In our previous post, I asked a question: Do you think that anyone at the 2012 Democratic convention might care to apologize for the crap-fest of 2008? Reader Gary asked, in a comment, "Apologize for what?"
Finally -- and perhaps worst of all -- we have to face the Big Lie that "there were problems on both sides." Bullshit. The lies came 100 percent from Axelrod's shop, from the Kossacks, from the Obots. That is an incontrovertible fact of history.
Never forget. Never forgive.
If you feel a need to vote against Romney in 2012, I can sympathize. The lesser of two evils is still evil -- but he's still also the lesser of two evils. I refuse to join (or even to print) the loopy fantasists who pretend that we have more than two choices; in this system, as things stand, we do not.
But even if you do vote against Romney in 2012, do not forget the outrageous, disgusting, historically vile behavior of Obama's hordes throughout 2008. Do not forget the false promises he made or the filthy campaign he ran.
By no means am I asking you to romanticize Hillary Clinton: As Secretary of State, as someone who chose to represent this whoredom of an administration instead of representing the public interest in the Senate, she has proven herself unworthy of your adulation. Nevertheless, maintaining a realistic attitude toward Hillary does not require us to make excuses for the inexcusable behavior of the Obots in 2008.
We warned "progressives" about Obama. We told them what he was really like. We told them that he never spoke out against the Iraq war after that one speech in 2002 (given before an audience that would have tossed tomatoes had he taken a pro-war stance). We told everyone that Obama was a secret supporter of NAFTA, even though he claimed otherwise. We predicted further assaults on our civil liberties. We prophesied that he would keep the wars going. We presumed that he would fight for more "free trade" and more outsourcing of American jobs. We knew that he would never consider single payer health insurance. We suspected that he would do little or nothing to clean up the mess on Wall Street. We told the world that he has never in his life helped any black person not named Obama. We revealed that his entire history reeked of hackery and whoredom.
They laughed at us. They called us racist simply because we would not vote the way they told us to vote.
NEVER FORGIVE THEM. NEVER.
And now, dear readers -- do you have any further words of education for Gary?
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Gary-- get a clue. Joe--go. (If we're having to miss a Panthers home game for the O'fest, I'd love to get a report on the for-sure agitation that'll be there. Make sure you steer clear of any NC police-- they think they're LAPD.)
In 2008 -- 2007, actually -- I pestered the DNC early to get credentials for the convention. Then Obama sewed up the nomination after waging a horrendously unfair and infuriating campaign, and I decided that there were better ways to spend my time.
Today I was invited to attend the 2012 convention in Charlotte, North Carolina. It's only a day's drive away, presuming we have the car fixed by then. And presuming that I am not living in the dire straits of direness, as I have been for the past year.
Let's say, hypothetically, that financial matters improve. Should I attend? I have to admit that I'm feeling some curiosity. How many Democrats on the floor will actually admit to liking Obama nowadays? Will anyone apologize for the crap-fest of '08?
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Please decide to go and have us, your readers, the pleasure of helping fund your trip. I will pledge $25 for the trip. I hope you can get people to open up about their real feelings about Obama and the mess last convention. If you are note there I will just have to sleep thru it to get thru it. Put in a pledge button to fund this trip.
alibe, you remind me of a sad fact. Last time I ran a fundraiser, I pledged to do a damned comic book. Which still remains on its hard drive. And I have not worked on it because I'd rather eat a raw prickly pear cactus than re-draw anything. So if I get ANY money for any reason, I should fix that hard drive problem and stay up here in the attack and draw my damned comic book.
Joe, you should really reconsider. You'd be a great convention "analyst" and I know your many fans would be tuning in for each and every convention dispatch.
As for your comic book project, one week more won't matter much. You might even witness things at the convention that will inspire and inform your story. I know that some of your "patrons" have been moaning and groaning about your failure to delver the goods, but if you post another fundraiser for the project, I'd be the first to pitch in some more bucks. I have full faith that you'll finish the project this year, and I'd meant to contribute earlier but never got around to it.
posted by Inky : 12:21 PM
"I've had dates that began that way."
Haven't we all? I'd love to get your take on the convention.
posted by ralphb : 1:47 PM
It is more fun to cause trouble inside of the machine than to just bang on the protective casing outside. For that reason alone you should go.
The comic book can wait, we can't. There will be no one with your eye telling us about what is really happening. I can not deal with, listen to, watch any lame stream media kissing the a** of obama. For our sake, please go. F... the comic book. Just do not get arrested.
lambert, Part 1 is what's trapped inside a dead hard drive. What would be more interesting is to try to come up with a cool way to go directly to part 2.
