Today my elder son and I went to visit Democracy Plaza, an outdoor exhibit created at Rockefeller Center. The exhibit included one of only 15 remaining original printed copies of the Declaration of Independence, a cardboardy replica of the Clinton-era Oval Office, a sawn-off section of Nixon's Airforce One, and analysis of several pivotal points in America's history in its long march towards democracy. Perhaps the best exhibit was an outdoor screen with politicians and celebrities reading the Declaration of Independence line by line and interpreting it.
The tenor of the whole exhibit was uplifting, and an infomercial for democracy -an invaluable refresher course in what the political system should be about, before the inevitable Banana-Republic-style blizzard of dirty electoral tricks and disenfranchisements on Tuesday.
Click on the title to go the the NBC Democracy Plaza website.
Saturday, October 30, 2004
Tuesday, October 26, 2004
Unacceptable face (1)
One of capitalism's many unacceptable faces is that bloated old whore, the advertising industry. The noble and self-serving argument about advertising being the process of bringing the products to the people -an arm of the information industry, in other words- no longer washes, if it ever did. We've seen the relentless rise of "lifestyle" imaging, where the average product is given cachet by associating it with all the cool things that you, Joe Consumer, do.
So here's an occasional series where television advertising that is bothersome is exposed...
SUZUKI
"Real cars for real people"
A slogan which purports to relate to the viewer, but is stripped of meaningful content and echoes in its emptiness.
And all the other cars are... ?
So here's an occasional series where television advertising that is bothersome is exposed...
SUZUKI
"Real cars for real people"
A slogan which purports to relate to the viewer, but is stripped of meaningful content and echoes in its emptiness.
And all the other cars are... ?
Monday, October 25, 2004
Continual War
It is said that the world is divided up into two types of people: those who believe in the conspiracy theory of history and those who believe in the "fuck-up" theory. I tend to belong to the latter camp, as it allows one to chortle at others' screw-ups: the former leads to paranoia and night-sweats, and life is just way too short to be one long bad acid trip.
So the story running on all the web sites today about nearly 350 tons of explosives missing from a military complex in Iraq, and the fact that it went missing during the looting for liberation rave in US controlled territory, comes as no surprise: to me, a massive SNAFU, perpetrated ultimately by the Administration in attempting to stage an understaffed occupation: imperialism with tax cuts, if you like.
But if I were in the the camp of the wild-eyed, the situation might start to look very different. It goes like this... Perhaps the foremost duty of a government running an occupation is the protection of its own forces, and an obvious place to start would be to secure potential weapons caches to deny the insurgency access to them. But what if the goal was to extend the insurgency to last past the US elections? Perversely, the Administration can argue that (1) Bush is the more decisive War President and (2) it would be dangerous to change horses in mid-stream in any case. And as the well-founded charges of incompetance seem to be falling on stony ground, then actually running the war badly = running the election campaign well.
So the story running on all the web sites today about nearly 350 tons of explosives missing from a military complex in Iraq, and the fact that it went missing during the looting for liberation rave in US controlled territory, comes as no surprise: to me, a massive SNAFU, perpetrated ultimately by the Administration in attempting to stage an understaffed occupation: imperialism with tax cuts, if you like.
But if I were in the the camp of the wild-eyed, the situation might start to look very different. It goes like this... Perhaps the foremost duty of a government running an occupation is the protection of its own forces, and an obvious place to start would be to secure potential weapons caches to deny the insurgency access to them. But what if the goal was to extend the insurgency to last past the US elections? Perversely, the Administration can argue that (1) Bush is the more decisive War President and (2) it would be dangerous to change horses in mid-stream in any case. And as the well-founded charges of incompetance seem to be falling on stony ground, then actually running the war badly = running the election campaign well.
