Another Stellar Political Performance

Scandal! Caught playing iPhone game at

3+ hour Senate hearing - worst of all I lost!

DATELINE: KNOWING WHEN TO FOLD EM - I sat for three and a half hours yesterday, watching the US Senate hearings regarding a response to the crisis in Syria. I did this because, as a Canadian with many attachments to people on the southern side of the 49^th, I believe this is a very critical point in history. I did this because I recognize that the results of this decision WILL impact me – it could result in more threats to security to all of us, it could require that friends and their loved ones will be required to serve in Syria, it definitely could set a precedent for future diplomacy around the world and it very much will have an impact on the global economy, especially if the wrong decision is made. I felt it was important because trillions of dollars and tens of thousands of more lives, Syrian and American, could be at stake. I watched because I wanted to know if there was more information, more learned opinions who are familiar with the situation offering possible alternatives or different insights as to whether or not someone should interfere. I watched this because it could change how regimes are dealt with, how civil wars are dealt with in the future. I needed to know more because I am concerned about the credibility and efficacy of the United Nations, and in particular the UN Security Council, that appears farcically impotent at best. There were many reasons to watch, or to at least keep tabs on the discussions and questions.

I was not paid to be there, as every one of those people in that senate chamber were. In fact, they are paid damned handsomely for sitting in there. As I listened, though, I thought about family members who had fought in wars, who had been injured in wars... I have interviewed many over the years in the course of doing research, and I thought about every one of them, and how they talked about war. I thought about their perspective of war – the perspective of men and women who agreed to defend the country, who are paid peanuts to do so, but who nonetheless do as they are ordered, despite their own personal concerns or disapproval of the action. There was none who didn’t have a story about an asinine order issued from a commander. Now, commanders are human, and they make mistakes. Some of them do what they think is best for the right reasons. Overall, they accept that the person one rank higher than them always had their backs, that someone would be watching out and making sure the stupidity was cut off at the knees. It is imperative for those in uniform to know, to be able to trust, that those making decisions are doing so in a dedicated, informed, responsible manner.

So, enter Senator John McCain. This is a man who wore a uniform, who spent time as a POW, who has tried to become President of the United States, and probably, sadly, will try again. Not only does he disrespect... blatantly disrespect... the people of the United States, the people in the countries around the United States and around Syria, the people of Syria, the men and women wearing uniforms but he also disrespects... blatantly disrespects... the other people in that senate chamber, by playing god damned games on his cell phone instead of paying attention. It was three and a half hours. He can’t sit and pay attention for that long? Well, then, Mister McCain, it’s time for you to check into the senior’s home and see if you can handle a whole game of scrabble in one sitting. God knows the troops who could end up involved because of a misstep by the US government would be committed to something a hell of a lot longer than three hours.

So, while I was incensed by McCain’s indifference and disrespect, his tweeted response and all his subsequent responses today should have him standing in a dock facing treason charges. He blows off the concerns by flippantly complaining that he lost pretend money? We’re talking lives and potentially trillions of dollars, and a global economy, and this moron is seriously making comments about his poker money? He is implying that people have no right to be mad or question him. He is implying that a three hour meeting is more to expect from any human being... what with their crystal water glasses, plush chairs, and minions waiting on you. If I was paid to sit in a meeting for three hours and I pulled out my phone to play a game on it, my ass would be out the door so fast, my head would be spinning, so how the hell dare you, Mister McCain, how the hell dare you criticise people for expecting that you at least pay attention.

It is to be hoped that the next time John McCain next appears on a ballot, that those who support him are too damned busy playing on their cell phones to be able to find their way to the voting booth. It’s hard to believe, though, that they would not just laugh him out of the state.

I HAVE A DREAM; IT SURE AS HELL ISN'T ABOUT WAR

DATELINE: SITTING ON THE AIRRAFT CARRIER, WAITING FOR THE 'MISSION ACCOMPLISHED' SIGN TO UNFURL... AGAIN -- This, on the week where we watched, celebrated and remembered the words and deeds of Martin Luther King Jr, is unbelievable. You simply can't make this shit up. Those who know me, know that I am not heartless. Seeing an image of a child sick or hungry will bring me to tears. When researching history, I am sickened by the horrid things man has done to man, for the sake of power, for the sake of some asinine religious ideal, for money and fame. I have made no secret of the fact that I believed that there was a need to diplomatically intervene in the situation in Syria, to work towards stopping the brutal regime of Bashar al Assad. That said, it sickens me that there is any sort of discussion regarding any other country using military force. It astounds me that, again, we haven’t learned.

What is to be accomplished by a military response in any fashion? Only strategic military targets will be attacked? Well, that’s nice, but Assad is not a fool. He has moved his targets, left nothing but empty shells of buildings for anyone else to aim at. Munitions will be in hospitals, schools, residential areas where he can use his people, the people who were demanding change from him two years ago, as his shields. He has moved some supplies out of the country, with the help and under the protection of whatever bat-shit crazy despot of the day is calling the shots in Iran, and with the support and assistance of Putin. There is no reason to believe that other countries are not also supporting Assad, whether or not they agree with what he does but because they have to on principle – they cannot afford to have other countries interfering in what they do, and they will want to stop that before it happens again. Iraq is still fresh in their momories.

