Digby's Hullabaloo Posts

Getting Off The Bus

It is a rare day indeed when I am in agreement with anyone over at The Corner, but this is one of those days:

Andrew McCarthy:

For what it’s worth, this is where I get off the bus. The principal mission of the so-called “war on terror” – which is actually a war on militant Islam – is to destroy the capacity of the international network of jihadists to project power in a way that threatens American national security. That is the mission that the American people continue to support.

[…]

Now, if several reports this weekend are accurate, we see the shocking ultimate destination of the democracy diversion. In the desperation to complete an Iraqi constitution – which can be spun as a major step of progress on the march toward democratic nirvana – the United States of America is pressuring competing factions to accept the supremacy of Islam and the fundamental principle no law may contradict Islamic principles.

[…]

But even if I suspended disbelief for a moment and agreed that the democracy project is a worthy casus belli, I am as certain as I am that I am breathing that the American people would not put their brave young men and women in harm’s way for the purpose of establishing an Islamic government. Anyplace.

I guess it all depends on what the definition of “freedom” is.

His argument is that establishing an Islamic theocracy in Iraq furthers the goals of the violent Islamic fundamentalists, which is a big “no shit.” But, of course, the war itself, from the very beginning, has furthered the goals of violent islamic fundamentalists. This is just frosting on the whole fetid cakewalk.

What this really does is put the coda to the last phony cassus belli — that by bringing freedom and democracy to a country in the heart of the middle east we would plant the seeds for a thousand flowers to grow. Now, along with the other rationales, we can throw this one on the “no longer operative” pile.

I got an e-mail from someone I respect asking me why I made such a big deal out of women’s rights being denied when there are so many other freedoms at stake. It’s a legitimate question I suppose, but I think the question answers itself. The fact is that under Saddam, in their everyday lives, one half of the population had more real, tangible freedom than they have now and that they will have under some form of Shar’ia. The sheer numbers of people whose freedom are affected make it the most glaring and tragic symbol of our failed “noble cause.”

Iraqi women have enjoyed secular, western-style equality for more than 40 years. Most females have no memory of living any other way. In order to meet an arbitrary deadline for domestic political reasons, we have capitulated to theocrats on the single most important constitutional issue facing the average Iraqi woman — which means that we have now officially failed more than half of the Iraqis we supposedly came to help. We have “liberated” millions of people from rights they have had all their lives.

This is not to say that an Islamic theocracy is fine in every other way. It will, of course, curb religious freedom entirely. Too bad for the local Jews and Christians — or secularists, of which there were many in Iraq. It will restrict personal freedom in an infinite number of ways. Theocracies require conformity in thought, word and deed.

And all of this must be viewed within the conditions that exist in this poor misbegotten place as we speak. The country is on the verge of civil war. Chaos reigns. Daily life is dangerous and uncomfortable.

It simply cannot be heroic for the richest, most powerful democratic country on earth to claim the mantle of liberator only to create a government that makes more than half the population second class citizens and forces the entire country live in conditions that are less free and more dangerous than before.

It is certainly not acceptable for that country to take any credit for spreading freedom. Creating an Islamic theocracy is anything but noble. It is a moral failure of epic proportions.

Update: James Wolcott notes one of the leading neocon architects of mid-east democracy on Press the Meat this morning explaining all this:

[AEI and PNAC fellow] Reuel Marc Gerecht, discussing the forthcoming Iraqi constitution on Meet the Press, August 21: “Women’s social rights are not critical to the evolution of democracy. We hope they’re there, I think they will be there, but I think we need to keep this perspective.”

[…]

His exact words to MTP guest host David Gregory were, “Actually, I’m not terribly worried about this.”

UpdateII: Here’s the video from our friends at Crooks and Liars

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Good Bloggin’

DC Media Girl has a whole passle of interesting posts up with information I haven’t seen anywhere else. First, she found out that Michelle Malkin is nothing but a big ole flip-floppin’ flip-flopper. Here’s Michelle from the year 2000:

The government has apologized and provided cash compensation to victims who were forced into camps. There is no denying that what happened to Japanese-American internees was abhorrent and wrong.

Oh! My Goodness. And she has some bonus Malkin racist blogging here.