Seriously, I've got to get out of the game of $ales illu$tration. I can't handle the redos anymore. Not long ago, I told a good friend that I couldn't work for him any more because I just can't take the incessant changes that are an inevitable part of commercial art. Truth be told, I had a complete Charlie-Chaplin-at-the-beginning-of-"Modern-Times" freakout.
Do you recall the "Poochy" episode of the Simpsons? Do remember the guy at the drafting table who actually had to draw Poochy while people in suits stood around him and yelled insane directives? ("Rastafarianize him by 15 percent!")
I've been THAT GUY for about thirty years now.
And I just can't take it any more!
That's why I really want to do that stupid comic book. It's something I can be in charge of.
No redos unless I say it is to be redone. God. Sounds like heaven.
I'll get back to politics soon. Right now, I'm working on Leonardo stuff in my spare time -- to the degree that I can spare some spare time. Which brings us to our poser for the day:
Look at the Vitruvian Man drawing. Question: How many of you know why the circle is where it is? And why it is the size it is?
For some reason, you won't find the answer anywhere on that Wikipedia page. Neither will you find it in most other websites and books which talk about this drawing.
Yet the solution is childishly obvious.
If you're tempted to blather on about the "golden ratio" or the pentagram or the heptagram -- FAIL! The answer is a lot more obvious than that. What puzzles me is why more people don't see fit to mention it.
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A continuation of the arcs described by the movement of the four limbs?
posted by Mr. Mike : 6:54 AM
First prototype of American Gladiators Atlasphere?
JSDuder
posted by Anonymous : 8:24 AM
It's centered on his navel.
posted by Viowacity : 9:31 AM
Good catch, Viowacity. But why is the circle that size?
Hint: The answer has nothing to do with the drawing of the man. Even if there were no guy in the picture, Leonardo still would have derived that circle from that square -- same sizes, same positions, same relationship between the two geometrical objects.
The answer is so insanely simple you'll just crap when you find out.
One takes the square, rotates it 45 degrees, and the top of the rotated square becomes the top of the circle. Then, one finds the middle-point between the bottom of the middle square (at the center) and the top point of the rotated square. Once that middle-point is found, one can take a compass & draw the circle starting from either the top or the bottom/center.
Hoarseface -- you got it! There's only one problem with what you say: The circle and the square do NOT have the same area.
"Squaring the circle" is an ancient problem, and Leonardo was obsessed with it. After his time, it was proven to be impossible to square the circle.
However, there's a fellow on the net -- I don't have the link at the moment -- who has used the Vitruvian Man glyph to create a circle with the same area as the square. It's more complicated than I can go into here.
A geometer would not simply rotate the square, of course. You're supposed to create an octagram using just a compass and straight edge. You do this using a technique you learned about in high school -- and promptly forgot. (If you're like me, that is.)
Basically, you place the point of the compass on one corner of the square, then draw an arc that passes directly through the center. You'll divide the line in a ratio known as "the sacred cut."
Sorry -- I know that term sounds new agey. But the nomenclature is ancient and thus pretty much inescapable.
Leonardo was obsessed with octagons. You see octagon after octagon in his notebooks. I haven't seen any evidence that he cared about any other geometrical construction. All this talk about Leonardo's use of the so-called "golden ratio" is hooey, as far as I can see.
There is a LOT more to be said about this -- especially in regard to the Last Supper and the de Ganay version of the Salvator Mundi. (Hint: Look closely at the design in the leather band of the Salvator Mundi -- either the de Ganay or the "authenticated" Cook version.)
"owever, there's a fellow on the net -- I don't have the link at the moment -- who has used the Vitruvian Man glyph to create a circle with the same area as the square."
I should have said that he claims that he can do this with 99 percent accuracy. No one can devise a 100 percent accurate method.
Basically, there are two small dots on or near the clavicles of the Vitruvian Man. Place the point of the compass there.
Link to the article by Tom Pastorello, saying Leonardo squared the circle with straightedge and compass (or rather, he almost did, because it's impossible).
posted by b : 2:27 AM
Templar crosses and the Dome of the Rock and Ishtar and stuff.
FWIW, I didn't know the answer ahead of time - but when the initial comments didn't provide an answer, I went looking for it myself.
And while I didn't mention that the areas of the square and circle were not perfectly equal, I was aware of it when I posted my comment and chose to omit that detail.
I was aware of it because it's addressed in the page I found that gave me the answer:
http://www.world-mysteries.com/sci_17_vm.htm
Which, for someone like myself who didn't want to spend too much time on the matter, gives a pretty good summary of the geometry involved along with helpful visual aides.
