Letters to the Editor
Published Letters: 163 Editor's Choice: 12
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Changing the dialogue
[Read the article: Lewis "Scooter" Libby is a felon]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Good article. Good insight. Except for one thing: "He has long been one of the most well-connected neoconservatives in the country."
My greatest hope (or maybe second greatest, or third) is that this verdict will disabuse the country of the notion that the Bush regime is anything other than a criminal organization. A mafia. A syndicate. A gang. A conspiracy. The ideology is just window dressing, intellectual cover, a front to keep pundits employed, especially on Fox and CNN, but also on the "legitimate" networks - CBS, ABC, and NBC.
From Bush to his lowest appointee, this administration is criminal. Bush himself stole two elections. He should never have been president in the first place. His negligence (or worse) enabled the attacks of September 11, 2001. His lying enabled the invasion and occupation of Iraq, and the occupation has been fraught with corruption. His negligence enabled the disaster and aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. His failure to address the effects of climate change guarantees that we will pay a dearer price for it in death and destruction for decades to come. He is a completely worthless human being, and should be impeached, tried, convicted, and imprisoned for the rest of his misspent life. His accomplices should suffer the same fate.
The real question at this point is what about us? The "American" people? Do we have the wherewithal, the nerve, the courage to bring this regime to justice? If we were a nation of Patrick Fitzgeralds, yes, we do. But there is an entire political party that supports the criminality of the Bush gang. They will do anything they can to prevent the gang being held accountable, because the long arm of the law just might reach them. So we can expect the expected: obfuscation, propaganda, obstructionism, fake indignation, diversion, character assassination, scapegoating, threats, lies, etc., etc., etc.
What honorable, intelligent people can begin doing is change the dialogue about the drive for empire. It was never for us, but for themselves. "Leftists" call them "fascists," but it was fascism to benefit themselves, not us. They would not like fascism so much if someone else were in power. The "Patriot" act was for their own benefit, not ours. The domestic spying is for themselves, not for us. Packing the Supreme Court is for themselves, not us.
So maybe now we can talk differently about this regime. Once we have changed the context, we can see clearly what needs to be done.
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A thousand mile journey begins with the first step
[Read the article: The private war of women soldiers]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]This is a very difficult subject, but I think it provides evidence of a different kind that men and women shouldn't be mixed in a theater of war. In a case like the "Iraq" occupation (it is called a "war" for P.R. purposes), people are under a lot of stress, and adrenalin is at a high pitch at all times.
Then there is the context of "American" culture. Men are conditioned from an early age to see women as objects of attainment, as "pussy," "hotties," "poontang," "trim," and "ass." "Get into her pants" is a term that has reached mantra status. No amount of videos or PowerPoint presentations is going to change this conditioning, especially in the military.
I served in the U.S. Army during the war of "American" agression against "Vietnam," mostly in "Germany." WACs (Womens Army Corps, which may not even exist anymore) were rarely seen, and had their own detachments and base areas. Even separate and in non-combat areas, their lives had to be difficult. I remember the joke about WACs was "Lights out at 10, candles out at 11." One of the uniform hats we wore, the field cap, was commonly known as the "cunt cap," because it folded shut when not being worn.
Another aspect of military life is the reduction of sexuality to the most degrading level. In basic training, drill sergeants would yell "I want to see every swingin' dick out of that barracks in 30 seconds," or variations thereof. "Dick" was a common insult from drill sergeants, but I never heard it used again while in the Army. One of the common things that happened in "Germany" was for soldiers to spend an entire paycheck downtown buying drinks for "fish queens," German women who would charm and flirt with them, make out with them, and get them to buy expensive drinks for them. Sometimes "German" prostitutes would get raped by GIs.
So a lot needs changing in order to make military service safer for women. But the easiest change to make is to not start any wars. Pursuant to not starting wars is to guarantee free and fair elections, so that such a mediocre human being as George W. Bush is not given the opportunity of being Commander in Chief.
But for the immediate future, lets make sure Bush doesn't start a war with Iran. The only way to do this is to impeach him, and there are plenty of high crimes and misdemeanors to make it the obvious and necessary thing to do.