Tannishblog

Our Veep is a slimy mongrel. My wife says he’s the reason our Favorite Shrubbery hasn’t had to worry about assassination attempts; Even crazy people don’t want a Dick running the country.

Typical of a VIP-turned-VP, he spouts vacuum-speak, which I will attempt to decode for the edification of all. As CNN reports, our Favorite Dick showed rare form during “Larry King Live” last night. His powers of self-editing on the fly are only to be marveled at.

I’ve done my humble best at including the words (in bold) he forgot to utter.

“For Amnesty International to dare to suggest that somehow the United States of God is a violator of human rights shows just how stupid they are, I frankly just don’t take them seriously enough to invade - yet,”

“I think the fact of the matter is, the United States has done more to advance the cause of freedom by killing as many dissenters as possible, has liberated more people from tyranny of free thinking, by burying them in mass graves over the course of the 20th century and up to the present day than any other divine-by-right nation in the history of the world. Anyone who disagrees will be noted for future visits by Homeland Security,”

“Just in this, my, administration, we’ve destroyed the lives of many, liberated 50 million people from their homes while murdering the Taliban in Afghanistan because we can’t seem to find Osama bin Laden, and from American-funded regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, two terribly repressive puppet regimes that slaughtered hundreds of thousands of their own people with American made arms. I believe we’ve showed them a thing or two about wholesale slaughter.”

“Guantanamo’s been operated according to plan, I think, in a very insane and unsound fashion by the U.S. military. … I think these people, the U.S. Military, have been well treated for grunts, treated humanely and decently,” Cheney said. “Occasionally, to feed the ravenous press, there are leaked allegations of mistreatment of detainees, but that’s war for you (chuckle).

“But if you trace those back, in nearly every case, it turns out to come from somebody with a conscience, who has been removed from inside the beltway and been released to the press as a scapegoat… to be demonized by their home country as unpatriotic buffoons and now we are peddling lies about how they were treated.”

There we have it, Dick the Veep, sharp as a razor and slick as, um, mud. Yeah, mud.
Beware of muddy razors, they’re quite dangerous.

A Tannish original, for Memorial Day, 2005

Give homage to our precious dead,
All those who do remain.
For policy and rhetoric,
For senseless death, in vain.
For principles and politics,
We send our young to die.
A grieving mother’s tear-stained face,
So plainly wonders why.

Send tribute to our newly lost,
Our love, it cannot die.
Kneel beside their fresh-turned graves,
Beneath the perfect sky.
Question all that brings such pain,
That God and Man forfend.
And send a prayer into the void,
Such folly soon will end.

Pay respects to Ideologues,
Who send your youth to die.
Why kiss the Ring of Priviledge,
To kiss their souls goodbye?
The Evil that is on this Earth,
Resides in any man,
Who sends our young to die for him,
As if that is God’s plan.

To die in the name of Freedom,
Is viewed as lofty praise.
Is politics superior
To the children that we raise?
At what point will we look about,
To see what is insane:
To kill in the name of Freedom,
Devalues what is gained.

I thank all Veterans for being brave enough to sacrifice themselves for their beliefs. I hope that humankind can learn better ways to solve differences other than by military force and by killing. I wonder how long humanity will continue to justify murder to promote ideological abstractions.

Mostly, I worry we will not survive ourselves.

Ever since my youth, zoos have depressed me. Walking about looking at the lethargic humps of fir, the baleful glazed expressions of the inmates… I shudder just recalling the old memories.

Zoos are inhumane. As Jane Shankman wrote to the Chicago Tribune on May 26, 2005:

Ossining, N.Y. — This is regarding the deaths at the Lincoln Park Zoo. Let’s not lose sight of the fact that the non-human animals there are captives.

We can call it “education,” “conservation” or an opportunity to “take the full measure of an elephant.” The sad truth is that these animals have not volunteered to be specimens, far away from all that is natural for them, and not a single one would chose to remain there if it had a choice. Zoos exist to entertain humans. It is time for our society to evolve beyond this and show true respect for all life, including that of animals.

I agree; maintaining a menagerie is anachronistic. The time is long past to end the abuse of the animal kingdom for the titillation of humanity. With all the cameras in the world, a more reasonable approach to species education would be to film them in their natural habitat, thus opening the possibility for further study. It’s doubtful we can learn much more from an incarcerated iguana than we can from a free one.

Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago is getting a lot of bad press lately. May creatures have dies lately in connection to this one facility. Protesters, by nature extremists, have leaped into the media fray obscuring fact for political gain. On May 19, the Chicago Tribune had this to say:

Lincoln Park Zoo is embroiled in controversy triggered by the baffling and heartbreaking deaths of nine animals since October. Three elephants, three rare monkeys, two gorillas and a camel have died either on site or in transit, a toll that has damaged one of Chicago’s favorite institutions.

The zoo’s president, Kevin Bell, offered to resign, an offer rightly rejected by the zoo’s board. Meanwhile, animal rights activists have seized on the deaths to challenge Lincoln Park Zoo’s practices. Protesters chanted Sunday, “Lincoln Park Zoo, what do you say? How many animals died today?”

At this stage, the zoo’s critics are going more on emotion than fact.

Isn’t that the way of most public protests? It is fashionable in certain circles for people to gather in public shouting rhetoric. Hatred is rampant in our society, often formless until some side issue like this one causes an excuse to vent our trapped hostilities. Rarely does such activities improve matters.

In support of the zoo, Peter Vilkelis writes:

Chicago — Those in an uproar over the recent events at Lincoln Park Zoo seem to forget that death is a part of life. Simply because an animal dies does not mean that a crime was committed. The zoo community is grieving over these deaths.

The behavior of these self-obsessed zealots at a recent protest was like taunting survivors at a funeral (”Protesters assail zoo; amputation revealed; PETA lists demands as Lincoln Park confirms ape injury,” Metro, May 16). The anti-zoo radicals revealed themselves to be mean-spirited haters. They chanted slogans to the effect that zoo employees are the equivalent of SS guards. On the contrary, it is the people who work at the zoo who are the true animal lovers. To claim that they intentionally inflict pain and suffering is libelous. These protesters should find something constructive to do.

I am proud to support Lincoln Park Zoo.

I detect some hatred here as well. This extreme position is just as unhelpful as the opinion he complains about. Still, Peter has a valid view in is depiction of Zoo personnel. They wouldn’t be doing such work if they didn’t care about the animals.

The sad fact is zoos have become more necessary lately for the survival of an increasing number of species, because humanity hasn’t the foresight to cordon itself off from harmful, reckless multiplication; like a gas, we’re expanding to fill all available space. Soon there’ll be nothing left but institutions like our zoos to keep the benefactors of Noah alive.

A necessary evil to counteract an unnecessary problem.

Sometimes it’s the little things that have the greatest impact.

Sometimes its big things with unforeseen ramifications. This Internet is one such big thing. Just as no one expects the Spanish Inquisition, so no one could’ve expected the blogoshere. In China, a nation known for a tight control on its denizens, the web is empowering the people in unexpected ways.

AS Nicholas D. Kristoff reports:

The Chinese Communist Party survived a brutal civil war with the Nationalists, battles with American forces in Korea and massive pro-democracy demonstrations at Tiananmen Square. But now it may finally have met its match - the Internet.

The collision between the Internet and Chinese authorities is one of the grand wrestling matches of history, visible in part at www.yuluncn.com.

That’s the Web site of a self-appointed journalist named Li Xinde. He made a modest fortune selling Chinese medicine around the country, and now he’s started the Chinese Public Opinion Surveillance Net - one of four million blogs in China.

[…]

My old friends in the Chinese news media and the Communist Party are mostly aghast at President Hu Jintao’s revival of ideological slogans, praise for North Korea’s political system and crackdown on the media. The former leaders Jiang Zemin and Zhu Rongji are also said to be appalled.

Yet China, fortunately, is bigger than its emperor. Some 100 million Chinese now surf the Web, and e-mail and Web chat rooms are ubiquitous.

The authorities have arrested a growing number of Web dissidents. But there just aren’t enough police to control the Internet, and when sites are banned, Chinese get around them with proxy servers.

As I’ve noticed before, the Internet is leveling the playing field in many ways, shaking up the power structures in some cases. In China, the authorities are being taken to task, and that is happening in America, too. Knowledge, it is said, is power. So is a secret; yet the Internet is making established powers less able to keep their secrets, as is evident from the above story.

As information is shared, more unique expertise can be applied toward useful resolutions to problems. Democracy can only be strengthened in numbers working in Internet time, Now maybe, we can use it not as a form of political power, but as a form of self-governance – as originally intended by the Greeks.

The Internet, through its proxy as the voice of the people – all people – will spread, establish and maintain global egalitarianism better (and cheaper) than any military force. All we need is patience; the Law of Unintended Consequences is in play here. The Internet allows everyone with access to a computer a chance to be heard. Now that web availably is common, I surmise many in the Department of Defense (and like organizations worldwide) are wishing otherwise, but it cannot be put back into its box. The consequences of an Internet-worked world are just beginning to show. This, more that military mobilization, will promote Democracy.