Then we find out from Women’s Wear Daily that Judith Miller’s husband has been telling people that she’s having “the time of her life” in prison:

That Miller might be having a good time comes as no surprise to many among the rank and file at the Times, who don’t see her as quite the martyr that Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. does. And friends of the couple said earlier reports of Miller’s suffering in jail are dated now that she’s settled in at the Alexandria Detention Center in Virginia. The hip-hop and bad food, coupled with a parade of important visitors have, they said, made the experience a novel and interesting one for her. Too, Miller is evidently enjoying all the attention she’s getting in the press and is likely to have her pick of book deals if she emerges from the ordeal with her reputation intact. In the same way Martha Stewart’s time at Alderson initiated her comeback, Miller’s internment has burnished an image tarnished by months of controversial reporting leading up to the war in Iraq. (Indeed, one Times source said recently, “She thinks she’s Martha Stewart.”)

Finally, the DC Mediafirl highlights this delighful letter to Cindy Sheehan from my favorite rightwing Christian icon, Fred Phelps:

Why did your son die in Iraq? Because you raised him for the devil and Hell. You hated him. You taught him “It’s OK to be gay,” and other God-rejecting lies, that brought the wrath of God Down upon this evil nation.

Why did your son die in Iraq? Because God hates America and has purposed to destroy her. They turned America over to fags; they’re coming home in body bags.

That’s nice, isn’t it? And poetic too: “They turned America over to fags; they’re coming home in body bags.” Somebody ought to call nashville. I hear a song coming on.

That’s just three items. Check out DC media Girl regularly. You’ll learn things.

Whose Freedom Is It Anyway?

Islam will be “the main source” of Iraq’s law and parliament will observe religious principles, negotiators said on Saturday after what some called a major turn in talks on the constitution and a shift in the U.S. position.

If agreed by Monday’s parliamentary deadline, it would appear to be a major concession to Islamist leaders from the Shi’ite Muslim majority and sit uneasily with U.S. insistence on the primacy of democracy and human rights in the new Iraq.

Well, we’re not really talking about human rights now are we? We’re talking about women’s rights, which are always negotiable.

And what say you Hitchens, you useful fucking idiot? Americans just “freed” the Iraqis so they could live under Islamic law. That’s quite a goddamned achievement. You must be so proud.

How about you Condi? Are you proud of what you’ve done? You just “freed” 13 million women into second class citizenship — probably into hell. Tough luck ladies. Don’t worry, though, your granddaughters might get their rights back in their lifetimes. You can’t stop progress, you know.

And what about you, George you misbegotten cretin. Is this what you were talking about in all these windy speeches about freedom being the gift of the almighty and all that other flatulent twaddle you peddle to the silly rubes who confuse leadership with frat boy swagger? Did you free the Iraqis so they could live under Ayatollahs?

Iraqi women’s lives have already become demonstrably less free. This will codify it. And tough shit if you’re gay or secular or different in any way. Some fucking freedom.

I hope that everyone makes it their business to remind every Republican asshole they know that it wasn’t the liberals who turned Iraq into a theocracy. This is happening on their watch, under their auspices. We don’t believe in theocracy. They do. They do not believe in freedom. We do.

I am now officially an isolationsist. Not because I don’t think that Americans should spend its blood and treasure on foreigners. It’s because I don’t think the world can take much more of our “freedom and democracy.”

These are extraordinary times, historic times. We’ve seen the fall of brutal tyrants. We’re seeing the rise of democracy in the Middle East. We’re seeing women take their rightful place in societies that were once incredibly oppressive and closed. We’re seeing the power and appeal of liberty in every single culture. And we’re proud once again — this nation is proud — to advance the cause of human rights and human freedom. Junior, March 12, 2004

What a steaming pile of horseshit.

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The Way Life Should Be

Dear Abby:

Q: I live in a family-oriented neighborhood. My next-door neighbor flies his gay pride flag in his front yard. Because we have a lot of families with young children who do not need to be subjected to that kind of thing, I have asked him numerous times to remove it.

His response is, it’s a free country and he does not subject anybody to his lifestyle.

I strongly feel that in a neighborhood devoted to children’s morals and the way life should be, he should not be allowed to have that flag in his front yard. I threatened to call the police.What should I do?

RIGHTEOUS in New Castle, Pa.

Dear Righteous:

A: First of all, calm down. Your neighbor is hurting no one, and “young children” will not understand the flag. Unless there are restrictions in your neighborhood governing the display of flags, your neighbor has a right to hoist his banner.

Good for Abby, the voice of common sense. I bet that mom is just fit to be tied. She’s probably going to immediately start coaching her kids to claim they were molested. That’s the only recourse the liberals have left her.

One thing I’d like to know is why so many of these people sound like they have only heard half of every argument? They write things like “a neighborhood devoted to children’s morals and the way life should be” as if it makes sense. Do they zone out in church and only catch half the sermon or what?

