The Seeds of Our Destruction

I really do not have the words, so I will put this quote out for you to ponder. It comes from the completely disgusting darling of the right, Ann Coulter, who is to humanity what a wet, hot, steaming turd is to a black tie dinner party. Her words on Fox News' Hannity and Some Other Guy back on the fifth regarding the causes of the prison abuse scandal and women in the military:

I think the other point that no one is making about the abuse photos is just the disproportionate number of women involved, including a girl general running the entire operation. I mean, this is lesson, you know, one million and forty seven on why women shouldn't be in the military. In addition to not being able to carry even a medium-sized backpack, women are too vicious.

My God! Where do I start? First off, there is a reason that no one is making that point - it is completely retarded!

People ask me, why I care so much about what this pea-brain has to say? It is my concern for the immense dumbing down of our populace, or more specifically, our electorate. Scholars, politicians, why hell, even our founding fathers have written extensively over the years about the importance of an informed electorate. Such comments released through our new news paradigm without challenge or intellectual debate can only serve to destroy our republic. Noam Chomsky, James Madison, Thomas Hobbes, and even Plato have discussed the necessity of information and discourse in a strong republic.

Once we dropped the fairness clause that required rebuttal time on broadcast media, we created an opinion driven media that is analagous to the new age pseudo-science that has popped up that has people believing that some cataclysm will occur in 2012 because the completely arbitrary Mayan calendar is about to turn over, or that global warming does not exist, or that ketchup is a vegetable.

Check out Geoffrey M. Vaughan's, Hobbes's Contempt for Opinions: Manipulation and the Challenge for Mass Democracies in Critical Review, Volume 13, Numbers 1-2 - Liberalism and Its Discontents , and I promise not to get all academic on you in the future.

We will leave the pros and cons of viscious people in the military for another day.

To Help Quell Negative Stories, Defense Department Censors - ITSELF!

Here's an article is from Washington Monthly's website. The armed services official newspaper, Stars and Stripes had been receiving letters from service personnel complaining about conditions in the field. The paper investigated the claims in a series documenting a survey of about 2,000 service men and women. According to the article:

Among other findings, nearly one third of all Army troops surveyed rated their unit's morale as "low" or "very low." Forty percent of those surveyed said that what they were doing was not close to or had nothing to do with what they had trained for, and a similar number said their missions were not clearly defined--fanning fears that reenlistments would drop steeply, exacerbating the military's post-9/11 overstretch.

In his regular press conference, Rumsfeld questioned the findings. After the conference, the secretary's office ordered some belt tightening at the paper. Stars and Stripes got the message.

The Stars and Stripes series ran back in October and the department orders came down late last year. We missed it when it happened. Sorry.

A Big Thumbs Up for Rumsfeld

This one made me shake my head. The President held a short conference yesterday, and, since his staff did not have time to prepare eloquent non-answers to pre-submitted press questions, he did not take questions. He started with praise of Rumsfeld:

"You [Rumsfeld] are courageously leading our nation in the war against terror. You are doing a superb job. You are a strong secretary of defense, and our nation owes you a debt of gratitude."

It made me feel a lot better. As bad as things are in Iraq, imagine how horrible it would be if Rumsfeld were NOT doing a good job! We are truly fortunate. As for the "debt of gratitude", I can only hope that means that we will be passing the massive debt for the Iraq debacle on to Rumsfeld.

More on Moore and Disney's Saudi Ties

Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) has a more detailed article on Disney's not releasing Michael Moore's new film, Fahrenheit 911. First, the article mentions that Disney CEO Michael Eisner says that they do not wish to release a film with a definite political slant during an election year. It also documents some other contradictions (that I missed in my May 8 post) between Disney's excuse for censorship on the grounds that the film is not "Disney material" and their actual track record. For one thing, that article notes:

Disney's Family Channel carries Pat Robertson's 700 Club, which routinely equates Christianity with Republican causes. After the September 11 attacks, Robertson's guest Jerry Falwell (9/13/01) blamed the attacks on those who "make God mad": "the pagans and the abortionists and the feminists and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People for the American Way, all of them who try to secularize America." Robertson's response was, "I totally concur." It's hard to imagine that anything in Moore's film will be more controversial than that.

