A Chickenhawk ThanksgivingIn Baghdad

By David B. Livingstone

AlterNet

11-30-3

Oh, what a Thanksgiving party it was.



George Walker Bush, President of the United States of America, flew into Baghdad International Airport under cover of darkness, accompanied only by his usual retinue of mainstream press syncophants, to spend two hours mouthing platitudes and getting his picture taken in the company of 600 hand-picked military personnel.



As the only well-fed people in newly "liberated" Iraq tucked into their turkey and dressing, Bush treated the assemblage to a soundbite-friendly speech rich in flag-waving rhetoric and practical vagaries. Speaking in short, broad generalities, Bush told the soldiers, "You are defeating the terrorists here in Iraq so we don't have to face them in our own country," and "You are defending the American people from danger and we are grateful."



It is doubtful that Bush is perceptive enough to note the ironies implicit in both his presence and his pronouncements, though surely Karl Rove and his fellow cogs in the White House spin machine got a chuckle out of every nuance. While speaking for purposes of ostensibly expressing gratitude ö isn't that what the holiday is all about in the first place? ö Bush's words served instead both to perpetuate illusions and to inculcate fear. The President's repetitive mantra of "terror," "danger," freedom" and the like ö the familiar buzzwords guaranteed to fulment unreasoning emotions in the hearts of all good Fox-viewing Americans ö seemingly found its origins on Madison Avenue rather than Pennsylvania Avenue.



Deftly baiting-and-switching the public's attention away from the 60 personnel slain over the course of the preceding month or the spiraling costs of a mission he had declared "accomplished" mere months before, Bush's underlying message to America seemed to be that the boogeyman was at the door, that danger still stalked the stars and stripes, and that only continued neo-colonialism could protect our TVs, toasters and steel-belted radials from sinister terrorists.



It was a propaganda coup of the first order, replete with adoring camera angles and wildly cheering multitudes, all conducted under a shroud of Stalinist press secrecy. Indeed, the administration and its media admirers seem to regard its very deceit of the public and the press a point of pride. Lost in the torrent of excited blither from small-screen news anchors and pundits was a fairly basic question: Why was the chief executive of the United States, an ostensibly democratic nation, skulking into Baghdad when we'd been told he was in Crawford, Texas? Why were we lied to?



"For security," of course. Sure, the mortars drop on Baghdad International with unerring frequency, and even George W. would rather not be blown to bits. Understandable enough. Of course, some of us might wonder how it came to be that an American President might have the unmitigated gall to embark on such a reckless, expensive, and tactically meaningless expedition for purposes of a blatant photo-op. An answer to such a question, if asked, would surely be slow in coming. Given the administration's success in framing public discourse (remember "you're either with us or against us" and Ari Fleischer's admonition to "watch what you say") serious questioning of any gesture, however meaningless, that purports to "support our troops" is pretty unlikely in the fawning U.S. media. Overseas, however, the reaction was less muted: "The Turkey Has Landed" was the sneering headline in London's Independent.



The very nature of Thanksgiving is called into question by Bush's latest exercise in media-friendly self-aggrandizement. Who should be giving thanks to whom, and for what? Bush doesn't seem to have a firm handle on the answer. It seems worth noting that rather than junketing his cocoon over to an airplane hanger in Baghdad in order to mix up feel-good with fear along with a side of dressing, he could have spent his time and energy visiting the families of the soldiers who have died. Or, he could have stopped in at any given VA hospital, where he might have a word or two with the young men and women who had given arms, legs, eyes, ears, or other valuable body parts in service to Bush and Halliburton.



Just as the Thanksgiving holiday itself was the unintentionally ironic creation of a group of colonialists whose descendents proceeded to virtually wipe out an entire indigenous population, Thanksgiving in Baghdad 2004 served as an unblinking and unthinking exercise in reactionary gall, undertaken by a president seemingly incapable of comprehending the real meaning of his actions. Thanks to his strategists and the whipped-cur behavior of his unquestioning news channel minions, we can expect to see at least a brief spike in Bush's popularity polls and some nice video snippets in next year's election ads.



But important, if unasked, questions linger about a president who foregoes both taste and honesty in his advancement of his agenda ö questions of integrity, character and ethics. They might be aptly summed up in a riposte posed to another Republican nearly five decades ago, Senator Joseph McCarthy, during his final days on Capitol Hill: "Finally, sir, have you no shame?"



David B. Livingstone is a Michigan-based writer, commentator, and activist. He can be reached at david@orwellmedia.com>david@orwellmedia.com.



http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=17283

Given that Bush's visit made the troops day and everyone from top down seemed to be generally happy about it, what exactly is the problem with it?

Such typical whining.

Read the article asswipe.

I DID read the article, Hence my confusion as to what the fucking problem was.

In addition , the astute characterization of the "article" as typical whining should have tipped you off as to my having read the tripe.

Look! Look! I learned a new word, "whining"! I use it in all my postings!

"what exactly is the problem with it? "

The problem with it is simple: It was an active display of leadership by perhaps one of the strongest leaders this country has known in decades, none of which sits well with these sniveling indymedia lowlifes.

