Where’s the Outrage?

Public expressions of sentiment are often the kiss of death in America. If elected officials, corporations, the media, or just plain folks routinely express concern for specific groups of people, you can bet the objects of the attention are in for a rough ride. Old people. Children. Veterans– They all need to run for cover.

We say we care. But if so, why don’t we do more for these people?

I’ve long thought that the biggest sin of people who may need our help was simply vulnerability. In America, we often despise those we see as unable to “pull their own weight.” Recently, I read something that did not change my perspective on this question, although it did amend and expand my view.

I read the ancient Babylonian epic poem “Gilgamesh.” (The ancient tablet in the picture has a fragment of “Gilgamesh” written on it.) I read a 1970 translation by Herbert Mason, who was a finalist for the National Book Award. This poem is over 4500 years old.

In “Gilgamesh,” one of the two main characters, Enkidu, lives in innocence with animals. From the poem:

He ran with the animals,

Drank at their springs,

Not knowing fear or wisdom.

He freed them from the traps

The hunters set.

The hunters resent Enkidu for freeing the animals. They ask the King, Gilgamesh, to do something. Gilgamesh sends a prostitute to the woods to lure Enkidu out of innocence. The prostitute accomplishes her task and the animals no longer want anything to do with Enkidu.

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Tags: Books, General by Texas Liberal
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Recently, Republicans have tried to assert that liberals are lying about Senator John McCain saying that it was okay to be in Iraq for 100 years. Here is the video for those Republicans who still don’t believe that McCain said exactly that:

Tags: Election 2008, Iraq by ecthompson
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I’ve read a ton of political books from both end of the political spectrum over the past five years. From the nauseating Sean Hannity’s “Deliver us from Evil” (as it turns out Hannity didn’t even write the book, it was ghost written for him) to the enlightened Molly Irvins’ “Shrub.” One of the books that I will not be reading is Jerome Corsi’s “Obama Nation.”

Corsi is a right-wing neocon who uses the most inflammatory language to discuss liberals. He is also the author of the 100 percent discredited book “Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry.” This book holds the award for the biggest pile of crap ever shoveled into the American mainstream. Almost nothing in that book was true. I’m sure that “Obama Nation” will follow the same pattern.

In the meantime, there are several books that I will recommend in the coming days.

Update: Senator Barack Obama and his camp have refused to be swift-boated by this moron again. John Kerry didn’t respond until the damage had been done. Obama already has a 41-page rebuttal: “Unfit for Publication.”

Tags: Ethics, Party Politics by ecthompson
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I was trying to think of some play-on-words with the James Bond movie “To Russia with Love” but I couldn’t think of anything reasonable.

There are still many questions which haven’t been answered. Has Russia stopped their offensive? Why did the Georgia think that they could challenge Russia? To me, this is the biggest question. Georgia is a small country. I have no idea what kind of army they have but I think that it is safe to say that their army isn’t huge. They aren’t that well equipped, so why challenge Russia? Is Russia trying to overthrow the President of Georgia, Mikhail Saakashvili?

From MSNBC:

A cease-fire between Georgia and Russia teetered on the verge of collapse Thursday as Russia’s foreign minister declared the world “can forget about any talk about Georgia’s territorial integrity” and new explosions were heard near the strategic Georgian town of Gori despite Moscow’s pledges to withdraw.

The declaration from Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov came simultaneously with the announcement that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev was meeting in the Kremlin with the leaders of Georgia’s two separatist provinces.

Russia’s slow withdrawal from Georgia and the comments from Moscow present a challenge to the EU-sponsored cease-fire agreement designed to end seven days of fighting. The EU accord had envisioned Russian and Georgian forces returning to their original positions. (more… )

Tags: Foreign Affairs by ecthompson
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