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 Thursday, May 6, 2004
How we get stupid.. Never mind the specific argument about Ted Rall. (Of whom, an intelligent defense here.)
What I like about this new post from Max is that it makes me realize that I like the idea of "epater le bourgeois" about as much as I like "things have to get worse before they can get better," which is to say, not very much at all. Both are bromides by which liberal-minded people seduce themselves into treating other people as things, as mere means to an end.
Shock can be a legitimate tool. The photos from Abu Ghraib are shocking. The impact of that shock may punch through some complacency and do some good. That doesn't mean that shock is always the appropriate tool, or the morally proportionate one. Unless you think that "bourgeois sensibility" is a transcendent evil on par with cruelty, exploitation, injustice, or oppression. I'd be interested to hear the argument, but my eyebrow is pre-raised.
Beyond all that, another thing about valorizing "epater le bourgeois" as a practice is that it becomes habit-forming, like angry righteousness. And an activist who's developed predictable habits is an activist who can be gamed. David Horowitz was once the baker's daughter. [Electrolite]
Just as I hope that those rational people on the right are as disgusted by the ravings of Rush (No worse than a frat hazing) Limbaugh, those of us closer to the left have our own nutcases, ones whose rhetoric is meant to shock but hardly ever enlighten. It is easy to shock. Very difficult to shock to make a valid point. 'A Modest Proposal' by Jonathan Swift is an example of a shocking work that also makes a point. Much in Rall's article appears to be there only to shock, revealing a vein of hate that does not illuminate. It simply blackens everything, creating the same sort of incorrect black-and-white vision that the Limbaugh's of the world utilize. Shocking people just to get a reaction is what teenagers do. They think they know everything, yet know nothing. It is an infantile way to make a point. But it can be a very lucrative one these days, and one sure to keep your name in the media. 11:58:21 PM 
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Help wanted.. Real job listing at CACI. (Emphasis ours.)
Interrogator/Intel Analyst Team Lead Asst.
BAGHDAD, Iraq
(Requisition #BZSG308)
Clearance: TS
Description:
Assists the interrogation support program team lead to increase the effectiveness of dealing with Detainees, Persons of Interest, and Prisoners of War (POWs) that are in the custody of US/Coalition Forces in the CJTF 7 AOR, in terms of screening, interrogation, and debriefing of persons of intelligence value. Under minimal supervision, will assist the team lead in managing a multifaceted interrogation support cell consisting of database entry/intelligence research clerks, screeners, tactical/strategic interrogators, and intelligence analyst.
Isn't it nice to know that "Detainees, Persons of Interest, and Prisoners of War (POWs) that are in the custody of US/Coalition forces" are being "dealt with" by private industry under only "minimal supervision"?
Away with that old-fashioned, intrusive supervision! Hooray for entrepreneurial self-starters!
(Via BoingBoing.) [Electrolite]
I wonder just what tactical/strategic interrogators are? We have already seen the pictures of screeners. But you get to help manage a 'multifaceted interrogation support cell.' Wow. I bet that will look good on the old resume! Nice to know that we are privatizing our interrogation experts. Maybe they are having to find replacements for the ones already over there. The ones who were a part of the ongoing torture scandal. 11:33:38 PM
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The Apprentice was a typical reality show, one that is easy to dismiss. But it had some very important lessons. One is what I call 'The Omarosa Moment.' Omarosa was the one every hated. She was a back-biter, a slacker and a liar. In the final episodes, she sold out her team, not doing her job and lying about it. These were caught on tape so the audience knew exactly what she was doing. Her team leader, Kwame, did not have access to these tapes, but he could have checked to see just how she was destroying the team's effort. It would have taken a simple phone call. But he kept her on, believing that he had taken care of the problem and things would be fine. Until the next time she screwed up.
Kwame lost. In my opinion it was because he did not fire her butt the first time he found out she was not working for the team' success, that her presence actually hurt the ability of his team to work. His reasoning ('That I only had 4 people. Without her, we would not have been enough to succeed.') was flawed. With her they failed. The only hope they had was to cut her out quickly and adapt.