So it's not that I already knew the answer because of the profound breadth and depth of my knowledge, it's that I took the 10 minutes to do some Googling to find it.
posted by Hoarseface : 2:01 PM
Apropos pretty much nothing:
I think "Vitruvian" is an excellent name for an erectile dysfunction drug.
For those who've made inquiries: Yeah, I will be back soon. I've got to attend to some money-earning duties. Beyond that, I've been creating what should be a major video project concerning the Salvator Mundi recently attributed to Leonardo da Vinci.
Leonardo certainly had a hand in this work. I speak literally: I can't imagine anyone other else painting that upraised hand. Nevertheless, I believe that large sections were painted by a student or associate. My ladyfriend and I have long favored another version, previously owned by the de Ganay family, as the original. That painting was sold at auction in 1999 -- and if you can tell us who now possesses the thing, we'd be very grateful.
More on that soon. The video will, I promise, blow minds.
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A quick question about Romney's taxes. What's stopping him from giving us false forms?
Years ago, back in the 80s, a guy who worked at a bank told me that if someone applying for a home loan hands in a tax form with false info, the bank had no way to double-check. Is there any way to verify Romney's data?
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No way to check unless one has a "friend" at the IRS. On the other hand, preparing a fake one, as complicated as Romney's finances must be, would not be so easy. It would certainly be as scrutinized as the Shroud of Turin."
In this day of tabloid media he's be nuts as there is always somebody with an ax to grind and a penchant for easy money.
posted by Mr. Mike : 6:31 AM
You're right of course.
But what I worry about more is the fact he's only releasing one year. I'm betting he's structured his monies such that they don't look nearly as rapacious in the past 4 or 6 years as they do earlier.
He might've been ropadoping this whole time to make everyone slaver over his form(s) and when he releases the single cleansed year the media will go back to the black Muslim Socialist in the WH.
posted by Pennelope Pennebaker : 6:58 AM
In any case, the important years are not those since he has been running for president. The interesting ones are from his days at Bain where he could easily have millions which he has never paid any taxes on, such as those in the Caymans.
I'm betting those are never released.
posted by ralphb : 3:05 PM
Absolutely Ralphb. Spot on.
Harry
posted by Anonymous : 5:50 AM
Well, the IRS would know. And forging a Federal document is a relatively serious crime. Seems to me that the flower of issues that grows from that seed is pretty bright in color, and produces enough petals cover the whole of an empress's bed.
posted by Tiro : 7:13 AM
we miss you Joe and hope you and Bella are safe, healthy and well fed
This is a political blog, not a Weird Shit blog. But the political realm -- and life in general -- has left me feeling awfully bleak and blue in recent weeks. So let's welcome some good news: The Apocalypse is nigh!
At least, such is the purport of a mysterious set of videos popping up all over YouTube. These clips document a worldwide phenomenon -- strange, loud, unearthly sounds that have been heard in various locations around the world. A flurry of "unidentified auditory phenomenon" reports came pouring in from all over the world on January 12, 2012, and again on January 17. Near as I can tell, the first wave of videos documenting these sounds showed up in March of 2011, with another outburst in August of 2011.
I know what you're thinking: How do we know that these videos do not constitute a massive con job? Faking up a presentation of this sort would be child's play. Perhaps we are witnessing a viral, global leg-pull.
My response: Dude, you're harshing my buzz. I prefer to think that the Apocalypse is nigh.
On occasion, teevee news has reported on the incidents -- for example, ITN. So has the Huffington Post. Also see here and here. And here. As you'll see, at least one sports broadcast has been interrupted by these audio events.
At this point, I can offer no explanation. Can't even provide you with one of my characteristically outre theories. (Some folks are talking HAARP. Boring! There are people who blame HAARP if a cat coughs up a fur ball.) All you can do is check out the vids and come to your own conclusions.
This one comes from the Czech Republic:
Here's Conklin, Alberta, Canada. This is, perhaps, the most popular of the videos, even though it is almost certainly fake:
Costa Rica coming up. This one is more musical, more David Lynchian...
More on the Costa Rica sitch. Translation, anyone?
