Good morning, Dark Wraith. Speaking only for my self, I would prefer "soon enough" or sooner than that, actually. Because "eventually" thousands more will die for what amounts to nothing.

Good morning, konagod.

The word "nothing" is almost appropriate when referring to Afghanistan; unfortunately, it is not quite accurate: in my August, 2006, article, "Hydrocarbon Battlefields," you will find some maps I created showing why we will not be giving up on Afghanistan anytime soon. (The Russians and the Chinese will be similarly getting into some fights, as will the Turks and other Persians, the Israelis, and the Europeans. Of course, the Israelis and the Europeans will have the United States to do at least some of their dirty work.)

Unlike Vietnam, we cannot afford to write off the Afghanistan mess — not, at least, until we have leaders in this country who understand that the best way to avoid conflicts in other lands is to have no need for what those other lands have that we need.

That, of course, means we shall be in Afghanistan for a very long time.

The Dark Wraith thinks everyone should be glad the American soldiers who are going to die there will have been baptized.

They aren't dying for nothing.

They are dying for heroin and oil.

They are dying to build the Global Empire. Or at least make sure the puppet masters can eat well, buy private islands and put their kids in the best schools.

On that last privilege, Weaseldog, the wealthy should be grateful that I teach at colleges below the top tier; otherwise, their kids would come out of my business and economics courses considerably different from how they came in.

The Dark Wraith will have to settle for influencing the minds of the kids of less-than-wealthy people.

And so it went Friday morning when WLS radio host Erich "Mancow" Muller decided to subject himself to the controversial practice of waterboarding live on his show.

http://tinyurl.com/oz3esy

I'll just have to return to the mainstream news now, so I can follow up on what wonders the One is up to today. Time for my next hit of hopium.

Good afternoon, zipperhead.

The mainstream news would never consider covering my points of view, of course; but I still like to think about how that would work out. I'll bet I could drive away almost every corporate sponsor in less than a week, and I could have every major religion issuing an edict for my hide in about the same amount of time.

The Chinese, the Russians, the Israelis, the British, and a handful of European countries would all chip in to have me shot, too; but that's okay: if the price were right for the hit, I might consider doing it myself. I could use the money.

Even with all the negatives the mainstream media would face hiring me, I might still have darned good ratings, especially if I went on a daily basis into the rants I sometimes do in my class.

I suppose I could also do my commentaries with pyrotechnics in the background. That would be cool.

And maybe guest appearances by CGI versions of politicians for whom I have no use. That would be sweet: a computer-generated version of Dick Cheney I could code to do as I wished.

Oh yeah.

Like I said, though, the mainstream news would never consider giving me airtime.

The Dark Wraith will just have to stick with his Web presence and Internet radio talk show... for now.

Good afternoon, Weaseldog.

Yes, I saw the "waterboarding" session Mancow did. (As a matter of semantic integrity, I want to note right here that I was under the distinct impression that "Man cow" was more appropriately termed "Bull"; but maybe that's being too gender specific, these days.)

Here's Keith Olbermann's coverage of Mancow getting the water cure.



That wuss didn't last seven seconds, and then he blubbered some excuse about a childhood experience that left him 0-so-scarred for life. My heart bleeds for that Right-winger/libertarian/man cow/bull/whatever.

He admitted that it's "absolutely torture" because he was reduced to a state where he'd admit to anything just to keep his mouth running while what little brain he has could boot back up and return to the Windows desktop.

As we used to say in high school: Wuuuuuuuuusssssss.

The Dark Wraith was left very unsatisfied by the Right-winger's unwillingness to hold out long enough to start crying like a little baby.

Of the spiritual quest or crusade some of our troops are engaged in:
I recall seeing photos of GIs in the Vietnam Era with quotations on their helmets to the tune of:
"Kill a commie for Christ"
as well as
"Kill a gook for God."
What then shall our present-day troops emblazon on their helmets?
"Murder a Muslim for The Flying Spaghetti Monster?"
"Eradicate an Arab for the Almighty?"

I blog-bitched about the stupidity of seeking Christian converts in a country where apostasy (converting out of the dominant religious paradigm, basically) is punishable by death. And then bitched some more about how with Bush and Rummy bloviating about God had let this particular brand of shit-brainedness run downhill. I think I am now suffering from indignation burn out.

Re: Dark Wraith - 05/26/09 at 19:29:19

Mancow: Hannity Called Me After I Was Waterboarded And Said, ‘It’s Still Not Torture’

Yesterday, MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann interviewed Mancow about his experience under the bucket. “I would have said anything to make it stop,” Mancow said, further confirming that torture does not produce reliable intelligence. “I don’t think drowning is harsh enough. … This is worse. This isn’t gulping for air. This is your brain is shut off.” Mancow said that despite the “horrific” event, Hannity called him afterwards to insist that waterboarding still isn’t torture...

Countdown video

...Mancow laughed at waterboarding until he tried it himself. Hannity’s fact-free claim that waterboarding is “not torture” might carry more weight if he displayed the courage of Mancow.

"We kind o' thought Christ went agin war an' pillage."
~James Russell Lowell

Bill Berkowitz: Are religious sects/cults invading the United Nations?

A French government agency called MIVILUDES (Mission interministérielle de vigilance et de lutte contre les dérives sectaries -- Interministerial Mission for Monitoring and Combating Cultic Deviancy) recently issued a 199-page report charging religious cults with having a growing influence in international bodies such as the United Nations.

According to a report at Digital Journal, "A sect is defined here as being any religious organization which can be characterized as employing any of the following methods; Mental destabilization, exorbitant financial demands, a rupture with members' original environment, power in the hands of one person, the invasion of a person's physical integrity, the recruitment of children, antisocial preaching and troubling public order, activities which lead it to be tried in a court of law, using parallel economic structures, attempts to infiltrate the workplace, schools, and public powers."

