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September 10, 2005
WB: Ministry of Silly Walks
Comments
WTF? 3 to 10,000 participants? I thought participation was mandatory for all DHS, DoD and White House switch board operator employees. I even heard there will be at least 3 to 10 thousand young republicans that will drink beer, wear striped shirts, and self-flagellate while chanting “our blood, our hearts we will give for strong and clear leader”?
Posted by: christofay | Sep 10 2005 6:24 utc | 1
The route is no great state secret. As it happens, the quickest route between my house and my dog park is via Washington Boulevard in Arlingon past the Pentagon and over the Memorial Bridge. I drive it every day. This is also clearly the route of the Great Freedom® March, as it has been lined with snow fencing over the past few days and there is an electronic billboard informing drivers to expect delays on September 11 due to some (unspecified) scheduled event. Here is what will likely be the route from the Pentagon to the JFK Hockey Fields (on the South side of the Reflecting Pool, between the Korean War Memorial and the World War II Memorial).
Posted by: michaelFromDC | Sep 10 2005 8:02 utc | 2
Maybe they should all be marched into RFK stadium. have the place surrounded by armed contractors, and leave them to fester in their own human waste for 4 or 5 days without food or water with Pat Boones “In a Metal Mood” blaring over and over again on the PA system.
Posted by: anna missed | Sep 10 2005 8:10 utc | 3
@MichaelfromDC:
Wow, who is this person giving away state secrets. You know that “evil doers” can use this information to …. um….. make people not show up.
I recently talked to a wing-nut who was really upset with Google Earth, because terrorists can use it to map the location of US forces in Iraq.
Max
Posted by: Max Andersen | Sep 10 2005 8:13 utc | 4
anna–
Nooooooooooooo!
Unless, of course, we get to see pix of the Twins and Pals cavorting in the Skyboxes taking in the action.
I’m happy to provide you with an illustrated preview of what the Reconstruction of Louisiana will look like:
link
Posted by: Lupin | Sep 10 2005 9:24 utc | 6
I wouldn’t mind seeing that. Washington DC is a pretty interesting place and I’m still trying to top seeing that federal guy in downtown NYC with the police barricades. I was carrying a duffel bag but the cops let me in anyway,
Must’ve been a photo op near the stock exchange, or so.
Someone insisted we visit the scene, it might have featured Tom Ridge (no) or maybe General Ashcroft. But what a scene in recently demilitarized Wall Street, donwtown Manhattan in the summer. 2004 I think.
Anyway, this one is actually a real march and we should pay attention.
Even if it is more like Disneyland (I doubt it) it is still a march in the US Capitol.
Okay, signing off.
Posted by: jonku | Sep 10 2005 9:47 utc | 7
Where’s Osama?
There’s a very good recapitulation of the past four years from an Anthony Gregory at the Libertarian Lew Rockwell site.
I hope that many more people ask the same question as the Pentagon’s Iraq and Roll party unfolds.
Posted by: John Francis Lee | Sep 10 2005 10:04 utc | 8
Expect a message from Al-Qaeda about “God punishing infidels” in NO soon. Cheney can use a break right now, things are really going to heck in a handbasket around here. Osama must oblige! Then they cart in HAL & KBR and live happily ever after. Chaos is their friend, it creates money making opportunities. I heard Newt is preaching that the “war of values is over”. I guess no more pretending to be a compassionate christian, it is gonna be straight up smash and grab from now on! It will be the power of corporations against individuals. Institutions or organization which can empower individuals to take on corporations are being destroyed or have already been destroyed. An individual may have freedom of speech but nobody will ever hear him but if corporations have an idea it will be in your face 24 hours a day. Its “dollar democracy.”
Max
Posted by: Max Andersen | Sep 10 2005 10:31 utc | 9
Billmon’s title for his latest article is hilarious.
The only thing I wonder about is: The Rovians (for this idea surely came from him) are doing these cynical things in broad daylight. They are completely out in the open. Yet, even when the incompetence of this administration and its contempt for the people of this country has been proven beyond the shadow of a doubt by its response to the Katrina disaster–few people are mocking these transparent attempts to co-opt the opposition’s protests.
It would be great if that September 24 march took place tomorrow, wouldn’t it? As it stands, I hope that the protest against these cruds ATTRACTS TEN TIMES THE AMOUNT OF PEOPLE as this ‘walk’.
Of course, the numbers will be underreported…
Posted by: hopping madbunny | Sep 10 2005 10:38 utc | 10
How to identify misinformation – the Government way
(laughter with just a tinge of hysteria to it)
After some thought…
I think I’d add one little bit to the first collection of guidelines so that Good Reporters can discern between true and false. Cut and pasted from the Gummint site:
How to Identify Misinformation
How can a journalist or a news consumer tell if a story is true or false? There are no exact rules, but the following clues can help indicate if a story or allegation is true.
