Destruction @ MindSay 
death
We are gathered here in the sight of chocolate, fake grass, and baskets to commemorate the life of a dearly departed and well beloved Children's figure.
He was a great bunny to us all but he, like all of us, had problems. He was an addict. He bothered small children and he scared the hell out of the rest of us. But he was in therapy and he was trying to find the self empowerment to make this world a better place for us all.
In a fight like this, it is inevitable that he would fail in some way. And this is how we found out his predilection for breaking and entering. He was a peeping tom and he would go into houses just to leave candy. Now he had an innocent motive. He loved the look on the faces of children. I understand that he was a lapsed catholic priest, but he was trying so hard to make it all right.
So here we are. He made us happy. He was a candy pusher and a chocolate addict. And he still loved us all enough to leave us plastic baskets, fake grass, cheap toys, and candy that will kill us. How can we not mourn his passing?
There's a lot to say about the relationship between the Bush Administration and the US military.
We now know that all the 2004 election bluster about George Bush being "decisive" was an admission of insecurity:
Time and again, Bush has either not had the know-how to make the right decision (like breaking up the Iraqi military and foisting elections on a populace focused on religious-ethnic difference) or out-and-out denied the truth (lack of connection between Saddam Hussein and Al-Qaida, lack of "weapons of mass destruction"). I'm also reminded of his self-description as a "gut player," which, like so many of his self-referential statements, which I would term supremely unpresidential, are peurile, infantile formulations.
Whether the President was told about Abu Ghraib in January (when e-mails informed the Pentagon of the seriousness of the abuses and of the existence of photographs) or in March (when Taguba filed his report), Bush made no known effort to forcefully address the treatment of prisoners before the scandal became public, or to reëvaluate the training of military police and interrogators, or the practices of the task forces that he had authorized. Instead, Bush acquiesced in the prosecution of a few lower-level soldiers. The President’s failure to act decisively resonated through the military chain of command: aggressive prosecution of crimes against detainees was not conducive to a successful career.
George W. Bush is a small man, in the terms of Joseph Conrad. But he's acted like he thinks himself a "great man," with enough integrity to not only bend the rules, but fully disregard them. His "dead or alive" utterance in 2001 applies here.
Bush has posed as if he's some kind of warrior outside the law, which is for "normal" people and the "bad guys." The examples here are his authorization of illegal wire-tapping, his politicization of well-nigh every department with political hacks ("heckuva job" Michael Brown).
But most negative might be how the Karl Rove "character assassination" has played out in the military. Has there been a civilian leadership ever to so weaken the national forces? Don Rumsfeld (Rumsfled?) loved to talk about his "military transformation," but I think the legacy of the Iraq War will be a combination of a loss of US diplomatic leadership with a military that will take decades to recover, just like after Vietnam. And the PTSD-sufferers and the limbless will be around for all of my lifetime.
In all seriousness, can we really doubt that we are in Iraq for any other reason than because of George W. Bush's vision for himself as a conquering "war president"?
Sorry folks, only a fool or a desperate person would volunteer to be in the US Army right now. This is George Bush's war.
I remember with some wistfulness how, in 2004, I overheard a recruit say, "Well, the way they're talking, we won't even be over in a few months" (emphasis added). How's that 18-month deployment working for you?
The term "Friedman unit" aptly describes the notion of "progress" in Iraq; it comes from how every six months, Tom Friedman of the NYTimes would write, "the next six months in Iraq are critical." The US General in Iraq, David Petraeus, has beautifully picked up on the "F.U." -- I just heard him on the radio say, "By September we'll know whether the surge is working."
Okay, the "surge" is no longer as surge if it's this old. And Petraeus is proving himself to be a Republican political hack lite by saying he'll speak the truth in his "assessment."
The issue is difficult. Of course, the first casualty of war is the truth. And you don't want your compatriots to have died in vain. But they did, and they still are, dying in vain. And so are the Iraqi civilians.
Let me hazard a basic assessment of our military operation in Iraq. With ~200,000 troops, we are in a country of 22 million, although the Iraqi exodus is in full swing. So, let's say there's 19 million left. 19m/200,000 = 95, or one soldier for every 95 Iraqis. In New York City, there is 8.2 million people, and 37,000 cops. So, a cop for every 221 people. So in the war zone, we've only got a ratio two and a third times bigger than your average peacetime American city.
