All Join Hands And Habeas Corpus!
By Ernest Stewart
"I am not alone in thinking that there are potential circumstances in which the use of torture would be ethically justifiable." ~~~ Sam Harris
"This is not a poor, picked-upon homeless person. This is an ex-con, and somehow the city of Norwalk is made into the ogre in this. She has a checkered past at best." ~~~ Norwalk Mayor Richard Moccia
It's always something
There's always something going wrong
That's the only guarantee,
That's what this is all about
Life Is A Lemon ~~~ Meatloaf
Whenever needed by our elected plutarchy, Osama was paraded out to strike fear and take our eyes off the various acts of treason and sedition that was going down, a very handy tool, and yet we finally killed him? Why do I doubt this latest revelation? Perhaps it's because that no President since Teddy Roosevelt has told us the truth about anything! JFK came close to Teddy and was no doubt the best president in my life span! Whether or not Osama was behind 9/11 (he was never charged with it) or it was a PNAC project, Osama was behind several acts of murder and mayhem after our sponsor of him against the USSR, so he no doubt deserved death. So, yippee, I guess?
I'm curious about several things, first, as the Chad Mitchell Trio once sang in "Lizzie Borden:" "Jump like a fish. Jump like a porpoise. All join hands and habeas corpus!" Ergo, where's the body? Oh, we threw it overboard because he was Muslim, and since we really respect their religion, blah, blah, blah... You know, like bombing mosques and other holy places and murdering at least one million Muslims. Bull sh*t! Why wasn't he taken alive? A couple of stun guns in the weaponry and we'd have a fount of information about al Qaeda and after a few hundred or so waterboardings, all the info we'd need to round up the rest. Of course, to do that you'd soon run out of reasons to be over there stealing all that oil and spending all that money, huh? Not to mention, it's hard to torture someone that's been dead for over nine years! Not to mention, if someone's been on ice for nine years, that'll be obvious in a post-mortem examination. Still, they claim that they found him alone and unarmed in a room, so why murder him? It's simple really; dead men tell no tales; they don't spill the beans about the CIA and the Crime Family Bush's™ involvement in 9/11. Wrapped that cover-up rather neatly by one in the chest and one in the forehead!
Well, wasn't that convenient; no body, no proof, oh, we have his DNA, or maybe it's his brother's or dead sister's DNA? We might even have photographs, but don't expect to see them any time soon, like Obama's "birth certificate." Or promises to end the wars or closing Gitmo or bringing the Crime Family Bush to justice. We talk a great game; but when it comes down to actually doing something, well, then it's time to look forward, not backward, or you might see their treason and crimes against humanity gaining on ya!
Besides, as most of the world already knows, Osama died from lung cancer in Tora Bora back in December of 2001, and his threat has been kept alive by the various juntas ever since to scare silly Americans with. So the question arises: who will be the next public enemy #1 and why was it convenient to kill Osama off now? Perhaps it was because with the birth certificate and now this Obamahood gets a popularity surge when his presidency was suffering a rating only slightly better than Bush's at the end of his dictatorship. A lucky thing, eh? What are the odds?
Are we actually going to pull out of Afghanistan now that all of our money is gone? Is this just an excuse to do so? If so, I'm all for it, but I rather doubt that our masters would do anything that might benefit us without a scary alternative motive! I wonder what that motive is, and how it will screw us over more so than a war in Afghanistan did, don't you? Stay tuned, America!
In Other News
As it says at the bottom of the magazine, amongst other things: "All views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily the views of Issues & Alibis.Org." As is the case of Sam Harris' essay "Why I'd Rather Not Speak About Torture" that leads off this edition. While I pretty much agree with everything Sam says about religion, we are both of the species Leftistamericanus; and, therefore, we'll argue about minutia just for the sake of a good argument; it's just the nature of the beast. So, after reading and writing up the code, I sent Sam an email which produced this continuing discussion, as to why Sam would rather not speak about torture:
Sam,As always if I get another reply, you'll be the first to know!Would it be because you're defending something that is indefensible and that it speaks volumes about who you are?
You also left out that it seldom works; and what do you say to the innocent man or women who you've scared for life, if they're even still alive? And afterward, how do you look yourself in the mirror without wanting to cut your own throat? There are no gray areas in torture; it's either right or wrong, I say it's wrong, and you say it's right.
Also, I'm guessing you'd have someone else do the torture, and not yourself? Would you at least stand in the room and watch the blood spurt, the body parts cut off, and hear the screams? If not, why not? Then you have to make up these bizarre sets of circumstances to justify your thesis.
Would you understand and would it be all right if they mistakenly did it to you? If not, why not? Remember that they've tortured innocent folks for years down in Gitmo before letting them go, around 95% of every one taken to Gitmo was eventually let go. I'm sure that Dr. Mengele thought that he was doing necessary, defensible, scientific experiments on the children of Auschwitz, too--which makes his theory a little better than yours, as he didn't set out to torture, and you did!
Finally, I'm curious why you wrote this column, when you must have known the response would be 99% negative. Are you a masochist? Do you enjoy negativity? Do you enjoy being tortured?
I will give you the benefit of the doubt and believe that you didn't actually read my blog post with any attention, as every one of your concerns is addressed there.
