Wednesday, May 28, 2003

Service Guarantees Citizenship. Georgie Anne Geyer reveals why Chris Hedges got booed off the stage at the Rockford College commencement: Kids today never had it tough. But I'd also say that Chris Hedges was "there" -- out there in the war zones when precious few Americans were -- and that he was trying to explain it all to his paper, to his country and, above all, to himself. Not only had none of those students been there, in terms of wars, but few of them will ever try to be there. Few of them will enlist. For most of them, the bill for their easy patriotism will never come due. It is not their fault that their country chose to have a volunteer army after the traumas of Vietnam or that Iraq is a long way away, both physically and spiritually. Still, I worry that such apparently costless patriotism also comes with its own peculiar measure of guilt and blame, not to speak of a strange new patriotism untethered to responsibility or sacrifice -- except, of course, for all those others. [Hit & Run] There's a misconception that the students at Rockford College were being patriotic. In fact, patriotism is the love of one's country, not one's government--conservatives (a category which no doubt includes the misbehaving students) believe that the two are the same thing. However, the idea is totally contrary to the principles that America was founded on. I believe, and I have no doubt that the Founding Fathers would agree, that patriotism--love of one's country--necessarily precludes love of the government. I'd even go so far as to say that these so-called "patriotic" conservatives are not only un-patriotic, but in fact are actually anti-American in the original sense of what America is supposed to be. 11:01:18 PM    comment () Symantec's stock price is over $47/share! 6:09:45 PM    comment () More Nastiness Abroad. Uzbekistan takes on, um, the enemies of freedom. [Hit & Run] Independent human rights groups estimate that there are more than 600 politically motivated arrests a year in Uzbekistan, and 6,500 political prisoners, some tortured to death. According to a forensic report commissioned by the British embassy, in August two prisoners were even boiled to death. The US condemned this repression for many years. But since September 11 rewrote America's strategic interests in central Asia, the government of President Islam Karimov has become Washington's new best friend in the region. 9:59:41 AM    comment () J.J. Johnson at Sierra Times - Whack'em & Stack'em: A Tactical Guide for the Young Officer - an instruction manual for the new cop, newly licensed to kill. This would be funny if it weren't so close to the truth. [sierra] [End the War on Freedom] Mr. Johnson must be familiar with the LAPD. 9:31:58 AM    comment () No More Liberal Bias!. Los Angeles Times Editor John Carroll, in a staff memo leaked to the L.A. Observed weblog, has declared war on his paper's liberal bias: I want everyone to understand how serious I am about purging all political bias from our coverage. We may happen to live in a political atmosphere that is suffused with liberal values (and is unreflective of the nation as a whole), but we are not going to push a liberal agenda in the news pages of the Times. [Hit & Run] I'll believe it when I see it. 9:11:40 AM    comment () Salam Pax Is Real. In the past months, many weblogs have pondered Iraqi blogger Salam Pax. Is he real? A fiction? The answer is now clear. [Mark Bernstein] 9:02:29 AM    comment ()

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