When My Redneck Alter Ego Comes Out to Play
Every now and then I read a post from the progressive side of aisle that makes my blood boil. The planned Latino protest over the lack of coverage of Latino participation in Ken Burns World War II series is one of them. Forgive me for not being particularly sympathetic, but I seem to recall that Americans fought in World War II. All kinds of Americans fought and died for the country, including Japanese Americans whose relatives were interred by the US at camps like Manzanar. I’m certain there were Latino heroes as there were heroes of every faith, race and denomination. And yes, there was blatant racism in the 1940’s. There were segregated “Negro” units. The Japanese units fought ferociously in Italy for their country. In the context of the ’40s and of what was truly at stake in this war, race was the last thing on anyone’s mind. That Latino groups take aim at an honest broker like Ken Burns 60 years later is a cheap shot to say the least. It’s an anachronistic sucker punch.
If progressives and Democrats want to understand why they consistently lose to an obviously duplicitous and criminal right wing junta, look no further than this issue. Since the 60s, progressives have bent over backward trying to level the playing field for any activist of any stripe at the expense of coalescing and building a majority that understands and supports its values. For the past 40 years, everyone’s needs must be accommodated equally, which has the net effect of diluting the message to the extent that voters complain that while they’d like to not vote Republican, they have no idea what Democrats stand for. No kidding.
We are at a critical juncture in this country where this nation has to decide, truly, whether it will remain a constitutional democracy or take the next step to classic fascism. This is not the time to indulge in splinter politics. We are facing a challenge that is every bit as big as the challenge our soldiers faced in Europe and Japan. This time, the war is not in the villages and towns of Europe or on the islands of the Pacific. It’s right here, right now.
Posted: September 21st, 2007 under Uncategorized.
Comments: 9
Comments
Comment from timr
Time: September 21, 2007, 10:19 am
LC a question just a little of topic. Did we return sovereignty to the lawful govt. of Iraq? Or was it just a smoke and mirrors PR moment. The reason that I ask this question is this. The Iraq government 4 days ago kicked Blackwater out of Iraq for killing several Iraqi’s. Then today we get this
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IRAQ_BLACKWATER?SITE=DEWIL&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
I think that we just showed the entire middle east, and especially those who live in Iraq, who is really running the country, no?
Comment from timr
Time: September 21, 2007, 10:45 am
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/09/20/countdown-special-comment-the-president-of-hypocrisy/
Comment from Josh Hammond
Time: September 21, 2007, 11:14 am
I take your broader point, but it seems to me that Burns should have known better, especially since PBS is the broadcaster, and this is not his first time down this road. If this were a commercial enterprise, Burns need not bother with political correctness, but this is a “public” enterprise, made possible by taxpayers of all stripes and colors.
I do understand that Burns did bow to this objection and add some new footage, which the critics are panning as an appendage. Maybe that is what they are protesting?
Comment from JerryA
Time: September 21, 2007, 11:21 am
“A Critcal Jucture.” Great title for a novel, but this is the real thing. And we are the players. I really don’t think that Joe America has a real grasp on this thing. The screaming facism of Hitler and Mussolini have been replaced by the repetative econo-terror babble of the Administration and the likes of Fox. The sheeple are convinced that to retain their toys and lifestyle they must keep the Fox as guard to the Henhouse.
I can’t understand why They don’t get it. Can a country such as the US be brought to it’s knees by Big Busness, Neocons, and a Fool for a President? How much does it take to just get to a point and say “What the fuck?”
Comment from I.B.Lever
Time: September 21, 2007, 12:04 pm
Can a country such as the US be brought to it’s knees by Big Busness, Neocons, and a Fool for a President?
The answer to that is - ” Yes, we already have ! “
Comment from timr
Time: September 22, 2007, 10:51 am
The question of whether or not we are sliding into a police state and away from democracy has already been answered. We already are in the early stages of a police state. Here is the proof.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/21/AR2007092102347.html
the only question remaining is when does the end game start. When will we have to have internal passports, I think the national ID card is already working its way thru the system and will be a fact sometime in the very near future-There have already been several newspaper articles and many letters to the editors, surprisingly perhaps, most are in favor of the ID card. Shades of 1984. When will we be stopped at state borders and asked for our passports, hmmmm?
Comment from I.B.Lever
Time: September 22, 2007, 12:14 pm
War Costing $720 Million Each Day, Group Says
By Kari Lydersen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, September 22, 2007; Page A11
CHICAGO, Sept. 21 — The money spent on one day of the Iraq war could buy homes for almost 6,500 families or health care for 423,529 children, or could outfit 1.27 million homes with renewable electricity, according to the American Friends Service Committee, which displayed those statistics on large banners in cities nationwide Thursday and Friday.
The war is costing $720 million a day or $500,000 a minute, according to the group’s analysis of the work of Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph E. Stiglitz and Harvard public finance lecturer Linda J. Bilmes.
The estimates made by the group, which opposes the conflict, include not only the immediate costs of war but also ongoing factors such as long-term health care for veterans, interest on debt and replacement of military hardware.
“The wounded are coming home, and many of them have severe brain and spinal injuries, which will require round-the-clock care for the rest of their lives,” said Michael McConnell, Great Lakes regional director of the AFSC, a peace group affiliated with the Quaker church.
The $720 million figure breaks down into $280 million a day from Iraq war supplementary funding bills passed by Congress, plus $440 million daily in incurred, but unpaid, long-term costs.
But some supporters of the Bush administration’s policy in Iraq say that even if the war is costly, that fact is essentially immaterial.
“Either you think the war in Iraq supports America’s national security, or not,” said Frederick W. Kagan, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. “If you think national security won’t be harmed by withdrawing from Iraq, of course you would want to see that money spent elsewhere. I myself think that belief, on a certain level, is absurd, so the question of focusing on how much money we are spending there is irrelevant.”
The war’s unpaid long-term costs do not include “macro-economic consequences” described by Bilmes and Stiglitz, including higher oil prices, loss of trade because of anti-American sentiments and lost productivity of killed or injured U.S. soldiers.
In 2006, Bilmes, who was an assistant secretary of commerce under President Bill Clinton, and Stiglitz, a former chief economist at the World Bank, placed the total cost of the Iraq war at more than $2.2 trillion, not counting interest. The American Friends group used cost breakdowns and interest projections from the Congressional Budget Office to calculate the daily cost of war emblazoned on the banners flown in Boston, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Chicago and other cities.
The banners show what this could buy in terms of health care, Head Start programs, new elementary schools, free school lunches, renewable energy and hiring new teachers. Protest organizers say they hope to turn more people against the war by laying out its true financial impact.
“I think people are becoming more aware of these guns or butter questions,” said Gary Gillespie, director of the group’s Baltimore Urban Peace Program, which displayed the banners in the Baltimore suburb of Bel Air on Friday. “But when you talk about $720 million a day, even people who work on this issue are shocked by the number and shocked by what could have been done with that money. War has no return — you’re not producing a product.”
Comment from timr
Time: September 22, 2007, 12:51 pm
Just finished reading this. gwb the new Saddam? pretty good
http://www.macleans.ca/article.jsp?content=20070920_100442_7900&source=srch&page=1
Comment from timr
Time: September 22, 2007, 1:05 pm
gwb and his record of corporate failure. Found out some stuff that I had not known
http://alaric3rh.home.sprynet.com/science/bceo.html
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