Press Action ::: Evil vs. Evil: From Bad to Worse

Thursday, August 19, 2004

Evil vs. Evil: From Bad to Worse

By Scott Beckman

Man, if I gave in completely to the warping influence of blog culture, I could dish out some really choice epithets for John Kerry and all the fine progressives who’ve lined up behind him.

On July 30, 2004, moments after Kerry finished his Convention speech, in what even friends called a futile spasm of wasted heartbeats, I wrote, “Liar, Liar.” “By now,” I wrote, “no one should harbor any illusions that ‘hope is on the way’ to the community of nations if John Kerry becomes President. Opinion polls say that the ideal foreign policy of a majority of Americans is to wage peace because it’s the American thing to do. Americans want their next President to lead with the good example of standing down arms sales, reducing military forces, destroying weapons of mass destruction, cutting defense spending, engaging in global conversation about a lengthy list of global economic and social grievances too long spurned by the United States.

“Kerry’s speech offered no ‘hope’ that he’s given more than a moment’s thought to ideas along those lines. The devil’s in the details. He contorts the lesson of Vietnam, again; boasts of military power; offers only tokens of diplomacy, employs a strategy of out-flagging and out-gunning Bush; insults the Saudi royal family; promotes a one-sided policy towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; touts continuing policies of unilateralism and preemption and promises to ‘add 40,000 active duty troops; double our special forces; provide our troops with the newest weapons and technology to save their lives.’”

The only way Senator Kerry could have made his pro-imperialist stance any clearer is by pasting an “IR4 A COMPLEX MILITARY INDUSTIAL COMPLEX” bumper sticker on his forehead. OR by vigorously OPPOSING the withdrawal of 70,000 troops from Asia and Europe at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Annual Convention in Cincinnati this week. In case you missed it, here’s some excerpts of his speech right off the Kerry web site “...it needs to be done at the right time and in a sensible way. This is not that time or that way…the President’s vaguely stated plan does not strengthen our hand in the war against terror...does not relieve the strain on our overextended military personnel...raises more doubts about our intentions and our commitments than it provides real answers…”

And then, after listing all those scary reasons we shouldn’t close bases and bring troops home, John Kerry coughs up this choke cherry, “the future doesn’t belong to fear; it belongs to freedom.” I’m feeling that urge again. Please imagine yourself witnessing a juicy anatomical impossibility that hits the mark in a really satisfying way for you.

Here’s what I thought when I heard Bush’s announcement. “Wow, that’s great! No, that’s really, really great! This is the first damn fine thing Bush has done. I know the excuse is to “restructure” the army into a more mobile force that can intervene anywhere and anytime we please. I know it’s probably the shameless political ploy of a desperate propagandist. I know and I don’t care because the strategic rationale and political implications can be corrected with regime change. But, I am glad that for the first time in my long lifetime, we’re drawing down a significant measure of a perpetually provocative, costly, standing military force. 70,000 American soldiers are coming home! How silly of me to think that’s a very, very good idea.

You know, I can practically visualize Kerry’s deep thinking foreign policy advisors sitting around in a plush hotel room working feverishly on bullet points for Kerry to use in Ohio. I could argue them in detail but they’re only worth the time put into coming up with them. This move is 30 years LATE. One part of ending terror is to stop supporting the bipartisan policy of sending U.S. troops to install client government’s when certain country’s sovereign interests don’t align with Bechtel’s strategic plan. The way to relieve overextended troops is not to overextend them in ill-conceived wars of choice in the first place and to bring them home before we do anymore damage to Iraq and us. Perhaps, it was the absence of nuance and specifics that threw you off, but Bush’s statement of our plans to withdraw 70,000 troops from Asia and Europe didn’t leave me with a lot of doubts about our intentions. And again I say “Amen.” This is long overdue.

I wasn’t planning to vote for John Kerry anyway. But, I confess that I’m a sucker for appeals to the transcendent spirits of universal American goodness that are supposed to mystically make all of our cares and differences melt away like the Wicked Witch in the Wizard of Oz. So, in the progressive spirit of vigilant open-mindedness, I was keeping 1% of my mind open to a convincing argument by John Kerry, to a sudden shift of the Party line, or an eye-opening revelation if my IQ transplant works out. But, man, that door just slammed shut involuntarily today accompanied by the frightening realization that those bleeding heart compassionate conservative bloggers could be right. Am I infected with a serious case of Michael Moore’s disease? Am I a commie traitor who couldn’t see the truth with the Hubble Telescope? Am I really as dense as a fucking board?

So, PLEASE, John, while there’s still time, take a free throw. You promised to tell the American people the truth before sending our troops into a battle. Lay some of that hard truth on me, brother. How’s that shadow war with al-Qaeda going over in Saudi Arabia? Exit strategy, please.

Scott Beckman, srbeckman@yahoo.com, is Development Director for the Northern Pueblos Housing Authority in Santa Fe, N.M.

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