So, I have coined the phrase 'The Omarosa Moment.' This is the tipping point, the point where you have to cast off those that are holding you back, that are moving the organization in the wrong direction, whose very actions are preventing success.
Kwame had his Omarosa moment and failed to execute it. I believe that is why he failed to win the Apprentice. A leader must know when to alter the group in order to succeed. When to hire and when to fire. Bush is facing an Omarosa moment right now. I believe he has had several in the past. His failure to deal with those does not bode well for this one.
Not only did his subordinates allow a situation to unfold that was extremely hurtful to his Administration, they hide this news from him. They had several weeks, at the least, when they KNEW it was going to come out, even on which TV network. Yet they did not tell him. He found out about it just like the rest of us.
As someone who views himself as the first CEO president, how does he deal with this? How does he deal with subordinates whose actions are jeopardizing his goals? How can he function if his employees do not give him a heads up on something that will make him look ridiculous, that will require him to appear on Arab TV to offer regret? How do deal with people who made him look like an ineffective fool? What other time bombs are hiding in his organization waiting to explode? How can he know? What can he do?
His Omarosa moment.
I'll tell you what I would do, something he should have done a long time ago. He should can some people's butts. A lot of heads must roll. Big ones. He can then say I am as horrified as you. I made a mistake trusting these people. They let me down and, more importantly, they let down the people of the United States. Put on a hair shirt and ask to be forgiven.
I believe that would really work. Because no one wants to believe that the President is a bad person. But they can believe that he could be misinformed due to 'evil' or 'incompetant' underlings. He just has to make a show that he has cast out these subordinates, that he has fixed everything, that he is sorry and ask people to trust that he will get it right now. His ratings would skyrocket and he could turn a big negative into a positive. A smart CEO would do this. What will Bush do? 1:21:10 PM
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I like to read Little Green Footballs every so often to see just how far apart we are. The inane parsing (to paraphrase - 'I don't think that was torture.' 'Saddam did worse.' 'They don't follow the Geneva conventions so why do we?' 'It's no worse than frat hazing.' 'They soldiers were not stupid for doing any of this. those people deserved it. They were stupid for photographing it.' 'This is war. We must do whatever it takes, short of death, to extract information.') totally obscures the incident. It was when some started suggesting that the photos are fakes, that they have been leaked out by 'our enemies' in order to defeat us, that the silent majority must now fight back, that I really got a flavor for what the true wingnuts are seeing. Listen to most people who have served in the military ( it does not matter what political stripe they are) and you will hear severe disgust that any of these soldiers would bring this kind of disgrace on the armed forces, But, anyone who has read about the Stanford experiments or other psychological research understands that a majority of humans would do the exact same things given the proper environment. In one, 65% of the people inflicted a fatal electric shock (or so they thought) with nothing more than a supervisor telling them it was okay. When people in authority say it is okay, most people will go along, absolving themselves of any real blame. That is how so many Germans could be involved in the Holocaust. The only way to prevent this is to have an organizational structure determined to prevent it. It is the only way that has worked in prisons. It is the only way it works in the military. In an organization that has to kill humans, rigid organization is required to prevent abuses.
Our military leaders failed at this. It is an indication of very poor leadership, evidenced by the fact that the Pentagon knew for two weeks that these pictures and the report were going to come out in the media. CBS has discussed this several times. They did not tell Bush, who only found out about it when it came out in the media. Neither General Myers, head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, nor Rumsfeld had read the report, even 3 days AFTER the media report. I fact, this was the THIRD report put together over the last 9 months about this prison. How in the world could the Commander in Chief have absolutely no idea that this was coming? The Pentagon sure knew. For 2 weeks. We are seeing how the horrible way this administration is put together is having a damaging effect on America as a whole. It is becoming more and more apparent that its top-down approach does not function properly. What will be next? 12:59:15 PM
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