03:51 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
October 14, 2003
NYU Alums: "Help Save the Bottom Line Nightclub"
by JeremyUpdate to the save the Bottom Line saga:
I got an email from Jeff Lang, one of the people who have been organizing a petition to save the Bottom Line Nightclub. Although the club made it over a very nasty hump, they?re still not out of the woods, he says.
As I?ve said before, I don?t think NYU are villains here, but they do seem to have made up their minds to evict, despite having said that it?s not what they really want to do.
There?s an article on the Rolling Stone site about all of this that seems to me to give a pretty balanced picture of the dispute:
"Nobody wants to see the Bottom Line closed, and that includes the university," says Beckman [an NYU spokesman]. "We understand its importance as a cultural resource. It's an icon."That is a sentiment echoed by Pepper [one of the club?s owners], who despite saying, "we have a real fight on our hands, and we're trying to hang in there," admits that "there really are no bad guys in this situation.?
NYU, from what Jeff is reporting, is nevertheless playing hardball, so any effort to increase their sense that New Yorkers cherish this club as a cultural asset could help tip the morally ambiguous scale back in favor of not evicting.
Attention NYU Alumni
Jeff is now trying to get NYU alumni to sign a separate petition to drive home the point that dropping the eviction proceedings would be a feather in NYU?s cap, and that evicting would make many alums unhappy. You can sign the alumni petition here.
Non-alums can sign here.
You can view my previous post on this here (though reading this would be less elightening than reading the Rolling Stone story).
-Jeremy
Posted by Jeremy at 10:50 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 13, 2003
Censorship, Relatively Speaking (Updated)
by CaraOne day at work in the copy shop an older man came in, handed me a magazine and said he wanted a color copy of the page he?d opened to, ?and only that page?, he vehemently added. It struck me as a bit strange but I nodded, went to the copier, made his color copy of that specific page where young pre-teen boys were pictured on a beach in bathing suits. It was a very busy day and I was in a hurry to get customers in and out as there was a long line of folks waiting. Because of this frantic pace it wasn?t until I?d handed him his copy and was ringing him up that the hair on the back of my neck suddenly stood up; you see, as I?d put the magazine down on the counter it closed on its own revealing the title of the publication to be ?Boys on the Beach?. Now, I didn?t witness anything that could be called pornographic in the page I copied or on that cover, but judging by the speed at which this guy grabbed the magazine back, the weird panicked look on his face and his intensity earlier when saying he needing ?only that page?, my gut knew something was wrong, forgive me, with this picture. I gave him his change and he scurried out the door. I shuddered at the thought of what was on the other pages of that rag. I?d remembered seeing him in the shop pretty regularly and I?d remembered seeing other staff make him color copies but this was the first time I?d actually waited on him myself. For this kind of thing, I vowed it would be my last. At the collective there was an unofficial policy that stated that staff could refuse to copy anything they found offensive. The next time he came in, I took full advantage of that unofficial policy. A couple weeks later when he handed me the opened magazine again, the same one, I took it, walked around the shop, went back up to the other end of the counter where there were no customers around and motioned him over with my hand. When he came over I handed him the magazine back and said ?can?t do it?. I never saw anyone run out of that shop faster than that man.
Feeling totally creeped out about this I sought out the solace of my co-workers and filled them in on the situation. No one seemed surprised by my reaction, they appeared to have a sense that this guy was a creep, but shockingly no one seemed particularly upset by it either. In fact they seemed pretty blas? about it, ?Oh yeah, that guy and his magazine?, someone said, and went on to say that another co-worker of ours knew him and ?knew his story?, and shrugged. I have to say that this was one of the first inklings I had that this collective may not be the right place for me, ?relatively? speaking that is.
