July 18, 2008 archive

Special guest host?  Nah, It’s just me.

Welcome to the Four at Four, at Five (Four Central).

• President Bush and Iraqi (puppet) Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki have agreed that an agreement over troop reductions can be reached…or something ambiguous like that.
  

  The long-term agreement had been held up by differences over issues like the extent of Iraqi control over American military operations, the right of American soldiers to detain suspects without the approval of Iraqi authorities and Iraqi demands for a timetable for withdrawal.

  But in a statement, the White House said Mr. Bush and Mr. Maliki had agreed “that improving conditions should allow for the agreements now under negotiation to include a general time horizon for meeting aspirational goals – such as the resumption of Iraqi security control in their cities and provinces and the further reduction of U.S. combat forces from Iraq.”

  The White House offered no specific dates for troop cuts, but the inclusion of even just a reference to a time horizon is a significant concession by the Bush administration, which has long resisted setting a timetable for cuts in combat forces. It is a tacit admission that the United States’ military presence in Iraq is not endless.

  Call me a cynic, but that doesn’t sound like a concession at all.  Putting a candle in a cowpie doesn’t make it a chocolate cake, it just makes it a pile of shit with a candle.

• A California poll shows only 42% favor a ban on gay marriage, an initiative that will appear on the ballot in November.  On Wednesday the state’s high court ruled in favor of allowing the proposed ban to be on the ballot, which has been in development since the court first overturned the previous ban as being unconstitutional.  Of course, an initiative to name a sewage plant after George W. Bush will also be on the ballot…so there should be plenty of people at the polls…

• Good news out of Citigroup, as the banking giant lost only $2.5 billion in the second quarter…leading its stock to rise 9% as the loss wasn’t nearly as bad as they projected.
  

  But it’s hard to get too enthusiastic about clearing a low bar. It was Citi’s third straight quarterly loss and neither JPMorgan nor Wells Fargo managed to notch a profit gain compared to last year. Meanwhile, the brokerage Merrill Lynch & Co. reported a wider-than-expected quarterly loss. And next week, Wachovia Corp. and Washington Mutual Inc. are anticipated to reveal losses, too, with Bank of America Corp. expected to report a steep profit decline.
  
  …
  
  Citigroup, the nation’s largest banking company by assets, lost the equivalent of 54 cents per share in the April-June period. In the same timeframe last year, the bank earned $6.23 billion, or $1.24 per share.

• Israel has arrested six Arabs in an alleged plot to attack George Bush’s helicopter, and according to Israel’s intelligence agency they were trying to form an al Qaeda organization in Israel.
  

  Israel’s Shin Bet counter-intelligence agency said one of the suspects had used his mobile phone to film helicopters at a sports stadium in Jerusalem that was used as a landing site for Bush’s delegation.

  The suspect then posted queries on Web sites frequented by al Qaeda operatives, asking for guidance on how to shoot down the helicopters, the agency said in a statement.

  Bush visited Israel in January and again in May.

  So…they waited until months after his visits to arrest these guys?  Or they are just finding out this information after the opportunities had passed?

Objective observation of the current politics and populace tells us that here in 21st century America, there are two ideas that take precedence above all else. Both are myths. Both are ideas apparently more important than any facts, logic, proof, evidence, or demonstrable reality.

The first is that America, no matter what it does, how many crimes are committed in its name, by its duly elected officials, is the good guy, the cowboy in the White Hat.

America lied its way into a illegal and immoral war of aggression for no reason other than the greed and lust for power of its political and economic leaders. The majority of the American populace went along for the ride. America tortures. America exploits migrant workers while condemning them and punishing them for our reliance on them. The list goes on and on.

And the whole of the list of American wrongs that are not wrong because they are our wrongs, exists for one purpose above all others, to bolster and enable the second myth. (Which of course makes them ultimately the same myth.)

The myth that the Christian God created America to serve ‘his’ purpose, and selected white Christian males to work ‘his’ will on earth. Thus can they do no wrong. Thus are their wrongs….not wrong.

This myth is so woven into the fabric of American culture and belief that it is invisible to most. It is not spoken of, except in rare slips of the tongue such as this exchange between O’Rielly and McCain from last year:

O’REILLY: But do you understand what the New York Times wants, and the far-left want? They want to break down the white, Christian, male power structure, which you’re a part, and so am I, and they want to bring in millions of foreign nationals to basically break down the structure that we have.

The most destructive consequence of this myth is America’s surety that they are entitled to this God-given American lifestyle. This is what ensures than even in the face of facts, logic, proof, evidence, and demonstrable reality that the ‘American lifestyle’ is destroying the planets atmosphere and, ultimately, the “lifestyle” of every living thing on earth, their violent denial will continue.

When it comes right down to it, that is the myth that prevents any REAL change in America. How on God’s Green Earth do we fight that?

Today is Iraq Moratorium day, a day to take action to end the war and occupation of Iraq.  This month, it leads into three days of action to prevent war with Iran.  A number of Moratorium events will connect the two, as participants in today’s events make cell phone calls to Congressional offices, leaflet about Iran, or write or email their representatives.

Much of the focus is on a House resolution which essentially calls for a blockade of Iran. List of sponsors.  There’s also a Senate resolution, with sponsors listed here.

Does it matter?  United for Peace and Justice reports that two members of Congress already have changed their minds after being challenged by local peace organizations. This report from St. Louis tells of one of the successes.

The country’s wartime status has riddled this Presidential election year with added questions.

That’s why several non-profit military groups have come together to try to hold a Presidential town hall meeting at Fort Hood.

Sen. Barack Obama is the missing ingredient for a town hall meeting at Fort Hood.

This is a nobrainer for the Obama Campaign, especially as to recent remarks by Senator McCain, and he isn’t as great as he and others think as to Town Halls or other formats. The Obama camp have many like Wesley Clark and other knowledgable Veterans of our Military who have more than just his back, as well as the many running on the same ticket for federal offices.