Among the 50 or so religious groups that MIVILUDES tracks in its report (La justice face aux derives sectaries -- Justice with Regard to Sect or Cult abuse) are: Jehovah's Witnesses, Scientology, Mormons, The Universal Church, Raelians, and The Unification Church (the Rev. Sun Myung Moon). [...]

According to Digital Journal, the report looks closely at NGOs (non-governmental organizations) "which it says are attempting to legitimize sect activities under cover of the principles of religious freedom. They are said to be acting in concert to limit the influence of the MIVILUDES within the UN, using tactics such as official complaints and smear tactics." [...]

Digital Journal concluded its piece by pointing out that "France is a fiercely secular country" which in part explains "the existence of an organization as unique and with as much influence as the Miviludes." It's "long-running battles with various religious organizations ... . has [now] moved onto the international stage the stakes have gone up and both sides are sharpening their knives."

When I was a teen, we had a term for other boys that would say they'd do something daring, and then didn't do it. It rhymes with 'wussy'.

When is Sean Hannity going to grow a pair and live up to his bravado?

And he has the nerve to laugh at Mancow for it? Time for a headlock and little dunking session methinks.

Don't recall offhand the source of this quip, yet I think it is germane re: our crusaders/evangelists in uniform: "If Jesus came back today and saw all the idiocy being done in his name, he'd never stop throwing up"

The problem with true Christrianity is that no one has ever really practiced it yet on a large scale.

Our "soul hunters" appear to be fixated on pursuing something that amounts to little more than a pathological mix of self-aggrandizement and a desperate (and dangerous) attempt to infuse a twisted sense of meaning and purpose into otherwise soulless lives.

As Gandhi supposedly said: "I like your Christ very much. But I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ."

Amen!

John W. Dean, May 15th, 2009:

The Politics of Excusing Torture In The Name of National Security

Allow me to share some analysis about the way things work in Washington. President Obama’s flip-flop on his agreement to turn over photographs of detainees being tortured by American soldiers is a message with broad and clear implications. Those who believe that the Obama Administration should expose and prosecute persons who committed war crimes should understand that it is not going to happen the way they would like, or as quickly, because Obama is having internal battles as well. His pullback is not occurring because he fears that Republicans will attack him (he knows they will); rather it is occurring because he needs the national security community behind him, and they fear they will be further embarrassed and humiliated if more information is revealed.

According to The Washington Post, President Obama told White House lawyers he does not “feel comfortable” releasing the photos because of the reaction they could cause against U.S. troops, and because “he believes that the national security implications of such a release have not been fully presented to the court,” in responding to the ACLU’s Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. [...]

Anger in the National Security Ranks, Stemming from the Bush Years

From generals and admirals at the Pentagon to Foreign Service officers in Foggy Bottom, along with untold thousands of the nameless and unknown career civil servants who soldier on to protect our national security, there is anger and resentment. Most of these people are not political in the partisan sense; rather, they work in and for our government to keep the nation safe, and take pride in their work.

For the past eight years, the Bush Administration has marginalized them, manipulated them, and beaten them down. Dick Cheney, in particular, worked to keep the national security professionals submissive, and to ignore their good advice. In a move that was unheard of for a Vice President, Cheney created his own National Security Council, which initially was better staffed and more knowledgeable than the statutory NSC. Cheney placed personal emissaries throughout the national security structure, not only to control it but to be certain that he was always aware of what it was doing, so he could operate accordingly. Dick Cheney had his own agenda, and it proved a disaster. Cheney cost the nation blood and treasure with his preemptive Iraq war. He embarrassed the United States the world over by demanding (and continuing to demand) that we use torture.

Our national security professionals have been humiliated. President Obama is a president who listens, and he has been told that airing the dirty linen that the Bush folks left behind will cause more harm than good. [...]

The national security bureaucracy is testing its influence with the new president – and like all presidents, he will take some of its advice and reject other advice it gives. Right now, he is trying to figure out what to do.

Obama’s Being Tested From the Inside And Outside

It is not likely that Barack Obama had widespread political support in the national security community, which would have had a natural affinity for one of their own like John McCain. But Obama needs to win their hearts and minds. He cannot effectively lead and protect the country without their support, and since so many are recovering from battered-by-the-White-House syndrome stemming from the Bush/Cheney years, he is dealing with their very bad mood. Rather than risk alienation, Obama has given in to them, at the expense of his natural constituency, the political progressives who find it appalling that the Bush/Cheney torture is not being fully exposed (and prosecuted) to prevent it from happening again — and sooner, rather than later.

I would encourage those who are demanding exposure and prosecution to keep pounding their drums. Clearly, they are on the right side of this issue, and Obama knows it. While he is going to placate the national security bureaucrats from time to time in order to lead them effectively, hopefully the pressure for him to deal with the atrocious behavior of Bush and Cheney is only just getting started.

Not so sure about the characterization of Afhanistan as "God forsaken". Could that be a wee bit of cultural chauvanism showing through there? Or is it the geography you have in mind? There are vast swathes of North America as desolate and univiting, and even more so. Is it the Afghani economy of which you think? Well, look at our own. And we have not even had the help of any foreign invaders for our wreck and ruin. Also, Afghanistan is the opium basket of the world, one of God's greatest gifts to mankind, if but used wisely.

They have opium. Look at our substitute. We have to get by on psychotronic hopium and big pharma.

Now I ask - which place is really "God forsaken"?

"At the end of that road, of course, are the likes of Alexander the Great; the British; and, most recently, the Russians: their truths marched on, too. Right into the maw of failed conquest."

Clearly, the characterization of Afhanistan as "God forsaken" means by "the gods" of those who have invaded the M E, and failed, as is historically proven.