Our president does the same thing so it’s not surprising. But dear gawd, I cannot imagine what it’s going to be like once all these home schooled kids take charge of the wingnut infrastructure. I can barely understand what they are talking about now. I can’t imagine what gibberish they are going to be spewing in a few years.

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Beat Him To The Punchline

Considering his record and sophomoric tone well into his thirties, I have no doubt that John Roberts’ hilarious little quip, “Some might question whether encouraging homemakers to become lawyers contributes to the common good, but I suppose that is for the judges to decide” is a jab at women. When he is asked about it at the hearing he will say it is a standard lawyer joke — and much laughter among the senators will ensue and the media will all remark about what a fun-loving and modest fellow he is.

I would hope that a Democratic member of the judiciary committee, preferably Diane Feinstein, is smart enough to bring this up immediately and rob him of that punchline with a clever question.

“Judge Roberts, when I was in law school I remember hearing a lot of lawyer jokes. One of my classmates used to tell one about the man who goes to the doctor and finds out he has only six months to live. He says to the doctor, “that’s such a short amount of time, doc. Is there anything I can do?” The doctor replied, “marry a lawyer, it’ll be the longest six months of your life.” …

Yes, my husband thinks that one is funny too…

Now the white house says that when you wrote “some might question whether encouraging homemakers to become lawyers contributes to the common good, but I suppose that is for the judges to decide” that you were just making one of those lawyer jokes. If so, it was pretty funny. But it does raise the question of how you feel in general about women’s role in society. You are nominated to replace the first female Supreme Court justice …

We can see this one coming a mile away folks. They’ve probably got Dennis Miller on the horn coming up with a zinger. We should beat them to it.

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Respectfully Decline

Why is it that sports guys are the only journalists with any guts? Keith Olbermann quit MSNBC when he just couldn’t take doing the Monica story night after night. Bob Costas refused to host Larry King last night when he was told he’s have to do another ridiculous navel gazer about Natalee Holloway:

Veteran sports broadcaster Bob Costas declined to fill in as host on CNN’s “Larry King Live” Thursday night because of the program’s focus that night on the missing Alabama teenager and on Dennis Rader, the BTK serial killer.

Costas — who has been serving as an occasional substitute for King since June — bowed out of the Thursday show after he could not persuade producers to change the program’s lineup, which included an interview with Beth Holloway Twitty, the mother of the high school senior who disappeared in Aruba in late May.

“I didn’t think the subject matter of Thursday’s show was the kind of broadcast that I should be doing,” Costas said in a statement, adding that he “respectfully declined to participate.”

I’ve noted before that the sports writers are often the ones who call bullshit. I don’t know why this is so. Perhaps it’s because they aren’t dependent on the political media establishment for their daily bread. Or maybe it’s just a different occupational culture. Whatever it is, it’s clear to me that the political reporting fraternity would do well to take a lesson from their sports bretheren. Just say no.

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Psssst

Max Blumenthal has written an interesting article about Just-Us Sunday II in which he observes that the Christian right was not at all happy with the fact that John Roberts helped out the wrong side of the Romer gay rights case.

With the revelation of Roberts’s involvement in the Romer case, right-wing activists began jumping ship. The leader of a Virginia antigay group, Public Advocate, yanked support with the declaration, “‘Freedom’ is not embracing perversion.” Joseph Farah, editor of the heavily trafficked far-right webzine WorldNetDaily, attacked Justice Sunday’s planners in thinly veiled language in an August 12 column: “We now have ‘conservative’ organizations leading the fight for confirmation of a man [Roberts] who is certain to be a grave disappointment to them.” Perhaps most important, Gary Bauer, the former Family Research Council president who built the organization into one of Washington’s largest conservative operations during the 1990s, denounced the Bush White House in his daily newsletter for picking a “stealth nominee” and questioned their refusal to release 50,000 pages of Reagan-era Roberts documents.

The position of Justice Sunday II’s organizers consisted of halfhearted apologia through gritted teeth. “The Romer case was perhaps one of the most egregious decisions ever handed down by the Supreme Court…and to have Roberts be part of that in any way was troubling,” Dobson said during an August 8 appearance on Fox News’s Hannity & Colmes. But, Dobson assured the audience, “he had a very minor role.” When host Sean Hannity peppered him with questions about Roberts’s role on Romer, Dobson was forced to concede that “the Republican senators need to vet him [Roberts] also.” It was a stunning role reversal, considering that Dobson and his allies had spent the past month attacking Democratic senators who vowed to question Roberts’s views on social issues.

