Just say no to corporations

Friday, June 30, 2006

The Dark Side

The PBS program Fontline [link] has a very good program on Dick Cheney and the lead up to the war in Iraq, called "The Dark Side" [link]. As of the time that I am writing this, you can watch it online, but I'm not sure how long that will last. It mostly just confirms a lot of information that I already suspected, but it's very worth the 90 minutes.

Friday, June 23, 2006

The Doctrine of Preemption/Prevention

First, I would like to point out that what today is commonly referred to as "preemption" is really "prevention." Preemption relative to foreign policy would be to, for example, attack the Japanese fleet on their way to Pearl Harbor - essentially meeting their attack before it begins. Prevention, however, would be to attack Japan itself before the fleet ever leaves. For the US to preemptively attack Iraq, Iraq would have to be in the act of attacking the US. Even the official justification for war was preventative rather than preemptive.

Prevention, as it applies to the "War on Terror" is a unique, distinctly Orwellian break from tradition. In the past, domestic laws as well as foreign policy were based on punishment as a deterrent. In domestic law, this is quite obvious. A person is punished for the acts that they commit, not for the acts that they may commit in the future. During the cold war, the US did not attack Soviet missile sites, they simply accepted the concept of mutually assured destruction - that the response to an initial nuclear strike was a sufficient deterrent to prevent nuclear war.

The traditional method of punishment as a deterrent is not effective against people who do not fear punishment. Obviously, someone who is willing to give his own life to kill Americans would not be deterred by traditional methods. Therefore, it is understandable that some preventative measures must be taken to prevent attacks, but it is clearly not a simple issue to prosecute people who may may only intend to commit a crime.

Until the technology exists to simultaneously monitor everyone for "dangerous thoughts" while at the same time, drilling hour after hour of government propaganda into us, there will be people who get away with wanting to do horrible things. We can never be 100% secure when half the world hates us.

Thursday, June 22, 2006

Missile Defense Systems and Public Relations

The treaty-breaking US missile defense system, now in the news again in light of the North Korean missile test, is analagous to the Bush administration's policy's in general - that they will do whatever the hell they want, and deal with opposition as a separate, completely unrelated issue. Other countries build weapons to protect their soverenty from US aggression. In response, rather than reconsider the policies that jeopardize our security, they break more laws and spend billions on a missile defense system that is almost completely ineffective, making us far less secure than we were initially.

This is one of the central themes of Bush administration policy. If the public wouldn't approve of Bush's illegal policies, don't change the policies, just do your best to make sure no one ever finds out about them. If terrorists want to attack American citizens, don't address the reason millions of people around the world hate us so much, just do your best to kill or "detain" everyone that doesn't like us or may potentially not like us in the future. If violent crime is up, don't try to figure out why, just make sure to execute all of the criminals.

Thursday, June 15, 2006

Lessons from Howard Stern

Lately, Ann Coulter has been all over promoting her new book. Liberal and Democratic pundits both are furious about her outrageous statements so much that they play right into her hands.

She (or at least the character she plays on TV) is a raving lunatic, completely undeserving of any attention because that negative attention by people like Al Franken is precisely what makes her so popular. The things that she writes and says are so heartless and cruel, so unacceptable by all but the most amoral conservatives, that I have to believe that the only reason that she is number one on the New York Times bestseller list is because liberals can't stop talking about her.

This will be the last time I ever mention her because to address her arguments would give them a credibility that they simply don't deserve.

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

The Nature of Leadership

Congress refused to act when the Bush administration, without a court order, taps the phones of a still unknown number of American citizens. Then it was revealed that the NSA has also been compiling an extensive database of millions of calls made by ordinary Americans. Congress still refused to act. Then, with a warrant, federal investigators searched the office of a congressman who was caught on tape taking bribes, and was found to have a hundred thousand dollars in cash hidden in his freezer. Suddenly, there is an overwhelming bipartisan cry that the Bush administration has abused their power.

It seems to me that corruption is a fundamental aspect of leadership. Whoever is in power is necessarily corrupt to at least some degree, because that is what it takes to gain power. Noble, benevolent leaders can rarely compete with the corrupt, power-hungry individuals who will do whatever it takes to gain power. As leaders rise to higher and higher offices, the more ruthlessness they need to be to compete with their rivals.