Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Screw the Freedom Fries—Passez-Moi Le Beaujolais


Remember democracy? You know, before there were Madison Avenue political machines or Diebold 3-card montey brand ballot boxes. C'mon, think back...democracy...when the will of the people was clearly heard by government, and the latter responded positively with the kind of changes the people demonstrably desired.

No? Can't remember? Well, try a visit to Bill O'Reilly's favorite country, where the government yesterday bowed to the clearly expressed will of the people, and scrapped the fire-who-you-want-when-you-want law that the corporations had forced upon the nation. For an incisive commentary on this throwback moment for democracy, see Barbara Ehrenreich's column.

The most astonishing thing about the outcome in France is that the government was even there to respond. You see, here in America, we had a fairly robust protest today (albeit featuring...you know...wannabee Americans). But our government isn't around for the next two weeks. It's...um...on vacation...again.

J'aime Paris en le printemps...

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Corruption Update: Jonathan Landay of Knight-Ridder, one of my favorite journalists, has this Q&A review of Plamegate/Leakgate or whatever you'd like to call it—replete with all the contradictory statements, lies, and distortions, conveniently summarized in a single page of text.

And speaking of new names for misbegotten and poorly managed things, the Bushies are busy making up new slogans again, to replace the ones that are too tainted with decadence and incompetence to put into their press briefings any longer. And wouldn't you know it, they chose "The Long War" as their new phrase of the time.

What's yet to be determined, of course, is a name for the nuclear bombing of Iran. So far, suggestions have centered around tidy images that clean-living Americans can relate to:



Operation Bunker-Buster Feather Duster

Irano-Drano

Operation Nuclear Spring

Fission Accomplished

Armageddon Lite

But according to inside sources at the Pentagon, the frontrunner among the boys there sounds rather more ominous: Teheran-a-saurus Wrecks.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

"To achieve victory the US military will have to change dramatically, he says. Like the terrorists it will have to build international networks, Gen Kimmitt says, making better use of "soft power" - diplomacy, finance, trade and technology."

Wait a sec. Diplomacy? Did you run that statement by your Commander in Chief? Does that make sense? We are preparing for a global war and plan to nuke Iran before the All-Star Break. Yet, "diplomacy, finance, trade and technology" are going to be our weapons? Sounds like a spinjob to me.

Brian Donohue said...

Ably spoken like a true baseball fan, NRN. Ah spring: the crack of the bat, the pop of ball and mitt, and the groan of neuromuscular cellular structures beneath the chemical weight of anabolic assistants. America: millionaires on steroids, government on violence, children on quarter-pounders, Congress on vacation. Turn on the TV, and let's watch Armageddon...