Does the story fit the pattern of a conspiracy theory?
Does the story fit the pattern of an “urban legend?”
Does the story contain a shocking revelation about a highly
controversial issue?
Is the source trustworthy?
What does further research tell you?
ADD:
Does the story fit within your preconceived notions of what’s
admissable if you wanna keep your damned job, Bumstead…
Anyone else care to add?
Posted by: Uncle $cam | Sep 10 2005 12:08 utc | 11
From AmericaSedtion
TO THE PUBLIC:
“To celebrate freedom you must first get a permit to participate. But be quick about it, because freedom has a 4 PM deadline and you wouldn’t want freedom to pass you by. Make sure to come prepared to give all of your personal information when you register; the government will have to run a background check. This will ensure your safety and the safety of others as your particpate in freedom. When you have been determined to be eligible for freedom, you will be issued some freedom credentials; make sure you bring these important documents with you on the designated freedom day or you will be arrested by the police. There will be zero tolerance for marching without your papers.
The location and direction of the march will be determined by the government and is being kept secret for your protection. While marching, make sure to stay within the “sterile” area lined by the chain-link fence and hundreds of armed police officers. Take comfort that these law enforcement officials, the barricades, and surveillance helicopters are there to “keep the public out” of the freedom march. Those wishing to express their freedom by not supporting our troops and protesting America can apply for a permit to do so. Protesters will not march but exercise their first amendment rights from a small, fence-lined free speech zone nearby. Please hurry, however, because space is very limited.
Since Sunday is the Lord’s day, please remember to thank the Intelligent Designer for making us free and for giving us such worthy leaders. For those who wish to be free of making up their own prayers, suggested prayer flyers are available at the steps of the Pentagon. See you Sunday!”
Posted by: John Barley | Sep 10 2005 12:21 utc | 12
Osama Been Forgotten, you mother fucker, don’t ya know? I’m from Massachusetts and am once removed from people who had people die. W already announced in his grand strategic thinking that he wasn’t worried about Osama as Afghanistan was pacified in the Spring of 2002. In the great game he was already geared up to go to Iraq.
I totally support getting revenge on Osama’s butt. I also thought it was good to pacify and try to stablize Afghanistan early. but we passed that by.
I’m also totally into sending any American Taliban So. Carolina or elsewhere butt to the Vatican City or Saudi Arabia, anywhere they guide life by the holy book thoroughly and daily.
Sorry, haven’t read all the posts. Just the name Osama sets me off. There’s a nice plague in my home town commerating a woman who died in the towers over a beautiful spot looking towards Marthas Vineyard, the Elizabethan Islands and Woods Hole.
Posted by: christofay | Sep 10 2005 12:47 utc | 14
No,no Aloyisius, that was his (billmons) parting shot;a last wave before exiting…
The return of Evil and Goodbye Robert Johnson, hello Robert Johnson Hotel and Casino Resort Complex make stimulating reading for a saturday morning…
Posted by: Uncle $cam | Sep 10 2005 13:48 utc | 15
Can I ride my mountain bike? Huh? Huh? Can I, Dick? I promise I won’t hit anyone this time.
Posted by: Shrubsie | Sep 10 2005 17:08 utc | 16
Found this at Huffington from Bob Cesca:
Bush Eats Baby, Republicans Defend President
“WASHINGTON, D.C. — Republicans across the nation are scrambling to defend President George W. Bush after he ate a baby during a visit to the White House kitchen early last evening.
Eye witnesses report that the president left the White House residence at around 8:05 p.m. eastern time wearing what appeared to be a crudely stitched “woman suit made from actual women”.
He then entered the White House kitchen where he ate a baby with a side order of “a Cobb Salad containing raw puppy heads”.
“I’m a baby eater. An eater of babies,” the president told reporters this morning in the Rose Garden. “That’s my job. My job is to tell the American people what I eat. And I eat babies and puppies while wearing suits of women. At least you know where I stand.”
The presidential “Suit of Women” has been confirmed as having been fashioned from obese D.C. area residents who were coaxed into a nondescript van driven by Bush and his senior political advisor Karl Rove.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-cesca/bush-eats-baby-republica_b_7137.html
“…storming the convention center…”
Defense Department Briefing on Ongoing National Guard Response to Hurricane Katrina: “…We waited until we had enough force in place to do an overwhelming force. Went in with police powers, 1,000 National Guard military policemen under the command and control of the adjutant general of the State of Louisiana, Major General Landreneau, yesterday shortly after noon stormed the convention center, for lack of a better term, and there was absolutely no opposition, complete cooperation, and we attribute that to an excellent plan, superbly executed with great military precision. It was rather complex. It was executed absolutely flawlessly in that there was no violent resistance.. .” — Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum (chief, National Guard Bureau, Defense Dept.) [via Respectful of Otters]
Posted by: Uncle $cam | Sep 11 2005 1:19 utc | 18
I’m deeply grateful for the laugh, however bitter. To keep sane, we’ve got to exercise that freedom to be derisive. They’ve forfeited the last shreds of respect.
