Thursday July 20th, 2006

More Fighting in Afghanistan
This just got to show you how myopic the American public is, how we view world events in a episodic fashion, tainted by too much the encapsulated nature of television shows and movies. Of course, when I say "we," mostly I mean "me." So there's madness in Palestine, and Iraq to be sure, but did you know they are still fighting in Afghanistan? Yes, Operation Mountain Thrust (I am not making that up) is still rooting the Taliban out of the hills. Good, bad? You decide. Suffice it to say that all our best wars seem to live on in perpetuity, like syndication.

Death Penalty in Missouri
Missouri recognizes the death penalty, but a judge has decreed that in order to protect a condemned prisoner's eighth amendment right to no cruel or unusual punishment, an anesthesiologist must be on hand for the lethal injection. The only problem is, for their latest execution, Missouri can’t find an anesthesiologist willing to play along. Duh, if you ask me. I don't know if the judge was trying to an end run around d the will of the people, or the governor, but what person is going to associate his or her profession, his or her very name, with execution? It doesn't matter if you're pro death penalty, you still know it's a controversial subject, and you know people are going to throw the Hippocratic oath in your face if you help out. And it's not as if we didn't know this-- they use two buttons when turning on the lethal injection machine, set on a random switch so no one knows who's button did the actual killing. So I am not really surprised at the this technical stay.

Your Vacation Escape-- No, Really, We Mean ESCAPE
Folks trying to get out of Beirut with aide from the US are being forced to sign contracts which say they will pay for the cost of evacuation when they get back to the US. That's right, American citizens. At first when I heard of this, I was, of course, angry. But this shows you the value of discussing such matters with a variety of people. Now I sort of understand. It may be stereotyping, but who are over there? Businessmen-- their companies can pay. Students-- to be in Beirut at all, they must be rich. Vacationers-- what? Well, anyone who travels to Lebanon for vacation should already know there's tension there. The people I do still feel sorry for are people who are there for their families, people who are trying to maintain family values despite geopolitical chaos. Yes, that's right, I dropped a buzz-phrase. But I only heard a small blip of a news bit, so maybe these contract have provisions for those under considerable financial burden.

Bush Makes History, Sort Of
Bush vetoed his very first bill of all time, HR810 which was to provide funding for research on stem cells. Of course, he talked about babies and boys and girls and spare parts and the like. Because that's what this is about. This is not at all about the stem-cell strains, some 2000 in number, wasting away in a refrigerator, which will be thrown out, which can't and therefore will never be a human being. Yes yes, I know, slippery slope, allow them to be researched on, and soon we'll be popping fertility pills to spit out little organ harvesters. On the other side of the fence, you got progressives saying that Bush hates science, that he is doing his duty to the big pharmaceutical companies who would rather medicate diseases than cure them. Wing, zing, pow, the accusations fly around. I just want to see some decisions made that are not based, in the least, on politics. And don't play the morality card-- like I said, these strains are going to be tossed out. It's a waste. Even life-loving Buddhists will tell you not to waste meat if the cow is already dead. That's a paraphrase, but the gist is there.

No Sex Marriage Still Legal
Tuesday the House failed to get the necessary majority to pass an amendment to the constitution, banning same-sex marriage. Why are they even trying? Why did they try to make an anti-flag burning amendment? I'll go take a look, and read up on the eighteenth amendment, because as jaded as I am, I am certain it was more political than anything else. It's all about politics, isn't it. It's been said before, and will be said again, that same sex marriage, and abortion, and gays in the military, are all purely political issues that have nothing to do with the will of the people. But in the upcoming and future elections, congresspersons will be able to say to their red citizens: I voted for banning homosexual marriage. Heck, the ones in blue states will be able to say: I voted against it! I want to see the politician with the back bone to say "I wrote in my no-vote, because I was busy doing real work, thanks." Anyway, for the time being, children won’t be forced to memorize another amendment for their junior-high civics exams. But keep trying, you thrice-divorced neocon pundits, keep trying to preserve the sanctity of the marriage institution. For every 18th there's a 21st, and even if you pass 28, we'll just divorce it later with a 29.

Better Stop Trying to Make Me Think
I am reading Sean Hannity's last book, and I'll save my review until I've finished. But for the time being, I'll mention that he loves to bring up history, and spin it to show liberalism is at the core of all American woes. This, in turn, leads me to go educate myself on the historical moments he mentions. I remember the nightly telecasts about the hostages in Iran; I remember the daily coverage of Ollie North and the Iran-Contra affair. So, now I get to thinking about it. Iran's Shah falls, the fundamental Muslims take over, hostages are released 20 minutes after Reagan takes the oath of office, and years later, we're selling arms to Iran. Yes, I sound like a conspiracy theorist.

Of course, Hannity doesn't point any of this out. He just says it was all Carter's fault. It hardly bears the comparison, but these right-wingers and their rhetoric remind me of the aristocracy in pre-revolutionary France. The aristocrats wanted to take power from the royals, so they rallied the peasantry-- who chopped everyone's heads off, aristocrats included. Right-wingers want to make elitist liberals look bad, so they talk to yokels about moments in history, and yokels decide all the pundits are blowhards.

Maybe. Don't think that analogy will appear on the SAT anytime soon, though. But you can be sure I'll be boring the heck out of coffe-shop denizens with all of it.