So there is no effective target to take out. It requires an escalation, so more missiles are fired, more bombs dropped, more guns fired. Why is going to be hurt by that? Well, the people who are living there, just wanting this to end. Yes, technology makes aiming a weapon more exact, but even with that, please look at the number of people who have perished in Iraq and Afghanistan. Adding more weapons, and more soldiers, puts more people at risk. How, then, does all this end? Well, if it’s Afghanistan or Iraq, it doesn’t. Every other war has ended with diplomatic negotiations. Why can’t we skip the middle-man, avoid the extra deaths and thousands of maimed people, and cut right to the chase?

Wait! Let me answer that. We can’t because our politicians are in the pockets of the people who are sitting back with shit-eating grins on their faces, applauding the President of the United States for taking the bait – and yes I really do believe it’s bait; Obama, through his own self-righteous stupidity in drawing ‘a red line’ that was unenforceable, backed by a lot of bullying in the media, is walking into a trap from which there is no escape. Think about how much one plane, one missile, all the technology, the bullets, the guns cost. It shouldn’t be hard. The last two wars have cost billions of dollars each year, and countless lives that should not have been on the bargaining table in the first place. The people who own those companies, who also support their political party of choice (which tends to be whichever one is in power, because they like to hedge their bets) are over the moon about this. Ka-ching, Ka-ching, they can hear those new cars rolling up and those new mansions being built, with no regard for the hard work of taxpayers who foot the bill, or for the blood that will be spilt. Missiles are their blood diamonds.

But there is another equally as pertinent reason for not going into Syria. It’s not anyone’s business. Harsh? Hell yes, but this is not a time to be pussy-assed about it. The Syrians are using chemical weapons on their own people. Well, the US government used Agent Orange in Vietnam, exposing civilians and their own soldiers to an incredibly cruel, heinous death. They didn’t know it would do that? Bullshit. They knew it would do that, because it did that to the people exposed to it ten years earlier in Korea. They then buried the crap in landfills, near water supplies, still knowing what it would do, hoping that by forbidding anyone from talking about it, things would be perfectly fine. Weapons of mass destruction? Does that include Napalm? Where the hell does the US or any other country, get off in condemning anyone for doing what they have already done with impunity.

Don’t get me started on the allowing of the contamination of water, which is no different than throwing Poison in the town well, and their back-pocket association with companies who daily add poisons to our food, genetically modifying it so that it has no nutritional value but does keep the coin rolling in for Monsanto.

The other reason it is no one’s business is because this is a civil war. The people of Syria wanted change, and they stood up, impassioned, determined, wanting to own their freedom and their future. It is no different than what black people did in order to get to sit on any bus seat or eat in any damned restaurant they wanted to in the US. It was no different than the American North going to war against the South over a principle. What would have happened if France had lobbed bombs and put soldiers on the ground in America during that war? What if Germany had said ‘we are opposed to that, so we are going to come in and pick sides’? Would there be an African American US President if the country had not been allowed to deal with the issue the way they had to?

Yes, war is ugly. It’s ugly on the battlefields and in the homes of the people caught in the middle. It is even uglier, yet better disguised, in the back rooms, the marble halls where decisions are made over cognac and caviar, while businessmen dream of counting the cash they will have in their vaults. It’s time people wake up. War IS hell and it should always, and forever, be a last resort when a sovereign nation is threatened by another. The people of Syria have the right and the need to deal with this, to cause the changes they need and demand in their lives, and it is no place for anyone else to try to pick sides.

 

One again, we hear that this is necessary for international security and safety. Sorry, that ship sailed. The argument has no credibility. The last time, we found out the argument was nothing but a string of lies. The argument is stronger that for the sake of international security and safety, military involvement must be avoided. Declaring war on Iraq because of their WMDs did nothing to make the world a safer place. Now Mr. Obama is referring this issue to Congress, that austere body of politicians who cannot even agree on the purchasing of a damned stapler, and talk of reinstituting the draft raises its ugly head.

So, do I want to sit here every night and look at the torture Al-Assad unleashes on children and families? No, absolutely not, but what I want in this regard is not germane to the discussion. The answer, though, is in diplomacy and in legal avenues, not war. If Al-Assad is guilty of crimes against humanity, charge him, lock him up, try him and deal with it, while letting his country heal and rebuild. Provide him a place to meet with HIS enemy, broker the deals, do the backroom diplomacy that proves the worth of a real leader. A real leader works to keep his people OUT of harm’s way, works to make the world better, and he does that by example, through dialogue, through empathy, through patience, and through tolerance, exampling all these things along the way. We have created international laws and international courts; why can’t we give them the opportunity to work?