Saturday, October 23, 2004
Worcester Sauce
The Bush Campaign on why we must re-elect their candidate:
God hath sent us a noble king in this his visitation; let us not provoke against him. Let us beware; let us not displease him; let us receive with all obedience and prayer the word of God. . . I hear say ye walk inordinately, ye talk unseemly, otherwise it becometh Christian subjects: yea take upon you to judge the judgments of judges. I will not make the king a pope; for the pope will have all things that he doth taken for an article of our faith. I will not say but the king and his council may err; I pray daily that they may not err. It becometh us, whatsoever they decree, to stand unto it, and receive it obediently. . . .
Hugh Latimer, Bishop of Worcester (1551)
Thanks to Skakespeare Online:
http://www.shakespeare-online.com/sources/R2sources.html
God hath sent us a noble king in this his visitation; let us not provoke against him. Let us beware; let us not displease him; let us receive with all obedience and prayer the word of God. . . I hear say ye walk inordinately, ye talk unseemly, otherwise it becometh Christian subjects: yea take upon you to judge the judgments of judges. I will not make the king a pope; for the pope will have all things that he doth taken for an article of our faith. I will not say but the king and his council may err; I pray daily that they may not err. It becometh us, whatsoever they decree, to stand unto it, and receive it obediently. . . .
Hugh Latimer, Bishop of Worcester (1551)
Thanks to Skakespeare Online:
http://www.shakespeare-online.com/sources/R2sources.html
The Bard in Basra
On "The Special Relationship":
This land of such dear souls, this dear dear land,
Dear for her reputation through the world,
Is now leased out, I die pronouncing it,
Like to a tenement or pelting farm:
England, bound in with the triumphant sea
Whose rocky shore beats back the envious siege
Of watery Neptune, is now bound in with shame,
With inky blots and rotten parchment bonds:
That England, that was wont to conquer others,
Hath made a shameful conquest of itself.
Richard II, Act II, Scene 1
On our liege-lord Tony Blair:
A thousand flatterers sit within thy crown,
Whose compass is no bigger than thy head;
And yet, incaged in so small a verge,
The waste is no whit lesser than thy land.
Richard II, Act II, Scene 1
This land of such dear souls, this dear dear land,
Dear for her reputation through the world,
Is now leased out, I die pronouncing it,
Like to a tenement or pelting farm:
England, bound in with the triumphant sea
Whose rocky shore beats back the envious siege
Of watery Neptune, is now bound in with shame,
With inky blots and rotten parchment bonds:
That England, that was wont to conquer others,
Hath made a shameful conquest of itself.
Richard II, Act II, Scene 1
On our liege-lord Tony Blair:
A thousand flatterers sit within thy crown,
Whose compass is no bigger than thy head;
And yet, incaged in so small a verge,
The waste is no whit lesser than thy land.
Richard II, Act II, Scene 1
Kismet, Hardy
Market day in Hythe, Hampshire: portrait of Horatio Nelson on a pub sign
The Special Features section of the Navy News (the Royal Navy's website) lists 4 articles, which unintentionally highlight the service's change in mission from the able defender of national glories to a current supporting role in Colonel Blimp style re-enactments of the same.
Two articles deal with the Battle of the Atlantic (World War II) and Horatio Nelson (the Napoleonic Wars); two others deal with the Falklands Conflict (still not a war!) and Operation Telic, which for the 99% of the world's population who may not know, was the code name for the Royal Navy's invasion of Iraq.
The latter is billed on the website as the largest British armada since the Falklands fleet. Let's put aside the interesting use of the word armada: surely the name of the invasion fleet from another country, which -ahem- failed spectacularly in its mission. Let's focus instead on the breath-taking dimunition in role of a historied institution: how are the mighty fallen!
http://www.navynews.co.uk/features.asp
A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall?
Dropped into Fenelli's last night, an old-fashioned pub in SoHo on the corner of Prince and Mercer Streets, to meet an architectural collegue from Charlotte, SC. He introduced me to his friend and former college room-mate, now based in Sarasota, FL.
Predictably, the conversation turned to the voting fiasco in Florida in the annus horribilis of 2000, with my question as to whether the whole sorry mess might repeat itself in 2004, with (1) the new hackable, error-prone and unaccountable touch-screen computers installed to replace the punch card machines with their infamous hanging chads, and (2) the President's filial regime still in place.