Given this, there has to be motivation and political consensus on the part of the local population. No check on that. Add to that that our US Army is not trained as a "peacekeeping" force. And that the US has no "nation-building" or "colonial" tradition, where technocrats are sorely needed. The civilian leadership has made bungling decision after bungling decision in Washington, and their representatives are ensconced in the Green Zone. The military brass are not in the front lines, but instead in Central Command or the Green Zone.
After over four years of "hot" fighting, the troops are depleted, their replacements are young people that may have criminal records or who have not bothered to get a GED or graduate high school. I can only imagine how much animus and anger there is toward the local Iraqi population from a near-illiterate 18-year-old kid who just had his friend killed by an IED.
Sy Hersh's article shows how Bush is willing to sell both high-level and low-level people down the river. There's "slam dunk" George Tenet, formerly ethos-heavy Colin Powell, three US Generals (Shinseki, Batiste, Kashilisvili (sp.?) and Lt. Gen. Sanchez), and Lynndie England and Charles Graner, the Abu Ghraib "nobodies." Who else? Former Secretary of the Treasury Paul O'Neill. Too many to remember.
Oh, what about Valerie Plame? Her outing as an undercover CIA agent to get back at Joe Wilson was an act of treason by Karl Rove and those above him in stature who approved the outing.
Anyway, we're FUBAR in Iraq. I can't imagine much morale being left. Heck, there's National Guardsmen there without the right equipment. Our military establishment doesn't know how to deal with both an occupation where we are the ones keeping order and a hot insurgency and a hot civil war.
Here's what Hersh says about Bush's reaction to Abu Ghraib:
When I think of Bush, and America, I think of the word "drift." Where are we going? I don't know, but it's the wrong direction.
The President’s failure to act decisively resonated through the military chain of command: aggressive prosecution of crimes against detainees was not conducive to a successful career.
As for getting out of Iraq, look at Sen. Joe Biden's five point plan for Iraq, the only serious thinking on this elephant-in-the-room issue I've seen.
I have to regain myself... i hate feeling this way so much, its a vicious cycle that i can't seem to break... Its got to end though... i have no help either, i'm all alone... Family supports my good actions, thats not enough... Maryellen talks to me again, thats not enough... Medicine doesn't work, that definatly doesn't help... i feel like a black hole... or how my toe felt when i woke up earlier... numb... as i said i want to change it, cause i don't like feeling like this, but every time i turn around the train speeds up and rams into a brick wall... fuck, a steel wall... the train survives to do it again, and i get back on, bloody and injured... it may seem like the only way to go is up, but i find a way to get lower...
its not that bad today... i drank too much last night and haven't touched it today... that doesn't mean i don't think about doing it... my thoughts betray me... how can i be honest to anyone when i lie to myself...? i need to take things slow... sleep is good, but its hard to do these days... friends would be nice, but my only peer is Maryellen, and she isn't always available... my family doesn't understand how hard it is to be me... i find it quite easy to fuck things up... since i betray myself, i can't rely on myself, but thats the only person that i have...
i'm going to keep a level head this time... mistakes happen... and if the past 3 months have been a mistake, then so be it... i'm still alive to correct it... if i give up, then there really is no hope... i really think about that sometimes, but i'm not, those thoughts are put there to destroy me, and i'm through being a puppet to self-destruction... i'm not saying that i won't mess up again, but i'm going to really put some effort into this... how can i be sure i'm not just lying to myself again...? Thats for me to figure out...
its always "one more time" "forgive me" "i'm sorry" "i'll never do it again" "i'm really going to try this time" I'm so pathetic... i always mess up, and its partially because i don't give a fuck about life right now... i need to wise up and realize that i have messed up perfectly good bonds between me, myself, and my fellows... all for naught... Simple pleasures, that lead to simple lies, to simple betrayals, to major losses... I have a serious problem right now, but it can be fixed...