Bashar Al-Assad is evil. There is no debate about that. There are a lot of evil men in the world, and the way to deal with them is through the courts. He should have been reined in two years ago, being held accountable to international courts. Instead of adding more lives to the cost ledger in this civil war, fix the United Nations, which is nothing more than a pathetic, sick joke. There is much that needs to be done, and much that can be done. More military involvement is not one of them.

Daily News -- May 30th, 2012

DATELINE: SITTING IN UN HEADQUARTERS, CRYING IN MY BORSCHT – What the hell is it going to take for the international community to finally do something... anything... to help the people of Syria? I can tell you what it will take. It will take nothing short of drastic immediate restructuring of the United Nations, and this is something we, as citizens, have an obligation to now push for. Once again, in light of the massacres that have occurred in Syria... again... Russia has vetoed any action that might be taken to hold Al-Assad accountable... again.

The United Nations was created with the mandate to maintain international peace and security. So far, they are doing one hell of a fucking job. Their powers include establishing peacekeeping operations where necessary, establishing international sanctions and authorizing the use of military action when all else fails. According to Security Council Resolution 1674, they have ‘a responsibility to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.’ Nowhere does it say that this only applies when it is convenient to Russian interests. This same resolution commits the security council to ‘take action to protect civilians in an armed conflict’. So, based on their own binding resolution, on what grounds does Russia veto? It doesn’t matter what grounds. They can do it, because they, like France, China, the UK and Britain, have the right to veto. These resolutions are legally binding when made under Chapter VII of the Charter – Action With Respect to Threats to the Peace, Breaches of the Peace, and Acts of Aggression. Then again, legally binding is such a nebulous term when you are talking the United Nations, isn’t it?


What about the choice of sending in Kofi Annan to broker some sort of peace in Syria? Yes, he was the Secretary General of the United Nations for 10 years, and yes, he was a Nobel Peace Prize recipient. He was also the man who sat on his fucking thumb, tying the hands of the United Nations when they were sent in to deal with the mass genocide that took place in Rwanda. He dragged his feet, was passive at best, while watching over 800,000 people die because they happened to come from the wrong tribe. True, he has admitted, 10 years after the fact, that he ‘could and should have done more to sound the alarm and rally support,’ but apparently he has not learned that lesson yet. For a soldier sent in to help these people, it would have been absolute fucking hell to be held back from doing what they know is the right thing to do, to be observers in a massacre, and be able to offer nothing but bandaids and chicken soup. Are we never going to learn from past mistakes, especially when human lives... thousands of human lives... hang in the balance?

Let’s give this some perspective. Say your government decides to change the rules for you, that they decide there is no more need for honest elections, that they will not participate in any social programs anymore because all of the countries money will go into the military and to providing for the comfort and convenience of that leader. You aren’t really thrilled about that, as you starve, as you hold your baby in your arms as it dies from a disease that under normal circumstances would not be life threatening at all, while you watch your home crumble around you but you have no income to fix it, no way to improve anything because you are not one of the very few chosen elite in the good favor of the government. You just want to live your life, do your job, and feed your family... so you stand up and say that you want to have the basic human rights that should be guaranteed to everyone on the planet. For standing up, you get shot... but the government doesn’t stop there. They have snipers waiting on the buildings in your village and they shoot anyone who happens to come out into the street for whatever reason. They storm into your homes and shoot you, just because one day you might think you should have more than the nothing you have. They shoot children who are playing in the street, take their injured bodies to prisons, beat them, torture them, then return the dead, mutilated, bloated bodies back to their parents, dropping them on the doorstep with a shrug and a wink. Yes, this is what happens there... daily. So... if that was you, would you not want someone to do what is right and come to help you?

Of course, Russia under the charismatic Vladimir Putin does nothing without there being a political agenda to it. They can’t agree to let the world react because Russia stands guilty of a long string of international atrocities. God forbid they be held to a higher standard. What, then, is Russia doing on the fucking Security Council, and why do they have a veto? For the love of all that is fucking holy, we are talking about a world leader who is not even legitimate, who is there only because of mass election fraud, so why does he or his country have any authority at all within the United Nations? Then again, why is the United States on that same council, and why do they have a veto? They have not paid their dues to the UN for the last twenty years... leaving an unpaid debt that is estimated to be in the range of $1.3T... yes, that would be trillion. If they don’t want to pay for their fucking membership, then they should NOT have a veto. The reason for not paying it? Why, because they claim by not paying it, they can force UN compliance to their wishes. Now how is THAT for manipulating a body that was intended to help globally, without a political agenda?

