The excellent new documentary on Barry Goldwater - the founder of modern conservatism - clearly shows how today's GOP bears little relationship with conservatism. Wealthy and powerful interests are engaged in a radical duplicitous agenda which media conservatives do not have the courage to confront ( David Brooks, Jeff Jacoby, Tucker Carlson, and George Will) and which appeals to a segment of the population as some kind of balm for their perceived political alienation.
As David Stockman wrote twenty years ago about the Reagan team, big government Republicanism does not cut spending, does not level the playing field, it just trades the widespread support mechanisms engineered by democrats ( e.g. Great Society) for targeted privilege.
Today's so called republicans and so called conservatives are mostly ill informed about this reality as they feast on carefully created "values" issues, denounce inconsequential celebrity figures, and ponder economic theories ( free market etc) that have no basis in reality.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Who loves the Saudis??????????
Based on Craig Unger's research, Michael Moore accurately relates in Fahrenheit 9-11 that, in the wake of the 9-11 attacks, the White House approved planes to pick up the Bin Ladens and numerous other Saudis. Furthermore, using a combination of private and commercial flights, over 140 prominent Saudis would depart the US over the next fortnight.
Craig Unger's expose begins with the September 13 flight of several wealthy Saudis from Tampa, Florida, to Lexington, Kentucky, when all private air traffic in the US was still grounded; a flight the FAA denies ever took place. While commercial traffic had slowly restarted on September 13, it was highly unusual for private charted flights to obtain approval. The Saudis were the exception. Over the next few days a number of similar flights took place as the Bin Laden family and other important Saudis were rounded up for what Unger describes as "The Great Escape". Within two weeks, at least two dozen members of the Bin Laden family had been whisked out of the US.
A common rebuttal charges that the departing Saudis had been extensively vetted by the FBI and others before departure, and that counter terror Chief Richard Clarke had approved the flights. However, Clarke's testimony to the 9-11 commission makes clear that any vetting was merely of the formal kind, involving the dictation of statements, and hardly impeding the movements of the terror mastermind's family. By contrast the November 25th, 2001, New York Times was reporting that, at the same time: "More than 1,200 foreigners have been detained as part of the government's investigation into the terror attacks, some spending months in prison." Incidentally, not one of these 1,200 detainees was ever charged in relation to terrorism or the 9-11 attacks.
Moore's critics continually trumpet the fact that commercial traffic had resumed by September 13, as if this erases the abnormality of these events. In fact, the nature of the Saudi's private charted flights and the special deference accorded the Bin Laden family were exceptional, and form a powerful part of Moore's attempts to expose the toxic nature of the U.S.-Saudi relationship. The fact that Hillary or Bill Clinton receive slimy wads of oil soaked cash does not diminish these acts , Im afraid. Afterall, these were real bona fide terror suspects.
In contrast to John Ashcroft's 1,200 "terrorist" detainees, numerous questions have been raised about the prominent Saudis who left in the wake of 9-11. After all, mere weeks before the attacks, many members of the Bin Laden family had gathered, with Osama, in Afghanistan for the wedding of one of his sons. Craig Unger also describes an apparent close relationship between Saudi Prince Ahmed bin Salaman and Al Queda leader Abu Zubaydah, who, with the aid of sodium pentothal, asserted that the Prince "knew beforehand that an attack was scheduled for American soil that day." Many of Moore and Unger's critics may be astounded to note that the FBI questioning of the Prince did not reveal such a link before his speedy departure on September 16.
This is a real 9-11 conspiracy. It illustrates not that the administration are great masterminds who orchestrated the attacks, merely uninterested, unaccountable elites who orchestrated the safety of their friends, with little concern for justice for those incinerated on 9-11 and the interdiction of those who orchestrate and fund terrorist threats. Shame on them and those who reflexively defend them.
Craig Unger's expose begins with the September 13 flight of several wealthy Saudis from Tampa, Florida, to Lexington, Kentucky, when all private air traffic in the US was still grounded; a flight the FAA denies ever took place. While commercial traffic had slowly restarted on September 13, it was highly unusual for private charted flights to obtain approval. The Saudis were the exception. Over the next few days a number of similar flights took place as the Bin Laden family and other important Saudis were rounded up for what Unger describes as "The Great Escape". Within two weeks, at least two dozen members of the Bin Laden family had been whisked out of the US.
A common rebuttal charges that the departing Saudis had been extensively vetted by the FBI and others before departure, and that counter terror Chief Richard Clarke had approved the flights. However, Clarke's testimony to the 9-11 commission makes clear that any vetting was merely of the formal kind, involving the dictation of statements, and hardly impeding the movements of the terror mastermind's family. By contrast the November 25th, 2001, New York Times was reporting that, at the same time: "More than 1,200 foreigners have been detained as part of the government's investigation into the terror attacks, some spending months in prison." Incidentally, not one of these 1,200 detainees was ever charged in relation to terrorism or the 9-11 attacks.