At least i have the balls to admit it here to whoever, but thats not enough... i need to work myself into shape mentally... i need to feel good, i need to keep up with the good sides, and when negative thoughts enter my head, dismiss them... if i have hurt you, i'm sorry, i truly am... look upon me and despair, for i now know why you would never talk to me again... hell, i wouldn't if i were you... but if you give me support, i will accept it... just breath B...
i still hate feeling this way... but i can already feel it leaving... just don't let my guard down...
_____________________________________________________
Date Line June 5, 2007
Fantasy time. Report has it that Osama Bin Laden is functioning, alive and scared for his safety; hence he is both staying out of view and avoiding personal contacts.
OK, and when was it you planned to take title to the Brooklyn Bridge?
We are talking about a man in need of specialized hi-tech medical treatment. He needs insulin and dialysis; and he is supposedly getting it in one of the most backward places on earth.
Hum. Now there is a bit of unbelievable. Bin Laden is managing to get better treatment in a cave than the average American can in a hospital.
Hum. Ok, so not so unbelievable. Bin Laden does not have the American Congress doing everything it can to prevent his access to healthcare, even though that is, supposedly, what they authorized when they authorized the military action which is draining our budget.
Hillary Clinton voted to waste the money and deprive Americans of the various social supports the interest we pay to China et al could have funded. Hillary wants to be the next George Bush. Americans are really that stupid?
You bet they are. Did they not elect Bush to a second term? Did they not pay $27 million to build a museum to Creationism? Are they not cutting health care to those who served in Iraq and Afghanistan?
Are they not saying that soldiers who are blind, or who have lost limbs, are only a little disabled, only a little limited in their normal functionality, and thus do not need, or deserve, the disability benefits or medical care afforded the "truly injured" ?
Yep. Bin Laden is alive and well and enjoying far better care and living conditions than America affords its combat veterans. Sure, we can believe that. Do you hear anyone in Washington disputing it?
Taliban militant leader, Haji Mansour Dadullah has proclaimed, "He is alive, active and well." Certainly there is no reason to refute such a statement.
If it came down to it, George Bush has probably arranged for Saudi, or Sunni, medical specialists to keep Osama alive and well. Prove otherwise! Bush actions and management of American affairs has shown that he will do anything and everything he can to bring down this nation.
The end of the United State, the creation of an Armageddon style end to civilization, these are the things which all born-again types pray for. These are the things they support. If it were otherwise we would seem them marching on Washington and demanding national Health Care and an end to privatization, and end to the filling of some pockets with money which should be going to keeping the many alive and healthy.
But do not worry. The time will come when it will end. The time will come when reality envelops even those in deep denial. The time will come when a few realize that the many are doomed to the consequences of their own stupidity; and when that time comes, the few will step aside.
OH! Right! The rich are already doing that. Sorry, getting behind myself.
No matter. The economy is slowing, the last vestige of capital has been sucked from the home equity markets, and those adjustable rate mortgages are about to get costly. The rich will get richer.
China, that "Godless Communist Satanic Nation or Reds" is in the business of lending the reds the money to fund the programs which are busting the American budget.
China, that "Godless Communist Satanic Nation or Reds" is sending us, loaning us, our own money. In the greatest of capitalist practices we are watching the "Godless Communists" out capitalist what was once the capitalistic capital of the world. Adding insult to reality, it is through selling us poisons in toothpaste and pet food that they acquire our money. In hands of idiots, historic reality is perverse.
_____________________________________________________
What was the purpose of Jesus coming to the earth?
Destruction.
No, I’m not talking about the Crusades.
No, I’m not talking about bombing abortion clinics.
Both of those examples were, or are, misguided attempts of Christians to exert earthly power.
Jesus came to destroy, it’s true. He came to bring violence.
He came to destroy the works of the devil.
The apostle John said plainly in his first letter that, “Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil.”
Why did he come to do that?
Because the devil hates you. There are many reasons for this hate. One is, whether you’re a follower of Jesus or not, because you are made in the image of your Creator. For believers, one of the reasons the devil hates us is because we belong to the One, Jesus, who defeated him. Jesus has crushed Satan's head, although we don’t yet see everything under Jesus' feet. That was a huge defeat for someone who thinks he should be ruling instead of God. He’s angry.
But it doesn’t matter, ultimately.
He is defeated. His works have been, and will be…destroyed.
Showing 1 - 5. [ Next ]