Commentary Update for March 18, 2003: EAA Attendance Charade, Bush's Triumph of the Will, Tim Russert as Larry King, Books Not Bombs Photos, Candlelight Vigil, A Quote from Chairman Myers, Antiwar Movement Largely Partisan, Oshkosh City Government At It Again, Photo ID Follies, It Gets Worse
Due to the fact that UW Oshkosh is on spring break this week, we have not taped a new show. Next Monday, we will interview school board candidate Amy Weinsheim. Local pundit Dan Rylance will join us in the second half hour.
In Other News:
EAA Attendance Charade Exposed In Florida: Rick Rousos, a journalist for the Lakeland Ledger in Florida, has written an excellent expose of the Experimental Aircraft Association's attendance padding during the annual "Sun 'n Fun" air show in Lakeland. In late 2001, Commentary exposed the charade in Oshkosh. Hopefull, the Gannett press will this year uphold some standard of journalistic ethics or just basic human decency and allow a journalist to write a report similar to Rousos'. We have been lied to much too long by an organization that is treated very well by Winnebago County. It's time to tell the truth.
Bush's Triumph of the Will: Remember when Bush #41 stopped using the phrased "New World Order" when it pointed out to him that Hitler had used similar language in the 1930s? Bush #43's war declaration last night included this line: "This is not a question of authority; it is a question of will." I immediately thought of "Triumph of the Will," Leni Riefensthal's classic German propaganda film from the mid 1930s.
Tim Russert As Larry King: You know that acid feeling in the throat that you get right before you're about to throw up? I actually got that feeling while watching Tim Russert interview Vice-President Cheney on "Meet the Press" last Sunday. Cheney was allowed to claim that Iraq is in active pursuit of a nuclear program even though the IAEA has completely and unequivocally debunked the administration on that issue. Russert's only probe on this was "And even though the International Atomic Energy Agency said he does not have a nuclear program, we disagree?" That's the kind of softball one expects from Larry King.
Worse, Russert asked NO QUESTIONS about Cheney's financial connections with companies that have already been contracted to rebuild post-war Iraq. A Postwar Profiteers report from the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) raised a myriad of questions that the administration needs to answer. The CRP is a very reputable organization that Russert has cited numerous times in the past; that he ignored the profiteer report in is his interview with Cheney represents a shameful surrender of journalistic integrity to the needs of state power.
Books Not Bombs Photos: UW Oshkosh on March 5th, 2003 was the site of a "Books Not Bombs" protest. Here are some photos from the event:
Candlelight Vigil: Last Sunday Oshkosh was one of more than 6,000 cities in 129 countries that held a candlelight vigil for peace.
A Quote from Chaiman Myers: What will the war in Iraq be like? No one knows for sure, but this quote from Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Richard Myers is worth repeating: ""Americans should not look to the relatively antiseptic wars for Kuwait and Kosovo as a guide . . . If it were to come down to fighting block by block in Baghdad, the images could be brutal. We have to be mentally prepared for that." Robert Fisk's most recent essay suggests that there may not be much resistance in Baghdad.
Antiwar Movement Largely Partisan?: Pete Pagano, who sat in front of me in home room at Archbishop Molloy High School in Queens from 1975 - 1979, says that the antiwar movement is largely partisan. Pete says "If Bill Clinton or Al Gore launched a war to liberate the Iraqi people, many of the same antiwar protestors would probably be leading pro-U.S. rallies of support." I'm not sure if I agree with that, but I do think that the Democracy Party--with some exceptions from individual Democrats--has been utterly disgraceful not only on the Iraq War, but the entire War on Terror. The pattern of the Party leadership is to give the President everything he wants, then express doubts after it is too late to reverse course.
Oshkosh City Government is At it Again: But hey, you don't need to go all the way to Washington for an example of government that responds almost exclusively to powerful interests. Take a look at Commentary's online interview with common councilor Paul Esslinger for an example of what passes for "government" in our town. Former Mayor Melanie Bloechl also sent us this letter.
Photo ID Follies: In spite of the fact that our state is in a fiscal mess, the state legislature found time to pass legislation mandating photo identification for voting. The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign had the perfect response: "The problem with elections in Wisconsin is not that it is too easy to vote. It's that too many people have reason to believe voting won't do any good."
But it gets worse: Neil Heinen wrote a brief piece that I think says as clearly as can be said how utterly disgraceful is the Wisconsin legisature right now:
As an estimated 500 people rallied at the State Capitol to call attention to one of the fundamental needs of citizens in this state ... adequate health care ... the State Legislature was in one form or another voting to approve photo IDs in order to vote in this state, and to ban the release of results of presidential votes in Wisconsin until polls close on the West Coast.
While hundreds of citizens asked for some legislative attention to the life-changing threat of not being able to afford health insurance or health care, state lawmakers were making it more difficult to vote and to get information.
Instead of working to protect the health of Wisconsin residents, elected officials were working to disenfranchise poor and minority voters, and to keep Wisconsin voters in the dark to the questionable benefit of voters in California.
What hope is there for a reasoned budget with priorities like these?
That's all for now. Pray for Peace!
-Tony