dr. elsewhere here
Seems I spend as much time apologizing for my absences these days as I do offering any blogging. I realized this morning that, not only am I overwhelmed by my own pitiful little life, but I am genuinely overwhelmed by this out-of-control world.
Thankfully, Joe has - as ever and always - been blaze-blogging up a storm; he really is on a serious roll here these days, like a western wildfire.
His latest entry was spot on, and so provocative, there is precious little to add beyond the anecdote I shared in the comments.
But this morning during breakfast I ran across a Booman post that absolutely shook me to my core. Like Joe, he nails it, this godforsaken ME (look at that acronym for a second) crisis, but from a different angle, one that feels like a coffin shutting out the last gasps of oxygen.
Booman observes that the Israel/Lebanon situation places the Democrats in a double bind, one that to me is very reminiscent of what 9/11 did to almost everyone, especially in Congress, who almost unanimously voted in the USAPATRIOT Act (using the acronym for all it's worth, which was a lot because now everyone except me uses "Patriot Act") without question, or even reading it, and all the rest, you know, is now history. Or at least in the rapidly vanishing reality-based version of history.
Five years later and folks are starting to show signs of recovery, recognizing they've been duped, or at least that's what the polls had started to show until this morning's new numbers. So we needed a new 9/11, a new "Remember the Alamo and the Maine," a new new Pearl Harbor.
Booman reminds us of the now infamous "reality-based" quote reported by Ron Suskind (I will still bet an important appendage that the speaker of that quote was Rove), and points out that keeping Israel in conflict will split the very Democratic Jewish vote in this country, taking a huge portion of the fundraising money with them over to the GOP.
Bush's craven attempt to court the black vote, albeit belatedly and brazenly, appears to have failed miserably. So Rove had to fish elsewhere. Could it be more perfect? Was Israel waiting for the timing go-ahead after drawing up these plans a year ago?
And we Democrats are again left standing stupefied, as if we had never heard of the evil Rove can conjure.
Thankfully there were those 8 Congressmen who voted against the actions of Israel. And thankfully there are the courageous bloggers like Joe and Billmon to risk it all and call it as they see it, as a matter of conscience and not mere blind loyalty. Prime among these must also be Tom Hayden for his bold confessional, a "dupe" for Israel.
But Booman emphasizes the long-standing impossibility of speaking truth about Israel; I made the additional point in my comment to Joe's piece that this impossibility about which we can hardly even speak is actually the real - as in reality-based - version of what Ann Coulter tried to assert against the Jersey wives. But with the crucial exception that those wives have done nothing to harm anyone else, let alone committed war crimes.
But beware; Booman also points out that The Weekly Standard has been trolling for the blogosphere pulse, and takes note of the fact that the leading site maestros - kos, Josh, Drum, others - have made a public decision to stand down on this issue (too divisive...?!), while the threads are boiling over with outrage against Israel. So Joe, take note.
There you have it; the pulse of the microcosm. And it does feel more like the precursor for cardiac arrest than I think I have ever felt.
And I was kept awake by sniper fire across the parkway in Memphis the night King was shot. At least then we had a voice. No more; our voice is being silenced.
Revision, times two: Color me stupid and stressed, again.
I have now really, really corrected all the instances of this error in the post; whereas it originally and erroneously referenced Billmon, it now really reads - correctly - Booman.
Did they, like, get together and do this name thing on purpose? Just for me?
In my made rush I evidently put in the revision and raced out the door before actually revising.
My apologies to Booman, and all readers, and thanks to Joe for gently bringing this error to my attention, and to anon for holding my feets to the fire.
And thanks again to all for your patience.
9 comments:
The one possible loophole in all this is that if Israel is messing up as badly as some of the blogs are starting to suggest -- failing to overwhelm Hezbollah militarily while greatly enhancing their status in the region, not to mention turning world opinion ever-more-decisively against themselves -- it might just be possible to blame the Bush administration for prodding the Israelis into acting as a U.S. surrogate against their own interests.
It's a delicate argument -- but Jews have a long history of being used by the local elite to do their dirty work and then held out as scapegoats, so it might resonate. The ideal situation would be if Israel comes out of this misadventure looking really, really bad but not under any actual threat.
If it also makes the Israelis a bit more skeptical about the advantages of U.S. patronage, that would just be the icing on the cake.
anon 10:28 makes what I consider a good point. In fact, Josh Marshall (who has not entirely ignored the issue) reposted a piece by Chris Nelson which goes in this direction.
It is true that the Israeli incursion places Democrats in a difficult position. Most American Jew gravitate toward our party -- yet most people on the left are furious with Israel's actions.
A delicate situation. And I can't claim that blogs like mine do the delicacy thing well.
Whenever a progressive offers an anti-Israel post on a blog, weird commentary inevitably follows -- commentary which crosses the line separating "anti-Israel" from "anti-Jewish." Jews, quite understandably, will feel very alienated when they read this sort of thing.
As the Booman Tribune puts it, "To ask Israel to act in accordance with international standards of human rights in not currently possible. To fail to ask them to do so is enfeebling, emasculating, and empowering to the insane neo-conservative agenda."
A couple of points:
1. We've been here before, during the first invasion and occupation of Lebanon. The left was just as infuriated then. And Democrats still did well in the '82 elections.
2. May I suggest that the blogging situation is as it should be? Let the "big bloggers" scramble for the gentle wording. Meanwhile, we scrappy little guys can do a little verbal street fighting. That's what scrappy little guys are FOR -- and not just on this issue.
good points. very good points.
it is indeed far more complex than booman asserts, though i have to admit, i was myself blindsided by the notion that rove and his machinery would stoop to exploiting this crisis in such a depraved way.
but then, look what they did with 9/11. and with that, the thrill is gone, so ....same song, new verse.
Personally, I think we should do what conscience dictates, and damn the consequences.
Personally, I think we should do what conscience dictates, and damn the consequences.
# posted by Anonymous : 1:29 PM
Yes, damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead. And there will be torpedoes, you can bet your ass. To be silent in the face of this abomination is to forfeit one's very humanity, and we must hold on to that at least, fuck the cost
So what if the Dems lose over this? What were they going to do anyway? About anything? Can anyone tell me?
I'm still seeing 6 Billmons in your text, and this is after your revision. I'm using an old version of Explorer, is that it? Or a Blogger glitch?
Just want to add, belatedly, that there is another blogger telling the truth: RJ Eskow at HuffingtonPost. Unfortunately, the powers that be at that site didn't see fit to allow his very valuable post to hit the Featured Posts list, despite Eskow's (deserved) popularity on that site. Thus, far too few people got a chance to read it. [Must be AIPAC money behind HuffPost, too.] Here's RJ's post, FYI:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rj-eskow/help-the-people-of-lebano_b_25743.html
anon,
That rag (THP) won't show many comments by readers. The blogs mostley have been predictably appolegetic if not down right aggressive by the likes of Dershowitz. Bill Maher got over 300 comments mostley telling him what an ass he was. The few good bloggers havn't caught on to the scam Arianna is running. I asked David Sirota why he posts on THP and my comment never even appeared much less responded to. Oh well!
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