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July 14, 2006
The Cowboy is Replaced by the Shadow
Jon Stewart's opening bit last night was poignent; waking up to Israel bombing Lebanon is really a "Holy Fuck" moment that our generation perhaps hasn't seen since our childhood. Watching the Mainstream Media for awhile, it wasn't until I got the Dulcet Network and Jim Lehrer that Lebanese casualties were actually, you know, talked about. Or the words "humanitarian crisis" and "Gaza" in the same sentance.
And Bush was talking about a pig. So we've gone from reading about a pet goat when the planes hit the towers, strumming a guitar while New Orleans drowned to talking about a roasted pig as the Mideast burned. A roasted pig that is against both Judaism and Islam to eat. I haven't quite put my finger on what irony that is, but there is irony there, for sure.
We are the defanged tiger in all sorts of hot spots, from North Korea to the Mideast. Not only do we not have any leftover military, we don't practice diplomacy at all anymore. The "Cowboy" showed the world an embarrasing amount of swagger; the "Shadow" uses cautious words, but doesn't sit down at any table to talk this shit out. We sent an envoy to Israel 17 DAYS! after the captured soldier in Gaza!! We send the undersecretary to China to talk about North Korea!!
At the very least, we should be sending Condi. (Not that I like her, but she does have a job and I believe sitting down at the fucking table is exactly it.) But nothing really gets done in this world until POTUS makes a phone call or goes into the room and shows the power that presidents have been wielding from Truman to Clinton. It's unfortunate that Bush is the President for so many reasons, one of which being he can't wield properly.
You know who we need right now? Jimmy Carter. Put down the hammer, Jimmy, and get to work. Who cares if the State Dept. deplores you; you actually get stuff done. You actually sit down at the table and talk/
Posted by emily at July 14, 2006 3:39 PM
Comments
What about Clinton? Billy seemed to have a pretty active role in getting these people to "chill the fuck out".
Posted by: Kyle at July 16, 2006 11:32 PM
Good idea. Clinton or even Bush Sr. Somebody. We can't just stand aside and let the region implode. Even if this incident eventually simmers down, we've done a lot of damage by... well, by invading Iraq and taking our eyes away from everything else.
Posted by: fat charlie at July 17, 2006 11:55 PM