When I worked as a counselor, years ago, in a psychiatric hospital there was an elderly man sent to our unit from a nursing home for sexually attacking the little old ladies there. He was one of the most pathetic human beings I?ve ever laid eyes on. He was a tiny old man, in a wheelchair most of time, though he could walk, with an oxygen tube in his nose. But the most noticeable thing about him was his hands; they sort of just hung there limply off his wrists, almost claw like, with huge horrible scars encircling his wrists. It was obvious he had very limited use of his hands. His history detailed the fact that he was a long time pedophile, having admitted to molesting many children, including his own daughters. One day in his garage he decided to stop himself from abusing any more children, so he turned on his circular saw and cut off both his hands. How unbelievably horrible! But, did this stop him? Absolutely not! After they reattached his hands, he went right back to where he left off still abusing, even within the nursing home walls, whomever he could. It?s difficult to describe how horrifying it was to have to sit there with him, one to one, enduring his continuous stream of sexualized nasty commentary combined with the overall vulnerability of this decrepit man. It was truly a nightmare right out of a Stephen King book. Even the most seasoned psychiatric workers were rattled by his presence. Waves of horror, pity, grief, back to horror and outrage were almost unendurable. Then there?s the ?what happened to this man to make him this way?? trip. It?s almost impossible to imagine.
An experience like this forces you to grapple with things most people never give a second thought to. It plunges you head first into questions like ?what is evil? and demands you to face it. I guess what I got from this experience was the knowledge that allowing that evil behavior to go unchecked is an absolute abomination far above all the pity and grief. Horrible things probably did happen to this guy, but he?s a human adult and has to be held responsible for his monstrous behavior and innocent children (and older ladies) need to be protected from this. And though he received the best and most respectful of care at our unit, it was the only time in my life I felt, in my heart of hearts, that someone in no way deserved it. Feeling bad for him and his past did not mean he was magically beyond judgment. And being non-judgmental of child molesters, and the child pornography they fuel up on, can never equal kindness or decency for children and other innocents. After sitting with this guy for ten minutes, I defy any good ?lefty? to remain a moral relativist for long.
- Cara
Update: Well, here's another good 'lefty' doing his relativist bit for "Joe Stalin":
"I think Joe Stalin was a guy that was hugely misunderstood," said Asner. "And to this day, I don't think I have ever seen an adequate job done of telling the story of Joe Stalin, so I guess my answer would have to be Joe Stalin." - Ed Asner's response to Kevin McCullough's question: "if you had the chance to play the biographical story of a historical figure you respected most over your lifetime, who would it be?"
- Cara
Update: We owe Ed Asner an apology for believing and repeating what turned out to be McCullough's slanderous fabrication. Sorry Ed! We should have known you were better than that.
-Cara & Jeremy
Posted by Cara at 11:03 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
October 11, 2003
While the Left Sleeps
by JeremyDo you remember when the American left was the embodiment of courage? Well I don?t. But, to be fair, that?s probably because I was born too late. By 1967, when I came on the scene (in a maternity ward across the street from the Audubon Ballroom where, two years earlier, Malcolm X was murdered by people calling themselves Muslims) all the left had left was integrity and decadence. Malcolm X had courage and his integrity was flowering, and for that he was exterminated like JFK, RFK and Martin Luther King. These are called assassinations because they are meant to rob millions of people of their hope and courage. And sadly, assassinations work. The left in the late sixties was still fighting the good fight to end an unjust war and to speak out against the crimes the United States was committing in the name of cold war realism, but the sap was draining from the movement as from sugar maples in late winter (or so it seemed through my wistful eyes when I was only minutes old).
I had been in a hurry to get born so I could meet the heroes of the left who had fought bravely for this country from the depression on through McCarthyism and civil rights, but when I got there it was too late. I?m not complaining. The Beatles would release Sgt. Pepper three weeks after I was born, so I wasted no time becoming a Beatles fan. But as a budding leftist I had gotten rooked. I came out just in time to see leagues of former hippies plotting to screw me and my fellow Summer of Love diaper buddies of our birthright.
