I’ve avoided this topic, but Jeff’s post below put me in mind of it. John Kerry at Davos:
“When we walk away from global warming, Kyoto, when we are irresponsibly slow in moving toward AIDS in Africa, when we don’t advance and live up to our own rhetoric and standards, we set a terrible message of duplicity and hypocrisy . . . I’ve never seen our country as isolated, as much as a sort of international pariah for a number of reasons as it is today.â€Â
You’ve all heard it and read about it by now, so why am I writing about it? Because I Googled the following words, and didn’t find all of them anywhere:
nauseating spectacle Kerry pariah self-regard
And it implies that this post is needed. Now that he’s announced that he’s not running for the presidency, I guess John’s decided that he need no longer censor himself to appeal to the hoi-polloi; he can finally speak out freely about what he really believes. And what we realize, when he does, is that he makes him a spectacle of nauseatingly prurient self-regard.
Now, I have friends from Massachusetts of whom I’m fond, and there are readers of this blog from that state who bemoan the lamentable condition of the politics to which they are subject in the aptly named Commonwealth (as opposed to common weal). But your state has inflicted upon the nation the likes of Teddy Kennedy, John Kerry and Barney Frank for far, far too long. How’s that working out for you?
As someone of Irish heritage, you’d think I’d like Boston, and indeed when I was in college and wanted to get away to the city, it was generally either Boston or Montreal, and I had some good times there checking out the new wave and punk bands, hanging in the combat zone, dancing with the lesbians, and checking out Peter Gabriel or the B-52s at the Orpheum. And I had a girlfriend at Holyoke and had some good times there, and went to Head of the Charles a couple of times, etc. But your state sucks.
Maybe it’s because of the multiplicity of institutions of higher learning that you hear this kind of crap emitted from the mouth of your junior senator. There’s nothing like a brahmin to tell us who’s a pariah, eh? Listen up: the corruption, stupidity and venality of your politicians is legendary. The cozy relations of your government with the mob is a national embarrassment. The complete bollocks and boondoggle of your Big Dig would be hilarious, if it weren’t so tragic. Meanwhile, your national representatives make asses of themselves at every conceivable opportunity, and yet they have the gall to lecture the nation at large on its international pariah-hood. YOU are a NATIONAL PARIAH, you selfish, preening bastards.
In today’s NYT there’s a full-page add:
To stop the genocide in Darfur, world leaders must stop the man responsible.
Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir
So far, I’m with you. But here is what http://www.SaveDarfur.org follows with:
U.S. President George W. Bush, New African Union President John Kufuor, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, Chines President Hu Jintao, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa and E.U. Council President Angela Merkel must do more.
Yes, yes, yes. But who’s left off of that list, I wonder? Which of these people was slow to label the situation a genocide? Or to be more pointed about it, where’s Jacques Chirac? Where’s that asshole, Putin? Who’s against interventionism? Who’s for multilateralism?
Bite me.
Boston just got pwned! by The Aqua Teen Hunger Force.
Kerry says we need to understand the roots of their rage and pass a test, an international test, before we consider responding.
You forgot to mention Boston Baked Beans.
Fucking things aren’t bean at all.
Another lie. Another broken promise. Were Paul Revere still alive, he’d be going for a midnight ride on a Segue.
Good chowda, though. Prefer it to the New York variety.
Dan, think about history and recent events. That should answer your question.
WRT the current U.S. admin, the fundies have been clamoring, along with the “lefties” and others you don’t listen to, without geting any traction. Why? because the this admin is buying the Sudanese line that they still have info about GWOT.
Jeffy, nice try, but no beans.
Lefties: “OUT OF IRAQ INTO DARFUR”
And yet they get no traction…
I think we’ve been clamoring quite a bit, right here. I don’t think we need the “fundies” or the “lefties” lecturing us about this, because we’ve been on it since before the “fundies” or the “lefties” discovered the issue. It’s the good war, the one that would have happened had not the evil chimperor diverted our resources to Iraq on a mission of chimperialistic conquest. It’s the history of what mighthavebeen, which certainly those who were deceived by the administration would have backed, in the multilateral fashion that appeals to them, had not they been hornswaggled into this dreadful adventure.
