I remember Cheney saying that the point of having a military is to use it, but whether he said it out loud or not, they certainly act like they believe it. What is the purpose of this military, anyway? Are we getting our money’s worth from this collection of arms and people. I think we need to really concentrate on this point.

The pundits try so desperately to elevate the level of their prose to the height of near poetry. The problem is that the content of their message is not as high-spirited as their attempted stylistics. Greenwald is, stylistically, a match for any of them. More importantly, his content is more insightful and more cogent.

They are aware, on some deeply subconscious level, that they must retain favour in order to retain their employment. How insecure this must make them feel with every word. Is it stylistically good enough? Can those amateurs in the blogs write better?

In admitting that they need to kiss up to be competitive in the world of writing and ideas, they admit either:

1. They cannot compete on a level playing field, and therefore they need to kiss up to gain an advantage over the more talented writers who nip at their heels for jobs.

Or

2. The playing field is not truly level. If this is admitted, then they have no right to be so proud of their accomplishments. It means that they are not “the best” at what they do. They are merely the luckiest and the most accommodating.

Oh! The insecurity. The sleepless nights wondering if they are good enough, if they are smart enough, if those in power really like them.

It would be sad if the consequences of their efforts to please their masters weren’t so destructive.

In response, Bush’s left-wing anti-war Attorney General, John Ashcroft, judged the matter serious enough to recuse himself, leading Bush’s left-wing anti-war Deputy Attorney General, James Comey, to conclude that a Special Prosecutor was needed. In turn, Comey appointed Fitzgerald, the left-wing anti-war Republican Prosecutor and Bush appointee, who secured a conviction of Libby, in response to which left-wing anti-war Bush appointee Judge Reggie Walton imposed Libby’s sentence.”

He is an absolute master of the sustained snark.

Why does the Bush administration hate government? I mean, really?

Last night, the answer to this question became clear — Bush has failed because of his US vs THEM world view; Good vs Evil is the sugar coating to make his worldview palatable.

More important are the factions in the Bush US vs THEM world view — the US is the superwealthy robber baron class; THEM consists of everyone and everything else.

To Bush, the natural order of the universe is his kind on top, with everyone else being wage slaves or cannon fodder — whatever is most profitable, and most effective in securing the position of BushCo on top. In the Bush worldview, anything that serves this goal is GOOD — anything that impedes it is EVIL (or at the least, very undesirable).

In Bush’s world, “Democracy” is evil, because it gives the rubes a chance to upset the natural order of BushCo rule — but “Democracy” is also a useful tool, because it allows BushCo to con the rubes, so that the natural order can be restored.

It’s no accident that Karl Rove sees himself as a Mark Hanna to George W Bush’s William McKinley (except that McKinley had a brain).

The divide and conquer strategy of McKinley/Hanna is the essence of the Rove Playbook — use wedge issues to get populists and progressives fighting each other, so that the Robber Barons can clean up.

It was the PBS Power of Art segment on Pablo Picasso that brought this into focus — the Spainish Civil War was a battle between the the anti-democratic wealthy and powerful against the elected socialist government. As such, it was the laboratory for WWII — Guernica was the test run for terror bombing, which became the standard means of projecting military force.

To understand Bush, we need to look at the forces that shaped him — the history of the 20th century and beyond. (to be continued in part two)

mui @ 36

I am beginning to have a small special library because of FDL.

umm – yeah. We’re trying to downsize everything else around here, but the politics library continues to outgrow its shelves and is currently piling up on the floor and endtables thruout.
Librul press might just help pull this country kicking & screaming into the 21st century after all, after a quick, corrective trip back to pick up a certain Hon. Sir Habeas Corpus.

————

[Mod: Edited to remove a reference to a spat with another commenter. We are just not going to allow this, is that clear?]

————

{{{{PEACE}}}} {{{{JUSTICE}}}}

as long as it’s kept fair – perfectly clear ;->