Libby's Beans

“Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.” Sir Walter Scott

Lewis “Scooter” Libby resigned last week amid charges of perjury, obstruction of justice and making false statements. As a member of the Bush gang’s inner circle, he’s probably just a fall guy for Dick Cheney. Somebody has to go, so why not an underling in the White House; a man who’s position is high enough in the government to look like the person who exposed a CIA agent [Valerie Plame]. But if Libby is all that he’s cracked up to be, then he has to be as smart and savvy as the guy he worked for, Richard Cheney.

So, doesn’t it stand to reason that the real culprit is the Vice President? Think about it: Cheney is the man who, it’s generally agreed, runs the White House. He had the means and motive to spoil one critic of the Iraq War, directly. You have to remember that 24 months ago, the war had already started. Bush gave out his rationale for invading Iraq and the Patriot Act had been passed. Clearly, Cheney is the brains behind the operation and the one who was pissed off at a dissenter, namely Joseph Wilson.

Are the members of the Bush gang vindictive? You bet they are and they choose their targets poorly. By naming a CIA operative, a capital offense, they snapped back like the passive aggressive behaviour of badger. The Press rolled over on Afghanistan and Iraq so they were under control. But a former ambassador in a simple op-ed article gets nailed because he pissed off a member of the gang.

As far as Libby is concerned, the charges are clear: he lied to a Grand Jury. He should have heeded Mark Twain’s advice: If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.

That’s just my opinion. I could be wrong.

Accounting Error

“I wish that the American people knew more about what is happening with respect to the toll of this war, because I think it's a lot bigger and a lot more troubling than most people know. “ Mark Benjamin, UPI reporter, 2004.

The American count of dead soldiers, turned 2000 the other day, marked by more violence in Iraq and a strange sense of continuity in Washington. Once a war starts, people get used to it. If they didn’t then war would never happen. Alas, we’re not quite there yet.

Our disconnect with the dying people of Iraq is our worst enemy, not some terrorist. This faceless enemy type of propaganda has been going on for centuries; it’s essential to the success of any war, especially an illegal one. In fact, the technology of warfare has taken the human element out of it altogether. We no longer fight on battlefields, hand-to-hand, face-to-face. Consequently, we can’t make a human connection with the so-called enemy.

Perhaps we can connect in financial terms. The running total cost of the Iraq war is over $203 Billion and counting. All that money being syphoned from the U.S. taxpayer faster than you can say, “no new taxes”.

The number of Iraqi dead stands around 30,000 and it’s no longer reported on the 6:30 News. Much like the descriptions of the Vietcong, the other side isn’t human; a mass of aliens out to “get our boys”, [those bastards!] No face on the enemy, means continuous war. Sadly, we’ve grown accustomed to it.

That’s just my opinion. I could be wrong

The Quiet Life

This past weekend I was in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada attending an education conference. It was a long time between visits but I was happy to be returning considering how little the city has changed: it’s a “big”, small-town, as it were.

I met my longtime friend Dan, who brought me up to date on his life, keeping busy producing his own documentary films and working as a nurse in a group home.
I like our visits because we never seem to be affected by time; every visit feels like it was just yesterday when we last met. It’s good to have friends like that because they help bring you down to earth.

We got to talking about the notion of personal introspection and the need for human beings to "think." We agreed that the technologies of cellphones, computers, television and iPods, have really taken all that time away from us, historically speaking. Said Dan, “in the old days when were gatherers, once we did our daily chores we sat in the jungle and thought. We weren’t distracted by technology the way we are today.”

This got me to thinking about our society’s infatuation with the digital toys and our neglect of the world’s environment. I realized this as I drove through the Ottawa Valley passing farm after farm. We’ve lost touch with our organic connection with the earth. We don’t grow the food we eat and we don’t participate in the nurturing of the planet. We consume and let someone else handle the planting and the harvesting.

Consequently, I think it’s important for us to pause and pay our respects to the farmer and people of the land. We seem to take them for granted yet they are intelligent business owners who have strong intuitions and acute senses, particularly their sense of smell. While I wouldn’t be able to trade my city life for the country that quickly, at least I gave it some thought and I’ll try to do so in the future.