Helsinki, Finland, January 17, 2012 (sounding a bit too Hollywood, alas):
Same date, Boulder, CO:
Same date, same sound, Nottingham, England:
Same date, Thunder Bay:
Same date, NYC. Subtle, but cute:
Same date, Philly. Alas, this one sounds quite dubious, like a music track slowed down:
Badajoz, Spain, January 18, 2012:
Belgium, January 19, 2012:
Apparently, something similar occurred worldwide in September of 2011. For some reason, this interesting compilation segues into a commercial for a truly hideous product:
Same damned thing occurred in the south of France (always an epicenter for weirdness) in March of 2011. Here, as elsewhere, the sound resembles the noise emitted by the tripods in the Spielberg version of War of the Worlds:
At the same time France got hit, this occurred in New Jersey:
Poland, August, 2011. This one sounds cool, but methinks I hear indications of Adobe Audition at work...
Take me out to the ball game...
Kiev, in the Ukraine. August, 2011. A news report, in a language I do not understand...
Same time period, St. Petersburg, Florida (this one is subtle)...
Moscow, also in August...
Sweden, again in August...
Unspecified date and locale. But the audio is, like, totally cool.
There are many more such videos on YouTube. Let me say it again: Yes, I know that such presentations are easy to fake. I could do a damned good job of it myself in little more than an hour. But right now, I prefer to ignore your bah-humbuggery, so pooh your poohs elsewhere. In my present mood, just about the only thing that could cheer me up is a really top notch Armageddon.
And popcorn. And beer.
(Wait a minute...! If the world does end in 2012, we'll never find out how Sherlock did what he did at the end of season 2!)
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Why does a strage sound automatically equate to death and the end of the world? Remember sonic booms from supersonic aircraft?
posted by Anonymous : 8:04 AM
Friend of mine "witnessed" one of these mysterious sounds one county over from me. It was also reported by dozens of people and was on the local news. Strange booming sounds have been heard consistently off the coast of NC for centuries.
For now: solar induced magnetic activity. I'll start worrying about The End when I see Mothman.
When our house cat neared the end of her journey across this mortal coil she kept trying to sneak out of the house to die alone and in peace. She knew her demise was imminent.
Could that feeling be universal and explain the malaise gripping people across the globe?
We feel the end is near and the noises are a sign?
Nah!
It's probably the thought of four more years of Obama-iocrity.
posted by Mr. Mike : 9:50 AM
Probably like something that happened in southern Utah in the early 1980s.
I had gotten into wilderness deep enough that I thought I was outside the backpackers reach.
Some women backpackers,the next day, came down the creek complaining of weird noises all night long.
Wasn't weird. I was listening to The Clash, Siouxsie and the Banshees and Motorhead, etc. cranked up to ten on my boom box.
The canyons just produced strange echos. They were leaving so it didn't bother me and I didn't explain.
posted by Anonymous : 12:31 PM
I read this before sleeping and had some really great dreams - thanks!
As far as being easily faked, hmmm. I looked at the link in which a music producer recreates the sound. It didn't sound like the original to me at all. So, faked, probably. Easily faked, probably not. Especially the vids with the same sound.
If one simply takes the sound from other vids, as the producer suggests, one will also take the incidental sounds. And separating incidental sounds from bg noise takes great expertise and expensive equipment.
Wait a minute...this is the 21st! the world was supposed to end on 1/21/12!
posted by prowlerzee : 5:35 PM
I think your subconscious has successfully cracked another mystery. One might suspect Moriarty but only a mastermind named Benedict Cumberbatch could be responsible for these strange sounds, rehearsing for Smaug of course. Wonderful series can’t wait for the 3rd set, although it is scheduled for release post-appocalypse.
posted by arbusto205 : 9:14 PM
Twice I heard a strange sound in the environment this past week or so. One or both occasions were around the 17th, but not postive on the day.
One sound episode was late at night. Heard something from inside. I opened the door and went outside to take a look. Sound was mysterious. It was windy and the sound faded shortly after I opened the door. I didn't think about this event again until just now, reading your post.
I also heard a sound I couldn't explain during the afternoon. This event I wondered about more because it came from the sky. Your post immediately brought this event to mind. I vaguely wondered what that sound might have been for a couple days.
The stranger sound was the one I had heard at night -- the night sound was more mysterious, more screeching. Sleepy, I convinced myself there was a small hurricane passing.
Maybe there was a funny weather system that night. Maybe that afternoon there was a plane or storm above the clouds I couldn't see. I didn't know about the videos, nor had I heard of such reports. However, I can't recalling having been perplexed by such sounds previous to this past week.
Jotman @ 11:44 reminded me of my parent's house that had metal weather stripping around the entrance doors. On a windy day it would vibrate like a reed in a wind insturment producing all srots of moans.
posted by Mr. Mike : 7:34 AM
I swear it was an old czech noise band Einleitungzeit.
