An attempt

I am going to attempt to blog today, even though my site is not what it was. I wonder if Blogger's great experiment in WYSIWYG posting decimated other sites as it did mine? To make matters worse, I've had technical problems on my own end. (Ever have one of those periods where you spend three whole days trying to get the damn 'puter to behave as it used to?)

At any rate, this stripped-down version of CANNONFIRE is at least readable. I miss the red-and-black look, and hope to reinstate it. (The color scheme was inspired by Daredevil's costume. I was a big DD fan as a youngster.)

A few observations: I hate to admit it (for partisan reasons) but the allegations against Sandy Berger are serious. I fail to see how any actions by Berger reflect on Kerry, although you can be sure that the GOPropagandists will make strained arguments along those lines.

Not long ago, I caught the tail end of Truffaut's original, under-rated film version of Fahrenheit 411, a film I had not seen since the 1970s. (A remake is in the offing.) In the final act, Montag the bibliophile fireman -- having become a declared enemy of the state -- is the subject of a manhunt. The TV broadcasts images of the shoot-out which ends his life. Amusingly, Montag himself -- quite alive -- is among the viewers of this spectacle; the State staged a satisfying ending to the hunt when real-life proved recalcitrant.

I could not help but be reminded of the staged events we've all seen on our screens lately: The statue of Saddam Hussein toppled by Chalabi's goons pretending to be joyous citizens of Baghdad; the declared existence of WMDs in Iraq -- "found" and put on display, from time to time, on Fox News; and the Iraq war's non-existent battles between the Third Infantry Division and the dreaded Republican Guard. Some will add to this list the questionable beheading of Nick Berg and the very questionable kidnapping of Corporal Hassoun. One might even mention the cleverly edited video montages designed to convince illiterates that Kerry and Edwards are swishy.

In this light, you will surely want to read Eric Margolis' fine new article on "The era of strategic deception."

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Politics are dead and the only question left is Pilate's. Bradbury predicted this. Fahrenheit 411 may have as much to say about our time as does Fahrenheit 9/11.