This was an intelligent man who professed deep shame in his state in his country on this and other issues. The conversation turned from voting machines to the disenfranchisement of African-Americans in Florida at the last election, then widened to embrace the transformation of the world's empathy and support for the USA after 9.11 into the world's distrust and scorn after the invasion of Iraq.
At one point, the Sarasotan stopped me dead in my tracks with an unspecified hint of big trouble if a rerun of the vote in 2000 occurs. When pressed as to what he meant, he replied with the two words: "civil war".
Predictably, the conversation turned to the voting fiasco in Florida in the annus horribilis of 2000, with my question as to whether the whole sorry mess might repeat itself in 2004, with (1) the new hackable, error-prone and unaccountable touch-screen computers installed to replace the punch card machines with their infamous hanging chads, and (2) the President's filial regime still in place.
This was an intelligent man who professed deep shame in his state in his country on this and other issues. The conversation turned from voting machines to the disenfranchisement of African-Americans in Florida at the last election, then widened to embrace the transformation of the world's empathy and support for the USA after 9.11 into the world's distrust and scorn after the invasion of Iraq.
At one point, the Sarasotan stopped me dead in my tracks with an unspecified hint of big trouble if a rerun of the vote in 2000 occurs. When pressed as to what he meant, he replied with the two words: "civil war".
Thursday, October 21, 2004
Abu Hamza al-Masri
The pre-emptive charging of Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri in Britain with soliciting to murder and possession of a terrorist document is a transparent attempt by the British Government to forestall his requested extradition to the United States. At first site, this strategy by Her Majesty's Government seems odd -the man is an unapologetically propagator of religious and ethnic hatred; there is no doubt the British Isles would be a more pleasant place with Abu Hamza departed from our green and pleasant land.
But there's a catch: under British law, it is illegal for the government to extradite a person to a country where he might face the death penalty. It is an irony of the transatlantic "special relationship" and the Iraq war's "coalition of the willing" that the senior partner in these asynchronous relationships pursues a practice that most of the countries of civilized Europe find abhorrent -the death penalty.
It's not only the transparently unfair ways in which the death penalty is applied: the poor and the black are more likely to feel the rope; the fact that the ongoing debate concerning the execution of juveniles and the mentally incompetent even exists. More fundamentally, it's the lack of morality the death penalty represents, a lack of morality that is even more astounding in the light of many Americans' oft-professed Christian faith and the Constitution's strictures against cruel an unusual punishment. It's a policy which at once places Uncle Sam in the same bedroom as the late unmourned Hafez al-Assad and Sadam Hussein himself: an unlovely thread woven into the warp and weft of America's societal fabric.
So imagine the briny Atlantic did not separate the United States from old Europe: the United States would not be a qualifying candidate for membership of the EU.
But there's a catch: under British law, it is illegal for the government to extradite a person to a country where he might face the death penalty. It is an irony of the transatlantic "special relationship" and the Iraq war's "coalition of the willing" that the senior partner in these asynchronous relationships pursues a practice that most of the countries of civilized Europe find abhorrent -the death penalty.
It's not only the transparently unfair ways in which the death penalty is applied: the poor and the black are more likely to feel the rope; the fact that the ongoing debate concerning the execution of juveniles and the mentally incompetent even exists. More fundamentally, it's the lack of morality the death penalty represents, a lack of morality that is even more astounding in the light of many Americans' oft-professed Christian faith and the Constitution's strictures against cruel an unusual punishment. It's a policy which at once places Uncle Sam in the same bedroom as the late unmourned Hafez al-Assad and Sadam Hussein himself: an unlovely thread woven into the warp and weft of America's societal fabric.
So imagine the briny Atlantic did not separate the United States from old Europe: the United States would not be a qualifying candidate for membership of the EU.
National Celibacy Day
Don't forget:
National Celibacy Day
November 2nd
NO DICK - NO BUSH
Round-robin email (anon)
National Celibacy Day
November 2nd
NO DICK - NO BUSH
Round-robin email (anon)
Soldiers from the 51st. State
The "operational" proposal that a contingent of British troops be redeployed north of Basra, to supplement American troop levels and allow U.S. operations to occur in Falluja and elsewhere, has generated a predictable firestorm of criticism within the UK, even from those nominally in favour of military operations in Iraq.