But the most provocative disclosure is Disney's financial ties to the same Saudi family that Moore links to the Bush family in his film. Apparently, King Fahd's grandson, Prince Al-Walid bin Talal, has single-handedly been keeping Eurodisney out of financial trouble. Would Disney bow to pressure from the Saudis? According to the article, there is a precedent:

[W]hen Disney's EPCOT Center planned to describe Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in an exhibit on Israeli culture, Al-Walid says that he had personally asked Eisner to intervene in the decision. That same week, Disney announced that the pavilion would not refer to Jerusalem as Israel's capital (BBC, 9/14/99).

It is obvious that Disney's claim that Fahrenheit 911 is being stopped because it does not fit in with Disney's corporate image is complete nonsense, but of the alternative reasons, I hope that Saudi money is not undermining free speech in America.

Talkin' 'Bout My Constitution - Gannett, AP Sue US Marshals

Do you remember the incident on April 7 at a high school in Hattiesburg Mississippi, where two reporters had their recorders confiscated by US Marshals after they recorded a speech that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was giving? Editor and Publisher reports that the two reporters, one from the AP, and one from The Hattiesburg American (a Gannett paper), along with their respective employers charge in a lawsuit the violation of the First, Fourth and Fifth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, as well as the Privacy Protection Act of 1980. In addition to damages, the lawsuit seeks an injunction prohibiting US Deputy Marshal Melanie Rube and the Marshals Service from seizing and erasing journalists' recordings in any similar situations. The article quotes Gary Watson, president of Gannett's Newspaper Division:

"It is ironic this seizure took place while Justice Scalia was making a speech about preserving the Constitution," said Watson. "We're taking this unusual action because the justice system must step in and bring these illegal actions to an immediate halt."

Scalia has apologized for the incident, but Watson added: "Given the federal government's very tough stance on those who violate the law, the Marshals Service and Deputy Rube must be willing to taste their own medicine. An apology or a hollow commitment to study the issue will not suffice nor serve as a meaningful deterrent to prevent any repeat performances."

Poor Scalia doesn't like having his words documented it seems. An issue of control perhaps. If it is an issue with self consciousness with his use of words, he shouldn't be worried. God knows it doesn't bother Bush. We'll keep an eye on this case.

Take This John Kerry and Eat It

One should never discuss religion or politics in polite company, but since we already broke the politics rule, here's a religious article from the Associated Press via Yahoo! about John Kerry taking communion at church on Mother's day. "So what?" say all ye of little faith. Well it seems that there is a controversy in the Catholic church regarding whether Kerry should be given communion because his views on abortion (pro) conflict with church teaching (con). Perhaps this is a discussion best left to Catholic wonks, but I'll weigh in now so you can drop out if you're not interested.

Talk amongst yourselves; I'll give you a topic. I am a severely lapsed Catholic, so I do not pretend to be an expert on doctrine, but I believe that one of the foundations of the faith is that God gave man free will. Prayer will give you strength to recognize and resist temptation, but in the end, you are free to make your own decision - good or bad. Therefore, one can be against abortion, but be pro-choice (e.g. I am against it, and will counsel you against it, but in the end, you are free to make your own decision.). For that reason, Kerry should be given communion, unless he goes around counseling women to have abortions.

You Pissed Off the Wrong Guy - Part 2

Now it is Michael Moore versus Disney over release of his new film, Fahrenheit 9/11, produced by Disney owned Miramax. Disney allegedly fears that the politically charged film, which documents the Bush family business ties to the Saudi royal family and the Bin Laden family, will cause Florida governor Jeb Bush's administration to kill tax breaks that Disney enjoys in the state. Disney's official line is that the film had a definite political spin, and is not in keeping with Disney's image.