Purenoiz
posted by Anonymous : 11:10 AM
I believe, so I hope it's the Apocalypse! However, the sounds remind me of alien invasions. I'm scared!
Thanks for dragging my mind away from politics and toward a more heavenly perspective. I still think the current clowns won't make it to the red ticket. Jeb is waiting in the wings.
I heard on the local radio's news program that the (don't drop the) SOPA bill is headed back to committee. Question is will Congress do the right thing or sneak it back out as is after the hubbub dies down. I'm betting on the back door option knowing Obama.
posted by Mr. Mike : 9:22 AM
Mr. Mike
It depends on how honest a politician O is. Remember, an honest politician is one who stays bought.
For those concerned about how the banks are stealing homes, you can get involved by signing protest petitions at Change dot org.
Banks regularly practice parallel foreclosure. While accepting homeowners into government sponsored mortgage programs, they simultaneously foreclose on a person's home, then resell it, even if the homeowner was complying with terms of the government program!
If you decide to sign the protest petitions, don't feel obligated to list your real address, zip code or local city, list a fake one. However, you should probably use a real name and real email address.
If Obama, Pelosi, and Reid are not against this they are for it, on orders from their Wall Street masters.
Rather that the thinly disguised health insurance company bail out the House should have been holding hearings on why the financial meltdown happed, who was responsible, and seeing to it they were prosecuted. Instead we got Pelosi turning a blind eye just as she did with her refusal to look into how Bush was able to invade Iraq.
posted by Mr. Mike : 4:35 AM
Good luck in dealing with whatever issues.
Harry
posted by Anonymous : 4:44 AM
I hope everything in real life goes OK and you are back soon.
posted by Anonymous : 6:05 AM
Mr. Mike, I assume that Change dot org might have some connection to Obama or Move on dot org.
What I find ironic is that Change dot org kind of proves that Obama probably could have done more good spearheading this group than being president.
Either way, parallel foreclosure is wrong and helping homeowners fight back against the bank is a good thing.
Well, to be frank, if I come back, I'll be "shopping" for a new audience. Most of the readers I have now seem to want me to become a Ron Paulie. Paulism is the "thing" now, just as Obamaism was the "thing" back in 2008.
Naturally, then as now, my job is to be Mr. Contrary.
So if this site is to continue, it may be rebranded purely in terms of strict anti-libertarianism. Take it or leave it!
Sounds like a plan to me Joseph. Personally, I come here precisely because of your contrary nature. There are things Ron Paul supports that I do to, and that Liberals are supposed to support as well, but I can't vote for any Libertarian for any reason, just so we're clear (I support Democracy, not anarchy, after all). I just wish some of those things were supported more by so-called Liberal politicians (and, heck, even citizens) than just Kucinich and a couple other marginal Dems. I suppose though, that is the USA we find ourselves in......leaning so far to the right that Liberals have to become righties to seem like they are centrists. Anyway, hope you come back soon and that your real world problems get resolved.
posted by Gus : 6:29 AM
Keep doing your thing Joseph. I enjoy your critical thinking on the many topics you broach, especially objections to libertarianism and President Obama. I may not comment much but know that you have a big fan over here. And to leave on as farcical a note as Ron Paul, Bobbabooie 20012.
JSDuder
posted by Anonymous : 6:46 AM
I hope your personal issues recede rapidly, Joseph.
There is a similar swoon for Paul In the UK. Amazing, the misunderstandings about our politics and even the character of the American People. Craig Murray just as ignorant.
Ben Franklin
posted by Anonymous : 8:30 AM
So if this site is to continue, it may be rebranded purely in terms of strict anti-libertarianism. Take it or leave it!
I'll take it!
Honestly, I can not understand how people can pick the one or two issues that they agree with regarding Ron Paul while ignoring the cumulative insanity of the bulk of his positions.
Going strictly anti-libertarianism wouldn't hurt my feelings one bit. Personally, I'm sick to death of hearing about Ron Paul and his 'few good things.' Picked up a vid today where Paul claimed the Transportation Dept, could be reduced 1 guy and a computer.
Really?
Hope you're back on the air soon in whatever configuration.
Peggy Sue
posted by Anonymous : 2:21 PM
Anti-libertarian forces need some unifying themes -- one part neo-New Deal, one part anti-corporado and maybe one part Catholic Worker. A little Michael Harrington, mixed with Russ Feingold and Abbie Hoffman.
That's what I'm looking for, Rich -- some suggestions as to the direction.
Also, being a graphics guy, I'm thinking of a site revamp. Maybe a new name. For the past couple of years, I've been toying with the idea of a blog that looks the way a blog might have looked if there were blogs in the 19th century. But now...perhaps a change.