And it’s about time!

What I learned about child psychology is that bullies bluster. If one stands their ground long enough the bully gives up, because bullies have no solid ground to stand upon. the technical term is “Calling a Bluff.”

A gentler expedient, allowed to slightly more mature bullies and their intended victims, is compromise. The disadvantage of bullying is having no room to negotiate. A bully tactic is a position of extremism, and any change in tactic is seen as weakness.

Such is the situation in Capitol Hill. The Repugnant Rabble is furious with the fillibuster compromise, their bully is now pronounced toothless, and that is no position for a political mastiff to be in. when one gambles everything, one should be prepared to lose everything.

Filibuster. Say that ten time fast. I’ve always thought it’s a silly sounding word. But it can’t beat the silliness that has replaced reason within our legislative branch. What started as a schoolyard scuffle has escalated into a paralytic misadventure of American governance.

Just because some cocksure, arrogant, hyper inflated gasbag (Bill Frist) spouts off about changing the rules because he doesn’t like the game, the American people have to watch as our government grinds to a standstill. As a bully, this grown up child wants to win by changing the game, because he knows he can’t win through his talents of his efforts. All we have to do is close our eyes and reminisce to hear the neighborhood bully’s voice come our of Bill’s mouth. Complete with the exaggerated whine.

“I don’t liiiike this gaaaame! Heee’s Cheeeeeting!”

Because he’s a bully, the weaker kids, having misgivings about being allied to him, must go along for fear of a black eye or bloody nose. Tomorrow morning, they might be accosted for their lunch money. So they hide their fear behind masks as they secretly with a teacher will come out of the building and stop the fight before it happens.

The Team’s unofficial captain, who just wants to play the game and have some fun (Harry Reid) finds himself in the unenviable position of teaching the bully a lesson: He’s holding the ball and won’t let go until the bully plays fair. But he underestimated the tenacity of the bully mentality. At this school, there is a history of successful bullying, and this one admires a few. He won’t give up, because now that he drew the line in the playlot, he sees other kids gather around him. Peer group pressure complicates this faceoff.

So far, the shouting match hasn’t gotten physical, but it’s only a matter of time. All wars, no matter how trivial they start, escalate until one or both parties are injured. But this war of principal is different. The bully – and the captain – are representative of the American judiciary, and by proxy, the American people. The peer pressure is enormous, and win, lose, or draw, this impasse will likely signal the end of a political career.

What is silly to me is it really doesn’t matter if they bust the filibuster, because a future congress can re-institute it, just as the current congress has reversed our last President’s No Roads ruling on national forests. Few seemed to mind that this was wiped clean. Fewer yet seem to understand the precedence this congress has shown in the ephemeral state of the union’s laws. On one level, both parties are culpable, on another level neither party is liable. If one party wins it also loses accountability, the Republicans will be seen by their detractors as grabbing power, the Democrats will be seen by their critics as stalling due process: No one wins.

No matter the outcome on the hill, the losers are already being counted among the citizens of this nation, as a further loss of faith in the federal government. Our government can’t represent the people who chose not to vote because they’re disenfranchised, yet our supposed leaders continue to polarize the nation, continue to play silly schoolyard games of power, continue to alienate the citizenry. Again no one wins.

Win, lose or draw – all are losers.

I had to do it.

My friend and discussive adversary, leucanthemum (mum’s the word), egged me on.

Bill Whittle, self-appointed conservative pulpiteer, has a problem with his fellow Americans, and with the Iraqi methods of warfare. That’s war-fare, not War-Fair. Read his Sanctuary, then read my rebuttal. Or, for better enjoyment, read them side by side, like a real discussion. I wrote them that way, so it might flow better.

Have fun!

You know what’s going to pound in the last nail into the middle class coffin? The high cost of security personnel.

What can you possible think of that tells the world “I’ve arrived” more emphatically than your own cadre of bodyguards? Presidents have some, Pop Stars have some, and even Federal District Court judges are among those who feel the need to join the top echelon of arrivers. Anyone can step out of a limousine these days, it’s so proletariat! But when the stretcher is as long as a city bus, and you and a scrimmage of charcoal big-and-tall suits stream out into the curb - you’re there, baby!

