Away from the Internet since Saturday, I relied on a steady diet of cable news for my information. My mother, who is a resident of an assisted living facility, usually has her television tuned to CNN, but she bounces regularly to MSNBC and Fox, as well as the local PBS affiliate. So I got what I think is fairly representative sampling.
And I don't know why I was shocked but I was. The obscene war lust and crass propaganda was appalling. First off, there is a complete acceptance, absent any caveats that the assessment is being provided by intelligence agencies that assured us that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction, that the Syrian government is the perpetrator of the chemical weapons attack two weeks ago. No exploration of the possibility that the rebels might have launched such an attack despite the fact that there is ample reporting saying as much. No discussion of why John Kerry is always getting out in front of the UN chemical weapons investigation team, first by falsely claiming that their efforts to collect samples in East Ghouta was a waste of time because of Syrian Arab Army shelling, and then by saying that hair and blood samples from first responders to the Ghouta attack tested positive for signatures of sarin, even though a signature of sarin is very different from sarin exposure itself (see yesterday's excellent "Moon of Alabama" post for a discussion of this).
But worst of all are the crude appeals for violence on behalf of children being victimized by the brute Assad. Ann Curry provides the most excessive, ludicrous example of this. It's a rhetorical specialty of the humanitarian bombers: We have to blow up children to save the children. While Curry discussed her harrowing visit to the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan she shared a split screen with rotating still images of refugee children. It was like watching a SPCA commercial.
There were a few bright spots. CNN interviewed Congressman Alan Grayson (D-Florida) a couple of times and each time he absolutely destroyed -- completely silenced -- the talking-head warhawks. To paraphrase: "It's a civil war. Sending in cruise missiles is not going to enhance our credibility or send a message to Iran or save any children. It's going to cost a billion dollars -- money that should be spent here at home -- and not do anything but make things worse." Congresswoman Janice Hahn was also excellent. To paraphrase: "When I attended Labor Day picnics and parades people kept coming up to me saying, 'Whatever you do, don't send us into another war.' "
In addition to being absent from the Internet, I was also away from the New York Times for Sunday and Monday. Dipping back in today, it's apparent to me that going to Congress with a blank-check Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) Obama is looking to make a much larger strike than he has been calling for in public. There is no doubt that what is being contemplated by the elites who run the show is an open-ended military engagement that will likely last for a generation or two. Take down Syria, mop up Hezbollah, go after Iran. It's hard to understand where they see the support in the general populous for this Battle of Armageddon. There is certainly support among the rulers of Saudi Arabia and Israeli Likudniks. But among your average Democrat and Republican? No, absolutely not. It's baffling. Are elites that out of touch? Apparently.
The problem we have as citizens of this country is that we have no effective institutions to communicate our will. Congress is bought and so are the ever-shrinking unions. We can vote the bums out but it's usually too little and too late. And when new representatives get to D.C. -- what Nader called "corporate occupied territory" -- it's hard for them not to be quickly compromised.
There's still a possibility that enough Tea Party Republicans and Progressive Democrats -- fearful for their own survival -- will ban together and block the AUMF in the House. That's our best bet. It might seem fruitless, but practice some civic faith and take time to either write or call your Senators and Congressional Representative.
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