In my general (unspoken and impossible) boycott of political blogging, I’ve passed up many opportunities to conjure up nausea by evoking even images if not quotes of Don Rumsfeld. As reported widely throughout the blogosphere, MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann delivered a KO-punch for the ages, evoking Murrow. Like his “Nexus of Politics and Terror” report last October, I cannot pass up hosting this commentary. Lay it down once and for all who the real fascists are. Is the U.S. media finally figuring it out, or is it just the “hacks” like Olbermann and Stewart? At least the blogosphere is flexing its muscle(s).
USA for Africa – Save Paul Salopek
The U.S. media’s attention to the still tender situation in south Lebanon, where UN troops are just now moving into place is waning considerably. Is it finally time to devote concentrated coverage to incomprehensible devastation elsewhere? A proposal to move 20,000 UN troops into Darfur ASAP, amid reports of a new offensive by the Sudanese government.
Meantime, Chicago Tribune foreign correspondent Paul Salopek is on trial for espionage and related charges in southern Sudan. He is on assignment for National Geographic, and has yet to even PUBLISH a word from his trip, yet he is already in deep.
The Sudanese government has been hard on the media for years, primarily in allowing access to the Darfur crisis, where half a million people have died in a three-year campaign of government-sponsored genocide. But Salopek — winner of two Pulitzer Prizes for his reporting (see his award-winning articles from Africa in 2000 and his 1997 reporting on the Human Genome Project), — is not a spy and was not out of bounds for carrying a backup copy of his passport and a publicly available satellite map of Sudan. The Tribune has an article today highlighting Salopek’s accomplishments, sprinkled with high praise from his contacts and associates worldwide here.
Securing Salopek’s immediate release is of utmost urgency, writes Tim Rutten in the L.A. Times.
Salopek was arrested along with his driver and interpreter, both from Chad — which neighbors Sudan to the South. Chad is in the news as well these days and in no small way.
Chad is a big shot with its freshly tapped and abundant oil. Earlier today, they expelled two oil giants — Petronas and Chevron — from the country:
“From tomorrow, the representatives of Chevron and Petronas must leave Chad and close their offices… ChevronTexaco and Petronas must leave Chad because they have refused to pay their taxes,” Chad President Idriss Derby announced.
Barack Obama, meanwhile, is in Kenya encouraging reform and arriving a hometown hero (his father and grandfather are from there). There is plenty I intend to read regarding his trip including Blog coverage from the Sun Times and Tribune and this Time feature. The senator has also been closely tracking the Salopek case, according to this statement captured by the Trib:
“Press freedom is like tending a garden, it’s never done,” Obama said. “It continually has to be nurtured and cultivated and the citizenry has to value it. It’s one of those things that can slip away if we don’t tend to it.”
Bush’s Kampf: Don’t Know Much About…
The president is actually cracking jokes — and the WH corps is in stitches — over rhetorical questions declaring no less than war on practically all non-Texans. (video / text).
“The history of that region has yet to be written…” But apparently Bush has a thorough draft in the works, deferring all blame to his generals — and the lapdog press corps has not even mentioned the name of the great Don.
“If we pull out of Iraq the terrorists will follow us here…” This disgustingly bent statement can be seen as a direct insult to our troops and those Iraqis that truly believe this war is working towards any future that could be documented in the present progressive tense. These radical, extremist, ideological, instigating freedom-thwarting terrorists can laugh about our fears of attack-at-home as long as our troops and stated mission lay at their doormat.
On pardons: “We don’t have the criterion in front of us.” Is the decider saying that he doesn’t even know how or why the decision to pardon is made?
Bush’s prepared statement could not have been more disconcerting and insincere. While repeatedly blaming the war-enabling theoretical terrorist states within states within this Middle East of unwritten history, the president continues to insist — unprovoked — that the U.S. had nothing to do with Israel’s initial decision/strategy in engaging with Hezbollah for 33 days. In fact, it appears that the president is not even aware of the fact that Olmert and his dually unqualified defense minister Amir Peretz are in power primarily as a result of the Ariel Sharon’s incapacitating stroke over six months ago. But for some reason, Bush is moved to feel responsible for significantly funding the rebuilding of Lebanon.
“I’m staying out of Connecticut…. because there’s a better place and way to spend our resources.” What a way to give back to your birth-state. God forbid the children there should get an honest education — including facts and History. “Your mother brought you up well,” was heard from the plum-faced gaggle amid chuckles over Bush’s admission that he doesn’t want to shut up about never winning his own birth state…
These thoughts and interpretations of Bush’s speech (in progress) are meant to be questions rather than judgments. The quotes are closely paraphrased and believe it or not, left in the ridiculous context in which they were delivered. I am utterly dismayed and disgusted at the loose, giggly White house press corps’ (left to meet entirely under the president’s thumb in a makeshift trailer across from the White House) blind, swastikular salute to blatantly racist and highly disconcerting empty, incorrect and unsure statements made with a highly destructive determinism. The gaggle closes with the press corps literally revealing their utter serfdom at the end, asking, “will we ever be allowed back in the White House, sir?” Then, more giggles. I can’t imagine the level of hilarity when the press is begging for water as they ask if it really is necessary to exterminate all non-Texans, without, of course a follow-up question. The president is so sure that it would be foolish to leave Iraq before the mission is accomplished. But nobody bothered to ask exactly what that mission is. Maliki has had six months to pretend to lead some semblance of an organized government. How much more of a “chance” should he be allowed?
There will be highly satisfying musical interludes posted later for our health. Thoughts?
Explosions in Middle East Pop Culture
Two very well-read articles were brought to my attention today, both published in the relatively new World Politics Watch online daily.
Guy Taylor writes of an intense interest in pop culture and reality TV in the face of bombing in Lebanon. He alludes specifically to Star Academy, the Lebanon Broadcasting Corp.’s reality show/contest now in its 3rd season and Super Star, a show allegedly based on the British show Pop Idol.
I heard a song on some NPR program yesterday, can’t seem to dig it up via search, but it was a Palestinian song with words altered in support of Hezbollah / Nasrallah and I can?t get it out of my head. According to Al Jazeera, the number one hit song of the summer on the streets of Ramallah has been “The eagle of Lebanon,” a tribute to Nasrallah. Good chance it can be heard on any of these Gaza/West Bank-based online radio stations.
Juliette Terzieff provides an in-depth update on the latest in Iraqi reality TV. Despite the hundreds of billions of dollars spent by the U.S. on transplanting notions of Western democracy on the Iraqi public, ?it has been the localized versions of “American Idol” and “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” that captured the hearts and minds of Iraqis.” Programs including “Construction Contract,” “Fame or Fortune” and “Congratulations!” are aired regularly on Al Sharqiya TV (watch live), a privately owned satellite-based channel.
My question is, when is Murdoch going to announce an initiative to penetrate the markets with his monster MySpace social network?
Here’s 15 minutes of “Star Academy.” More video clips can be found at Yahoo! Video.
Thanks to John Brown for passing along info on these two articles.