The United Nations hass, from its inception, been an exercise in the political machinations of self-interested power mongers. They are totally ineffective as they allow global politics and greed to take over for the moral majority. They watch as the people in poor nations are tortured and murdered in massive acts of genocide, because the country has no massive natural resources stocks so why should they care? They watch as Russia takes tanks into a sovereign country because they don’t like the democratically elected leaders. They talk about arms control and transparency with nuclear weapons, yet no one is prepared to take the first step. They are dictated to by private interests, shackled by the greed of despots, and made entirely impotent because of the ability of five countries to veto whatever their fucking hearts desire without having to provide one iota of reason or logic, despite legally binding resolutions to protect those who need protection. We have watched countries the world over in the last five years suffer from illegal, unsound election practices... even here in Canada... but nothing is done or commented on, because the UN cannot rock the political boat. Sadly, that was what they were created to do. They were supposed to be the voice of logic and fairness, the beacon for those who so desperately need a light to look towards to guide them out of hell. They are no longer a beacon, if they ever were. They are nothing but a sham and a laughing stock, an innocent and pure idea bastardized by politicals and now offered in the guise of altruistic intentions shackled by self-serving political greed. The time for the UN to be considered viable is long past. At the very least, a Code of Conduct should be required for any nation to participate, especially in the security council -- how can they pass judgment on other nations while not holding themselves to at least the bare minimum of being a legitimate government themselves? It is time for people to demand accountability of the United Nations; if we don’t do it, who the hell will? Contact your political representative, demand they push for changes in the UN, or that they withdraw from the UN. Anything is better than dangling life on the end of a stick, just out of reach of those millions who are desperately grasping for it.

DAILY NEWS - May 29th, 2012

DATELINE: TURNING ON THE JUICE TO THE ELECTRIC FENCE -- I have a great idea! Let’s build a giant fence, 100 or maybe 150 miles long, and put all the assholes like Pastor Charles Worley of the Providence Road Baptist Church near Maiden, NC inside it. We will drop Bibles to them, so they have something to thump on as they spew hatred. Let’s electrify the fence to keep them in and in a couple years they will be dead, and we can celebrate THAT. While we’re at it, let’s throw some despots in there too, the Putins and the Assads, the world leaders who care not one flying fuck about people but only about their power and authority. You see, these people all have one thing in common – they are ruled by their intolerance and hatred, guised in a flag or the pages of Bible. They spin the truth, put words into others mouths for the sake of promoting their own agendas. The two groups… the despots and the religious radicals… really have more in common than most would expect. They live for rhetoric, the sound bite, the glorious God-given justification for their lies and confirmation of their own greatness and perfection. Alternately, we could be like the United Nations, shake our fingers, click our tongues in shame, and do sweet fuck all about problems that need to be dealt with. Their sanctimonious condemnation of the massacres in Syria are nothing more than what a manipulated mother might give to a petulant child, the final step before sending them to the time-out chair for five minutes. For over a year, we have watched with our collective thumbs up our asses, waiting for someone to do something to help the people of Syria -- you remember them? The ones who get shot for walking out their front fucking door? The actual fact of the matter is that the UN is entirely feckless, perfecting the art of kissing Putin’s anus on demand, letting him run amok in whatever other country he decides to flex his muscles. Of course he supports the Assad regime… just like he supports Ahmedinejad and Chavez… openly, unabashedly, proudly. Unless and until the countries on the Security Counsel take their jobs seriously, without the political agenda that should NOT color any aspect of the United Nations, the entire body will remain nothing more than a sick, pathetic, ineffective joke. The organization is about equal rights and respect for humanity, and if they cannot manage that simple, straightforward task, then close the fucking doors and stop pumping millions of dollars into it... money that can certainly be used for more substantial, proactive purposes, like providing food or water for the impoverished. At what point, amidst the hatred, the killing, the lying, the vitriolic paranoia, do we stand up to church and national leaders and say ‘Enough!’? At what point do we say to the Putin’s of the world ‘No, it is not okay to storm into the sovereign nation of Georgia to flex your political muscles,” or “Yes, we in the international community do have a problem with the poisoning of political leaders in order to prevent them from being elected.”? When to do go to Rome and say 'No, you cannot police yourselves because you believe you are above all laws, especially those involving the abuse of children'? (The irony, of course, of the religious position regarding gays is that, by their silence in regard to clergy moleting and sexually abusing little boys, and their pimping out of semenarians -- you thought we forgot about that one, didn't ya, Pope-ster! -- you are in fact promoting that which, again, you tell us to abhore. Like the Charles Worleys and the Pope Benedicts of the world, the Putins also do not feel the need to explain, justify or listen. Their indignation at our questions is justified, their right to do as they will, or say as they will, superceding the rights of everyone else in the world. They are not to be held accountable. Worley sees no reason to speak to anyone about his bullshit-spewing. He can scream his hate from the pulpit – his sick, unfounded hate, about a God who would condemn someone for loving – yet not have to provide any ‘proof’ that God wants all gays and lesbians killed. Of course, he can’t provide that proof, because none exists... sort of like the proof that Assad is not killing his own people, the Pope does not harbor pedophiles and Putin is not funding regimes that are completely dedicated to the destruction of the west. How long do we stick our heads in the sand, and watch elections be tampered with, (Yes, Harper, I mean you too, asshole -- you have definitely earned your place in this gallery of despots and buffoons. You may think you pulled a fast one, but we all know that those who have to resort to election fraud are those who fucking well KNOW they would not win without it, and are therefore not worthy of the title), villages of innocent people being massacred, preachers using the pulpit to justify their fears and hatred, and world leaders using the United Nations to castrate any hint of compassion or caring when it interfers with their own personal agendas and bank accounts? All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. We know this… so what the fuck are we waiting for. The time is here. Stand up. Scream ‘Enough!’. Tell the world that we are tired of the hatred, the manipulation, the theft and greed that are all borne on the backs of good, innocent people.

