Mo' on McKhrustal'd

Alex Cockburn

"""Just when Barack Obama's presidency was drowning in BP's crude oil, a megalomaniacal US Army general called Stanley McChrystal, commander of the US-led coalition in Afghanistan, did him several huge favors.

• He took the spotlight off the Gulf of Mexico.

• He gave Obama a marvelous opportunity to act the decisive Commander-in-Chief, packing his insubordinate general into retirement.

• By committing political suicide he created a vacancy for the one general the right wing can't fault Obama for putting in his place - Gen David Petraeus.

Weeks before McChrystal and his drunken retinue fired from the lip, pouring their contempt for Obama and his top Afghan advisors into the notebook of Rolling Stone reporter Michael Hastings, the writing was on the wall. A steady stream of leaks from the Pentagon registered dissatisfaction among the top Pentagon brass at the way the war in Afghanistan was going.

Last year McChrystal courted immediate dismissal by publicly daring Obama to deny him the extra troops he demanded to instrument the counter-insurgency strategy he pledged would vanquish the Taliban, win over the Afghan people and allow Obama to promise liberal critics of the Afghan war he'd have the troops out by 2011.

Obama had the opportunity then to emulate Harry Truman's famous firing of World War Two hero Gen Douglas MacArthur for insubordination. But Obama blinked. He gave McChrystal almost exactly what he wanted....."

When bereft of blog, Bounce

(guar-ann-teed to scare the fock out of the average WASP, zionist, or mormonic POS)

Bonus/malus

Germany 4, Anglo-land, 1.


"Die Kelten, beiläufig gesagt, waren durchaus eine blonde Rasse...."

(from Nietzsche, Genealogy of Morals)

"""In Hinsicht auf unser Problem, das aus guten Gründen ein stilles Problem genannt werden kann und sich wählerisch nur an wenige Ohren wendet, ist es von keinem kleinen Interesse, festzustellen, dass vielfach noch in jenen Worten und Wurzeln, die „gut“ bezeichnen, die Hauptnuance durchschimmert, auf welche hin die Vornehmen sich eben als Menschen höheren Ranges fühlten. Zwar benennen sie sich vielleicht in den häufigsten Fällen einfach nach ihrer Überlegenheit an Macht (als „die Mächtigen“, „die Herren“, „die Gebietenden“) oder nach dem sichtbarsten Abzeichen dieser Überlegenheit, zum Beispiel als „die Reichen“, „die Besitzenden“ (das ist der Sinn von arya; und entsprechend im Eranischen und Slavischen). Aber auch nach einem typischen Charakterzuge: und dies ist der Fall, der uns hier angeht. Sie heissen sich zum Beispiel „die Wahrhaftigen“: voran der griechische Adel, dessen Mundstück der Megarische Dichter Theognis ist. Das dafür ausgeprägte Wort ἐσϑλος bedeutet der Wurzel nach Einen, der ist, der Realität hat, der wirklich ist, der wahr ist; dann, mit einer subjektiven Wendung, den Wahren als den Wahrhaftigen: in dieser Phase der Begriffs-Verwandlung wird es zum Schlag- und Stichwort des Adels und geht ganz und gar in den Sinn „adelig“ über, zur Abgrenzung vom lügenhaften gemeinen Mann, so wie Theognis ihn nimmt und schildert, — bis endlich das Wort, nach dem Niedergange des Adels, zur Bezeichnung der seelischen noblesse übrig bleibt und gleichsam reif und süss wird. Im Worte κακός wie in δειλός (der Plebejer im Gegensatz zum ἀγαϑός) ist die Feigheit unterstrichen: dies giebt vielleicht einen Wink, in welcher Richtung man die etymologische Herkunft des mehrfach deutbaren ἀγαϑός zu suchen hat. Im lateinischen malus (dem ich μέλας zur Seite stelle) könnte der gemeine Mann als der Dunkelfarbige, vor allem als der Schwarzhaarige („hic niger est —“) gekennzeichnet sein, als der vorarische Insasse des italischen Bodens, der sich von der herrschend gewordenen blonden, nämlich arischen Eroberer-Rasse durch die Farbe am deutlichsten abhob; wenigstens bot mir das Gälische den genau entsprechenden Fall, — fin (zum Beispiel im Namen Fin-Gal), das abzeichnende Wort des Adels, zuletzt der Gute, Edle, Reine, ursprünglich der Blondkopf, im Gegensatz zu den dunklen, schwarzhaarigen Ureinwohnern. Die Kelten, beiläufig gesagt, waren durchaus eine blonde Rasse...."