Propaganda posters are ripe for satire. An idea for your metamorphosed return: http://www.commiesutra.com/wp-content/images/fascism.jpg Hurry home. I miss you.
I find it amusing how many comments there are here, when compared to how many there have been on your recent run-of-the-mill posts.
As a long-time reader, I understand your desire for a change of direction and/or readership. An old drug dealer of mine used to briefly shut down every 6-9 months just to rid himself of the riff-raff, then resume & retain only the good, discreet clients. Maybe the same principle would work for you (I bet M. Yglesias took an immediate readership hit when he moved from ThinkProgress to Slate).
I have no problem with an anti-Libertarian focus - not that you'd give a shit even if I did, and that's part of why I keep visiting. My only advice would be to focus more on libertarian policy initiatives and their intellectual bankruptcy rather than libertarian label itself.
Whatever you choose to do, I hope you keep posting, and post things that make YOU happy - and to hell with the readership. Please yourself first; the rest will follow (or won't, but clearly, that's not a concern). As long as the posts keep coming, I'll keep reading - for reasons I can't easily articulate (habit?), I still read Xymphora, and s/he has barely written a sentence worth reading in years... so you'll have to try pretty hard to alienate me to the point of indifference.
----------------
On a completely separate note, I've found myself wondering recently if we're in the midst of a seismic shift in the dominant political philosophy. The way I understand it, Republicans were dominant in the first 30 years of so of the 20th century; Then the Depression, FDR & the New Deal ushered in a roughly 30-40 year span of Democratic dominance. In the late 70's/early 80's, the Republican worldview became the dominant force in American politics again. I wonder if we're seeing the twilight of that dominance, and an ascendency of a new era of progressive/liberal/democratic political dominance.
Just an random thought, but the winds seem to be shifting. While I'd broadly agree on the readiness of the right/libertarian movement to grasp opportunities presented by an immediate crisis, I wonder if that's more on the downswing instead of the up. Even if my sense is correct, there's years to go yet before it could become entrenched and resilient enough to resist those impulses.
posted by Hoarseface : 2:38 PM
I would LOVE it if you focused on anti-liberatarianism. It seems like this is a big-important issue. And anti Paul-ism. I'm all for it. Kansas (where I live) has always teetered toward it. And I could use all the resources to fight it that I can get my hands on. Or eyes. Whatever.
Of course the car-bombings of Iranian nuke scientists are the work of Israel. Even the New York TimesandFox News point in that direction, which means that the artist wants a signature on his canvas. What's interesting is the methodology: There are quieter, subtler ways to kill people.
The Obama administration has strongly denied any involvement. However, the Jerusalem Post, citing a respected blogger named Richard Silverstein (who in turn cites an Israeli intelligence source), claims that Mossad trained terrorists from the People's Mujahedin of Iran (MEK), and that the US was necessarily involved. Silverstein's blog post is here; come to your own assessment.
What’s disingenuous about this approach is that the U.S. and Israel are joined at the hip in this black ops war against Iran. They developed Stuxnet with Israel. The very same MEK terrorists sticking magnetic bombs to the car doors of Iranian scientists are the ones our government is considering giving a clean bill of health by removing them from the terror list.
Silverstein goes on to ask the right question:
If Iran were assassinating Israeli scientists or the Soviet Union assassinated Edward Teller or J. Robert Oppenheimer does anyone in their right mind believe it wouldn’t arouse a fierce backlash against the perpetrators?
Conclusion: The Israelis hope to provoke a reaction. The car bombings cannot seriously slow the Iranian nuke program, but they can prod Iran to retaliate. In doing so, Iran would give the U.S. the casus belli which the neocons seek.
Israel wants war.
Why would Obama go along with this dangerous game? Well, I haven't seen much "Obama hates Israel" propaganda this election season. And Obama has raised money at an impressive clip.
A war with Iran would not be surgical, brief, or one-sided. As memorably noted by Gen. Anthony Zinni, if you like Iraq and Afghanistan, you will love Iran. It is a huge country, well-defended, with a fierce sense of nationalism. No air campaign, even if prolonged, will end the problem. Regardless of how a conflict begins, it is most likely to end with lots of boots on the ground. A squad of special forces will not do the job.
Paradoxically, the quickest way to insure that the Iranians decide to go for a bomb may be to bomb them. The most predictable result of a military strike would be Iran's withdrawal from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the ejection of International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors and cameras that watch every step of the Iranian enrichment process.