As I approached adolescence I realized I?d better start rehearsing my lefty slogans and pre-chewed political opinions. So I started superficially glossing my father?s copies of The Nation [ed: you can?t really mean you started reading the Nation when you were 12. Surely this wasn?t until you were in high school. I suspect this distortion is some kind of conscious rhetorical or literary anachronism; or maybe there?s another big word for it]. Then John Lennon was killed or, I guess, assassinated. Fortunately there was ample precedent for how to react to this: all I had to do was lose hope and throw in the towel, so that?s what I did. Nevertheless it infuriated me to hear so many yuppies of the day proclaim that they had already tried that courageous peace-and-love heroism thing and found that it didn?t work. I guess I hadn?t really given up on my future as a leftist altogether though my favorite Nation writer was Christopher Hitchens, so I guess the seeds of my undoing were already sewn.
It should go without saying that 9/11 is when the left hit bottom for me.
Now that I?ve had a couple of years, since 9/11, to think about things, I?m realizing I still haven?t given up on the idea that I?m a lefty. But it has been unclear what that means. Perhaps, I have occasionally thought, people on the left need to look back into history and compare themselves to what they see through that lens. Those ?Bush is a Nazi? posters would look simperingly ugly seen alongside the courageous words of labor organizers in the early 20th century or the brave faces of civil rights marchers in the 50s and 60s.
But, you know, you don?t have to look back to find out how the left could save itself from the asinine heap it has crumpled itself into (but probably won?t). You just need to look around. I don?t think it matters anymore, but the left could find inspiration all around the world to revitalize that lost sense of courage and purpose. So tear down those pictures of Che Guevara and replace them with the images of mainstream men and women putting their lives on the line every day to build a better world. Or don?t. With or without help from the American left, the world may yet become a better place.
This post is the launch of a humble series in which I will build a catalog of examples of how the world is not waiting for the western left to stand up for freedom and social justice. I will point as well to images of ordinary people dealing with life under the kind of oppression that soft American progressives should not pretend to have lived themselves. Below are two examples. The list will grow over time: I welcome any suggestions.
"Ebadi represents Reformed Islam, and argues for a new interpretation of Islamic law which is in harmony with vital human rights such as democracy, equality before the law, religious freedom and freedom of speech....Ebadi has been imprisoned on numerous occasions."
Ever wear a tee shirt with a cool political slogan? Doesn't it feel cool to make a courageous political statement? Try it in Zimbabwe...
-Jeremy
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October 09, 2003
Transparency, or: How We learned to Stop Worrying and Love Google
by Jeremy
I?ve finally begun to understand how central the issue of transparency is to everything important in the world today. Jeff Jarvis has clued us into the centrality of the issue of transparency with respect to blogs (type ?transparency? into his search window, but more importantly, look for the concept in much of what he writes about blogs and politics). And I guess I?m starting to get it. We?re going to have a lot to say about it in this blog. But not just yet. Take this paragraph as a statement of intent, a teaser.
But let?s prime the pump, start the topic off with a conceptual kick in the pants. You can?t have a blog without transparency. That?s clear. And it?s something that takes a bit of getting used to: when you type ?Hitchens Plame? into Google our blog comes up as the fifth result. It?s nuts because we only have one self-effacing post on the Wilson/Plame affair. This kind of visibility is something we thought would take years to achieve. It?s a frightening case of be careful what you wish for.
Somewhat more understandably, when you type ?Cara Remal? into Google you get this blog. That?s Cara?s blessing/curse for having an unusual name (Type in ?Jeremy Brown? and you have to wade through enough athletes, musicians, Christian fundamentalists, and commercial fisherman to populate a small city before you get to WhoKnew?). Here?s the buried lead: someone has been clicking onto our site several times a day via ?Cara Remal? Google searches, and I recognize the referring url as coming from the vicinity of Cara?s former place of work. So her former colleagues have been reading the stuff she?s written (and may continue to write) about her experiences working at a collective.