That’s just my opinion. I could be wrong.

Saddam's Trial

This week the trial of Saddam Hussein begins in Baghdad, the place where it all started for him, over 20 years ago.

It’s going to be interesting to watch, assuming we get the chance. There was talk that it would be broadcast on television, but that wasn’t confirmed at the time of this writing. Regardless, the thing to watch for is spin: political and legal.

The American government will try and make themselves look like victims rather than antagonists, considering their support for Saddam from 1980 to 1988 during the Iran/Iraq war. Don’t be surprised to hear George W. Bush talk about a “fair trial”. That’s doublespeak meaning Saddam won’t get one.

It all depends on what Saddam is asked, rather than on what he says. Will the prosecution ask him about the 8 year relationship with the United States? or will they stick to his crimes after 1988? It seems likely that the prosecution is going to stick to the 1982 massacre at Dujail, where 150 Shiites were executed and 1,500 imprisoned without trial, at least to start. Where it goes from there, is anybody’s guess.

One of the things we don’t know, is whether Saddam is coherent. He’s been in jail for nearly 2 years, essentially in solitary confinement with few visits from members of his family. Don’t be surprised to see him portrayed as mentally unstable or senile by the media. Again, more spin.

The fact of the matter is this: the former dictator committed crimes against his own people, directly or indirectly. It will be up to us to understand the complicity of the American government in his rise as dictator. This information is key to understanding the history of the region, the US government’s invasion in 2003 and the corporate and political partners. Nobody ever gets to the top without some help.

That’s just my opinion. I could be wrong.

A Noble Nobel Prize

Last week the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Mohamed el Baradei and the International Atomic Energy Agency. Once again the politics of peace and nuclear weapons inspections made the news, but only for a short time.

A colleague asked me if the choice was a slap in the face of the Bush gang, since the IAEA repeatedly said that Iraq had no weapons of the mass destruction. This was clear in February 2003 when the United States tried to justify the invasion because Iraq had nukes and germs and chemicals to throw around. I remember el Baradei’s address to the UN Security Council: it was clear, concise and direct.

“As I have reported on numerous occasions, the IAEA concluded, by December 1998, that it had neutralized Iraq's past nuclear program and that, therefore, there were no unresolved disarmament issues left at that time. Hence, our focus since the resumption of our inspections in Iraq, two and a half months ago, has been verifying whether Iraq revived its nuclear program in the intervening years.

We have to date found no evidence of ongoing prohibited nuclear or nuclear related activities in Iraq.”

The US government made a choice regardless of what the IAEA reported. “Facts are stupid things” Ronald Reagan once said, and the Bush gang wasn’t interested in facts, only invasion. Their performance at the UN in 2003, starring Colin Powell, was a distraction, designed to give the Pentagon more time to mobilize its forces for the invasion. They were going in regardless of the truth, and in spite of the United Nations.

Should we be surprised by the Empire’s motives and moves? No. The United States government is the last imperial power in the world. They conquer when they need to support the crumbling economy of the rich.

It’s all about turning millionaires into billionaires. And I don’t mean sardines!

Bush 10, Bloomberg 1

Fear is on sale in the United States, once again.

Last Thursday, George W. Bush said “10 serious al-Qaeda terrorist plans have been detected and disrupted by the U.S. and its allies since the devastating attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.”

The Mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg said that the city’s subway system was the target of an attack in the next few days. This according to the FBI and the Chief of Police, Raymond Kelly. Naturally, they won’t disclose details and the Press won’t ask them.

Much like the fish monger who sells fish, these guys are selling fear.

The fear mongering goes up when the popularity polls are down and support for the war in Iraq erodes. But what’s really going on here? More weapons of mass distraction perhaps? Consider a story in the news regarding Karl Rove, the President’s manager. He’s been requested to testify in the Valerie Plame case without immunity. It could mean another embarrassment for the Bush Gang.

George W. is a bad salesman. He’s comparing the fight on terrorism with the fight against Communism. Will the real Joseph McCarthy please stand up? [Are you now or have you ever been a terrorist?]