On the domestic political front: Mitt Romney has given clear signals that he supports the war conspiracy.
Obama? Despite the words written above, he seems to be more of a mixed bag. Although he may be as oily as Romney -- well, almost as oily -- the two men represent differing constituencies. The Democratic party leadership does not want war with Iran. The Demcoratic rank-and-filers, who have put up with an infinitude of crap from this president, will not tolerate that level of military adventurism.
Corrupt Obama may be, but I've never called him a neocon, and I don't think he wants to repeat Dubya's disaster on a larger scale.
On the other hand, it is likely that his administration allowed Israel and MEK to carry out these bombings. My guess is that he intends to play along with the war conspirators until re-election is secured. Until that point, he hopes to keep the pot bubbling without boiling over.
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I think you are right. Its all about the Causus Belli.
Col. Pat Lang's blog notes Panetta's comment about Iran working towards nuclear capabilities but not towards a nuclear weapon. He also notes that the odds of significant resistance to a US Navy intervention in the Gulf are small. US Navy has some pretty awesome capabilities, and its tough to play gorrilla war on the high seas.
Im not 100% convinced but its about tail risks. Did you ever read about the 2002 Millenium Challenge war games? And Admiral Van Riper? It seems to me sometimes entrenched special interests down play risks and play up rewards to get their way.
Like when the King of Lydia went to see the Delphic Oracle about the risks associated with war with Persia.
On another note have you come across the "I was just sh*tting you people" piece from this blog. I just thought it might amuse...
http://paulbibeau.blogspot.com/
Harry
posted by Anonymous : 1:23 PM
Car bombings do send a message to potential nuclear recruits: "We will kill you." Might just affect people who were thinking of getting into the atomic business.
You know, if I was an Ayatollah, I would authorise a program of tit for tat attacks on American and Israeli scientists.
But not right now. Better to just go into the planning stage. After all, doing it carefully avoids many problems.
I might look at other retaliatory measures. After all, what would we do?
Harry
posted by Anonymous : 3:14 AM
I guess I see this one differently or look at it from a different angle. Kind of like what Bob said. I thought it was foolish for Iran to release the information. This unequivocally demonstrates that Iran cannot protect its scientists especially since this is the 4th scientist killed.
The car bomb is a deterrent made to look like a terrorist attack. However, one can also believe that there are people within Iran that do not want to become nuclear because, frankly, it will end badly for them.
Now I do believe Israel is most likely responsible but I have a hard time believing that Iran can do anything about it. If Iran declared war on Israel they'd destabilize the whole region and possibly alienate their own allies in the process. They'd have zero chance in a war and much of their infrastructure would get wiped out.
What is likelier to happen is that Iran arranges some sort of retaliatory terrorist bombing targeting Israeli's. This kind of one upping terrorism could go on indefinitely. The wild card in the whole deal is the USA and the neocon insanity. In my opinion, if war happens it will be because of their influence.
As you've reported they are constantly beating the drum of war with Iran. Now whether it is because Israel wants them to or because they have an undying dream to usher in Armageddon I have no idea. Unfortunately, they are well funded and have considerable influence.
posted by gregoryp : 10:33 AM
Sir, if a gentleman were to pose an artistic project to various persons, say perhaps at kickstarter.com, and yet he defaults on his promise, what would you expect him to do to fulfill his promise?
posted by Anonymous : 3:16 PM
Anon, I would expect him to stay alive. And I would not expect very much out of him if he were without a job, without a single dollar -- no exaggeration -- and scrambling very hard not to be evicted into the cold eastern winter without shelter.
I cannot work on a comic book under these circumstances. I want that more than anything in the world, but I can't. I can't even afford the damned paper. I can't afford ink.
I will as soon as I can, if I survive. But you have NO idea how I am living right now.
If you have any further questions, my address is above.
Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour was once considered a possible candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, despite his strong resemblance to a spoiled squash. At the end of his term of office, Barbour pardoned or gave clemency to more than 200 criminals, including people convicted of murder and other very serious crimes. His predecessor had issued just one pardon.
The Mississippi Attorney General (who happens to be a Democrat) has issued a temporary injunction blocking further prisoner releases, because the state's constitution requires that prisoner requests for pardons be published 30 days beforehand.
The pardon/clemency list includes the brother of New York Jets quarterback Brett Favre. (The brother accidentally killed a friend while driving drunk.) Also pardoned were David Gatlin (recently denied parole), who shot his wife while she held their small son; Anthony McCray, who also shot his wife; socialite Karen Irby, convicted of manslaughter; and Joseph Ozment, who, while committing a robbery, shot a wounded man point blank in the head.
