"America... just a nation of two hundred million used car salesmen with all the money we need to buy guns and no qualms about killing anybody else in the world who tries to make us uncomfortable."
-Hunter S. Thompson
I was scanning The Huffington Post and I noticed a very small headline that caught my eye. "Four years later, the search for WMD ends." But is it the rantings of an insane liberal to ask the question, why did they get off on this one. This may be the central reason that we are all barreling headlong into irrelevancy as a republic. The government of this nation told us that we needed to invade a sovereign nation because they had mountains, "tons and tons" of chemical and biological weapons that they were going to send halfway around the world in attack aircraft no more complicated than Cessnas to rain death and hellfire on us. We as a nation, with the exception of the Sunshine Empire editorial board, willingly trusted our leaders and committed ourselves to this endeavor, and lo and behold there were no weapons.
It was not so much that this happened, it was that our questions where met with, "fuck, our bad, but whatever WE WON!" Our reaction as a nation was to pay more attention to the winner of American Idol than we did why we caused such a fucking cluster fuck in the most dangerous part of the world. But most who blindly protect the President in this regard most often say that the whole world thought that he had weapons, and that is a bald faced lie. The Germans gave every bit of information stating that they really did not want to give any validity to what they had found. Their double agent, "curveball" has since said everything he told interrogators was a lie. Good that we committed the full force of the United States Armed forces on the word of a high strung ex patriot Arab. If William Jefferson Clinton had lead us into a war promising to find something and it never appeared he would be in a bunker fearing for his life right now. Yet nary a peep out of those same people. They are just being held down by the big bad liberal media. Liberal media just means anything that is not currently or will not probably be owned by Rupert Murdoch.
Many conservatives also state that the WMD where never the main reason for the invasion. The HELL they were not. Why would Condi Rice be talking about a mushroom cloud as proof? The media has basically said, "that's old news," and the Administration has said, "just move on." But why is it so out of line to still ask, did George W. Bush lie to the American public? And if lying to a grand jury about a blow job is impeachable, they why is lying about a war not? And if lying to a grand jury about a blow job was worth millions and a year and a half of investigation, then why is lying about a war not?
I was speaking to the Emperor Emeritus of The Sunshine Empire tonight and he asked about the comments of Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana. He made tacit admissions that "The Surge," which I thought was a failed energy drink, was not working. Where as most in favor of the surge of United States soldiers into Iraq had stated unequivocally that September would be long enough to judge it's effectiveness, he did not feel that we should wait that long. Senator Lugar has always been a practical Republican, and has never been among those who guzzle the neo-con Kool-Aid. Yet he's been reliable conservative that voted with Bush on matters relating to Iraq.
The real news was not his relatively mild statement, which his people assure us is not news to the White House. The news in it was how Jeff Sessions, George Voinevich, and John Warner all stated that they agreed in part. This is not a group of RINO's and had the EE thinking big. Yet Lugar and the group are not joining the Democrats in calling for an immediate withdrawal. The reality is they are simply positioning themselves for September. September will be the critical mass in this entire debacle. When the surge began, those advocating it pointed to September as a benchmark of evaluation to those weary of constant war. This has always been understood as the Hail Mary pass at the end of the game for Bush and those who sold us this. But as violence is up, U.S. deaths are up, and no end or solution is in site, General Petraeus and his puppet masters in the Administration have been backpedaling the surge into this multi-generational long term theory. Those who spoke up today understand this dodge and are positioning themselves for September. The report will come, and barring a huge change it will be more of the same. Those in the Republican party understand that this pointless war lost them the Congress, and could have them holding only the Supreme Court by January of 2009. They are all, aside from Jeff Sessions, very smart politicians and are all planning for September.
All of my enthusiasm from yesterday was misplaced. The White House apparently canceled the meeting set to discuss closing Guantanamo because it broke in the press. Oh well.
In reply to my last post a good friend asked, "If constitutional rights are conferred to non-citizens then what is the point of citizenship?" This point is the one that causes me the most consternation. We as Americans have spent our time as an imperial power spreading the great gift of our Constitution to those in the far reaches of the planet. We made evil empires in Germany and Japan model western democracies with free and peaceful people. Yet it seems that today we tell the world that it needs to turn to democratic freedoms, but if you were not born in the 50 states we can treat you however we damn well please. We tell the Iraqis to embrace the rule of law, but we keep our captives in a lawless nether-region. I would ask; if it is so incontrovertible that these people are so dangerous, what is the fear that this cannot be proven in court? Why is it that we feel we cannot let these people play by the rules that we tell the world are the best? It is not that constitutional rights are being given to non-citizens, it is that we seem unable to play by our own rules. If we cannot play by our own rules, then why do we even have them?