Meanwhile, Bloomberg increases the number of uniformed and plain clothes policemen on the New York subway. You could consider him the soft speaker with a big stick. The constitutional freedoms are eroding in the United States, as the fear mongers push their products on a populace that seems willing to buy, in bulk.

I wish people were more skeptical of their leaders. They should remember the old consumer chestnut, “caveat emptor”, that is, “buyer beware” when it comes to the products their leaders sell.

That’s just my opinion. I could be wrong.

Oil Slick

Yesterday, a special conference was held in New York City, called, Petrocollapse: Social isolation or solidarity? Now there’s a question you won’t hear anyone ask on CNN or Meet The Press.

It was an all day affair featuring some expert speakers all talking about the age of the end of Oil. [I could not attend, unfortunately] While I wouldn’t usually mention an event without some political “hook”, this one seems important for several reasons.

First, it was a public meeting. Public meetings are community builders and the issue of peak Oil is political. The participants/experts have nothing to hide. When was the last time an individual was invited to participate in an OPEC meeting?

Second, it was not covered by the mainstream media corporations. So the only way to find out about this important information, was to attend or hope that somebody produced a podcast of the conference. [I understand they were working on it]

Third, they asked the hard questions about Oil reserves, economic fallout when the reserves dry up and the implications for people around the world. This was the “first” peak oil conference of its kind in New York. I hope there is another one, soon.

One of the participants was Michael Ruppert, a journalist, ex-LAPD detective and founder of fromthewilderness.com. [Click on alternative news for more info] He released the text of his address to the meeting and the news is not good. He outlines the history of peak oil going back to a CIA report in 1977. He includes a short analysis of US government legislation all designed to limit debate, centralize power and mobilize the military for the coming economic crisis. The mismanagement, says Ruppert, will lead us to an economic crash. “It is a crash that has actually been encouraged for some time through reckless fiscal policy, soaring deficits both in Washington and in our balance of payments accounts, the unbridled and inexcusable inflation of the housing bubble, expansion of consumer credit and a negative net savings rate to name a few. “

I hope that I’ve peaked your interest in peak oil.

That’s just my opinion. I could be wrong.

For more information on the conference, try: www.Petrocollapse.org/

Louis's Endgame

When I was obtaining my degree in university, many years ago, I minored in Sociology. The first year looked at the sociopolitical and economic systems in the world. Second year consisted of media analysis and the third year was simply titled, Social Change. All of these classes were from a radical perspective. [My first year prof was a draft dodger from the United States]

In third year, my professor for social change was Louis Feldhammer. A passionate left winger who liked to smoke in class. He didn’t suffer fools gladly. In fact, on the first day of classes he asked anyone who wasn’t interested in hearing his POV, to leave and try another instructor. I think two people actually walked out, but they may have been in the wrong room.

I always looked forward to Louis’s class. He had a dry wit and cynical attitude about the world, but it was a refreshing change from some of the idealists in the university system. Louis told it like it was, but had some trouble when we asked him about Ireland. This was over 20 years ago, when the violence in Belfast was high and the Londonderry bombings were at their worst. At that time, there seemed no end in sight to the conflict.

If Louis was in a good mood, which was rare, he would dispense with his lesson plan and take questions. He spoke of Poland and the revolutionary changes going on in Warsaw. He always talked about the Ronald Reagan’s “Hollywood America” and occasionally had a comment about Quebec independance.

One day, someone piped up and asked him to talk about Ireland. Louis shrugged, rubbed his eyes, lit a cigarette and said, “I simply can’t talk about the Irish question. It’s too complicated and it runs too deep, personally speaking.” He never spoke of it again and we never asked him.

I wonder what Louis thinks of the latest development regarding the IRA’s disarmament program, now officially in place. I suspect he would be happy and relieved, but still a healthy skeptic. The peaceful developments in Ireland, over the past few years, have been remarkably sensible. The two sides have been patient and brave: a lethal combination in times of war, but an even stronger force in times of peace.

That’s just my opinion. I could be wrong.