""""the chief instruments of state power...."

From Lenin's State and Revolution:

""""Engels elucidates the concept of the “power” which is called the state, a power which arose from society but places itself above it and alienates itself more and more from it. What does this power mainly consist of? It consists of special bodies of armed men having prisons, etc., at their command.

We are justified in speaking of special bodies of armed men, because the public power which is an attribute of every state “does not directly coincide” with the armed population, with its “self-acting armed organization".

Like all great revolutionary thinkers, Engels tries to draw the attention of the class-conscious workers to what prevailing philistinism regards as least worthy of attention, as the most habitual thing, hallowed by prejudices that are not only deep-rooted but, one might say, petrified. A standing army and police are the chief instruments of state power.""""

Perhaps some egghead should update that classic State & Rev., with something like "A standing army and police are the chief instruments of state power, characteristic of both capitalist and communist nations..."

Should Feds have a Net kill switch?

No.

Lieberman's S.3480 bill sounds so paternal and safe: Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act of 2010. Our Daily Cup of Joe wants to free our "cybercommunity" of "cyberterrorists" by giving our President a "kill switch" to shut down the internet in the name of "cybersecurity" and "cyberdefense."

Listen to this US Senate link yourself and hear Senator Collins hair-on-fire warning, "We cannot wait for a cyber9/11!," and Senator Lieberman's worries about "cyberwarriors," "cyberspies," "cyberbandits," and "cybercriminals."

Jus' say Nyet to J-Edgar Lieberdem, 'fore he and the Demopublicans gulag us.
CIndy/dKos

My Fellow 'Mericans

Alex C./Counterpunch:

The French have a phrase, “He missed an excellent opportunity to keep his mouth shut.” That’s certainly true of Obama last Tuesday when he rolled out a big gun from the arsenal of White House crisis management, an Oval Office address. Excluding FDR’s radio chats of the 1930s, there’s scant evidence across the past forty years that as a venue for rallying the nation, the presidential sanctum did Obama’s predecessors as president much good. In Obama’s case many of his stoutest supporters in the press could say little in its favor. Obama would have been advised to say nothing and leave the nation to the evening's main business, the NBA playoffs.

It was certainly the worst rally-the-nation speech by a US president I’ve ever watched, and that includes Nixon’s cornered-rat addresses of the early 1970s and – an ominous parallel -- Jimmy Carter’s fireside chat on April 1977, four months into his presidency, in the Oval Office promoting his plan for Energy Independence. To dramatize the need for conservation Carter wore a cardigan. He said the crusade for energy reduction was “the moral equivalent of war.” As he said these words he clenched his fist. America was not impressed, but more than they were on Tuesday."""""

Ouch.

No Chaplains on govt. dime (Madison, cont.)

[From James Madison's undated essay “Monopolies, Perpetuities, Corporations, Ecclesiastical Endowments.”]

"""""Is the appointment of chaplains to the two houses of Congress consistent with the Constitution, and with the pure principle of religious freedom?

In strictness the answer on both points must be in the negative. The Constitution of the United States forbids everything like an establishment of a national religion. The law appointing chaplains establishes a religious worship for the national representatives, to be performed by ministers of religion, elected by a majority of them; and these are to be paid out of the national taxes. Does not this involve the principle of a national establishment, applicable to a provision for a religious worship for the constituent, as well as of the representative body, approved by the majority, and conducted by ministers of religion paid by the entire nation.

The establishment of the chaplainship to Congress is a palpable [easily noticeable] violation of equal rights, as well as of constitutional principles. The tenants of the chaplains elected shut the door of worship against the members whose creeds and consciences forbid a participation in that of the majority. To say nothing of other sects, this is the case with that of Roman Catholics and Quakers who have always had members in one or both of the legislative branches. Could a Catholic clergyman ever hope to be appointed a chaplain? To say that his religious principles are obnoxious or that his sect is small, is to lift the evil at once and exhibit in its naked deformity the doctrine that religious truth is to be tested by numbers, or that the major sects have a right to govern the minor.

If religion consist in voluntary acts of individuals singly, or voluntarily associated, and it be proper that public functionaries, as well as their constituents should discharge their religious duties, let them like there constituents, do so at their own expence. How small a contribution from each member of Congress would suffice for the purpose? How just would it be in its principle? How noble in its exemplary sacrifice to the genius of the Constitution; and the divine right of conscience? Why should the expence of a religious worship be allowed for the legislature, be paid by the public, more than that for the executive or judiciary branch of the government?""""