DAILY NEWS -- February 7th, 2012

DATELINE: MAKING POPCORN, WATCHING THE SHOW – Isn’t that what everyone is doing? My set is tuned to Syrian TV, and they have this really vivid, gripping horror movie on about the people there, being persecuted, being shot as they walk out their doors, being tortured because, well, who the fuck needs a reason to torture in a movie, right?

For almost a year this has been going on, in a large part fueled by a big old oil-burning engine that gave Al-Assad more power and money than he ever could have dreamed possible. For a year, the people in that country have lived with terrible daily atrocities, while the rest of us sit and watch, chewing our cud, and wondering what oil prices will do tomorrow because of it. Man, do we have a fucked-up set of priorities.

It is a long-held tenet that the global world does not get involved in ‘civil’ wars. There is a reason for that, an understandable one. I have no doubt that no one really would have appreciated the French picking sides in the American civil war, although, come on, we all know that no one stays neutral. Canada never participated in Vietnam, declared the war to be unjust, yet was more than happy to rake in the coin from the sales of munitions, equipment and other supplies, hypocrites that we are.

War is one hell of a funny thing – and not in the ha-ha sense. A long time ago, it was okay, in fact, it was expected that armies fight to conquer territory for their kings, legitimately crowned or otherwise. Their intent was to ‘civilize’ heathens. There was a lot of death in that civilization process, making it one of the most moronic oxymorons of all time. Then came a time when it wasn’t so cool to move your armies onto someone else’s turf. The bar had been raised, the table set; that shit didn’t happen anymore. The other change, though, was that countries had started to elect their leaders, the people playing a part in the game now as well. When the people spoke, government listened – not just their own, but governments of other countries as well, respecting the will of the people who lived in that country to choose their own path, and all was good.

But then came along a man who wooed his people (as disgusting as the word ‘woo’ might be where he was concerned) and got elected by the people of his country, promising economic fortune, telling them what was wrong with their world, who to blame for it, and what to fear. Once in power, the rules changed though. He built armies, he conquered lands that no longer belonged to him. He then went further, pushing the limits, declaring war on a whole continent that he wanted to call his own. At that point, the rest of the world (well, almost… those tricky Yanks said it was none of their business and had no intention of getting involved) said ‘enough’ and we had our second great war, another war to end all wars.

That’s the thing though, isn’t it? It sort of did, at least by the standards of conquering other lands. Kim Il-Sung and Ho Chi Minh both tried, and thankfully, although no one likes to talk about it, they were stopped. It wasn’t just their thrust for power that was stopped though; it was like a final confirmation that it was not okay to invade and conquer another land… and that was as it should be. Therein lies the conundrum, I guess, because if someone goes in to help, that word ‘invade’ is quickly tossed into the air. The soldiers and marines who went into Vietnam were accused of being involved in something they had no right to be involved in, but that’s not true. They were there to help a people who did not have the means to help themselves, and that is NEVER wrong. In both Vietnam and Korea, the people they were helping were people who had the cards stacked against them, with Russian or Chinese forces backing the original invaders.

So now, we sit back, watch Russia and China make a mockery of the international process created by the United Nations. Did anyone really think for one fucking minute that they would have done anything different? Seriously? Russia, under Putin, is one scary-assed place with a war-mongering power-craving megalomaniac at the helm. We are told that it’s a ‘civil’ matter in Syria – none of our concern.
Let me ask you this though. Suppose it was OUR country who had the power-craving megalomaniac calling the shots (insert hysterical laugher here, cause, well, we do have that) and he changed the rules of the game for all of us. Say it was us who were starving, being shot in our streets by our own government, being forced to live destitute, accept torture and brutality on a daily basis. Say it was us who were unable to set foot outside our doors, unable to get food for ourselves… say it was us who were finding our babies bodies mutilated, decaying, wrapped in plastic and dropped on our doorsteps weeks after they had gone missing and been tortured. Would we not be wanting… praying for someone to come and help us? Is that not what being human, a member of the human race, about?

Had Hitler not gone beyond taking back that which was lost in the Treaty of Versailles, if he had been content with just ‘reclaiming’ land and people, but still went on his binge of cleansing society of all Jews, people of color, people of different nationality, people with handicaps, would that have been okay? Would the world just sit and watch? Would we accept that it was his right, in his country, to kill whoever he wanted? I hope not because what a sad fucking excuse for humans we would be. Let me ask one other question – had Germany been blessed with huge reserves of oil, would we have capitulated and let Hitler run amok? Is a barrel of oil really worth a human life in a fair barter system?