The New York Times denounced Disney in an editorial, and of course, you can keep up with a blow-by-blow of the struggle at Moore's website. Disney's official arguement is a joke. Michael Moore documents some of the contradictions:

Disney: It is not in the best interests of our company to distribute a partisan political film that may offend some of our customers.

Disney distributes and syndicates the Sean Hannity radio show, Disney-owned WABC broadcasts Rush Limbaugh, and Disney distributed Moore's previous, very partisan political film, The Big One.

Disney: Fahrenheit 9/11 is not the Disney brand; we put out family oriented films.

Disney studios did not produce Fahrenheit 9/11, Miramax did. Disney owns studios like Miramax and Touchstone to allow Disney to produce more adult oriented (profitable) fare without infringing on the G-rated Disney brand reputation. Miramax produced Pulp Fiction, as well as the current blockbuster, Kill Bill Vol. 2, directed by Quentin Tarrentino who once said, "Violence is an art form, man!"

Miramax, after having spent 6 million dollars of Disney approved funding, is fighting hard to get the movie distributed. Disney has a contractual right to veto Miramax productions under certain circumstances, but has thus far only intervened in the case of NC-17 rated movies. It is unclear if Disney's veto clause applies for this movie.

If Disney fears political retribution it should just say so and not hide behind righteousness. If on the other hand someone from J. Bush's office threatened Disney - that would really be interesting.

Moore has been up against censorship before with his book, Stupid White Men, which publisher Harper Collins (owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation) threatened to shred after 9/11 if Moore did not remove content critical to Bush. Moore refused and the book was eventually released and became a bestseller.

One Big Party Over at the Abu Ghraib Fraterity House

The report entitled Article 15-6 Investigation of the 800th Military Police Brigade (also known as "The Taguba Report") details various acts of torture, including rape and sodomy, by US military personnel at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, and presents the following conclusions:

1. Several US Army Soldiers have committed egregious acts and grave breaches of international law at Abu Ghraib/BCCF and Camp Bucca, Iraq. Furthermore, key senior leaders in both the 800th MP Brigade and the 205th MI Brigade failed to comply with established regulations, policies, and command directives in preventing detainee abuses at Abu Ghraib (BCCF) and at Camp Bucca during the period August 2003 to February 2004.

2. Approval and implementation of the recommendations of this AR 15-6 Investigation and those highlighted in previous assessments are essential to establish the conditions with the resources and personnel required to prevent future occurrences of detainee abuse.

Of course, Rush Limbaugh had a different take on the situation. On his May 4th program, Rush, as if his drug addiction didn't wreck his credibility enough, basically waved away the abuse as a bunch of guys blowing off steam:

CALLER: It was like a college fraternity prank that stacked up naked men --

LIMBAUGH: Exactly. Exactly my point! This is no different than what happens at the Skull and Bones initiation and we're going to ruin people's lives over it and we're going to hamper our military effort, and then we are going to really hammer them because they had a good time. You know, these people are being fired at every day. I'm talking about people having a good time, these people, you ever heard of emotional release? You of heard of need to blow some steam off?

Skull and Bones initiation? No wonder those guys don't talk about the society. I can't believe that Rush actually believes that stacking, sodomizing, and raping naked men is an acceptable way of blowing off steam. I can only assume that he's only going by the pictures, and that the rape and sodomy were unknown to him since he didn't read the report. That's okay - the president never read it either, even though its shocking revelations have been documented since January. Really Rush, I know you have an agenda, but even you must draw the line somewhere.

It's not just Rush, as documented by Media Matters for America:

On CNBC: Iraqi prison abuses likened to fraternities ... again
Hannity & Colmes guest compared U.S. soldiers' maltreatment of Iraqi POWs to "frat hazing"