The most revealing arguments floated against this deployment is that those troops would (1) then be placed under American command and (2) operating under tougher rules of engagement.
The first speaks to the nation's continuing ambivalence about participation in the Iraq misadventure, and is understandable but wrong-headed. Even within the relative autonomy of their own command and tucked within the relative safety of the majority-Shia enclave in Basra, the British Army are in reality subordinate to the larger American-lead effort.
The second is a tougher nut to crack, and has repercussions beyond the war in Iraq, and addresses the harsher, retributive elements of American society itself. It is one of the world's worse kept secrets that the British Army and its political masters view US tactics in Iraq with considerable concern. It is held that American air bombardments and "shock and awe" frontal assaults are counterproductive to dealing with an insurgency, and that these unnecessarily violent and indiscriminate tactics serve as effective recruiting agents for that insurgency.
The tests that should be applied for determining the rules of engagement are as follows:
The most revealing arguments floated against this deployment is that those troops would (1) then be placed under American command and (2) operating under tougher rules of engagement.
The first speaks to the nation's continuing ambivalence about participation in the Iraq misadventure, and is understandable but wrong-headed. Even within the relative autonomy of their own command and tucked within the relative safety of the majority-Shia enclave in Basra, the British Army are in reality subordinate to the larger American-lead effort.
The second is a tougher nut to crack, and has repercussions beyond the war in Iraq, and addresses the harsher, retributive elements of American society itself. It is one of the world's worse kept secrets that the British Army and its political masters view US tactics in Iraq with considerable concern. It is held that American air bombardments and "shock and awe" frontal assaults are counterproductive to dealing with an insurgency, and that these unnecessarily violent and indiscriminate tactics serve as effective recruiting agents for that insurgency.
The tests that should be applied for determining the rules of engagement are as follows:
- Are the responses proportionate to the events? Current body counts are running at a 10:1 ratio of Iraqi to American deaths, which, even allowing for the deaths of Iraqis at the hands of other Iraqis, suggest that they are not.
- Do the responses achieve the desired result? This should be answered by looking beyond the immediate goal (say killing an insurgent in a bombing attack) to the larger picture: is our course of actions achieving the desired goal of a stable Iraq? The continuing insurgency would indicate otherwise.
- Would you do what you're doing if it were in Belfast? In other words, would you authorize an air strike on the Falls Road or the Bogside to target an insurgent or group of insurgents? If the answer is no, then the inevitable conclusion is that European lives (even ones threatening your soldiers' lives) are more highly valued than Arab lives, and that therefore the methods used in Iraq are infused with the stench of racism, colonialism's stunted brother.
If the British Government does not want to send the Black Watch to support American troops elsewhere because of the fact that they would be under direct US military control, then it morally cannot continue to hide in the Basra enclave, but should leave Iraq. If it decides that British troops can fight under US military control, then the Government should lobby in the strongest possible terms for fundamental changes in the rules of engagement.
The Curse Reversed?
The Boston Red Socks' historic comeback from a three game deficit to win the ALCS and vanquish the hated New York Yankees was a fitting result to a thrilling series (and this from a New Yorker). Boston are now headed for the World Series -against either St. Louis or Houston- and stand every chance of winning.
But Boston should be careful what they wish for. In victory, the curse of Babe Ruth (traded from Boston to New York in 1918) will be judged by all to have been lifted. Boston the city will lose the narrative of the plucky underdog that has sustained it for the best part of a century. And Boston the team will have become just another baseball franchise to beat.
But Boston should be careful what they wish for. In victory, the curse of Babe Ruth (traded from Boston to New York in 1918) will be judged by all to have been lifted. Boston the city will lose the narrative of the plucky underdog that has sustained it for the best part of a century. And Boston the team will have become just another baseball franchise to beat.