The bar has been set, raised on the lives of incredibly generous men and women who stood up to say ‘that’s not right’. This has nothing to do with any religion or custom, but it has everything to do with greed – ours and theirs. We want the oil. We claim it is better to take oil that is paid for by the lives of little children shot dead in the street, than to take oil that comes from sand pits, and somehow justify that it’s okay. No, I am not making a pitch for Canadian oil and how it is processed. I am saying we have alternatives though, and we should put more effort into finding cleaner ways of extracting what we have, and of using what we have responsibly, but it would still be better than what is happening in Syria. Despots have risen to unprecedented authority because of the money handed to them, by us, for a product we are using in excess to pollute the earth. You want to sit there and tell me we don’t have some responsibility to claim for the terrible abuse the people of Syria are facing today? You are fucking right we do, and we have an obligation, as global community of humans, to help them.

Gad-Dafi Duck -- Th-Th-Th-Th-Th-... That's all, folks.

DATELINE: CELEBRATING SPRING – Arab Spring, that is. Muammar Gaddafi is dead. This would be a good time to cue the oppressed munchkins into song as they all start to look for that yellow brick road. The house fell on that slimy bastard, and now the people of yet another country, have the opportunity to live a life free from tyranny and despotism. For the people of Libya, as for those of Egypt and Tunisia, it is truly a day to rejoice. 42 years hell at the hands of one man was more than enough. Finally the future for the people of that country is something to think about, dream about, plan for. I cannot imagine what it is like to live in a place so totally devoid of hope.

Sadly, the word here is ‘celebrate’. Do not for one minute think that I mourn the death of Gaddafi. Like Saddam, like Osama, or that I will when the time comes for the likes of Chavez and Bashar al-Assad. They were/are hideous heinous vile scum of the earth… and still I find myself pondering the notion of celebrating the death of another human. It’s not something new; it is something that on some level makes me feel a twinge of guilt… and I hate that. I was raised to believe in the sanctity of life. It’s a nice pipedream, one that should be straightforward enough but is muddied by politics, hatred, violence, war, greed, and despots. Adding to my anger is that this desire to see them dead was something they brought on themselves. They made us want them dead. The choices they made, the priority they gave their lives over absolutely everybody else, their unmitigated greed, ego, hubris…. It’s a long list of qualities, but I cannot manage to wrap my brain around how anyone can think so much of themselves and so little of the rest of the world, to believe that others are there simply for the convenience and comfort of the chosen few. It’s truly sad, something that should be researched to find a cure or a preventative vaccine. I want to celebrate Gaddafi’s death, but I can’t. Instead, I will rejoice in the success of the people of Libya, their strength, their determination, and now, their futures.

What I would like to ask, though, is that while we list the names of these absolutely heinous people, we remember other names. How about remembering the name Mohamed Bouazizi? I suspect many of you are asking why we need to remember this name. Why should the name of Bouazizi slip from our lips as easily as Bin Laden, Chavez, Kim, or Ahmadinejad?

Mohamed Bouazizi was a Tunisian street vendor. He was 26 years old when, on January 4, 2011, he set himself on fire to protest the horrendous treatment he received at the hands of government officials and to make a statement that the time had come for change. He had no idea what would happen, what he would start, the number of lives he would change. Oh that he could know. Perhaps he does. This one act, this act of a man who had decided death was better than the oppression he suffered for trying to make an honest living, was the catalyst for the Tunisian Revolution. His death moved the people of Tunisia, made them rise up, lift their voices and demand change. Ten days later, President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali stepped down after ruling with an iron fist for 23 years. Mohamed Bouazizi’s death gave birth to the Arab Spring, and because of his actions, on the day that Gaddafi died, the people of Tunisia voted in democratic elections for the first time. Yes, there is a sweet fucking irony in that fact.

Because of Bouazizi, Tunisia has elections, Hosni Mubarak was overthrown and stands trial, Muammar Gaddafi was been killed, Ali Abdullah Seleh agreed to step down, the governments of Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, and Morocco have implemented fundamental changes. Uprisings and protests continue in Syria, Bahrain, Algeria and Iraq, where more people are seeking changed, demanding change, fighting for change and, sadly, dying for change.