Let me put it to you this way (as Walt Becker might say): while we're not so down with the old flag-waving crackerbarrel Americana, Madison's writing at times approaches philosophy of a sort (and I wager he had read Aristotle,et al along with the Lockean indoctrination). His point contra-govt. and military chaplains remains relevant (even for those who consider all American founders Oppressors). The Fundamentalist churches are well-represented in the US Military; there are probably 20 baptist or presbyterian petty dictators for one priest (or imam, or rabbi). Madison insists correctly that religion should never be decided by vox populi, yet in effect that's what happens by allowing ministers to be apportioned via the numbers of the various factions serving in the military. The reasonable solution would be to eliminate funding for ALL religious functionaries, thus saving on govt. spending, and controlling religious enthusiasm as well.

Professor Palin's thoughts on the Petroleum biz

HuffPo/Dunn:

"""Perhaps the biggest joke being fobbed by Palin to the American public is that she is some sort of expert on energy issues. Sarah Palin isn't an expert on anything -- remember that this is a woman who didn't know the difference between England and Great Britain as she began her not-so-celebrated run for the vice-presidency -- and who quit her governorship after two-and-a-half years of failed leadership and being found guilty of "abuse of power" in the Last Frontier. It's all smoke and mirrors. She is fed a series of talking points by her advisers before each of her punditry appearances and then dishes them out in what my friends in Alaska have dubbed "word salads" -- without the dressing.

O'Reilly lied, too, of course, when he said, "I'm pleased to have you on the program tonight [as] there is not a governor in the United States who has more experience than you do dealing with the oil companies." Sarah Palin? The half-governor? Uh, Alaska isn't even the largest oil-producing state in the union. Texas is, followed by Alaska, California... and you didn't guess it: North Dakota. Is anyone touting current North Dakota governor John Hoeven as a national expert in resource policy? And why does everyone -- including Palin herself -- keep pretending that she is still governor?

As Andrew Halcro, the bright and witty Anchorage based businessman who ran against Palin for governor in 2006, wrote me yesterday: "Listening to Sarah Palin lecture on the oil-and-gas industry is like listening to Bernie Madoff talk about safe investing; zero credibility."""

Credibility?? Who needs credibility with hotlips and a bodacious bod like the hotsexxay Miss Sarah P.

Bloomsday.

"""Mr Leopold Bloom ate with relish the inner organs of beasts and fowls. He liked thick giblet soup, nutty gizzards, a stuffed roast heart, liverslices fried with crustcrumbs, fried hencods' roes. Most of all he liked grilled mutton kidneys which gave to his palate a fine tang of faintly scented urine.

Kidneys were in his mind as he moved about the kitchen softly, righting her breakfast things on the humpy tray. Gelid light and air were in the kitchen but out of doors gentle summer morning everywhere. Made him feel a bit peckish.

The coals were reddening."""


Bloomsday is being celebrated around the world today as fans come together to appreciate James Joyce's classic novel "Ulysses." The book, widely considered to be one of the greatest modern novels ever written, takes place over the span of just one day -- June 16, 1904 -- and follows the musings and adventures of two men living in Dublin, Leopold Bloom and Stephen Dedalus.

Fans are particularly joyous in celebrating Joyce's masterpiece not only because of the book's importance but because the book at its essence celebrates life itself as it is, especially in Bloom's wife Molly's soliloquy."""

The HuffPo hack merely affirms the pop, "bawdy", Rabelaisian interpretation of Joyce's classic Ulysses, says Contingencies. Those adepts who carefully peruse JJ's strange labyrinthe will find little to celebrate (tho' JJ would indulge a comic-erotic mode at times); the essential message of the tome closer to Dante--and thomistic tradition, not to say the Book of Revelation (quien esta La Senora "Molly", realmente?/) -- than to Drs Freud & Co. (yet politically squeaking JJ did not quite join his one-time amigo Ez Pound in praising Il Duce (did he??). Also see the "Cyclops" chapter for the politics of U.--and the pub boyos denouncing Cromwell (and by implication that great prevaricator Johannes Calvin...found residing in, like, raw sewage in one of Pound's cantos))...

Joyce, like Pound, and about any irishmen (apart from WASP skum) detested all things Britannian--and Ulysses itself not lacking anti-semitic aspects-- but he finally broke with catolicos (his people's religion, since like St. Paddy), and objected to the blackshirts (and the more thuggish ones in brown as well...like youse, Bubba!). Joyce may have once even met with...Malatesta's posse).

