Archive

Archive for October, 2008

By the Sword

October 22nd, 2008 Josh Berthume 2 comments

Years from now, it is unlikely that anyone other than people like me (re: people with a professional interest in terrorism) will care much about this example of backfired fear-mongering, but I think it is incredibly salient to the Right’s totally ridiculous assertions about how Obama is a secret Muslim terrorist. McCain and Palin raise the specter of terrorism in relation to Barack Obama and now people at their rallies, showing that they have fully bought every email that’s been forwarded to them, think he’s a one man sleeper cell.

The fear of terrorism is raised on what is little else than old racist fears – you can’t implore people to be afraid of a black guy anymore, so the terrorism thing will have to do – and the message that the Right digests becomes that, outside of Barack Obama not wanting to automatically bomb the Middle East to a sheet of glass (which is code for wanting to hug terrorists), he may actually be a terrorist, or in league with them, or ready to welcome them to the White House.

You don’t have to know much about terrorism to know how stupid that is. It is utterly stone dumb. But knowing a little bit about terrorism might bring you the knowledge that the primary battleground in the war on terror is financial. You have to have money to do everything, and in a world where intelligence agencies and law enforcement are usually forced to defend against the last terrorist attack, organizations like the US Treasury do a great deal to stop terrorism before it happens by disrupting terrorist finances. A student of basic history without any special terrorism knowledge would know that the mujahideen in Afghanistan, with some logistical support from the United States, defeated the Soviet Union by fighting an unwinnable, asymmetrical land war that drained the considerable resources of the Soviets and mired them in a conflict from which there was no readily acceptable excision.

Thus it is no surprise that Al-Qaeda supporters using community website forums – the terrorist communication method of choice these days – would express glee at the financial problems the United States is currently experiencing. It is unlikely that Osama bin Laden blogs there under the pen name 3m1r_31057 or something, but these are used as readily as bookstores and radical mosques are as conduits of information, communication, and message control by the modern al-Qaeda network.

It is also no surprise to me that supporters of militant Islamic transnational terrorism against the United States would be excited about the prospect of a John McCain presidency. He’s determined to “win” in Iraq, an outcome with no definable parameters or possible tangible results, and I see no reason to expect McCain to act any differently towards the Middle East than George Bush has. Understanding that, the War in Iraq has been the single greatest recruiting tool that terrorism has ever enjoyed. A continuation of Bush’s policies and the Bush Doctrine as the United States deals with an enormous economic crisis and continues to isolate itself with unilateral foreign policy aggression would no doubt aid the cause of al-Qaeda and the many, many umbrella organizations that function as its wholly owned subsidiaries.

So, in the long run, something like this is probably inconsequential, some chatter among extremists that made it out into the mainstream for consumption. But it is indicative of a totally predictable reception and attitude, a rational approach to American politics by rational actors who also happen to be militant extremists that claim membership in a transnational terrorist organization that makes war on our country. Further foolish military misadventure is a desirable outcome for the enemies of America, and the fact that no one on the left has made this point – ever – on the national scene drives me up the wall.

Not only is the hyper-amped terrorism fear-mongering about Obama totally false and completely unfounded, it also makes no logical sense when applied to the real world, even when you take the stuff about the Manchurian Candidate out of it and you’re only left with a military intention that doesn’t include knocking chips off of shoulders for no good reason, it is also totally misdirected. True fear about terrorism should spring from the prospect of a continuation of the policies of the last 8 years, not from a change in direction about how we conduct ourselves in the world. We should, as a nation, not only be working to prevent the next terror attack and punish those who perpetrated the last one. We should also be working to stop terrorism 5 or 10 or 20 years before it happens.

Post to Twitter Post to Yahoo Buzz Post to Delicious Post to Digg Post to Facebook Post to Ping.fm Post to Reddit Post to StumbleUpon

Reporter Assaulted at Sarah Palin Rally

October 17th, 2008 Josh Berthume No comments

Unforgivable but not at all surprising, via TPM.

Post to Twitter Post to Yahoo Buzz Post to Delicious Post to Digg Post to Facebook Post to Ping.fm Post to Reddit Post to StumbleUpon

Categories: American Politics, News and Media Tags:

The John-McCain-As-Nigerian-Prince Email Scam

October 15th, 2008 Josh Berthume No comments

We have truly entered the silly season when John McCain starts palling around with foreign email scammers:

Selected Winner…….£500,000.00
John Mccain Extention Network
Thu, Oct 16, 2008 at 1:19 AM

John Mccain Organization, Alaska
London/Germany Extension Office
Foreign Relations Committee
Address:Bressenden Place
London SW1E 5DU, England.

Revised 16/10/2008
JOHN MCCAIN FOR AMERICA:

This electronic mail is to inform you that you have won the sum of £500,000.00
[FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND POUNDS STERLING (GBP)] in the just concluded UK/Germany
John Mccain campaign [CHARITY] extension network held in London.