While you watch your news, while you vent about politics, debates, GOP leadership candidates who do not have the brains to blow their own noses, government officials who do not have the balls to do what they should be doing because they are too concerned about being re-elected so they can spend another four years doing nothing but worrying about winning the next election, think of Mohamed Bouazizi. The next time you shrug and say ‘it is what it is’ or ‘you can’t fight city hall’ or ‘what can one person do’, think about Mohamed Bouazizi

FROM THE DRIVER'S SEAT, June 11, 2011 -- SUFFER THE LITTLE CHILDREN

DATELINE: WATCHING THE CHILDREN DIE AND ASKING WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH US – It’s been one of those weeks, where every time you turn on the news, buried beneath the stories of the newest ‘member’ of the US House of Representatives, and how it’s owner has the moral compunction of a snot ball, or the incredible number of penalties issued in a frigging hockey game, is a headline about a child abused, a child murdered, a child tortured. Why these are not the FIRST stories to be discussed is rather beyond me. We have become blasé to the torture we put children through, not even bothering to report on the ones who are starving, the ones who are still living in tents, caves and rubble in Haiti, the ones who daily demonstrate a grace and strength second to none when faced with adversity; we ignore them, because the image of a skeletal child to weak to scoot the flies from its eyes is really much less glamorous than Paris Hilton’s pantyless exit from her car, much less spectacular than Charlie Sheen’s Adonis/tiger bullshit crap and corruption ‘how much I can bilk you stooped people this time’ real winners tour and flame-out.

Buried in the headlines in May of this year was a UNICEF report that people from the province of Daraa in Syria were being detained in appalling conditions, many of them children. That was in May. Now in June, we have the second report of a teen who was snatched up by Bashar Assad’s government, tortured, killed, and returned to his family. This would be the second that had made it to North American media. God only knows how many others there are who haven’t found their way to YouTube or Facebook. This child, 15 years old, was taken on the same day and from the same area as Hamza el-Khatib. Tamer Mohammed al-Sharei was shot in the knee. His face was bruised black, his teeth were all pulled out. Who the hell gets off doing this to children? Who gets off doing this to anyone? There can be no question that international involvement is required here. We are talking about Syria, where it was just revealed by the Atomic Energy Agency, these people have also created a plutonium reactor; undoubtedly the makings of another nuclear disaster with radiation leaks to wipe out more people because they just don’t give enough of a damned to make sure its done properly. When the hell are these asshole leaders of asshole regimes going to get their heads out of their asses? Oh yeah, never, not unless the rest of us stand up for those who are so completely oppressed and say enough. Until then, all we can do is make sure the names of these children are not forgotten, because as we stand back and do nothing, say nothing, we become as guilty as the dickhead Syrian thugs are, and Bashar himself is, in their deaths.

Of course despots and dictators do not have the market sewn up when it comes to the absolutely reprehensible hell we tend to believe we can put children through. Enter Doctor Earl Bradley, a 58-year-old Delaware paediatrician who is currently on trial for sexually abusing 86 of his little patients. The average age of his victims was three. How can this happen, you ask? Well, he used hidden cameras, including one in a pen that he used to take pictures of his little patients genitals. If his patient was good, he would take her to get a ‘treat’ in another room, or he would say that he had popsicles that would help with pain control after shots, then take the child for that, creating excuses to get the child away from the parent. It was for a popsicle; what parent is going to get alarm bells about that? Once out of eyesight, in his other rooms where he had the ‘treats’, he also had cameras set up to film him forcibly holding the child’s head for oral satisfaction, and that wasn’t the worst of it. For ten years, this sick fuck had access to children, creating a long list of victims who will spend the rest of their lives trying to understand and deal with what happened, and their parents who will forever be consumed in a hell of guilt and rage, all because Earl Bradley is a majorly sick bastard who should never have been allowed near a child, and who should never be allowed to see the light of day again.

Along the same vein, we have the entire Casey Anthony clusterfuck. There is a little girl dead, for no reason, killed at the hands of someone in her own family, someone who should have offered nothing but unconditional love to the child. Why is this so hard? When did it become acceptable for us to consider children as dispensable? Casey Anthony pretends to cry, feigns sickness, anything to not have to deal with what is going on; anything to avoid accountability, and let’s face it... she is accountable. There is no doubt that she is fully aware of who murdered her child, and if she is sincere that she is, in fact, ‘not guilty’, then why the hell has she not provided evidence as to who is? She has blamed her father for sexually assaulting her, as well as her brother when she was a child, but we know she is a pathological liar, so those have no credibility, plus they are not offered as evidence of her innocence but rather an excuse for her actions, so she doesn’t have to own them. She lied about the drowning, she lied about the babysitter, she has lied about everything. If she did not do it, she damned well knows who did, and if she is not prepared to help convict the murderer of her child, it’s as if she did it herself anyways. The bottom line is that this woman, this family, should not be allowed to have access to children at all. The parents know what is happening, and while I can understand that they love their daughter and don’t want to see her facing the death penalty, there were things they could have said or done to help put this issue to rest... for everyone’s sake. Hell, Casey was more than prepared to toss everyone else in her family under the bus, everyone but her boyfriend; that says a mouthful.

FROM THE DRIVER'S SEAT - June 3rd, 2011

DATELINE: LOST IN THE HEADLINES, FOR ALL THE WRONG REASONS – It lacks glamor and glitz -- in fact, it’s horrifying. It has no celebrity endorsement because it could be viewed as a political hot potato. In some countries, sadly, it’s the norm, so they look the other way, buy the propaganda and spin, because they have no choice. Well, I have a choice, and my choice is to say it’s time to pay fucking attention to this.