News is breaking that the Bush Administration is coming to the decision to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay. Like many of the positions that the Administration has taken, and insisted if they had not catastrophic hell would break loose, they have changed their minds. In reality they are understanding that the law is against them, no matter what jingoistic Cheney loving lawyers in the Justice Department say otherwise. A decidedly conservative Supreme Court and Several Military judges have stated that the Administration's many plans are contrary to the very rule of law they state they are looking to uphold.
Yet the most curious and missed point in all of this is the complete hypocrisy that the Administration's line of thinking was. It may seem the rantings of a pompous American, but the values set forth by the framers in the 18th century are the most intrinsic and universal rights that the World desires for. Freedom is the God given right of every human walking the face of the Earth, but for some reason the Bushies feel that some deserve it and some don't. The cornerstone of the great American legal system is the right of a person to be innocent until proven guilty. It is for that right that countless Americans have died. But with Guantanamo we have essentially let the world know that that is not always the case. Now I am not saying that all the men that reside at the facility are all a bunch of huggy-bears but they deserve their day in court. American values are universal values, and the world needs to know that we are serious about it. Democracy is not always a Jimmy Stewart movie. I give the Administration credit for finally coming to this view. Too bad Darth Cheney.
It's 1:28 AM in the east and I only have a few thoughts. Memorial Day is here and we pause to think of all the men and women who have put on the uniform to defend the United States of America. Whatever you may think of the civilian leadership, our men and women sign up to defend the ideals that our founding fathers set forth 231 years ago, and I can think of no more noble a thing as that. My good friend Cindy went out in an Jimmy lacking in any armor on patrol in Baghdad, and she regretted having to leave. Others are not able to leave, and our prayers are with them. This war never had to happen, and certain people use these brave individuals for their own nefarious purposes, but that takes nothing away from their noble sacrifice for our freedom. Our prayers are with these fine folks and their families in hopes that one year from now, for the sake of the people of the United States and Iraq, this entire mess will be over. I sadly do not hold out much hope of that coming true.
Washington politics has gone topsy-turvy this month. The conservatives are mad because of the new immigration bill, and the liberals are mad because of the compromise Iraq War supplemental because it lacks a time table for withdrawal. Nobody seems to like anybody these days. The middle is the new great silent majority in our new reality. The ranks of independents are growing faster than Artie Lang's waistline, and they are still without a standard bearer. Democrats are still scared of being labeled soft on terrorism despite the fact polls show the country trusts them over the Republicans. The Republicans cling like rats on a shipwreck in the face of overwhelming evidence that Iraq is the crowning jewel of fuck-ups this great nation has had. They do this because to pull back now is to admit to being responsible for making a bad situation a literal hell on earth. It's like a bad marriage, with two people who hate each other staying together for the sake of the kids, and the kids hate them both for it. The Republicans and Democrats need to go the way of the Whigs and Federalists. It's a shame most Americans are too caught up in a third rate singing contest to notice.
While reading an astounding story regarding Arabic translators in the United States military I was struck by a parallel. The United States is embroiled in a civil war in an Arabic nation. It is also in a struggle with a Sunni Arab terrorist group. One would think that having trained specialists that can translate Arabic would be important for those who claim this nation is in the struggle of the generations. Yet a staggering 58 Arabic translators have been fired from their jobs because they like to kiss boys, and they are boys. These dudes love to do naughty things in the darkened bedrooms of other dudes and for that they were summarily dismissed. The Pentagon has stated that they are only following the law as set by Congress. Whether you love Will and Grace, or think the Book of Leviticus is the direct law of God, one would think that you would make an exception for the good of the grand War On Terror. Alas no. Rules are rules.
Yet rules are made to be bent when authority wishes for them to bend. United States Federal Law states that the Federal Government cannot listen to a phone call when it originates or ends in the sovereign realm of America. If she wishes to do so the Federal Government must ask a court that says yes 99.999999999999% of the time. The President decided that the struggle against terrorism meant that the law needed to not only be bent, but broken completely. Some laws are bent, some are stubbornly adhered to, and some are broken by the President. It gives one the idea that the Administration is either lacking in competency, or they are criminally negligent.
This week the White House released intelligence it says indicates that Osama bin Laden ordered then Al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Zarqawi to form a cell to launch attacks outside of Iraq. This was done to emphasize the need to stay in Iraq due to the "they'll follow us home" line of logic. By this I am to assume that they feel that this bin Laden character is pretty important, and that he is a danger to the United States homeland. Yet here is The Decider on March 13th 2002:
"Well, as I say, we haven't heard much from him. And I wouldn't necessarily say he's at the center of any command structure. And, again, I don't know where he is. I -- I'll repeat what I said. I truly am not that concerned about him."
The President is either incompetent and confused when it comes to this issue, or he is mendaciously trying to prop up his monumental failure of a policy in Iraq. Take your pick. Having an "agree with me or die" attitude to public debate is insulting to the American people.
