The ‘Secret Army’

Feeling a little paranoid this morning? Well if you like intrigue here’s one for you.

The Pentagon has urged Congress to authorize $500 million for building a network of friendly militias around the world

Ostensibly this would allow the US to pay militia type forces to bring about law and order in “ungoverned” areas of the world (funny, I thought it was pretty much settled who got to govern just about all of the planet by now).

Of course, that leaves open the issue of whether said militias would have to even pretend to follow the Geneva Conventions or any other laws. Not that the US has been all too good at it, but this would be taking another page from the Nixon playbook – plausible deniability. “We were funding them, but no, we had no idea what they were going to do with those finds!” Political assassinations not legal? Leave it to the Militias!

Think I’m kidding?

In his testimony, Wolfowitz also suggested expanding the scope of the war on terror by including into the list of its possible targets radical Islamic clerics, who, in his words, provide “ideological sanctuary” to terrorism.

Hat tip to Larry for the link.

Wishful Thinking

The New Republic thinks Kerry should sue the so-called “Swift Boat Veterans for Truth” for libel.

That is why if Bush should lose this November, there won’t be any honeymoon for Kerry His first few months in office will look like the last years of the Clinton presidency: congressional inquiries, constant talk radio trash-talking, and book deals for anyone with a charge to make. Simply, Kerry can’t afford to let the SBVT charges go unanswered if he wants to govern effectively.

I agree completely but I also think it’s not going to happen.

Your Tax Dollars At Work

Haven’t been in much of a mood for blogging this week but this is really something. Apparently – and of course nobody is quite sure why – Senator Ted Kennedy’s name found itself onto the FAA’s “Watch List” and Kennedy was barred from flying as a result.

Now, you may not like Ted Kennedy, but putting him on a list of people who are so much of a danger to the USA that they should not be allowed to fly smacks of deep wingnuttery. Except that this time the wingnut in question worked for the US Government.

Kennedy said it took three calls to Tom Ridge and several weeks before his name was removed from the list. Being a Senator, he has the kind of clout to make that happen. We average citizens, who would be lucky to talk to any human being ewith real clout at DHS, let alone Ridge, should be very very concerned.

Shirat Ha’Sticker

This article in the NY Times is an interesting slice of Israeli life.

“When I had my list of stickers, I realized it’s like a capsule of Israeliness, all the brutality and aggression and the need to get out of this situation,” said [song author David] Grossman, who is best known for magical-realistic novels like ”See Under: Love” and volumes of left-of-center political essays, including last year’s ”Death as a Way of Life.”

”The more the dead end of the situation grows, the more frustrated people become with their inability to influence it,” he continued, in a telephone interview. “Few people on the left or the right are satisfied. And the more they are frustrated, the more they are extremists, the more bumper stickers they have on the car. Sometimes you stop behind a car that looks like a shouting demonstration.”

Gadi Taub, one of Israel’s leading cultural critics and public intellectuals, put Mr. Grossman’s experience into a larger context. ”Israel is such a small place that taking a political position is like declaring the very core of your identity,” he said. ”For many years it was unthinkable for Israelis that if you’re a Likud voter you could marry someone from Labor. It would be a battle over every dinner and every breakfast. So your car, too, will declare your identity. You don’t think you can even make friends across bumper stickers.”

iTunes doesn’t have the song, unfortunately, but I found it in less than 5 minutes on an MP3 file trading network. Hat Tip: Amygdalagf for the link.

It’s Baaaaaaack

Just when you think that this administration has been so screwed up for so long and has done so many heinous things that it’s hard to tell them all apart or even care about them all anymore, along comes something that reminds you that the horror is not over and you can still be outraged.

Digby excerpts a long GQ article about Joseph and Bernadette Darby and what has happened to their lives since Joe was identifed as a whistleblower in the Abu Ghirab scandal.

Digby talks about the article as a window into red-state wingnut America and why nobody is supporting the Darbys in their home town. Which is true, and the fact that they have had to be moved into protective custody is sad, but as far as I am concerned, what’s really appaling is why.

Abu Ghirab is in fact worse that we’ve heard. And it’s getting lost in the outrage backwash. Nobody is talking about it. And we don’t know why.

One thing Bernadette didn’t know