The Secret Life of Walter Knitty

I went to see Obama today and what can I say other than “Jesus Fucking Christ” (sorry for the language) the crowd was estimated at 75,000 people.  Seventy-five-thousand-people!  Obama did have a good speech.  He talked about the “gas-tax holiday” proposed by John McCain, that it will not lower prices at the pump and will empty the National Highway Fund.  He talked about National Security, and George Bush speaking in front of the Knesset on the 60th anniversary of the founding of Israel calling anyone who wants to talk to our “enemies” as appeasers, likening them to Neville Chamberlain with Nazi Germany. . .

I am not as starry eyed as some people who see their candidate speak.  I know politicians make promises to complete certain tasks in their first term they either have no intention of completing or simply do not have the ability to complete.  As much as I would like to see universal healthcare completed in Obama’s first term the reality is that it is probably not going to happen.  I would say the same for Hillary were she the nominee. The difference lies in my perception that Obama is not merely pandering.   That he actually does believe in what he says.  And when he says things like this campaign is not about him but about all of us as Americans I do put weight behind that.  That is something politicians do not normally say.  Nor do they even hint at or admit to making mistakes or even *gasp* state that mistakes will be made in their term as President.  He proposes a rational foreign policy where we talk to leaders of countries who do not agree with us.  Much as Reagan did with the former Soviet Union in the 1980’s, or Nixon with Mao, those are two examples.  He talks to the American people as people, as rational, thinking, human beings.  And for all the big promises, I do believe he believes in what he says and his vision of what America could be if we can come together and work for it together.  What was it Micheal Moore said in “Sicko”  “It’s about the we, not about the me” or something like that.  It’s time Americans woke up and realized this is how the world works and this is how we will make our country rise out of the cluster fuck it is now in.  That as we raise those amongst us who have the least, we will all rise in this nation.  Basically, in my eyes, it boils down to our government viewing America as less selfish.  Americans in general (and yes I know all generalizations are lies) tend to be generous people.  And as a domestic and foreign policy, less selfishness would be a refreshing change.

(Sorry if this is a little less than concise.  After being around that many people I really needed some beer.  I dont particularly like large crowds although I am glad I made myself go)

I havent read too much more about the Pentagon Propaganda story since it came out in the NY Times almost two weeks ago. I havent found anything in either the Independent, Times of London, Guardian, Washington Post, etc. I really dont watch TV so I cant say whether or not it’s been on network TV. I know it has been covered by Glenn Greenwald and CNN had a piece on it. What I find most disturbing on this whole issue is not the fact that our government was feeding American citizens military propaganda in the run up to and aftermath of the War in Iraq. I am cynical and expect some level of propaganda by the government. Not to say this isnt an extreme example because it is. But, we’re talking about the same media that said nothing to challenge the McCarthy Hearings until Edward R. Murrow showed the courage to do so. What I find most disturbing is that these retired military generals went along with this propaganda program for money. Many of the people involved had financial interests in seeing the war carried out. They were involved in defense companies either by direct ownership or through lobbying. Two mentioned by Glenn Greenwald are two that were on NBC as military experts: Barry McCaffrey and Col. Wayne Downing. Quoting Glenn Greenwald who is quoting “The Nation” from 2003

NBC News has yet to disclose those or other involvements that give McCaffrey a vested interest in Operation Iraqi Freedom. McCaffrey, who commanded an infantry division in the Gulf War, is now on the board of Mitretek, Veritas Capital and two Veritas companies, Raytheon Aerospace and Integrated Defense Technologies–all of which have multimillion-dollar government defense contracts. Despite that, IDT is floundering — its stock price has fallen by half since March 2002 — a situation that one stock analyst says war could remedy. Since IDT is a specialist in tank upgrades, the company stands to benefit significantly from a massive ground war.

So, clearly, there were military analysts who had a financial interest in seeing the war carried out. The NY Times article stated that some of these retired generals knew the WMD information lacked credibility. Over 4,000 American Soldiers have died in this war. Over 30,000 have been wounded. I dont know how many thousands have mental illness in the form of PTSD or other stress related mental illness’. This has all happened to some extent because some people had a financial interest in seeing the war carried out. I find this just astonishing, disgusting, and appalling. To me, it’s saying that the pocketbook was more important than the lives of these human beings. It says to me that all this death and horror does not matter as long as I’m making money. How can these people act with such avid disregard for living breathing human beings. This war has not just affected American lives but Iraqi lives as well. Over 100,000 Iraqi’s have died and over 5 million people are refugees. Both internally and externally displaced. Many neighbourhoods have been ethnically cleansed. Neighbourhoods that contained integrated marriage between Sunni and Shi’a are gone. Certain neighbourhoods of Baghdad have been walled off, physically separated from one another to help reduce fighting. We have taken a country that was the seat of civilization and broken it. For what? For money. Are these people proud of themselves for what they did? Do they see no culpability? Do they see no wrongdoing in causing a war, costing so many lives and so much money so they could line their pocketbooks just a little? I dont mean to curse but with Iraq broken, so many lives lost and people wounded mentally and physically I sure hope it was fucking worth it.