Tannishblog

Impeachment is getting a lot of traction lately. www.a28.org is the latest web roots attempt at creating a notional movement to oust our ineffective leadership. Their tagline is that today, April 28th, is the first day of Impeachment Summer. I hope their right.

But I’m skeptical. The time for preparation for impeachment was last year. Gathering evidence takes time, and to begin now would only result in an outcome determined only a few weeks before the natural ending of Bush’s term. What benefit is that?

What is the current value of impeachment? The republican congress of Newt Gingrich has forever cheapened the role of impeachment in the way they used it as political leverage to lynch Bill Clinton. What he did was a personal matter, it was not a national disaster. Hurricane Katrina is a national disaster. Our misbegotten war in Iraq is a national disaster, as is the regression of stability within Afghanistan that is currently taking place. The hubris and arrogance, cheating and dishonesty of the Bush administration is a national disaster. The selective amnesia of our Attorney General (no doubt a side effect of extended use of party-line Kool-ade) is a national travesty, if not yet a disaster. These things matter far more than the sexual adventures of consenting adults.

I ponder if it wouldn’t be better to gather all possible records toward the goal of impeachment, but to delay until the administration is out of office. Then we might go after these former public diservants as the war criminals they truly are. To my mind, the charge of war crimes, held in an international arena, has more weight than a mere presidential impeachment process.

A war crimes tribunal hosted by the UN would be better. Freezing the monetary gains made by war the profiteering of Dick Cheney and pals would get their attention: money is central to their thinking. After all, this whole Iraq disaster is "just another business deal" to secure an oil sharing agreement from Iraq. Our administration will not willingly withdraw from Iraq until the fledgling government there agrees to our terms regarding the sharing of oil with the United States. Republicans have said so as recently as last week during the debate in the Senate on troop withdrawal timelines.

So I reservedly back the growing impeachment movement, unconvinced it will do any good. At the same time, I believe we must "prepare for trial" regardless of possible outcome. Please support this growing movement. It is the only way average Americans can regain a voice in our own destiny between election cycles. Even if you think, like I do, that it may be in vain. While the time is running out on impeachment, there is no statute of limitations for war criminals. We can take all the time we need.

Three dollars a gallon - already!

The annual Gasoline Gouge season is upon us and, similar to the newly extended presidential primary season, it’s early. CNN reports average prices to be $2.87 a gallon. It’s always higher than average in Chicagoland. Here in the County of Cook - what with all the layers of taxation accrued - the cheapest gas is $2.89. Or is was yesterday. Last night the gasoline price gremlins went to work raising the bar by ten cents. The "Premium" grades are thirty cents more. (What makes them premium besides the premium price?)

I usually use the good stuff to keep my fifteen year-old engine as clean as possible. See: I’ve bought into (literally) the marketing flim-flam. As I squeeze the nozzle, I’m being squeezed for more money in return. Squeeze me some more, show me you love me.

CNN also mentions the eventuality of $4-per-gallon. Unprecedented profits derive from unprecedented prices.  If that ain’t magic, I don’t know what is…

One wonders what they’re going to do with all that money - start a war? Oh. Yeah…

Shouldn’t they be buying their own soldiers?

CNN reports:

The Wiccan pentacle has been added to the list of emblems allowed in national cemeteries and on government-issued headstones of fallen soldiers, according to a settlement announced Monday.

A settlement between the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Wiccans adds the five-pointed star to the list of "emblems of belief" allowed on VA grave markers.

[…]

The VA sought the settlement in the interest of the families involved and to save taxpayers the expense of further litigation, VA spokesman Matt Burns said. The agency also agreed to pay $225,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs.

The pentacle has been added to 38 symbols the VA already permits on gravestones. They include commonly recognized symbols for Christianity, Buddhism, Islam and Judaism, as well as those for smaller religions such as Sufism Reoriented, Eckankar and the Japanese faith Seicho-No-Ie.

"This settlement has forced the Bush Administration into acknowledging that there are no second class religions in America, including among our nation’s veterans," said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which represented the Wiccans in the lawsuit.

That is not entirely accurate. The Bush administration did nothing in this matter - the VA did. Bushies don’t care enough. So kudos the the VA for saving taxpayers money, their own time on a non-issue that I’m sure some would make a stink about. It if appeases a grieving family - so be it. What harm can it do?