I don?t know if they realize we can ?see? them, or that it?s ?OK? that we can see them and that they can see us. I?m almost certain they don?t realize that they can see us see them, since our stats are available for public viewing. Let?s chart the geometry of this: they can watch us watch them watch us. And you can watch us watch them watch us. And they can watch you. So you can watch them watch us watch them watch us...you get the idea. I think the implications are pretty amazing (not trippy or neat, but important, awe inspiring). And I?d love to see this phenomenon grow to encompass the world of politics, journalism, legislation, law enforcement...and on and on. I still feel butterflies in my stomach when I think on this stuff. I?m sure Cara?s mystery searchers do too (or will when they read this). But let me make this open appeal -- don?t feel you have to stay behind the invisible wall of anonymity; feel free to post comments: negative, positive, neutral, whatever. Become part of the dialog. Get willfully transparent.
And former colleagues are by no means the only readers we?re curious about. We?ve seen government agencies, military organizations, as well as less identifiable but equally intriguing clickers from all over the world...Africa, the UK, Eastern Europe...and we know this is not at all unique. So everybody: stay anonymous if you want (my path of choice for the first 36 years of my life) or post a ?howdy? or an argument or a reflection, or email us (say ?off the record? if you don?t want us to mention you on our blog: we will always honor that).
But above all, thanks for reading. Cara and I are tired of being anonymous -- we?ve taken a chance on transparency and you?ve made it impossible for us to go back.
-Jeremy
Posted by Jeremy at 12:54 AM | Comments (12) | TrackBack
October 08, 2003
The Recall Revelation
by JeremyWatching the California election coverage tonight something clicked in me, something I would not have predicted, as I heard Chris Matthews declare victory for Arnold. Jeremy and I have not blogged at all about this recall. I think we, out here in Massachusetts, naively thought it wasn?t important or that it didn?t have much of an affect on our lives. Maybe we also thought we didn?t quite know enough about the issues to chime in. All that changed in a flash when I heard the news. That very second I became aware of, to my surprise, a strange feeling of relief in my gut, that somehow something new had happened, that a wall somewhere crumbled and it felt like a very good thing.
This victory, I think, is a rejection of the status quo on all fronts and a rejection of stagnation like I?ve never quite seen before. Something moved in this country tonight, where it will ultimately go though is anybody?s guess; but, you know, at this point I can?t help but feel a bit optimistic about any fresh movement away from both the stagnant old left and the rigid old right. And, thank goodness, I?m not alone (or crazy!); Roger Simon has his own perceptive interpretation:
"What we are witnessing is the beginning--the early movement--in the death of the two-party system as we know it. This is a revolt of the pragmatic center. And that is a good thing for the American people because those parties and the media that feed on them have indeed become a form of nomenklatura."
Read the rest. Oh, and by the way, this is another prediction victory for Roger. Very impressive!
- Cara
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October 07, 2003
A Lesser Known Face of Evil: Take a Good Look
by Jeremy
This will come as a shock to those emotionally invested in the assumption that the U.S. has no motive for defeating fascist scum other than Texas oil interests, but the vile perpetrators of the genocide in Rwanda are being pursued and apprehended with determined U.S. support.
It seems the next genocidal criminal whose days of freedom may be numbered is millionaire businessman Felicien Kabuga.
To understand the kind of subhuman bastard Kabuga is is to understand something very important about the Rwandan genocide. At the time (1994) the mass extermination of hundreds of thousands of Rwandan Tutsis did not make it very high on the priority list of the international community. By many in the mainstream it was explained away as a tragically brutal tribal war that foreign intervention could do little to stop. The fact is, however, that this genocide was conceived and brought about by a bloodthirsty, power-elite who manufactured and incited ethnic hatred for people of Tutsi origin by the Hutu majority. They were capitalizing on an existing history of power struggles between the two peoples to be sure, but the eruption into Naziistic, genocidal hatred was the conscious work of a handful of men.
Most of the killings -- of men, women and children -- were committed by men wielding machetes and farm implements. It didn?t look like a Nazi style genocide so much as a some sort of peasant uprising.