Tuesday, October 12, 2004
Scoundrel
Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel
Dr. Samuel Johnson
People who wrap themselves in the flag have no other clothing to wear.
Dr. Samuel Johnson
People who wrap themselves in the flag have no other clothing to wear.
Monday, October 11, 2004
American Beauty
O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
America the Beautiful
It appears that the traditional traits quoted by humans to differentiate homo sapiens from the (lesser) animals no longer appear to be unique characteristics: other species (types of birds, chimpanzees) use tools as part of their daily routines; recently the New York Times ran an article on a pet dog who had developed a sophisticated vocabulary -on demand, he has the ability to pick out a yellow, or red or blue, ball from a room full of balls.
I would argue that the one unique trait that separates the human race from the other animals, with whom we're privileged to share this planet, is the appreciation of beauty. While definitions of beauty vary from culture to culture and individual to individual (though I suspect the variation in standards of beauty are less than one might think), the thrill experienced in the presence of beauty is a shared thrill. It could be a beautiful landscape, Shakespeare's Dark Lady, the curve of a lover's neck, the Song of Solomon, Zhang Yimou's Hero, Stephen Holl's Chapel of St. Ignatius Loyola in Seattle.
At the cutting edge of knowledge, where mathematics, physics and philosophy collide in Fermat's theorem, string theories and the quest for a Theory of Everything, it is accepted amongst the numerati that beauty = truth, that the degree to which an equation exhibits loveliness is the degree to which it is more valid than its less lovely competing cousins.
When evaluating our fellow human beings, it's useful to determine how or whether they pursue beauty. Robert Kennedy's campaign for the presidency of the United States of America was a process in which we -the denied electorate- watched the unfurling of a beautiful flower: Robert embracing fundamental truths plucked from the fogs and obfuscations of the tribal issues facing America, in those difficult times long ago when the nation was at war. The contrast between that beautiful man and the current inhabitant of the White House is a pain almost too much to bear.
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
America the Beautiful
It appears that the traditional traits quoted by humans to differentiate homo sapiens from the (lesser) animals no longer appear to be unique characteristics: other species (types of birds, chimpanzees) use tools as part of their daily routines; recently the New York Times ran an article on a pet dog who had developed a sophisticated vocabulary -on demand, he has the ability to pick out a yellow, or red or blue, ball from a room full of balls.
I would argue that the one unique trait that separates the human race from the other animals, with whom we're privileged to share this planet, is the appreciation of beauty. While definitions of beauty vary from culture to culture and individual to individual (though I suspect the variation in standards of beauty are less than one might think), the thrill experienced in the presence of beauty is a shared thrill. It could be a beautiful landscape, Shakespeare's Dark Lady, the curve of a lover's neck, the Song of Solomon, Zhang Yimou's Hero, Stephen Holl's Chapel of St. Ignatius Loyola in Seattle.
At the cutting edge of knowledge, where mathematics, physics and philosophy collide in Fermat's theorem, string theories and the quest for a Theory of Everything, it is accepted amongst the numerati that beauty = truth, that the degree to which an equation exhibits loveliness is the degree to which it is more valid than its less lovely competing cousins.
When evaluating our fellow human beings, it's useful to determine how or whether they pursue beauty. Robert Kennedy's campaign for the presidency of the United States of America was a process in which we -the denied electorate- watched the unfurling of a beautiful flower: Robert embracing fundamental truths plucked from the fogs and obfuscations of the tribal issues facing America, in those difficult times long ago when the nation was at war. The contrast between that beautiful man and the current inhabitant of the White House is a pain almost too much to bear.
Tuesday, October 05, 2004
The Unspeakable
Or that I could forget what I have been,
Or not remember what I must be now!
Swell'st thou, proud heart? I'll give thee scope to beat,
Since foes have scope to beat both thee and me.
Richard II, Act III, Scene III
Far from the excitement of the Presidential Debate here in America last Thursday, across The Pond the voters of Hartlepool stirred up their own piece of ballot box brouhaha, creating election history by voting the party of Her Majesty's Opposition into fourth place, and possibly into electoral oblivion. Reasons for the precipitous fall of the Tory Party from governmental grace are as plain to see as the proverbial probosces on the voters' faces: the party is offering an extremist agenda that does not reflect the country's point of view.