King Jigme Singye Wangchuck of Bhutan plans to abdicate the throne next year. He is, after all, 100 years old. His vision is to modernize his tiny nation, and for the past decade he has brought in modern imports such as cable television and the Internet. Too, he has ordered his nation to begin mock elections in preparation for installing a Democracy.

 Four political parties presents directional choices for the new Democracy, each named for the national symbol a Druk, or thunder Dragon: Druk Green, Druk Blue,  Druk Red and Druk Yellow. The citizens are to vote for the party that best represents their priorities for the fledgling  government.

The elections test the democratic process on a people that love their king, so much so that they will vote because he tells them to. It is because of this affection, and the precepts of Buddhism that keep this small society orderly. And, perhaps, their monarch’s interest in a non-western ideal of Gross National Happiness. As the NY Times reports:

“The objectives are to ensure national security, national sovereignty, well-being and prosperity, which will lead to gross national happiness also,” the prime minister said. “His Majesty believes this is the best form of government, and the people of Bhutan are ready to launch this.”

How the strange lures of modernity will affect the gross national happiness, the unusual yardstick the king invented to measure his nation’s progress, is a matter of uncertainty and wonder in this country. Gross national happiness includes criteria like equity, good government and harmony with nature.

How refreshing. A possible Democracy devoted to the pursuit of happiness. That sounds vaguely familiar…

Using such a yardstick to progress is revolutionary. No other Democracy has one. That’s the Buddhism philosophy shining through; the recognition that everyone seeks happiness and avoids suffering. Imagine a government actively seeking to improve the happiness of its citizens instead of it’s wealth? Fascinating!

But little Bhutan must be strong to not let the capitalism /consumerism message seep into and pollute their high ideals. Just the inclusion of foreign television may be enough to turn a grand experiment sour. Brainwashing people to mindlessly consume, a mainstay of broadcast programming here, has done little toward America’s Gross National Happiness. And I wonder how these tame Buddhists-types will react to Internet porn?

You know what they say…Stay Tuned.

The news cycle for the Virginia Tech tragedy is about to wind down. What has been said is all that can be said - if in indeed, it was of value at all. To mark the end of the cycle, Charles Krauthammer, as syndicated in the Chicago Tribune bemoans the politicizing of the event.

It is inevitable, I suppose, that advocates of one social policy or another will try to use the Virginia Tech massacre for their advantage. But it is simply dismaying that a serious presidential candidate should use it as the ideo- logical frame for his set-piece issues.

He then goes on to attack Barack Obama’s reaction while campaigning in Milwaukee. Barack reportedly spoke about violence in our society, expressing a need "to reflect a little bit more broadly on the degree to which we do accept violence in various forms." The other forms included references of Don Imus’ slander, among other things.

Then Charles sums up his complaint:

This whole exercise in defining violence down to include shock-jock taunts and outsourcing would normally be mere intellectual slovenliness. Doing so in the shadow of the murder of 32 innocents still unburied is tasteless, bordering on the sacrilegious.

Perhaps in the spirit of Obama’s much-heralded post-ideological politics we can agree to observe a decent interval of respectful silence before turning ineffable evil and unfathomable grief into political fodder.

Political fodder. It seems acceptable for him and his ilk to lambaste tragedy 24/7 for a whole week to sell news copy. That’s just fine, somehow. Let’s make money dissing the political fodder, while ignoring the week-long news hound feeding frenzy on the same subject.

I wonder how much money was made selling stories about the Crimes of Mr. Cho. How much money did you make selling this story, Chuck?

Okay. Here’s another new blog skin (template) for Tb. As I continue experiments in the art, science and nit-picky details of web design, I discover a preference for dark backgrounds. Some argue that the look is unprofessional. I find it easier on the eyes, but then I tend to live in dimly lit rooms. Think of me as part wolf, part cave troll - or something.

This design uses the technique for creating those neat rounded corners that are so fashionable on blogs. Soon, I predict, the ubiquity of rounded-corner designs will become as passe as the big rollover buttons circa 1999, so I tried out a variation. The paw prints are more accurate than those I used previously - less cartoon-y. The colors came directly out of the photo thanks to a nifty little app called ColorPic, which lets me capture pixel colors.

Let me know if you like it. Feedback is encouraged. Who knows how long this one will remain until the next mad experiment. If you would like me to re-skin your blog, leave a comment.