S
Have no doubts, Sam, that I read every word; actually, I read it twice, you are wrong about torture. As you said, "our daily acceptance of collateral damage" perhaps you have an acceptance of collateral damage or as I prefer to call it "murder," but I don't, and I'm against torture, too; imagine that! Also, be careful about calling folks "terrorists," but I do believe your call on al Qaeda was correct, as they're a CIA black ops outfit, so you might start the torture in Langley or almost anywhere down in "Foggy Bottom." We are the largest, evilest, meanest, nastiest, terror group in the history of the planet, these good ole United Snakes, and we've been at it for 400 years, so we're very good at it!
One other thing I write to you, because I care about you, as you are a clever and articulate spokesman for things I really care about. Up until now, I would say I agreed with about 99% of what you've had to say. I also know you're a very smart fellow, and therein lies the quandary. Yes, we are the spawn of the killer ape, but isn't it time to evolve into a better creature than we are? As any professional interrogator will tell you, it's easier to get info by treating them as human beings. A lot of folks will quickly spill their guts to someone who will treat them fair and try to understand their point of view. It worked against the Germans at Nuremberg! Even Donald Rumsfeld says it doesn't work!
Think what you want, I, like you, am a leftist; ergo, we are going to argue this point and that point into minutia and beyond. That's the nature of the beast! As a radical, Atheist, columnist, I have some knowledge of this!
Peace,
Ernest
And Finally
Last week, I spotlighted the cruelty of a group of sports bureaucrats in Ontario, Canada keeping an autistic child from running with the track team--a therapy that proved successful in his academic studies, as well as in sports. As sick as that was, it really pales by comparison to this week's Vidkun Quisling Award winner from Norwalk, Connecticut: Mayor, Richard Moccia! As the great 'Yogi say,' "This is like deja vu all over again."
Richard, who is a little to the right of Darth Vader, decided to balance his city's budget on the backs of... can you guess who? No, let's not see the same hands all the time... that's right, the poorest of the poor, a homeless lady and her 5-year-old son. That's Republican compassionate conservativism for you! Richard had the state of Connecticut prosecute Tanya McDowell for "stealing" $15,600 from the good folks of Norwalk by enrolling her child in a kindergarten class; not only that, but she is facing 20 years in jail on first-degree larceny and conspiracy for this "outrage." The case was continued until May 11. Oh, did I mention that Norwalk is required by federal law to educate the child? No if's and's or but's about it; it's the law! (At $15,600 a child, that's half a million dollars a year for a single class of kids. As that seems a bit much, I wonder how much can you spend on edible paste and graham crackers?) Oh, and one other thing, did I mention that Tanya's black? That was almost redundant, wasn't it? And you'd guessed that already, hadn't you?
So how do you like those Tea Baggers so far, America? As we've seen in every state that was taken over by them, they give huge unneeded tax breaks to the uber-wealthy, and then take it out of the poor, the sick, the elderly and the powerless! They bust the unions in their quest to eliminate Democratic voters and destroy the middle class. The class wars are over, America, and we lost! The very ones they should be helping, they are instead trying to destroy, filling up the prisons and the graveyards with them. Anyone remember a place called Nazi Germany, or America in the 1950's? We've seen these war crimes before. Now, since the fix is in, they're not bothering to hide these acts of treason behind close doors like they used to! Now-a-daze, they do it out in the open, in your face, and then dare you to do anything about it! Trouble is, you won't do anything about it. Well, not until they come for you and yours, when it'll be far too late to do anything about it but ride off to a "Happy Camp!"
Keepin' On
Curiouser and curiouser, just when you thought it couldn't get any curiouser, huh? Another week another emergency, it's always something! "There's always something going wrong" and ain't that the truth! This week Osama, next week Godzilla? Who knows, and whatever it is, you'd better be prepared for it!
We've spent a decade trying to keep you abreast of the important news--keep you up-to-date on what can be done about it, and how it affects you personally. How to prepare for the day that it hits the fan and America as we once knew it is no more. How to survive in a post digital/electrical/oil-based world! We presumed that you knew nothing about how to live in a world where you have to supply the food, the clean water, the secure housing, et cetera in a post-apocalyptic America. If you missed out on those hundreds of articles and how-to photos and essays, they're still in the archives and will be until the Internet and the´power grid goes bye-bye!
We do this 24/7/365 for you and yours. We do those 80-hour weeks at no pay, because what we do is that important. Fortunately, there are some of our readers that understand and appreciate what we are and what we're about. Dr. Phil (No, not that Dr. Phil--a much better one!) is one such person who has time and time again stood up and helped us keep the truth going out in these trying times; thank you so much, Phil, you're a life saver!
Trouble is, Dr. Phil is one of the usual suspects--those who carry the burden of keeping Issues & Alibis on the air. They are few in number, but they are a determined bunch and they could use your help to share the burden for all our brothers and sisters, even the ones that are confused and need someone other than Rush, or Billo or Glenn as a news source, viz., someone who won't lie to them! If you can help, please do so by going here and following the instructions. The whole world thanks you!
*****
03-10-1957 – 12-18-2001 - 05-02-2011
Dead at last?
09-15-1922 - 05-03-2011
Thanks for the films
*****
We get by with a little help from our friends!
So please help us if you can...?
Donations
*****
So how do you like Bush Lite so far?
And more importantly, what are you planning on doing about it?
Until the next time, Peace!
(c) 2011 Ernest Stewart a.k.a. Uncle Ernie is an unabashed radical, author, stand-up comic, DJ, actor, political pundit and for the last 10 years managing editor and publisher of Issues & Alibis magazine. Visit me on Face Book. Follow me on Twitter.
No comments:
Post a Comment