It rained all day--bummer. Went to Boscov's and got some Christmas presents. Other than that, not much. Maybe I'll add to this later--.
WIDER: On Anti-War.com, William Lind writes about a new bumper sticker: O=W. It's catching on rapidly, especially among true conservatives, and no wonder. He goes on to observe that O.'s surrender to the military that now seems to rule us "...should not come as a surprise. America is now a one-party state. The one party is the Establishment party, which is also the war party. Unless you are willing to cheer permanent war for permanent peace, you cannot be a member of the Establishment."
So true. And there seems to be a general, overall feeling of helplessness when it comes to trying to combat the murderous ways of our rulers. They do not listen to the people. They make noises in protest at this latest escalation, but they will vote--oh, so reluctantly and with bowed heads--to fund it. They can do this with impunity because they will say they must, as otherwise they are leaving the beloved troops with no protection from the enemy, throwing them to the wolves, so to speak. There isn't a politician alive who won't weep tears of love and pride at the belovedness of the troops and how they're in harm's way and how it isn't their fault they were suddenly whisked away to kill people in other countries, so therefore it's the politician's patriotic duty to fund the carnage.
Ho-hum, what else is new?
WIDER # 2: What else is new (to me, that is) is a web site Arthur Silber mentioned--Reclusive Leftist--by "Violet Socks" and it's hot. Violet talks about the staging of presidental performances, including O.'s recent show re the escalation:
--Why do we still go through this pretense of voting? We should just hold auditions. The government is the same; the foreign policy is the same. The military-industrial complex trundles along as ever, forging the path of Empire. The only difference is who’s on TV. Flight suit or sober business attire? Weighty tomes or fresh-faced cadets?--
Boy, is she cynical. And right on the money.