These fifth column leftists have been so marginalized, mostly self induced, that they screech in their most shrill pitch whenever the rightful American leadership incidentally does it to them. This is something they really, really hate.

And I say, tough shit. Get used to it, pissants.

I DID NOT read the article. I have NO DESIRE to read the dribblings of these pissants. I'll save that time consuming chore for others.

I'll just cut to the chase and tell you in advance that it's drivel and that these leftists are pissants.

"Look! Look! I learned a new word, "whining"! I use it in all my postings!"

Tell me this is a joke.

This can't be as clever as you goofs can get is it?

Great news!!

Outr troops have finally started firing back, with several dozen Iraq dipshits killed and many more wounded and 8 captured!! Time to break out the Sodium Pentathol on the 8 lucky bastards and uncover more of the rats hiding places.

As ususual the biting wit of the Max and fresca show, demonstrating their usual charm and grace, how fawiningly subservient sycophants are supposed to behave - like brain dead Robots repeating the same tired refrains over and over again. "Look at me I'll swallow any lie (or anything else) as long as it is excreted by someone who shares my anti-American Pro-Totalitarian "mind"set."

This is, was, and will continue to have been a cynical Photo Op performed with a captive audience at American Taxpayer expense. Bush's campaign ought to billed for the flight. This was no more support for the Troops, from the Deserter in Chief, than it was a "Patriotic Gesture". There is a gesture involved in all of this but it has nothing to do with Patriotism or American National Interests.

You Pukes are two of the most Un-American Anti-American Creeps that infest this website. You are not Patriots you are Sycophants. Nothing more.

>Bush's campaign ought to billed for the flight.

Why exactly should left-wing dorks who don't have two nickels to rub together care if the American taxpayers who actually pay into the system had to pay for the flight? Sit down, your welfare check is in the mail. Shut up about things you have no say-so in nor do you contributed enough (if any) in order to have a say. Liberals. Always wanting to tell other people how to spend their money when they never pitch in a penny to help.

When you idiots start actually contributing to the national treasury, you can have a say so. But you don't get a say so at your current contribution level. Get it up to around 0K a year like I have to pay in and you can talk. Until then, it's fortunate for you that I allow you to live here on my hard-earned dollar and bitch about the hand that feeds you. That won't last forever. Get up off your lazy ass and start doing your part!!

ROFLMFAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal...."

Funny, I don't see anything in either the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution about Income level having anything to do with anything involving civic rights or the freedom to express one's opinion.

Interesting how ethically challenged always seem to equate money with the validity of a point of view. Well, I don't share your psychotic fetish. I judge a Man's, or Woman's, words based upon the merit of their arguments not upon the size of their wallet.

I know for someone of your intellectual capacity that such a view point does not really make sense, but I assure you that it is true that the strength of an argument does not depend upon the size of the Wallet.

Constitutional rights and the theoretical equality before the law have nothing whatsoever to do with economics beyond the fact that economic freedom is a concommittant of individual freedom. Another concept over your head but then I am playing to the audience of intelligent readers. Maybe you can get one your kids to explain it to you.

who is being repressed.



God bless America!

Good Job! Way to go! No one can say I haven't been at IMC's long enough to know how to get a rise outta you idiots. I just type and you idiots eat it up. It's called EV for the latest moron (You are repellent ) who within 15 minutes just had to answer the bait I set it up for. This newest victim of my setup was foolish enough to believe the bait, buy it, and answer it. But of course, you left-wing idiots fall for it everytime.

Now to the real reason.

To put it bluntly, people like you aren't worth consideration. Whenever you start saying things that are worthwhile, we'll listen to you. Until then, you can continue to expect to be marginalized. Oh, I know, you already believe you have something worthwhile to say. But that's where you're wrong. You just don't see it. But we know how to play the game better than you, so you just keep right on bitching about things you can't begin to comprehend, and we'll keep right on doing what we need to do.

Ta-Ta

I LOVE THIS SITE!!!!!!

And endless stream of left-wing and anarchist drivel to chew up and spit out.

It's this place and SF that gave EV it's name. You can type any amount of

false stereotype BS and these morons will believe it. And damn do they get pissed

when they figure out (or rather, IF) you've pulled one over on them. These Indymedia

idiots want so badly to be taken seriously, and sometimes it seems a shame to have

to piss on their parade. But hey, they're the idiots who want to live in Lu-Lu Land,

no one is making them stay there. So drink a kegger, zip down the fly, and take a

nice, long, warm piss all over their foolish notions. And it's all for free.

Well said, Sir. Spoken like a true patriot.

Did you see the "Comrade in Arms of the Heroic Iraqi Resistance" post??

LMAO...

He gets paid to confuse his opinion with fact.

No wonder you yo-yos posted his column as if it were legitimate news.

fresca+Max = Drivel Squared ,

You nailed it! What a joke. Are we running out of sanity in this country? Does anyone really believe Bush cares? A photo op at its best. I'm sure Karl Rove dreamed this one up. The master of spin, trained by the "snake" that served Nixon during Watergate, Donald Segretti.

Please reply to this post, thanks.

by Max

Blip bloop blop blup bling blang bloong.

Please reply to this post, thanks.

by Max

Blip bloop blop blup bling blang bloong.