It is a common refrain of those on the left that all the troubles in the world are the fault of the dreaded neo-cons. They lurk in corners and are at fault for everything from the Iraq War to the designated hitter. But one thing that I have observed is that they do share a common trait. They are in love with the idea of glorious victory in war just as the World War II generation had. The best comparison is the character of Lt. Dan, played by Gary Sinese in the 1994 film Forest Gump. Lt. Dan escapes death in the Vietnam war and is despondent about it for quite a while. He lays on the floor of the hospital with Tom Hanks' Gump and opines in despair that his destiny was to die in battle, just as every one of his ancestors had back to the War of Independence. Gump had robbed him of that by saving him. The neo-cons have a similar view. As their Grandfathers had won World War II, and their father's had won the Cold War, it was their turn to defeat the vast "islamofascist" conspiracy that had suddenly been discovered through the horror of the September 11th attacks.
This all is on my mind after reading a piece by Norman Podhoretz on Commentary Online. He attempts to make the case for bombing Iran. The underlying base of his concern for Iran, as it is for the majority of neo-cons, is a protective instinct for the State of Israel. In his building of a case against the Islamic Republic he begins by attempting to convince his audience that our present condition is really World War IV. The Cold War is his World War III. Calling The Cold War World War III is not much of a historical stretch, and first was done in a Star Trek episode I watched once. He states that Nazism was defeated in II, Communism was defeated in III, and what he calls islamofascism will be defeated in VI. World War V is tentatively being titled World War V: Electric Boogaloo. To prove this point Norman, who owes his entire career to his father's standing in the old Goldwater conservative movement, spends most of the article fighting an army of straw men.
To Norman, the Afganistan and Iraq wars are not monumental screw-ups, but simply the first steps in what had always been a path to Iran. They are the real source of evil in the world. He states correctly that Iran is a state sponsor of terrorist groups. But sponsoring Hezbollah hardly makes one the main source of terror in the world. I was told by George W. Bush that that was Al Qaeda. He states also that Iran is the center of Islamofascism in the world today. This is a common conservative crutch to throw around the fascism label uncontrollably. Considering Iran by all accounts has one of the most vibrant democracies aside from Israel in the middle east (that's not saying much considering the company. As Jon Stewart would say they are the the thinest kid a fat camp), and Saudi Arabia is just a chip shot away, they are hardly the center of totalitarianism even on their own damn block. This is not to say that the mullahs are a bunch of huggy bears by any means. I just think I've heard this story before, and I did not like the way it ended up.
Norman also talks of Iran's growing power. It's power that all comes from our actions. We took out her two biggest rivals in Hussain and the Taleban, and our meddling in the past election brought on the rise of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Ahmadinejad is the man that makes TV's Monk look like Elton John. He also says that the cannot be allowed to aquire a nuclear weapon because they will then basically conquer Western Europe all on blackmail and intimidation. Does he imagine that Ahmadinejad is going to fire off a nuclear weapon and hit Israel? He'd have to barely nick Haifa or else he is going to kill thousands of Palestinians, and that will go over super in the greater Muslim world. Is he going to blow up the place where the prophet Muhammad was taken into heaven according to the Koran? Even if he did do this, what happens after Israel launches it's roughly 60 warheads and turns the Islamic republic into radioactive badlands for 500 years. I guess in Norman's mind this is when Western Europe bows down in fealty to Ahmadinejad's charred radioactive corpse. And if this is not enough lets not forget the fact that Shiites do not believe in a caliphate, that being a Sunni phenomenon.
The fact remains, and I know very intelligent people will disagree, if we leave Iran alone they will eventually overcome the influence of the mullahs. They are certainly not going to hitch their train to George W. Bush, even Americans think he's an idiot.
This Iran talk is nothing more than an attempt to divert attention from the greatest foreign policy blunder in the 231 year history of our great republic.
When I began writing this blog I initially called it The Bold New Blogger Of The South, which was a reference to the phrase that still adorns the badges of the Jacksonville Sheriffs Office. It was commonly used to refer to Jacksonville by people who lived there in the '60's and by no one since. So I changed it to The Sunshine Empire, because my home state of Florida is called The Sunshine State. Little did I know that there is a capital investment company in Malaysia called Sunshine Empire. I noticed that visitors to this site have been coming from Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. To those of you that are looking for an investment company and not a blog from the States, then I say welcome and please check us out. Please comment and let us know what you think. We'll be happy to talk about how much the Petronas Towers kick ass. For those in Singapore, we want you to experience the fury of our sweltering sunny state. Check out our videos of American Football with giant men in space suits beating the shit out of each other. We here at THE Sunshine Empire would like to give our hearty thanks to Sunshine Empire and all it's employees. Keep up the good work, and treat the name with pride. Seriously, don't fuck it up.
