Must read in Teheran, Rangoon, Havana...
... Minsk, Pyongyang and Harare. The minions of the despots who control Iran, Burma, Cuba, Belarus, North Korea and Zimbabwe can spend as much time as they want combing yesterday's presidential inauguration speech for hidden signals, or they can note this sentence and report it, if they dare, to their rulers: "So it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world." There you have the Bush agenda.
Loved this line, by the way, with its nods towards the barbarity of 20th century fascism and the disgrace of 19th century colonialism: "Across the generations we have proclaimed the imperative of self-government, because no one is fit to be a master, and no one deserves to be a slave." Not, of course, that the 19th and 20th centuries are part of the past for everyone. In the Sudan, they're part of the daily horror.
The message delivered by President Bush yesterday was crystal clear: it is only through the expansion of democracy that security is possible, at home and abroad. In the near term, this means he's staying the course in Iraq. In the long term? Well, inaugural speeches are never very big on policy details so get ready for four memorable years.
Meanwhile, Davids Medienkritik has an excellent post on how one very cultivated German newspaper marked the inauguration. With an obituary for the president, no less. Charming. By the way, isn't it awfully sad to see Griel Marcus reduced to this?
Comments
Yes Eamo, it's time for the Texas Turd and his minions to party. Too bad you weren't invited...
As the families of bomb-flattened Fallujah huddle in make-shift refugee camps, drinking from sewage-filled streams, Iraqi policy mastermind Paul Wolfowitz fastens the last stud into his starched collar.
As the Iraq Survey Group ends its search for WMD, concluding that there was no imminent mushroom cloud or even a smoking gun, Condi Rice draws herself a hot bath.
As Sgt. Kevin Benderman, an Army mechanic with nine years of service, refuses a second deployment to Iraq, saying "you just don't know how bad it is," Colin Powell pours himself a drink.
As Specialist Charles A. Graner, miscreant and major-domo of Abu Ghraib, shuffles off to prison, Donald Rumsfeld straightens the black tie of his tux.
As prisoners charged with no crimes, and given no recourse, languish in the hellhole of Guantanamo Bay, torture apologist Alberto Gonzales clicks his cufflinks into place.
As Dan Rather retires in disgrace over forged documents, former CIA Director George Tenet, proponent of forged documents about Iraq's nonexistent nuclear program, adjusts the Medal of Freedom around his neck.
As Osama bin Laden chuckles in his cave to see America's fortunes sink in the morass of Iraq and as fresh recruits to his cause multiply like flies, Dick Cheney pops the cork on a bottle of Dom Perignon.
As the Republican Congress gets ready to underfund everything from Head Start to veterans' benefits, Speaker Dennis Hastert checks his profile in the mirror.
As Pfc. Francis Obaji, oldest son of an immigrant Nigerian family, is zipped into a body bag for the sad journey home, Laura Bush zips up her Oscar de la Renta gown.
And as his corporate pals, forgetting for a moment the bottom line that forces them to ship jobs overseas, slide their millions across the table to dance at his ball, George W. Bush pulls on his snakeskin boots.
Meanwhile, 5 Iraqi children witness their parents being gunned down by America's 'liberators' because they failed to stop at a checkpoint. Just look at the picture for fuck's sake! http://www.ireland.com/ITImage/urlpicture_id_1104400413154_20050119/iraqichild.jpg - Irish Times: "An Iraqi child screams after her parents were killed when US soldiers opened fire on a car which they say failed to stop, despite warning shots, in Tal Afar, Iraq, on Tuesday. As King George doesn't read the papers, he's unlikely to read about the horrors in present-day Iraq.
Nowadays the deaths of US soldiers, America's replaceable generation, barely get a mention in the weedy US media. Sad really.
So Eamo, nice one. The crowning of King George means four more years of war and death. If that's what turns you on, too bad. Maybe it's time you signed up and joined those 'liberators' so we don't have to read your cretinous self-righteous drivel anymore.
Me, I just think about those shots of Bush's motorcade cruising down Pennsylvania Avenue, heading for Nightmare Term II, as people booed and threw eggs and turned their backs in disgust. Jefferson rode horseback to his inauguration. Carter walked. Bush, the most hated American president worldwide ever, needed to be protected in an armoured-plated car.
Hmm. American dream, global nightmare.
As regards Griel Marcus's article - do we have to wait till 2018?
Posted by: Ted | January 21, 2005 5:02 PM
Ted
Isn't it time you got your own blog? Your comments are longer than the entries here. I'm sure someone would read your stuff daily. Go for it and you can destroy Eamonn by taking away all his visitors!
Posted by: Henry F. | January 21, 2005 6:40 PM
Gee, Ted, to respond to something well thought out and making a specific and worthy point with name-calling and small-minded irrelevant comparisons seems really out of place. Sure there are casualties, remember to start counting the casualties with the approx. three thousand casualties on 9/11 ... to juxtapose one soldiers failure of nerve with Colin Powel; what value is that? What is your point? Sure there is suffering over there, not over here ... that's the purpose of the policy. I get the point: you're mad. It might be worth your time to try to get at what it is in your personal life that is at the root of your anger.
Best.
Posted by: Al C. | January 22, 2005 10:21 PM