(oh, and a note to Maxine McSnitch--chinga tu madre, blanca-basura, conservativo, dyslexico mormon)

Soccer = LAMANITE conspiracy, says the Beckster

""Every World Cup, it arrives like clockwork. As sure as the ultimate soccer spectacle brings guaranteed adrenaline and agony to fans across the United States, it also drives the right-wing noise machine utterly insane.


"It doesn't matter how you try to sell it to us," yipped the Prom King of new right, Glenn Beck. "It doesn't matter how many celebrities you get, it doesn't matter how many bars open early, it doesn't matter how many beer commercials they run, we don't want the World Cup, we don't like the World Cup, we don't like soccer, we want nothing to do with it."Beck's wingnut godfather, G. Gordon Liddy also said on his radio program,


"Whatever happened to American exceptionalism? This game ... originated with the South American Indians and instead of a ball, they used to use the head, the decapitated head, of an enemy warrior." ""

Homie G. Gordon--he's gone soft--Futbol's machismo, hombre. Now, maybe they could use Beck's decapitated head. As a Mormonic's he's an Infidel anyway (according to any tradtional criteria...even like Reasonable).  That'd make for an interesting game.  Really, American hicks and rustics detest soccer because it reminds them of all those languages they never learned.  Foo-ootbol??? like why in the f**k ain't the monkeys wearing helmets, or uniforms and pads, Bubba...

Copa Mundial

"""Spain, reigning European champion, has taken over Brazil's mantle as the most entertaining side around. The midfield is packed with smallish, creative passers—led by the magnificent Xavi—who weave intricate patterns and befuddle opponents and, up front, David Villa and Fernando Torres are two of the most prolific forwards in the world. The concern, perhaps, is that Spain's midfielders are all a bit too similar to each other and that, top to bottom, there is a certain lack of size and physicality, which could lead it to get bullied off the pitch by a more muscular opponent.


Nit-picking? Possibly. And it's true that most of the other nations have equally big nits to pick. Argentina is blessed with a boatload of talent up front—two out of Lionel Messi, Diego Milito, Gonzalo Higuaín, Sergio Agüero and Carlos Tévez will likely be on the bench, even though they would be starters for most other teams—and is solid throughout, but coach Diego Maradona is an unknown quantity whose tenure has been marked by erratic choices and volatile behavior (his foul-mouthed rant at reporters after qualifying earned him a suspension from FIFA). Mr. Maradona straddles the line between genius and folly: As a player he clearly leaned toward the genius side; as a coach the jury is most definitely still out.


England, inventor of the game, made Fabio Capello the highest-paid coach in the world in the hopes that his pedigree (nine league titles in 15 seasons) would exorcise the demons of underachievement that have plagued it in the past. Mr. Capello has restored confidence and single-mindedness, but giving the English a top-shelf goalkeeper or depth in attack is beyond even his considerable powers.""'


Though Contingencies would like to see Germany (that is, Die deutsche Nationalmannschaft) go to victory , we predict Espana, La Furia Roja  will prove too fast and furious and defeat Germany or the fairies England (or,  perhaps Argentina in final...long shots Brazilla...or netherlands, ivory coast)

Madame e-Meg --approved by DickDick Cheney!

Casino Politics/Stahl/Counterpunch:

"""All the buzz about the primary results in California, and across the country, tonight are about how this may yet be the "year of the woman," but one thing comes across loud and clear from California, this is certainly the year of the corporations. As of June 8, the Republican nominee for Senate is Carly Fiorina whose name is synonymous with Hewlett Packard. And, in the governor's corner is Meg Whitman, Madame E-Bay.

Consider the irony in a state that is home to the highest foreclosure rate in the country, that has taken twice the amount of government bailout money as Michigan and New York, two of the three states in the top rungs of economic sewage, yes, and in a year which has witnessed a populist revolt against big business, the Republican Party is delivering two candidates, one for governor and the other for the Senate, both of whom are synonymous with big business.

Until 2008, Meg Whitman was the president and chief executive officer of E-Bay, and her Republican Party counterpart in the Senate, Carly Fiorina, was the CEO of Hewlett Packard. And, if the endorsement from Sarah Palin alone isn't enough to make shivers run up and down your spine, think about this. Wasn't it perfect timing for the Supreme Court to conveniently grant corporations the right to free speech just in time for a state governorship to go on the auction block""? 

