I was struck by your comments on the Civil Rights Act and the Cold War. Norman Mailer, among others, pointed this out at the time. This was probably in Cannibals and Christians which is packed away so I can't get it out. If I remember correctly, he didn't say it was entirely cynical Cold War propaganda, just that we would never know the real mixture of altruism and reluctant calculation that went into it, and so could never be sure of our own moral identity as a nation.
This reminds me of one of my own pet ideas, that the current Amercian government is so deeply shaped by the Cold War that it's archaic and dysfunctional in a post-Cold War world, and even has a strong tendency to recreate Cold War conditions, like an animal trying to maintain its ideal habitat.
For example, our Middle East policies seem designed to create an exact replacement for the old Soviet Bloc: a single giant nuclear superpower with a hostile ideology ("Islamo-fascism"). Because this is what they know how to deal with. All of our Cold War institutions will again be working properly, doing what they were designed to do. All the cold warriors will be back in their comfort zone. Meanwhile, the rest of us will be left to observe the suspicious resemblance between "post-9/11 reality" and pre-1989 reality.
It's a scary situation, like watching Europe rush into World War I with outdated 19th century ideas of politics and warfare. Look how well that turned out!
"This is a recipe for hairtrigger wars which is what the UN was supposed to prevent."
So that's what the UN is for! And I thought it was there to give the two-bit nations of the world a platform, so they could think they actually mattered... Silly me!
"This reminds me of one of my own pet ideas, that the current Amercian government is so deeply shaped by the Cold War that it's archaic and dysfunctional in a post-Cold War world, and even has a strong tendency to recreate Cold War conditions, like an animal trying to maintain its ideal habitat."
I'd go back a bit further than that - who did those guys learn from? I think the US government was deeply shaped by a group of white males (yep, them again!) who had such a grand time fighting WW II that they just couldn't comtemplate going home and relaxing on the patio with a couple of cans of beer. Hence, the Cold War, etc., etc.
"Here is an example of the nasty police state brutal mind control businesses our corporate masters are building up at our own expense, we are paying for this junk: From SCL: 'An Opcentre is a command facility...' "
Looks like the Brits are paying for that one.
"World Wars have started over less, you know."
At least one started because some nutbar took a potshot at some other idiot parading around in a shako.
"America is collapsing. ... The barriers that should protect us are blown up and the sea is rushing in and we are drowning."
Here's a bit of wisdom I heard long ago: Nothing lasts forever and everything does indeed fall apart at some point. That's inescapable. What really matters is how well one manages whatever comes along after the inevitable collapse.
"They don't want to see a nuclear Iran because of ancient grudges."
I wouldn't call 1948 ancient, exactly. Isn't that about when you were born, Elaine?
Um, you must be ready for WWIII then. No worry about having only 20 minutes to run for your bomb shelter?
Bush has one! Several! Including at his "ranch". The film of him talking to FEMA about the hurricane was shot in his bunker, you know. This is why there were NO WINDOWS. Among other things.
"This is also why our government was forced to pass the Civil Rights Act. We had to have some connection with reality while bellowing about freedom and democracy."
A former professor at the law school where I worked as a librarian wrote a book on this topic. I haven't read it, but it has gotten good reviews. I remember her as a very thorough researcher--she has both a JD and a PhD in history. I recommend it for anyone wanting to get into this topic in depth.
Dudziak, Mary L., 1956-
Cold War civil rights : race and the image of American democracy / Princeton University Press, c2000.
So that's what the UN is for! And I thought it was there to give the two-bit nations of the world a platform, so they could think they actually mattered...
And when America soon becomes a "two-bit" nation thanks to the neocons, I'm sure the new superpowers of the world will lavish on us the same respect, kindness, and diplomatic brilliance that Bush has shown them. They might even let him think he matters.
Iowan, that book sounds fascinating.
I lived in Europe during part of the Cold War. I remember how people found the propaganda about how we are a democracy to be a really funny joke.
Haha.
It mattered a lot, enough to finally move LBJ into arm twisting it into happening. Then the Democrats paid for it, through the nose, as racists ran to the plutocrats to form the present alliance that is killing America.
Slavery. We're still fighting the Civil War, as only about 10,000,000 other people have observed.
It's not strictly a north/south thing, though, is it? A jury of 11 whites and 1 black in Texas, of all places, gave the death sentence to the white supremacists who dragged a black man to death behind a truck.
There is no opposition party in the US. Hence, war crimes, treason and general mayhem go on and on without respite. The supposedly moderate Republicans and damned near all of the Democrats will rot for their collaboration. Renewed racism, bigotry and the destruction of any moral high ground we ever had can be laid at their feet.
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