The indictment drafted by the International Criminal Tribunal For Rwanda describes part of Kabuga?s role:
Fιlicien Kabuga, through his company, ETS Kabuga, made massive purchases of machetes, hoes and other agricultural implements knowing that they would be used as weapons during the massacres. Moreover, Fιlicien Kabuga gave logistical support to the Interahamwe militiamen by issuing them weapons and uniforms and by providing them transport in his company?s vehicles. [p. 29]
And these bastards knew the international community wasn?t interested enough to get involved, practicing only enough discretion to make it easier for the U.N. and the U.S. to avert their eyes.
Unlike the instigators of the killings of Armenians in 1915, and of Jews and Roma in 1941-5, no one tried to keep the genocide in Rwanda a secret. Journalists and television cameras reported what they saw, or what they found when the genocide was over. There was even a UN force (UNAMIR) in place, monitoring the ceasefire and now obliged to watch as people were killed in the street by grenades, guns and machetes. ('We have no mandate to intervene.' UNAMIR did their best to protect trapped foreigners, until they were pulled out of Rwanda altogether.) But the genocide organisers were conscious of the risks of international scrutiny: over the radio the killers were constantly incited to continue, but 'No more corpses on the roads, please'. Corpses in the countryside were covered with banana leaves to screen them from aerial photography.
There have been reports that Kabuga has been hiding in Nairobi with the assistance of some corrupt members of the Kenyan government -- vehemently denied of course. But the U.S. State department, who had put a $5 million dollar bounty on Kabuga?s head, is no longer content to look the other way:
The US recently flew in Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) interrogators to administer lie-detector tests on some of the witnesses who had claimed to have seen Mr Kabuga near Nairobi. They passed the tests...
The United States has not always been the unequivocal enemy of fascistic murderers in the third world but, at the risk of understating the obvious, something changed on September 11, 2001. Never again could it be easily said that the problems of the third world could either be profited from or ignored. I was delighted to see the toppling of the Taliban and Saddam?s Baathist regime and, though this country failed Rwanda when it mattered most, it will be gratifying to know that we helped bring these scumbags to justice.
-Jeremy
Posted by Jeremy at 12:26 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 06, 2003
The Rebirth of Volunteerism
by JeremyIt seems Palestinians in need are getting all the assistance they can use so aid volunteers are forced to put their lives on the line defending the terror-brokers who keep them impoverished and at war. It makes sense, right? Perhaps if they survive this stunt they will risk it all for the people of East Timor by volunteering as body guards for Henry Kissinger. Indeed the guy in the post above could probably use the assistance and love of some altruistic defenders of Rwandan Tutsis.
Four British volunteers say they are prepared to risk their lives by acting as human shields at the West Bank headquarters of the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat.
-Jeremy
Posted by Jeremy at 07:57 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
October 04, 2003
Strange and Welcome Progress in Iran (Updated)
by JeremyThere are certain concessions to progress that will probably look strange to even the most progressive of an older generation in the Middle East. I guess it's tough for Americans to remember what fundamental social transformation looks like. In the eyes of Paleolithic American chauvinists no abomination exists that hasn't been committed several times over in the last fifty years. But the picture below is a rare reminder of what change looks like through old, myopic eyes.
For the record, the new Iranian policewomen will be wearing pants on their daily rounds.
UPDATE/SELF-CRITIQUE: I hate to ruin the equilibrium of this post by introducing a little accuracy, but the truth is that the introduction of female police officers is not a radical departure from the past; it's a radical return to the past (pre 1979). Still, it's an undeniable sign that something good is afoot, though unsettling realities will continue.
-Jeremy
Posted by Jeremy at 08:14 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Thanks
by Cara & JeremyPeaktalk, a blog devoted to "Politics and Markets" has put us, along with http://www.poliblogger.com/, on their reading list for the month of October. It's an honor.
We're grateful too for making the "Hipper" list on Hippercritcal
Thanks,
Cara & Jeremy
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October 02, 2003
"If You're Happy And You Know It..."
by Jeremy?????????????????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I guess it's because they don't have McDonald's??????? Please help me understand.