The YouGov poll in this week's Economist, commissioned for party organ The Daily Telegraph, tells the whole sorry story. The nation's voters categorized themselves on average as very marginally left-of-centre (-2%), categorized Tony Blair as very marginally right-of-centre (+4%), and Michael Howard / Tory MPs as extremely right-of-centre (+52%). But all is not gloom and doom: the Tories beat Gordon Brown (-21%) and Labour MPs (-25%) by a factor of 2 where they obviously believe it counts: the extreme bastard's stakes.
This is a party that will obsess about issues far removed from the political pivot: Gilbraltar, fox-hunting and asylum / immigration. They will be heartened by the sturm und drang of the noisy and nasty pro-hunting lobby, and will confuse that noise with popular support. They will lurch triumphantly to the right to capture the 5% of votes the UKIP currently enjoys -and leave the field unclaimed to the Labour and Liberal Democratic Parties.
This is a party who includes amongst its members some of the most intelligent and thoughtful people in British politics: Chris Patten, Kenneth Clarke, Michael Portillo. These are men who should be heard loudly and often by their party and the nation, but instead are pushed to the margins of our national discourse by coarser men of little talent and no imagination.
This is a party who, in its headlong, headstrong chase to grasp the baser, darker, less digestible and more desperate sides of our natures, has indeed become Oscar Wilde's the unspeakable in full pursuit of the uneatable.
Or not remember what I must be now!
Swell'st thou, proud heart? I'll give thee scope to beat,
Since foes have scope to beat both thee and me.
Richard II, Act III, Scene III
Far from the excitement of the Presidential Debate here in America last Thursday, across The Pond the voters of Hartlepool stirred up their own piece of ballot box brouhaha, creating election history by voting the party of Her Majesty's Opposition into fourth place, and possibly into electoral oblivion. Reasons for the precipitous fall of the Tory Party from governmental grace are as plain to see as the proverbial probosces on the voters' faces: the party is offering an extremist agenda that does not reflect the country's point of view.
The YouGov poll in this week's Economist, commissioned for party organ The Daily Telegraph, tells the whole sorry story. The nation's voters categorized themselves on average as very marginally left-of-centre (-2%), categorized Tony Blair as very marginally right-of-centre (+4%), and Michael Howard / Tory MPs as extremely right-of-centre (+52%). But all is not gloom and doom: the Tories beat Gordon Brown (-21%) and Labour MPs (-25%) by a factor of 2 where they obviously believe it counts: the extreme bastard's stakes.
This is a party that will obsess about issues far removed from the political pivot: Gilbraltar, fox-hunting and asylum / immigration. They will be heartened by the sturm und drang of the noisy and nasty pro-hunting lobby, and will confuse that noise with popular support. They will lurch triumphantly to the right to capture the 5% of votes the UKIP currently enjoys -and leave the field unclaimed to the Labour and Liberal Democratic Parties.
This is a party who includes amongst its members some of the most intelligent and thoughtful people in British politics: Chris Patten, Kenneth Clarke, Michael Portillo. These are men who should be heard loudly and often by their party and the nation, but instead are pushed to the margins of our national discourse by coarser men of little talent and no imagination.
This is a party who, in its headlong, headstrong chase to grasp the baser, darker, less digestible and more desperate sides of our natures, has indeed become Oscar Wilde's the unspeakable in full pursuit of the uneatable.
Friday, October 01, 2004
Collateral damage in Samarra
So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.
And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword.