NRA fundamentalists should rejoice: Pardoned individuals are allowed to carry firearms under federal law.
Barbour has issued a statement defending his pardons. You can read it -- festooned with suitably captious commentary -- on a Mississippi-based blog called Cottonmouth.
Barbour's strange activities made me flash on another famous Republican -- Fred Thompson. Although you may know him best as an actor, he was a lawyer before going Hollywood. He played himself in Marie, a fine 1985 film starring Sissy Spacek. The movie tells the story of Marie Ragghianti, who courageously exposed a scandal centering on certain key cronies of Tennessee Governor Ray Blanton, who ran the state from 1975 to 1979. From Wikipedia:
His administration seemed rife with "cronyism", and this became more apparent when Roger Humphreys, a convicted double murderer, was pardoned for his crimes and it became public knowledge that his father was a county chairman for Blanton. It was later discovered that members of Blanton's staff were involved in the apparent sale of pardons.
In January 1979, with his term expiring, the State's Pardon Board began to make a series of pardons that seemed to be either the product of sheer politics or open bribery.
Blanton had fired Marie Ragghianti for exposing the pay-for-pardons scandal. This site has more:
Blanton was never charged in the clemency scandal, but made the ill-advised decision on January 15, 1979 to pardon three prisoners and reduce the sentences of 49 others, including 24 convicted murderers. Receiving the most attention was Roger Humphreys, who had murdered his ex-wife and her lover in 1973 and was not up for parole until 1984. Blanton commuted his sentence to time served. Humphreys, the son of a Blanton campaign manager, had already been subject to cushy treatment, including working as a photographer for the state.
Let's get back to Barbour.
One of the best reviews of the Barbour pardon scandal comes from this site, run by R.S. Ruckman, who specializes in the politics of pardons.
15 of Barbour's recipients had multiple convictions, in multiple years. Almost 30 were found guilty of murder, manslaughter, accessory to murder or the like. One third of them were originally sentenced to life in prison. It appears three literally walked right out of prison (Harper, Kambule and Irby).
Yes, it was a classic example of just about every thing the pardon power should not be. The only thing that seems to be missing, for now, is some hint of "politics" (donors, supporters, friends, relatives, inside influence and the like). But, give it time. Barbour clearly could have spread these decisions over a period of months, if not years, making each one a little more well-considered, a little less suspicious looking and - for those who really were deserving - something barely worth public celebration. But, no, a Republican governor, in the South, and potential presidential nominee has to keep up appearances.
The firm will rely on Barbour and Hurst’s expertise in economic development, strategic planning and government relations. Barbour also will be working for the BGR Group, a Washington lobbying firm he helped establish before he became governor
You can learn more about BGR in this Talking Points Memo story. These lobbyists are tied in with union-busting, a Milwaulkee energy utility called WE Energies, and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. TPM neglects to mention that Walker sold WE Energies to the Koch brothers for "pennies on the dollar."
The Blanton scandal revisited: If the reader will forgive a small side-jaunt into assassination lore, the Ray Blanton scandal of the late 1970s had a strange connection to the murder of Martin Luther King. This site gives part of the story:
Undercover agents, testing how far the administration would go, met with a bodyguard and asked how much it would take to secure the release of James Earl Ray, who had murdered civil rights icon Martin Luther King, Jr. The bodyguard responded that Ray was too high-profile a prisoner for clemency, but it was possible that he could be allowed to escape for the right price (incidentally, Ray did escape in 1977 along with a handful of other inmates; it was unlikely to be a Blanton administration plot, however, since Blanton promptly called in the troops and Ray and his fellow fugitives were recaptured within days).
I have heard -- but cannot now confirm -- that one of the recipients of an otherwise-inexplicable Blanton pardon was a prisoner who helped James Earl Ray to escape. The fact that Blanton called in the troops is neither surprising nor reassuring: Claiming that a prisoner was "shot while trying to escape" is one of the oldest tricks in the book. (There had been several attempts on Ray's life.)
The escape occurred during the House Select Committee on Assassinations hearings. During a little-noticed 1999 civil case brought by Coretta Scott King, it was established that, immediately after Ray's escape, an FBI SWAT team swarmed the woods surrounding Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary. Lewis Stokes, Chairman of the HSCA, called Blanton and pressured him to make sure that the FBI did not kill Ray.
I don't know what Stokes said, but he must have found the right words.
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Some of Abe Lincoln's underlings were selling pardons for prisoners at Camp Douglas. Pardon scandals have been around a while but it does make you wonder where Barbour's overblown head was at.