What do you suppose these people would do if they found out that the Chairman of the Republican National Committee is gay? Or that one of the most successful Republican strategists of all time took his lover and two children and got married in Boston as soon as they made gay marriage legal?

Tom DeLay is feted as a Christian hero when he’s the crookedest politician since Boss Tweed. Laura and Barbara Bush are both on the record as being pro-choice. Do these Christians know this?

I can guarantee that if the shoe were on the other foot, the Republicans would find a way to make these things known. They understand the concept of divide and conquer.

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Mary and Wayne

Last night before I signed off, I posted an interview by Rose Aguillar with Mary Fowler, an Oklahoma Republican. At the end of the interview, I posted a comment from a disabled Oklahoman named Wayne Yeazel who depends on the government but who says he doesn’t vote.

Mary Fowler is an evangelical Christian who believes that Republicans pick their candidates based upon their devotion to Jesus. In fact, she sees republicanism as part of her church. For her, religion and politics are the same thing.

Wayne Yeazel and his family have terrible money problems. If you read the whole interview you can see they are all living on social security disability. Wayne Yeazel feels no connection to the party that has spent the last year fighting to save their only source of livlihood. His wife says she doesn’t like the government in general, which is quite astute considering that they are trying to destroy her family at the moment — but she doesn’t vote either. Clearly, they have no idea how directly politics affects their lives.

Mary Fowler can be dealt with only one way — we must separate Republicanism from her church. It won’t be possible to out church them but it can be done by exposing them. Republicans are not godly. When she finds out that they aren’t godly she will stop voting for them — most likely stop voting at all. (And unless she learns to separate religion from politics it is probably the best thing.) It won’t be easy to convince her, but she is much more attached to her vision of the Bible than the Republican party. She chose Republicanism after she was saved, not before. She will choose Jesus over Tom Delay if push comes to shove.

I urge you to read all the interviews. I picked Mary Fowler because she is probably fairly representative of the hard core evangelical Republican who is unreachable for Democrats because of our fundamental philosophy of pluralism and tolerance (and reason.) I harbor no illusions that she will ever vote for us. But she is fundamentally not a political person; she sees the world entirely through the prism of her church. The concept of democracy is meaningless to her. Until the Republicans realized that they had an highly organized consituency out there waiting to be plucked, people like her didn’t involve themselves in politics because they simply didn’t believe the secular institutions of government were relevant or important. They operated in the spiritual, personal, private sphere which is really where religion belongs and where it thrives.

I think Mary Fowler can be shown that Republicanism is not what she thinks it is and separate it from her belief system. It will take a lot of work because people like her place their trust in authority figures and believe what they are told. But over time these things can penetrate if the message is consistent and clear. We don’t have to convert them. We just have to sow doubts.

If we are to destroy the exploitative evangelical political machine the Republicans have built, the Mary Fowlers out there must open their eyes to the fact that the Republicans are tainting their church with their sin and hypocricy. Mary Fowler is a sincere fundamentalist Christian, not a political hack. Has anyone read “Elmer Gantry” lately? Mary Fowler is being sold a bill of goods.

Wayne Yeazel and his family don’t vote. Mary Fowler does. We need to switch that around.

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Stories In America

Rose Aguillar is interviewing people in states that overwhelmingly voted for George W. Bush. It’s a fascinating insight in to Real Murika. Here’s one from Oklahoma:

Mary Fowler, 54, Housekeeper

Why do you think gas prices are so high?

From what I’ve read, they say it’s because of the Iraq war. I’ve also read about alternatives to gas and even automobiles that use alternatives, but for some reason, the big oil companies bought up the patents for that, so it’s not just the Iraq war and it’s not President Bush’s fault. He gets blamed for everything, but it’s not his fault. It’s just greed from other people. I feel like the president is doing everything he can to help.

Like what?

For one thing, he is protecting our country by being in Iraq. We can’t pull out too soon because they’ll think we’re chicken and they’ll try to attack us again. We can’t pull out until they’re able to fend for themselves. Those who are strong are supposed to help those who are weak. We are strong and we’re that way for a reason. We’ve always been peacemakers. As long as we keep the peace, we’ll be blessed.

So you believe we’re acting as peacemakers in Iraq?

Yes and we’re protecting the innocent. Muslims want to rule the world. They want to take over the whole world. That’s their evil purpose.

Do you know any Muslims?

I’ve ministered to them. A few lived in my apartment building and they invited us over for dinner. I went with a Christian guy. They were nice. The food was nice. At the end, we said, ‘Can we pray for you?’ And they said yes, if we can pray for you. We prayed for the peace of god. Most of them are very harsh. There’s no tenderness or love.