A boy, thirteen years old, was murdered by his government. His name was Hamza al-Khateeb. It doesn’t have the same ring to it as say Brittney Spears or Paris Hilton, but this boy has reason to be in the news, and it isn’t because he went and got a new fucking tattoo or a Brazilian body wax. This boy was taken by the Syrian military under the orders of President Bashar Assad. He was shot three times, he was tortured for a month, there were burn marks on his body, his kneecaps were shattered, his penis was cut off, and once he had died, his body was returned to his family, along with a wheelbarrow full of bullshit stories about what happened to him and how he had not been tortured or suffered at all. The family, going public with the story, then faced the wrath of the government even more, to the point where they were intimidated enough, scared shitless enough, that they went on television to sing the praises of the great gregarious Assad.

But this is just the tip of the iceburg. A four-year old in Syria was shot in her village… I can’t for the life of me imagine what the hell threat a four-year-old is to soldiers with machine guns, but apparently they believed her to be, and murdered her. A busload of children was also fired upon. In the town of Rastan, people cannot even walk out their doors to go to prayers because the minute they step outside, they are shot. This is not life. This is not right. But North American media’s probe into the situation: ‘What does Bashar Assad have on his iPod?’ I am not making this up… it was a burning question that begged an answer. What the fuck is that about? We have now taken fluff from pointless and tasteless and tossed it way across the line to insulting and obnoxious.

The news today? A hockey player bit another one in a fight on the ice… whoop-de-fucking do. John Edwards is facing indictment? Well, good. The bastard brought it on himself with his greed and his uncontrollable dick. That peach of a general from Bosnia, Ratko Mladic, is pleading for compassion because he is sick with cancer; well, yes, I guess I am a cold heartless bitch because I hope he suffers and lingers and that he still stands trial because that man was a fucking monster who showed no compassion to anyone in his life, but rather found intense joy in dishing out torture to people for no reason. Karma’s a bitch too, Ratko, honey; pull on your big-boy panties and take what’s coming to you. And of course, what the fuck is a day in the media without Sarah Palin and her pretend but not really US tour/campaign to see how many idiots actually will believe she is on a family fucking holiday so she can campaign AND still collect her nice fat paycheck from those apparent morons at FOX. Sarah… please just piss or get off the fucking pot. You are not news, you are not special, and you are not particularly clever so fuck off and let some real people with some real skills and brains and ideas try to help the world instead of milking it for all it’s worth.

Pay fucking attention! People… children… are being tortured by their own governments. Now Iran, and that rocket fucking scientist Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is coming to the rescue, sending troops in to help his buddy Bashar, and we will sit back and watch, and turn the channel so we don’t have to see.

But let me ask you this… IF that happened here, IF one day we woke up and found that a despot in disguise had managed to get into power, what would you do? It’s not beyond the realm of possibility. For starters, we have Steven Harper with his very blatant disrespect for all things democratic and his attempts to circumvent process at every possibility all for the single purpose of maintaining political power. Look back a few years… a man named Adolf Hitler was democratically elected as well. It can happen, and who will help when it does?

We sit back and say that Bashar will change. Well, hello?? What the fuck planet are you on? He will not change because he does not have to because no one holds him to account. There are a shitload of fucking asshole leaders in the Middle East all sitting back praying that their people will stop demanding to be treated with even a modicum of respect and that they might have just one or two human rights… how dare they… so these leaders have absolutely no desire to get involved, because ‘there but for the grace of Allah, go I’. The rest of the world… there might be oil there, so we can’t piss them off.

The people in Europe needed help to regain their lives back from the Nazi regime. The people in South Vietnam were being brutally tortured and systematically wiped out by North Vietnam. Korea? The Chinese and North Koreans had chosen those in the south for their targets. Bosnia, the Sudan… the list is long of people who are brutally wiped out because they want to have a life, because they practice the wrong religion, come from the wrong town, because they dare to say ‘enough’. It’s time for the rest of us to say ‘enough’ on their behalf, and I will give kudos to Hillary Clinton for at least having the balls to state clearly and publicly that this is unacceptable, apparently a lone voice among the politicos of the world.

For one minute, imagine your life waking up in the morning, not able to step out your door because you will be shot. Imagine spending every day in abject terror because you have no idea who will want to murder and mutilate your baby. Imagine the panic in your heart as you search for your child who was there with you one minute, gone the next, then receiving his body back full of holes, covered with burns, tortured almost beyond recognition, and receiving blatant lies about what happened to him. Then imagine what you would do if you knew others with a better life were looking in, watching, then shrugging and saying ‘sorry, but it’s a civil matter’. A civil matter? A civil war? There is absolutely nothing civil about any of this. It’s barbaric by any terms, and it’s time we made that known.