 The NY Times reports US troops began building a 12 foot high, 3 mile long wall to divide Shiite and Sunni neighborhoods. Just like the Berlin Wall. US Commanders say “the wall is one of the centerpieces of a new strategy by coalition and Iraqi forces to break the cycle of sectarian violence.”

Residents see things differently:

A doctor in Adhamiya, Abu Hassan, said the wall would transform the residents into caged animals. “It’s unbelievable that they treat us in such an inhumane manner,” he said in a telephone interview. “They’re trying to isolate us from other parts of Baghdad. The hatred will be much greater between the two sects.”

“The Native Americans were treated better than us,” he added.

That last statement is a stretch by any measure; Indigenous Americans were subject to genocide. As bad as things are in Iraq, we haven’t quite gotten there - yet.

Nonetheless, one man’s wall is another man’s cage. I bet the US got the idea from Israel. Partitioning the Palestinians has worked so well…

Speaking of Israel, shouldn’t the Jews be protesting such aggressive segregation tactics? As I recall my history, the Warsaw ghettos were created to "protect" the Jewish population suffering increased hostilities at the time. We know how that story ended, too.

While the US continues to mouth platitudes regarding benchmarks of progress by Iraqi officials, they’re taking steps to create a permanent physical embodiment of sectarianism. Sunnis should well be enraged, they’re the ones who will stand at the checkpoints in order to travel to and from work or gather groceries. They are the ones who will look out their windows to a vista of concrete block and concertina wire and wonder - now that they’re all scrunched into the New Warsaw ghetto - when the rocketry will arrive. Given all that, wouldn’t this make these arbitrary benchmarks harder to achieve?

Perhaps the US is getting desperate. Might we be running out of options, grasping at tactical straws in light of the uncontrollable situation and a dearth of planning on our part? Perhaps we’re just going through pantomimes to placate an increasingly restless American public, failing presidential job ratings, and shouts of impeachments? Perhaps we’re not protecting a minority faction so much as walling ourselves in?

I’m sick of the Baby Boomers. We all know of them - the children of the Greatest Generation, born after WWII and before 1960 (roughly), who found themselves, by virtue of numbers, a force to be reckoned with early in their lifecycle. Clearly, it went to their heads.

During the Summer of Love, America gave the keys to our nation to a group of hippies. The media taught them they mattered, they were powerful, they were the future. Now we live in that future, and the Boomers, cannot hide the effects of wanton capitalism, reckless consumerism, exploitation of developing nations, and pollution. These are the same issues the hippies were denouncing 40 years ago. Instead, they conformed, reformed, and accelerated the same vicious cycles.

So many of them, draft dodgers and war haters in their youth, became chicken hawks when they realized how wars can affect stock portfolios. So many of them, once advocates of affirmative action, desegregation and civil liberties as defined by the 1960’s, have reversed themselves or - as Don Imus represents - exposed their inner racist and innate misogyny to the world. Too many children have been born to Boomer parents who ignore them in favor of selfish monetary pursuits, fleeting sexual adventures, and narcissistic preoccupation with angst never outgrown.

People refer to those born after the Baby Boomers as "the ME generation." This is an error perpetrated by members of the Boomers, who themselves are the greediest, most selfish generation in American history. Just look at the people in power now, how they comport themselves. Read the news. Our government is run by a generation of bloated self-worth, fed by a media designed for them in mind, now run by them, too. Paul Wolfowitz, architect of the New American Century, has been found to have secured his girlfriend a fat pay check using clout gain by his patronage-begotten position as head of the World Bank. His response was to refuse the option of stepping down. Selfish bastard.

And then there’s the Bush Administration… Every thing they touch, from the Iraqi Oil Grab debacle and the breaking of the Geneva Conventions to the firing of US attorneys for political gain, shouts out their greed and selfishness, their convictions that they can do whatever they want, just as they were told when they were children. In fact, in many ways they still are children: just watch the pouting tirades of our President. (Anyone who flips the bird at a running camera and thinks it’s funny is truly unfit for public office.)

Now we learn that Boomers aren’t as healthy as their parents. Perchance a a lofe of drug abuse, rehabilitation and excessive consumerism is hard on the body?

The world may still survive them, but the whole of the 21st century will be dominated by reparation for the damage done by one generation of people. It’s good that they are finally dying off, to leave the world a shambles for their estranged offspring to try and fix. Humanity can learn from them what not to do in the future. Sometimes negative lessons are the most potent.