Do a lot of Muslims live in this area? Have you met any others besides the ones who invited you over for dinner?

Most of them live in Tulsa.

Why do you think we’re in Iraq? People say we’re freeing the Iraqis one minute and then change their opinion and say they’re horrible people.

Soldiers over there say we don’t get half the news. There’s so much good going on. The majority of the people appreciate the help. The majority, not the weirdos who are deceived.

Where do you get your information about the war?

The Bible and the 700 Club. I also listen to preachers who know what’s going on. Pat Robertson.

What do you like about Bush?

He’s a praying man of god. He’s a family man and he does care. He gets blamed for everything. If this country would turn back to god, things would get better. You can’t go on killing babies and allowing homosexual stuff to stay. We do love the people, but we don’t love their actions.

Do you think talking about homosexuality does anything to improve healthcare or poverty?

I guess for me I’ve always had to trust the lord for the next job, which is usually housecleaning. If you have your eyes on him, he’ll take care of you. The government can’t help us.

Do you always vote?

Yes, I volunteered for the Republican Party and I enjoyed it very much.

Have you always been Republican?

When I first registered, I was a Democrat. Just from studying in school, I thought that’s what I wanted to be because I believed in government for the people, by the people and of the people. But after I was saved, I realized the Republican beliefs are me so I switched and I’m glad I did.

What does it mean to be a Republican?

Republicans pick the people who believe like we do.

You mean believe in the Bible?

Yes and godly principles. If we kick god out, we’ll be like other countries that have AIDS, sickness and poverty. God created the earth, he created the rules and he knows what’s best for everybody.

Unfortunately, we have AIDS, sickness and poverty in this country.

Yes, because we allow homosexuality.

You blame homosexuality for AIDS, sickness and poverty?

Well, sometimes people are innocent. This nation is in trouble. The ACLU are run by communists and funded by communists. What does that tell you? They want to take god away from us.

The ACLU once helped Pat Robertson’s son set up churches. They also helped Jerry Falwell fight church restrictions three years ago. If they wanted to take god way from you, why would they help Pat Robertson’s son and Jerry Falwell?

I haven’t heard about that. I’m sure there are a few good people in the ACLU.

I’ve interviewed a lot of people on this trip and while they want freedom of religion, none have said they want to take god away.

When they first started the country, those that didn’t believe in Jesus were put in jail. Once a country is dedicated to god and founded on its principles, it has to stay that way.

What issues are most important to you?

Getting the right Supreme Court Justice in you. I want god back in the schools. They kick god out of schools and they wonder why we have drugs and sex in the schools.

And then there’s this:

Wayne Yeazal: I was a truck driver until I got hurt. I had a bunch of surgeries and had a $300,000 bill. There’s no way I can pay for that. I’m on Medicaid and only make $400 a month from social security.

Do you vote?

Twila Yeazal: No. I don’t like the government.

Wayne Yeazal: I don’t vote. I don’t pay attention.

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Mexican Terrorists

I’m hearing Rep. John Culberson (R-Nutcase) on MSNBC saying that we know that terrorists are coming over the Mexican border, hiding among friendly illegal immigrants, and that we should trust American volunteers (with no history of mental illness — which leaves out his constituents) to patrol the border. Just the other day I heard Governor Bill Richardson on Fox going on and on about how illegal immigrants are mutilating animals but we should beef up the border patrol to deal with it.

This kind of talk, in my experience, always means that the economy is in deep shit. I don’t care what the numbers say and I don’t care how happy everyone is supposed to be in this wonderful growing economy — it obviously sucks. Illegal immigrant bashing never happens when the party’s in full swing.

I can see that we are going to spend a lot of time on this convenient scapegoating the next few years and judging from Richardson’s approach, the populist Democratic position is going to be that we need to bash Mexicans with professional border patrol agents as opposed to picking them off with vigilante posses. I guess we are taking the kinder gentler approach?

Economic populism does have an unfortunate history of teaming up with nativism and it looks like the Republicans and the Democrats are going to be racing to see who can get there first. Business always willingly puts up with a short term phony interruption in their cheap labor supply in order to feed the rubes, so no worries of a GOP crack-up on this one. The bigger question is whether the hispanic population is going to put up with the inevitable race baiting that underlies these periodic bash-fests. Whoever threads that needle the best is probably going to be the winner in the western swing states.

One problem with getting older is that you begin to see these pernicious patterns play out repeatedly within your own lifetime and it is profoundly depressing.

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