Posted by Jeremy at 12:09 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Coetzee wins Nobel literature prize
by JeremyCoetzee is a great novelist and deserves his two Booker Prizes and his one Nobel Prize (and counting?). So it's a shame that there's apparently so much political calculating involved in the selection for this prize:
Syrian poet Ali Ahman Said, better known as Adonis, had been the favourite for the prize.Some literary experts [had] said the academy might lean towards him [Adonis] in an attempt to alleviate bitterness at the US invasion of Iraq.
So reports the BBC. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation tells the long version:
So intense is the focus on the prize that the choice is often linked to the power politics of the day, prompting some pundits to say an Arab may win this year to alleviate humiliation and anger caused by the US invasion of Iraq."This prize should always be seen in a political context," said Javier Rodriguez Marcos of the Spanish newspaper El Pais's literary supplement Babelia.
"One factor could be countries that have been in the news recently, from Arab cultures."
Duraid Albik, news editor for the daily Gulf News in Dubai, noted that the prize had gone to the Arab world only once - to Egypt's Naguib Mahfouz in 1988.
"If we can get someone in this area, it will show this is not only an area of violence, that there is also life and culture here," he said, naming Adonis as his favourite.
"That would be wonderful," agreed Josyane Savigneau, a literary editor at the French newspaper Le Monde.
If Adonis merits the Nobel he should receive it, but making it a political or diplomatic gesture would have tainted the honor for him and it's too bad this part of the story has to blot the glory for Coetzee. The AP version of this story (via the New York Times) steers pretty much clear of painting this as some kind of political triumph at the expense of Adonis and the Arab world.
Maybe I'm naive, maybe the Nobel Prize for Literature has always been this politically infused, but I think it's unfortunate. I certainly recognize that this prize is often given to writers whose work gives a lasting voice to political realities of the day, but that's different. It would have been a shame if this honor had been the latest thing to be tainted by the anti-evil-imperialism lobby.
If Adonis picks up the prize next year it will be far less like a forced marriage, far more a true artistic triumph.
- Jeremy
Posted by Jeremy at 09:22 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
October 01, 2003
"Bye, Bye Saddam!"
by Jeremy
Iraqi kids are getting ready to go back to school! They will soon receive textbooks purged of Saddam's image and of his repugnant propoganda. But the new books won't quite be ready in time, so in the interim the teachers will be instructing kids to tear out pages and ink out Saddam's image in their old textbooks. This will probably be the most important lesson these kids will learn in their entire school career: kids, not everything you read in a book is the truth. And when you see something that some part of you knows is wrong, rip it the hell out and and throw it out the window because you deserve better.
It's actualy making me a bit emotional. Here are some excerpts from the New York Times version of the story:
New Saddam-free textbooks are being printed, but they are not expected to be available until November. So students will open their books and face a variation of that old test question: identify the object that does not belong with the rest. The correct answers will require tearing out full-page pictures of Mr. Hussein and drawing lines through the paragraphs about the Baath Party's Great March.
"We want the exercise to teach students and teachers that the days of fear are finished," said Fuad Hussein, an adviser to the Ministry of Education, who has been supervising the de-Baathication of every textbook, from first-grade readers to high-school physics texts.
This is a good reminder of one of the most exciting aspects of Iraq's liberation: the fact that there will be a new generation of chilldren who are being taught that they deserve to be free. I'm tempted to paste the whole article here since there's much more to see than the tidbits I've shown, but you should read it yourself. Here's another excerpt:
In music classes, they learned new lyrics for traditional melodies. The beginning of one popular children's song was changed from "The daughter of the merchant has almond eyes" to "We are the Baathists. We have heavy weapons."
Oh hell, one more:
After Mr. Hussein's fall, some teachers and students celebrated by ripping his pictures from their textbooks. Rand Amir, a fifth grader at a public school in the Zayuna neighborhood in Baghdad, said her classmates threw the pages out a second-story window while yelling, "Bye, bye, Saddam."
-Jeremy
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