Moore's critics continually trumpet the fact that commercial traffic had resumed by September 13, as if this erases the abnormality of these events. In fact, the nature of the Saudi's private charted flights and the special deference accorded the Bin Laden family were exceptional, and form a powerful part of Moore's attempts to expose the toxic nature of the U.S.-Saudi relationship. The fact that Hillary or Bill Clinton receive slimy wads of oil soaked cash does not diminish these acts , Im afraid. Afterall, these were real bona fide terror suspects.
In contrast to John Ashcroft's 1,200 "terrorist" detainees, numerous questions have been raised about the prominent Saudis who left in the wake of 9-11. After all, mere weeks before the attacks, many members of the Bin Laden family had gathered, with Osama, in Afghanistan for the wedding of one of his sons. Craig Unger also describes an apparent close relationship between Saudi Prince Ahmed bin Salaman and Al Queda leader Abu Zubaydah, who, with the aid of sodium pentothal, asserted that the Prince "knew beforehand that an attack was scheduled for American soil that day." Many of Moore and Unger's critics may be astounded to note that the FBI questioning of the Prince did not reveal such a link before his speedy departure on September 16.
This is a real 9-11 conspiracy. It illustrates not that the administration are great masterminds who orchestrated the attacks, merely uninterested, unaccountable elites who orchestrated the safety of their friends, with little concern for justice for those incinerated on 9-11 and the interdiction of those who orchestrate and fund terrorist threats. Shame on them and those who reflexively defend them.
Saturday, September 1, 2007
It's the oil, stupid
Daniel Yergen and I are well aware that we have an oil based economy, a failed oil man as a failed president, a nation whose leading corp. is Exxon and a political elite that has recognized for 50 years that control over mid east oil is a strategic imperative.
It's rather naive for folks to respond to say that we are not 'taking' the oil. It is not about taking or plunder, it's about control over a resource rich region, regardless of where the barrels go. The elite is using 20 year old Spcs from Iowa and S Carolina to ensure that Iraq's resources are controlled and controllable. It is a conspiracy theory to deny this.
Paul O'Neil, the appointed and ousted Treasury secretary spoke of administration folks poring over Iraqi oilfield maps in 2002, shortly before the Iraq-WMD charade was literally "rolled out." Noam Chomsky wryly observed that were Iraq's primary export to be pickles we would not be there. A key benchmark for Iraq's so called government is the carving up of oil revenues for picking off by Western companies. In so much as most of Congress exists to serve these companies, few have signed on to Kucinich's attempts to block this provision.
According to striking Iraqi oil workers ( i.e. the only people whose opinions count on this) who visited the US, this hands over Iraq's only resource to the same neo Colonial machine for exploitation. Of course, the eeeevil liberal media has covered their visit in copious detail in an attempt to embarrass Bush, right???? Ultra liberal Harry Reid has invited them to Congress, right? No, this is another failure of the media and so called liberal democrats, where any discussion of oil has been careful relegated to random columns six years too late.
One can also comment on the local interpretation of these events. What is really pathetic and tragic is that 1420 WMAR apologists, concerned with only seeming tougher than the liberal straw men they fantasize about continue to allude to Saddam-UBL links, to "finding" WMDs and, when all else fails, to asserting in meandering theological arguments that killing Arabs and invading their nations is really a plus in a titanic "clash of civilizations."
One should conclude that, as Paul O'Neill and so many others have written, the conquest of Iraq was a choice, not a necessity. The reasons are obvious and have nothing to do with terrorism. That is merely an inconvenience to be borne by citizens.
It's rather naive for folks to respond to say that we are not 'taking' the oil. It is not about taking or plunder, it's about control over a resource rich region, regardless of where the barrels go. The elite is using 20 year old Spcs from Iowa and S Carolina to ensure that Iraq's resources are controlled and controllable. It is a conspiracy theory to deny this.
Paul O'Neil, the appointed and ousted Treasury secretary spoke of administration folks poring over Iraqi oilfield maps in 2002, shortly before the Iraq-WMD charade was literally "rolled out." Noam Chomsky wryly observed that were Iraq's primary export to be pickles we would not be there. A key benchmark for Iraq's so called government is the carving up of oil revenues for picking off by Western companies. In so much as most of Congress exists to serve these companies, few have signed on to Kucinich's attempts to block this provision.
According to striking Iraqi oil workers ( i.e. the only people whose opinions count on this) who visited the US, this hands over Iraq's only resource to the same neo Colonial machine for exploitation. Of course, the eeeevil liberal media has covered their visit in copious detail in an attempt to embarrass Bush, right???? Ultra liberal Harry Reid has invited them to Congress, right? No, this is another failure of the media and so called liberal democrats, where any discussion of oil has been careful relegated to random columns six years too late.
One can also comment on the local interpretation of these events. What is really pathetic and tragic is that 1420 WMAR apologists, concerned with only seeming tougher than the liberal straw men they fantasize about continue to allude to Saddam-UBL links, to "finding" WMDs and, when all else fails, to asserting in meandering theological arguments that killing Arabs and invading their nations is really a plus in a titanic "clash of civilizations."
One should conclude that, as Paul O'Neill and so many others have written, the conquest of Iraq was a choice, not a necessity. The reasons are obvious and have nothing to do with terrorism. That is merely an inconvenience to be borne by citizens.
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