Participants were selected through a computer voters ballot system drawn from
a pool of over 800,000 names drawn from Europe, America, Asia, Australia,
Middle-East and parts of Africa as part of our international charity program
conducted to encourage the supporters of President John Mccaine — REPUBLICAN
John Mccain.

The result of our computer voters draw (#978) selected your email address
attached to:
Voters Card Number:   58775600545
Serial Number :      3168/10.
—-
You have been approved to claim a total sum of £500,000.00 [FIVE HUNDRED
THOUSAND POUNDS STERLING (GBP)] which will be paid to you through an ATM SWIFT
CARD.
The card center will send you an atm card which you will use to withdraw your
money in any part of the world.

Contact the remittance department below to process/forward your prize to you.
******************************

*********
Name: Dr Terry Alan
Contact E-mail: mccainextention100@live.com
Tel: +447045737566
***************************************
Please provide him with the below information for verification:
Voters Card Number:   58775600545
==========================
Full Names:
Address:
Date of Birth:
Telephone/Fax number:
Nationality:
Marital Status:
Age:
Occupation:

Note that, all claims process and clearance procedures must be kept
confidential until your winning funds has been transferred to you and duly
completed early to avoid impersonation or double claiming. All claims should
be made before 4th NOV. 2008 [United States presidential election of 2008]

CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Truly Yours,

Mr. RICK DAVIS,
CAMPAIGN MANAGER,
JOHN MCCAIN CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE.
Copyright ©, 2008 UK/GERMANY JOHN MCCAIN ORGANIZATION INC.

Post to Twitter Post to Yahoo Buzz Post to Delicious Post to Digg Post to Facebook Post to Ping.fm Post to Reddit Post to StumbleUpon

Categories: American Politics, The Internets Tags:

A Horrendous Beating with a Smile and a Nod

October 15th, 2008 Josh Berthume No comments

I can barely believe what I’ve just seen. John McCain, more or less, seethed and blinked his way to certain political ignominy. John McCain wanted to get Hillary Clinton’s voters the whole time, and tonight he blew that apart with his meltdown – and totally ghoulish – response on abortion and women’s health. He wanted to change the perception of voters of him as an angry, erratic and – dare I say it – grumpy – old man, and instead he could barely contain his anger and derision.

The Obama campaign dared McCain to continue his fearmongering, nonsensical attacks on Ayers and ACORN, and McCain dutifully tried those avenues, only to lose the moment to Obama’s calm and unflappable explanation of why those attacks are nonsensical and also, possibly, why no one cares about them. Even his big zinger line – that he isn’t President Bush, and that if Obama wanted to run against Bush he should have done so four year ago – fell flat, and then was visited with absolute destruction by Obama about a minute later. Incredibly, even FOX News is running Obama’s rejoinder paired with McCain’s line.

McCain not only lost this debate, he was directly manipulated by the Obama campaign into believing that non-issues are what he should talk about. Not only is McCain wrong about almost everything: his campaign’s character attacks against Obama, the primary driving force behind everything they’ve done since they picked up Sarah Palin – have now been turned to Obama’s advantage by a much more skillful political operation.

McCain said often tonight that voters are angry, and the base that shows up to his rallies and forwards emails from thenewdumb.com about how Obama is a terrorist is actually angry, as they have shown us. But I think the angriest person that will vote for John McCain is John McCain, and you can see it on his face, as he rolls his eyes and grits his teeth and turns in the most petulant, teen-aged, surly performance I’ve ever seen in a national debate. Or even in national politics.

George Bush took the stage against John Kerry four years ago in a series of debates, and when he would stammer out his talking points, half of the country would say, “Wait, what kind of crazy bullshit was that?” and the other half of the country + 1 percent or so would either say “Awesome.” or “I’m not sure what that’s about, but I like ol’ George. He’s likable. I’d like to have a beer with him.”

After this campaign, the polls are telling us that Senator John McCain is not a guy the vast majority of Americans would want to have a beer with. When he glowered through two debates he looked dour and grumpy. Tonight, when he grinned, he looked scary and full of rage. John McCain is wrong on most issues – at least, the ones he has some discernible position on – and the champion of the same kind of economic policies that have damaged our country almost irreparably. More importantly to John McCain, John McCain is mad that John McCain might not get to be president, and that has everything to do with John McCain and very little to do with us, the American people he would be charged with helping and protecting if he managed to win, an outcome now only seemingly possible in an alternate universe in which McCain had conducted himself or his campaign with any degree of respect for what it all means.

Post to Twitter Post to Yahoo Buzz Post to Delicious Post to Digg Post to Facebook Post to Ping.fm Post to Reddit Post to StumbleUpon

Categories: American Politics, General Election Tags:

All Over But The Crying

October 14th, 2008 Josh Berthume 1 comment

Post to Twitter Post to Yahoo Buzz Post to Delicious Post to Digg Post to Facebook Post to Ping.fm Post to Reddit Post to StumbleUpon

Categories: American Politics, General Election Tags:

Twitter links powered by Tweet This v1.6.1, a WordPress plugin for Twitter.