In Chicago, the comeuppance of the Federal Judges came when Bart A. Ross killed members of the family of Judge Joan K. Lefkow. Now, judicial employees can rightfully say that they have entered the realm of the popular, vulnerable visible class. The NY Times has a bit about her plea to the Senate Judiciary Committee (talk about a den of wolves):

Judge Lefkow, who testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the need to increase security for court employees, was accompanied by her four daughters, her husband’s two sisters and a niece. She called on the panel to “publicly and persistently repudiate gratuitous attacks on the judiciary.”

“We need your help in tempering the tone on the debates that concern the independence of the judiciary,” Judge Lefkow said. “I have come to know scores of judges during my 22 years as a magistrate judge, bankruptcy judge and district judge. Whether a liberal or conservative, I have never encountered a judge in the federal judiciary who can remotely be described as posing a threat as Mr. (Pat) Robertson said, ‘probably more serious than a few bearded terrorists who fly into buildings.’ ”

Mr. Robertson had criticized the federal courts during a recent appearance on the ABC program “This Week,” saying, “They’re destroying the fabric that holds our nation together.” He continued: “Over 100 years, I think the gradual erosion of the consensus that’s held our country together is probably more serious than a few bearded terrorists who fly into buildings.”

Without citing lawmakers by name, Judge Lefkow also referred in her testimony to the heated political battle that erupted this year related to Terri Schiavo, a severely brain-damaged Florida woman who died after her feeding tube was removed at her husband’s request. Some conservatives portrayed her death as the result of an unaccountable judiciary, and Representative Tom DeLay of Texas, the House majority leader, threatened retribution against the judges who refused to intercede in the case.

“The time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior,” Mr. DeLay said at the time.

Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, also said last month that some courthouse violence might be explained - without justification - by anger about judges who “are making political decisions yet are unaccountable to the public.”

Judge Lefkow said she had received more than 1,000 letters of condolence since her husband and mother were killed, including about 200 from other judges who “know in their own hearts that ‘this could have been me.’ ” She has been under federal protection since the killings.

We have “all the little people” to thank for this: the deranged, depressed lunatics like Bart A. Ross, the self-inflated Neo-Nazi egotists, like Matthew Hale, the renegade Texan polutoccrats (we all know who they are), the Neo-vogue, Christian hate group figureheads. These are dangerous times. With the nation’s future in such disarray (wars, deficits, fillibusters, oh,my!), the masses are reaching critical mass, and the slightest thing may likely set them off. Anyone with a modicum of notoriety needs protection these days, and carrying a piece is just not enough. Having a few suits about carrying pieces? Priceless.

I sit after an active day at work and scan my newsletters for inspiration:

Kansas plays politics with education, preferring to teach their kids something that is not withing the mainstream of scientific thought and masquerading it as science. How can these children, victimized by the Vulture Culture of Creationism into ignorance, compete in the global marketplace that is their future? Is it more important to these parents and parental surrogates to hobble a generation of young minds in order to win a small political victory? That last question was rhetorical - of course its more important!

Newsweek blunders, people die, a big fuss is made. This feeds the newsbeast for a week. Our nation blunders into war and many more people die, Americans and Muslims, men, women and children. Where’s the fuss? Where’s the outrage?

Iraq is literally blowing apart. The vacuum created by the US is too strong for the fledgling government. Any suicide bombers and those killed by them should be counted as war casualties. Were it not for the war, they would not be strapping explosives to themselves so readily.

Does anyone know whether we have yet outdone the so-called evil of Saddam yet? Have we yet killed enough civilians to outnumber the atrocities perpetrated by the old regime? How about if we add up all the soldiers, the collateral damage (by this I mean the innocents), the foreign reporters, and the suicide bombing victims and the bombers themselves? It’s a fair bet that whatever the magic number is, we’ll get there before there is a viable, American sanctioned Democracy in Iraq.

To contrast the current insanity of global media and politics, I offer some wisdom from a little-known (in America, at least) book of wisdom: the Dhammapada. Will all the rabid fundamentalist Christians please leave the room?

Thank you.

“Whoever moved from carelessness to vigilance,
Lights up the world
Like the moon that emerges from a cloud.

Whoever overcomes his unwholesome deeds
With wholesome actions
Illuminates the world
Like the moon emerging from a cloud.

There is blindness all around.
Only very few can see.
Many are like birds trapped in a net.
Only a few escape and achieve liberation.

A man who violates even one spiritual law,
Who is dishonest and telling lies,
Unconcerned with the life hereafter,
There is no evil such a one dares not do.”

Edited from the Dhammapada, Chapter 13, The World.