Joshua 6, 20-21
Kafkat Stevens
"There can be no doubt—"said K., quite softly, for he was elated by the breathless attention of the meeting; in that stillness a subdued hum was audible which was more exciting than the wildest applause—"there can be no doubt that behind all the actions of this court of justice, that is to say in my case, behind my arrest and today's interrogation, there is a great organization at work. An organization which not only employs corrupt warders, oafish Inspectors, and Examining Magistrates of whom the best that can be said is that they recognize their own limitations, but also has at its disposal a judicial hierarchy of high, indeed of the highest rank, with an indispensable and numerous retinue of servants, clerks, police, and other assistants, perhaps even hangmen, I do not shrink from that word. And the significance of this great organization, gentlemen? It consists in this, that innocent persons are accused of guilt, and senseless proceedings are put in motion against them..."
No, this is not Yusuf Islam's, aka Cat Stevens', account of his detention and subsequent expulsion from the USA, this is the fictional K speaking in Kafka's "The Trial". To see how life parallels art, click on the title of this article to go to Islam's op-ed piece in Guardian Unlimited.
No, this is not Yusuf Islam's, aka Cat Stevens', account of his detention and subsequent expulsion from the USA, this is the fictional K speaking in Kafka's "The Trial". To see how life parallels art, click on the title of this article to go to Islam's op-ed piece in Guardian Unlimited.
Missed Opportunity
The presidential debate last night in Coral Cables ended in a draw, which reflects the lack of clear blue water between the two contenders. Kerry will handle Iraq just about the same, but better, and will make nice to all the countries Bush has alienated. Not a platform to set the ticket on fire.
The real story -unnoticed by the post-game commentators- was the evening's massive missed opportunity. Kerry was obviously right to stress that Bush was over-eager to go to war with Iraq before exhausting all other opportunities. But he ignored the major source of anti-American feeling throughout the world, beside the act of invasion itself: that this Administration has been too willing to compromise the intrinsically American principles of freedom and democracy in its wrong-headed pursuit of the war on terrorism and the war in Iraq. This has been noted within the United States too, and it makes many people nervous.
If Kerry is serious about winning this election, he needs to add a basket of concrete proposals to his platform, which shows he deeply understands the founding principles of his country and cares about freedom and democracy. These would include the following:
The real story -unnoticed by the post-game commentators- was the evening's massive missed opportunity. Kerry was obviously right to stress that Bush was over-eager to go to war with Iraq before exhausting all other opportunities. But he ignored the major source of anti-American feeling throughout the world, beside the act of invasion itself: that this Administration has been too willing to compromise the intrinsically American principles of freedom and democracy in its wrong-headed pursuit of the war on terrorism and the war in Iraq. This has been noted within the United States too, and it makes many people nervous.
If Kerry is serious about winning this election, he needs to add a basket of concrete proposals to his platform, which shows he deeply understands the founding principles of his country and cares about freedom and democracy. These would include the following:
- Closing Camp Delta in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba by December 2005, either releasing all prisoners to their country of origin or setting trial dates for those perpetrators who merit prosecution. Prisoners selected for prosecution would be transferred to appropriate prisons on the mainland, allowed access to lawyers, and treated according to the Geneva Convention.
- Closing Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq by December 2005, releasing uncharged prisoners as soon as possible and handing over those facing charges to the civilian administration in Iraq.
- An immediate end to the so-called "enemy combatants" status of federal prisoners: all prisoners to have access to lawyers and the courts.
- Reviewing the current procedures with respect to the detention and handling of illegal immigrants, to ensure that injustices and unwarranted detentions do not happen to innocent people under the rubric of "fighting the war on terror".
- Repealing the Patriot Act as an urgent priority of the incoming Administration.
To maintain the appearance of "toughness" to the American electorate, he should stress items already in his platform:
- Increased security at all points of entry into the USA.
- Increase the effectiveness of the CIA / FBI. Appoint effective leaders, assign them appropriate powers and budgets.
- Pre-emptive war or covert action remain on the table against terrorists anywhere, anytime.
- Tougher action against countries with real WMDs: Iran and North Korea.
- A renewal of emphasis on the task of hunting down and capturing or killing Osama Bin Laden and his lieutenants.
The United States of America is a glorious idea founded on the principles of democracy and freedom. John Kerry needs to stress the fundamental point to the American people that, without these principles, the USA ceases to exist and becomes a mere chunk of real estate west of Ireland.
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