Psychopathology 101 (continued)

re Civilization and Its Discontents (Freud)

The elderly Freud--his books were being burnt by the nazis the last few years of his life-- had rejected most of his earlier ego-psychology, and shifted his analysis from the hysteria-victims in his parlor to human history and society-at- large:

"Men are not gentle, friendly creatures wishing for love, who simply defend themselves if they are attacked, but that a powerful measure of desire for aggression has to be reckoned as part of their instinctual endowment. The result is that their neighbour is to them not only a possible helper or sexual object, but also a temptation to them to gratify their aggressiveness on him, to exploit his capacity for work without recompense, to use him sexually without his consent, to seize his possessions, to humiliate him, to cause him pain, to torture and to kill him. Homo homini lupus; who has the courage to dispute it in the face of all the evidence in his own life and in history? This aggressive cruelty usually lies in wait for some provocation, or else it steps into the service of some other purpose, the aim of which might as well have been achieved by milder measures. In circumstances that favour it, when those forces in the mind which ordinarily inhibit it cease to operate, it also manifests itself spontaneously and reveals men as savage beasts to whom the thought of sparing their own kind is alien. Anyone who calls to mind the atrocities of the early migrations, of the invasion by the Huns or by the so-called Mongols under Jenghiz Khan and Tamurlane, of the sack of Jerusalem by the pious Crusaders, even indeed the horrors of the last world-war, will have to bow his head humbly before the truth of this view of man."

Jack, Neal, and Russell?

Russell Brand, for BeatCo:

"""Russell Brand turns 35 on Friday, the day Get Him to the Greek, his first starring role in a Hollywood film hits the big screen. He reprises his performance as stoner/womanizer rocker Aldous Snow in the film, a character we first met in Forgetting Sarah Marshall.
Brand, a veteran stand-up comic and British radio and TV show host, once did this splendid, loose and funny BBC documentary celebrating the 50th anniversary of a novel he read at 19, Jack Kerouac’s On the Road. You can watch it in its entirety on Youtube.
For the show, a road trip trek, Brand pointed out how perfect he was for such a documentary. He’d be “doing stuff that I know a bit about, like drugs and sex and living in the moment, good stuff like that.”"""

Kah-razy, daddy--fly-on, into the mad fevered roads of the American night, at least if the shekels are there. Now, classs open your Kerouac reader to page 010101010101010101010

Homegrrl Hypatia

A recent flick, Agora, presents the life of Hypatia, legendary pagan mathematician-philosopher of Alexandria, supposedly killed by early christian zealots:

"Agora,” bristling with ideas and topical provocations, unfolds in a world of togas, sandals and high-flown language, a setting that might lead you to expect camp, classicism or “Gladiator.” What you get, at least in the early scenes, is the story of three young men with a crush on their science teacher. Her name is Hypatia, she is a noblewoman in the Egyptian city of Alexandria — it’s the fourth century A.D., by the way — and since she is played by Rachel Weisz, you can hardly blame them. Hypatia, who is based on a historical figure, pursues the mysteries of the cosmos with dogged dialectical skill and is regarded throughout the city with admiration and awe. One of her slaves, Davus (Max Minghella), visibly pines for her, as does a shy pupil named Synesius (Rupert Evans), and one much less shy named Orestes (Oscar Isaac), who propositions her in the famous library of Alexandria, which she directs. Later he makes a public declaration of his love, and she responds by presenting him with a handkerchief stained with her menstrual blood, a rejection much more blunt than any text message."""

click here for primary sources on the life of Hypatia, as opposed to hype. Guar-ann-teeed to scare monotheistic cowboys of all stripes (ie, christian, jewish, and/or muslim)

Queen Meg

Item: CA-GOP nomination for Governor of California

Price: $150 million. Buy It Now!


Megzilla/CA for sale

"""GOP gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman is making inroads among Republicans of all stripes, from young voters to born-again Christians, according to the most recent Field Poll released Thursday.

After seeing her lead dwindle in public opinion polls last month, Whitman has surged back to a 26 percentage-point advantage over rival Steve Poizner less than a week before the June 8 primary. ...

"Meg Whitman has spent $90 million, and that's four times more than I'm spending ..." he said. "So people want to know why all the negative advertising? What's the truth? What is Meg Whitman trying to cover up?"""

No Meg

Oil Spill Follies

Back to the proverbial drawing board...and lest we forget BP denied the existence of underwater plumes for a few weeks, until independent researchers/video crews showed otherwise.



(for cutting-edge, PC eco-indignation peruse pas au dela)