Tuesday, May 25, 2004

Posted here Tuesday, May 25, 2004 at 6:31:19 PM     Trying to understand all points of view. One is, why people support Bush. It does not take rabid sadism to be a Bush supporter. here for example, from a column by Maggie Gallagher http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&;cid=115&ncid=742&e=6&u=/ucmg/20040525/cm_ucmg/whatbushdidnotsay One thing that strikes me is how imperiled the president's robust faith in democracy is within that same civilized world he seeks to secure. In Europe, power is retreating from nations to a remote European Union (news - web sites) and transnational courts and bureaucracies. Even here, many Americans actively seek to be ruled by non-democratic institutions; they have more faith in the courts or the regulators to make decisions that affect our lives than the democratic process. Given the implications, a vote for B is a vote against abstraction. The apeal of such argumnets, and the fears they are based on, are also real. ********

Posted here Tuesday, May 25, 2004 at 9:12:15 AM     In today's issue New republic on line http://www.tnr.com/blog/iraqd a very good article on the near impossibility of disarming the militias. As I've argued before, Saddam was a response to the conditions in Iraq, of intense inter group warfare. The current conditions are of course the same, and the rise of a new strong man fascist is likely. Recall that the older generation of leaders in much of the middle east were influenced by  Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin, in organized political groups. ********

Posted here Tuesday, May 25, 2004 at 9:03:34 AM     www.billmon.org has been closed. I've no idea what is happening. He has been one of the very best commentator/analysts of the current scene. He was in the ME for a conference and came back burned out. www.talkingpointsmemo.com has No analogies are perfect, certainly. But if there is anything from the late eighteenth century comparable to the current situation in Iraq it is not the American Revolution but the French Revolution, with legitimacy and the sinews of society in a losing battle with a widening gyre of violence. ********

Posted here Tuesday, May 25, 2004 at 8:43:18 AM     Do take a look and listen to this extraordinay site on Bach's well-tempered--- http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~tas3/wtc.html The clicks on the left will take you directly to the sheet music and play it. Clicking on the schematic will take you around in the music. ********