Had Cheney not gotten his war, and Bush not decided to seek retribution for Saddam’s having attempted to put out a hit on his pa, then the UN would have done the right thing, and so would the Arab League, and France would have led the charge, had we not so discredited the idea of military intervention.
Right?
Can some ESL student translate this for me. It makes no fucking sense at all….
I’ve always pronounced “GWOT” like “Twat”….
Wait, Bush has done nothing for AIDS in Africa?
Is this the new meme?
It’s retroviral, Jeff.
Is it really fair to criticize Kerry for gratuitous, self-absorbed, muddled-headed America-bashing “on foreign soil”? I mean, after all, he was in Switzerland. And that’s damn close to France, right?
This may be the dumbest thing ever written on this blog. Congratulations, michelle, I am in awe of your stupidity.
Great post, Dan. And so it came as no surprise to see the arch Muppet, michelle, chuck in her incomprehensible inanity.
The thought that Internationals, already handicapped by a less than perfect grasp of the English language, are being dragged through the rote by this bubble-headed nobody is a deeply depressing one.
And I speak as one who “interacts” with “Internationals” on a daily basis.
In fact my maid is an International, so quite often that is the first interaction of my waking day.
Hmmmm.
Is she doing a job Americans won’t do?
No idea. What jobs Americans will or won’t do is not one of my pressing concerns.
Sorry, furriskey. My mind went astray at the thought of a morning interaction. Just ignore me.
Its only because my wife is often still asleep when the tea comes in. I wasn’t trying to snark you either!
Hehe. Conversation with MayBee is sometimes furrisque.
It is considered very poor form to ‘interact’ with your own maid, for a number of excellent reasons. Even if your wife is travelling.
My friend caught her husband ‘interacting’ with the maid, but it wasn’t their maid. Lucky for him, his girlfriend never found out about it.
And you know this is a fact how? Or is this just one of those things you want to believe is true?
That’s one wife, one maid (borrowed) and one girlfriend.
The man is a serial interactor.
But there were citizens of 3 countries involved, and it took place in a fourth. A UN peacekeeper would be hard-pressed to have more international interactions.
A Belgian could probably manage it. But its an impressive record.
Not everyone in my old home state walks the expected line.
Does this mean Sudan was behind 9/11, poses an existential threat to the US, is not a sovereign nation, and does not contain any kite-flying children? And that we have no choice about fighting it? I’d hate to find out after the fact that we were fighting another Bad war.
He seems to have a rug on his bonce, BJ.
There is some evocative cartoon work there- very much as I picture the inmates over at Pandagon, now that I have sneaked a peek.
BOW DOWN TO YOUR DIGITAL RULER, BOSTON!
http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/01/31/hand.gels.reut/index.html
Yep, them Boston folks is smart.
DID YOU NOT HEAR ME BOSTON? DO I HAVE TO . . . TURN UP THE VOLUME?
Pariah Kerry … in Glitter!
Jim, our former Gov’s wife also drank rubbing alcohol and now undergoes shock therapy. The mayor of our capitol city barely speaks english and our former speaker of the house plead guilty to obstruction of justice and just lost his law license. Oh yeah and one of our big dig tunnels broke and killed someone. So no we aren’t smart we are friggin morons who continue to elect the same corrupt asswipes regardless of their crimes(especially tax evasion. Other than that Massachusetts is just great. Come on we gave the world Sam Adams beer!
Joe, I hears ya.
I spent the first 30 years of my life in the great moronic state with 4 years out for college. I loved growing up near Cape Cod and wouldn’t trade it for the world. Our state has always had a split personality; elect liberal politicians but vote down liberal ballot initiatives. Too weird. Teddy and company have learned the lesson that as long as you provide sweet milk from the federal teat, you are elected in perpetuity. The Big Dig, in all of it’s cost overrun glory, secured the seats of several uber liberals including Kerry, Kennedy, Markley and Frank.
I’m glad that I live in PA now.