Monday, August 16, 2004

They’re Investigating the Crime You Might Commit     Life does get interesting.  The New York Times tells us that the FBI has been “questioning political demonstrators across the country, and in rare cases even subpoenaing them, in an aggressive effort to forestall what officials say could be violent and disruptive protests at the Republican National Convention in New York.”   Call me a naive innocent, but I had always been under the impression that interrogation took place after a crime had been committed, or are the Bushits introducing a new level of law enforcement, preemptive questioning, soon to be followed by preemptive detention. (Hell, they’re fighting preemptive wars.)    And who gave their blessing to the latest assault on civil liberties?  None other that Ashcroft’s Office of Legal Policy.  For those who may have forgotten, this is the same office that issued a memo that said, in effect, just because it hurts doesn’t mean it’s torture. Now the Office is saying preemptive interrogations are constitutional because, “Given the limited nature of such public monitoring, any possible ‘chilling’ effect caused by the bulletins (FBI bulletins to local law enforcement enlisting its help) would be quite minimal and substantially outweighed by the public interest in maintaining safety and order during large-scale demonstrations.”  (Since when hasn’t it been chilling to have a pair of FBI agents appear at your front door?  Right off the bat you know they have your name.)   In this spirit, I hope agents are questioning New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg who has set the stage for disorder by denying UFPJ a permit to rally in Central Park.  Bloomberg, a billionaire who throws a pouty-snit whenever anyone disagrees with him, denied the permit for fear of damage to the grass even though experts said the grass could withstand the crowds.  Instead a permit was granted for demonstrators to march past Madison Square Garden and across on 34th Street to the West Side Highway, a barren strip of pavement bereft of shade, water and totally unsuited for a sound system.  UFPJ has declined to use the highway and the city continues to refuse a permit for Central Park.  Hence, 250,000 of us are going to march up Seventh Avenue to Madison Square Garden and stop….  God knows what will happen next.   I have no use for conspiracy theories.  But, things are getting scary.  For myself, I have no desire to see my grandchildren living in police state.  That is why I will be among those marching up Seventh Avenue on August 29th.                               2:40:29 PM    comment []

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New Newspeak Bumps Old Newspeak       Give the Bushits credit; they are masters of Orwellian language and imagery.  The mumblings of our president-select have cut our language loose from the mooring of meaning and allowed it to drift into the uncharted waters of the unknown.  Metaphor is dead; betaphor reigns (“bet you don’t know what I’m really talking about”).   Take democracy for example.  Once its meaning was simple and concise—government of the people, by the people and for the people. This was not sophisticated enough for the Bushits.  Now, in their wisdom, they have assigned multiple layers of meaning to the word.   There is domestic democracy in which we are all a free people, but the corporate “person” is freer because of the many benefits he reigns down upon the masses.  Domestic democracy values freedom of speech and expression as long as it reflects our country’s traditional values as defined by the Republican Party platform. Domestic Democracy is characterized by universal suffrage except for the state of Florida where any African-American who has the same last name, middle initial, birthday or who reside in the same city as a convicted felon is denied the vote.  This redefinition of suffrage could reflect Florida’s status as a quasi-third-world country (see below).    Third-world democracy is a variant of domestic democracy tailored to fit the needs of emergent democracies in third-world countries.  Political power is open to all who are aligned with U.S. interests.  A transitional dictatorship is acceptable as long as said dictator is supportive of our foreign policy goals.  Iraq is the most current example of our endeavor to bring democracy to the world.  There we have installed Ayad Allawi, also known as Saddam II, as prime minister.  Allawi has been quick to introduce traditional democratic practices such as shooting unarmed prisoners and closing down foreign new services.   (In all fairness, third-world democracy predates the Bushits.)   But where the Bushits really shine is in their mastery of Orwellian imagery.  Their media minions are constantly ranting about latte-sucking liberals in their Gucci loafers, Ralph Lauren trousers and Lacoste polo’s plotting to shove their liberal agenda down the throats of decent, hard-working Americans.  The truth is the latte-suckers are the middle managers and bean counters employed by the multi-nationals to close our plants, outsource our work, move our jobs overseas and gut our pension plans and 401(k)s.     To assume George W. is stupid is to be guilty of the last of the unacknowledged prejudices, articulism.  Articulism assumes that there is a direct link between articulation and intelligence, that the more articulate one is, the more intelligent one is.  The United States Congress soundly disproves this thesis.     The heart palpitates as we mumble our way into a brave new world.   That’s it for now from Fortress America.   8:41:32 AM    comment []

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