Friday, February 15, 2008
Echos of "Vietnam"
The Iraq conflict itself has been largely unlike Vietnam, with some notable exceptions.
ON THE PRECIPICE
The breakdown in the trust in Government that unfolded this week, however, have a Vietnam-era odor, sadly.
GOOD FOR "US"
The breakdown included the desperate attempt to keep from the public view the double-super-secret domestic spying done by the NSA, in all probability, that was supported by a compliant and complicit Senate. Trading liberty for security in secret is a recipe for disaster in the modern information age, yes?
ABANDONING HIS POST, EXPLICATIONS, AND WEASELS
It included John McCain abandoning his firm position on the Army's field manual, in favor of ... political harmony in 'our little national lie'.
It included weaseling on "torture" by the Attorney General, who refused to turn over to the Congress the legal opinions written for the public in the public's name with the public's tax dollars (is it "law" if it is secret?).
It summoned up explications of when torture is not torture, by the Bush OLC swell, Stephen Bradbury. (Turns out, if you just drown for a little bit or you have a safeword or something, it's really, really is just a dunk-in-the-water. Who knew?). Dirka dirka, Mohammad jihad to that!
WHERE DOES IT ALL END?
Not sure yet. Too tired to think it all through, frankly. The outrage-o-meter doesn't seem to be as high these days as it was in the 70s, when there was a draft and a whole social change movement well underway.
Some wag suggested that we keep Guantanamo open, not for "the terrorists", but for all the apples out of the Bush-Cheney tree that have yet to fall.
OTHER IMPLICATIONS - OBAMA-RAMA
Obama is on the right track that a restoration of decent and effective government requires the active participation of the electorate (perhaps faciliated more than ever by the internet), as well as a commitment to transparency, just as he outlined it.
This week, we learned the limits to that vision, sadly. The Senate was content to "deliberate" for two to four hours, before voting (sometimes votes are not even roll call, as well). In other words, sometimes the Ruling Class is quite happy to ... be brazen.