Good Riddance.

The US Supreme Court upheld the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act passed by Congress in 2003. By a decision of 5 to 4, with President Bush’s recent appointees’ support, the court extended its power over the uteruses of America. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg boldly read a statement explaining her dissent, but the good-old-boy majority still clings to the illusion of patriarchal privilege in forcing their will on millions of women’s private parts.

To further insult the masses, vacuous crowing ensued from the White House:

Bush said in a statement that the decision "affirms that the Constitution does not stand in the way of the people’s representatives enacting laws reflecting the compassion and humanity of America."

He added: "The Supreme Court’s decision is an affirmation of the progress we have made over the past six years in protecting human dignity and upholding the sanctity of life."

Sadly, the American people are getting their fill of "the Constitution does not stand in the way" in regards to the pursuit of happiness and health of current and future Americans. In fact, the Constitution is becoming less relevant in the decisions of the Embattled War Elephant Brigade.

As for "reflecting the compassion and humanity of America." Reinterpreting the Geneva Conventions in order to torture selected people goes far to reflect the compassion and humanity of America. So does the Iraqi war. Or the failure to provide for our idealistic, young, and fully indoctrinated soldiery the necessary equipment to their safety, or the failure to provide clean hospital facilities for the injured, or the failure to support the families of the fallen. Very compassionate, that fabled American humanity.

The above paragraph speaks also to the "progress we have made over the past six years in protecting human dignity and upholding the sanctity of life." Lying our way into an unnecessary, un-winnable war. Turning victims of friendly fire incidents into virtual Rambo’s to boost flagging recruitment quotas. Lying to the American public about the motivation for the war, about the progress of this war, about the consequences of this war: forbidding photos of returning coffins, under-reporting the numbers of casualties, injuries, psychiatric evaluations. The list is interminable.

Perhaps he should have said this:

"The Supreme Court’s decision affirms that the Constitution does not stand in the way of the people’s representatives enacting laws. Reflecting the compassion and humanity of America is an affirmation of the progress we have made over the past six years  in (undermining) human dignity and (devaluing) the sanctity of life."

But that would be the first honest thing he ever said since stealing the presidency in 2000. Why start now?

I offer my heartfelt sympathy for the families affected by the Virginia Tech tragedy. It isn’t much - in fact it’s nothing at all. But I give it all the same, as well as my guilt for abetting a society that produces people who do such things.

If ever there are opportunities to ponder what needs fixing in our poor excuse for a civilization, this is one. But laying blame is as easy as it is pointless. Too many factors converge to produce such heinous actions. If one was to lay blame with any attempt at accuracy, then all factors should be accounted for. If all factors are accounted for, then by the grace of all things and all people being interconnected, every American is partially guilty of this crime.

I feel guilty. For ignoring the cracks in the fragile construct of polite society, for going about my life with blinders on to better focus on my own needs and wants. I feel guilty for not taking to the streets in righteous rage at the prevalence of violence and the absence of compassion in America. My heart is sickened by my own selfish inaction. For this and much more, I am as guilty of this slaughter as anyone. Although there are no excuses for my inaction, please forgive me.

I hang my head, not in mock mourning as our president will surely do, but in sorrow at the loss of future potential these young people had, and the further loss of innocence the campus, the town of Blacksburg, the State of Virginia and the whole nation must endure. I hang my head because I did nothing to correct the broken priorities of a nation that proclaims the sanctity of life while engaging in war, prides itself in equality while not allocating enough resources to help troubled kids in need.

Cho’s classmates knew he was disturbed. They read some of his plays in class and were troubled by the graphic and obscene imagery. His teacher was worried enough to hire a security guard for a time. A local counselor had seen Cho, and knew he was troubled, but for a variety of reasons, he received no help. Last December, a magistrate ordered him to undergo a psychiatric evaluation. The next day, a report concluded that he may be a danger to himself due to mental illness.

Was he treated? The hospital has yet to comment. Hospitals are businesses, and decisions are too often influenced by a patient’s ability to pay for services. Since recent societal trends don’t allow for the caring of its members through governmental assistance, the needy are often left without services, or are cut short.

For that, too, I am at fault. Guilty by living in America and not helping her to better herself, I have neglected my civic duty and my fellows. And for that neglect, 32 people died.