Posted by: Nell | Sep 11 2005 1:44 utc | 19
Was real surprised while standing in line at a
local autumn celebration, when a stranger of my
age and class just opened up about corporate-
socialism, the lies of government and church,
the meaningless wars for profit, the avarice of
the ruling elites. Heck, this gal looked like
Ethel Fudd, I thought she was setting me up for
a lurking SS in the crowd, but she was for real.
Right here in Alabama, the heart of the beast!
It’s out in the open now, everyone sees it, and
everyone is talking about it, and making their
own pact with the devil how to get by. I’ll bet
the next election is stolen with only 20% of the
eligible voters, and the rest at home digging in
their root cellar pot farms and meth labs.
It’s getting real seriously dialectic. Wonder if
Bush is just hoping he can teflon his way out of
all-out anarchy civil war in the 2008 elections.
He better stay out of the southern states after
he just declared them a national emergency, and
has proclaimed an end to prevailing wages laws.
Wait until HAL-KBR and Shaw Group show up with
thousands of Mexican, Guamese and Puerto Rican
tradespeople for the Neo Orleans reconstruction.
Wait, that would be *hundreds of thousands*, at
the kind of fees these guys are quoting. $50B?!
That would be an army of 330,000 slave-masons.
When the former New Orleans aboriginals figure
out their church camp detention is *permanent*,
under the Federal abrogation of habeus corpus,
will we even hear about the riots, or will DHS
disappear them on buses to a C-17 and to Haiti?
Laissez les bons temps rouler? Non, faim
fait le haricots aux goût de la sucre.
Sign seen at the airport at Port-Au-Prince:
“L’exil américain travaillera pour la nourriture!”
Posted by: tante aime | Sep 11 2005 3:14 utc | 20
Reading at Kos that Bush/DoD just signed
a pre-emptive nuclear-strike declaration
against any nation suspected of harboring
ill-will or WMD’s (other than the NPT’s),
and Kos chatter about whether it was more
American to shoot first and ask questions
later, I flashed back to the 1970’s when
my father and I were at war over Viet Nam.
I had just flipped from 1-A to C-O, and as
he was a WW-II vet, shot up, prison-camped,
escaped, fought his way single-handed thru
to the Allied lines and freedom, we fought.
“How can you turn your back on your country!?”
You’ve heard and seen my side of the story.
The last words I remember saying to him were,
“If the Russian had the first strike, would
you return-strike, knowing that the rest of
the earth and all life would cease to exist?”
His lantern-jaw reply, “Better dead than Red!”
(Boy, would I like to bring that slogan back!)
So it was some small satisfaction twenty years
later, when my sister finally got the two of us
together again circa 1990, and we sat there in
the same room, staring at the walls. My sister
went to get us some drinks, and then my father
turned his head to me, and whispered, “Reagan
was a boob!” He tried to smile, but couldn’t,
captain of industry, patriotic flag waving RNC.
We never talked about politics again after that,
and made a tiny truce towards being just family.
So it was sad, when Bush Sr invaded Iraq on a
pretext and a setup that everyone plainly saw,
‘Blood-for-Oil’ Gulf War I, and my father laid
out his WW II memorabilia by his bedside, his
medals and honorable discharge papers. Then
with nobody to say goodbye, or try to stop him,
he blew his brains out.
I wonder if there aren’t still some of those die-
hards in WA DC, ready to blow the whole world up?
“My way, or the sky way!” Tick, tick … kablooey!
Mr. Reagan, what happened to our Peace Dividend?
Mr. Bush, what have you done to our Great Nation?
Shouldn’t we burn DHS to the ground and start over?
Posted by: Terry Michaels | Sep 11 2005 4:21 utc | 21
Anyone else care to add?
is the source other than the white house, an official government agency (incl. most churches), a public relations firm, or a corporate press release?
is the story about something that you wouldn’t feel comfortable telling to the president or one of his confidantes? (plese refer to handout recap’n your sworn oath to defend the potus)
does the story contribute to or distract from today’s two minute hate?
what does your paycheck mean to you?
Posted by: b real | Sep 11 2005 5:33 utc | 22
New Orleans and the Third World
Snip:
What role is the “Third World” playing in how Americans are dealing with the disaster? Where does the “Third World” fit in the imagination of the American? What does it mean to say that this is not supposed to happen in the United States? To me, it is almost as if by displacing disasters and human suffering to the “Third World,” the New Orleans disaster is not really happening in the United States. New Orleans is “out there” and everyone else is ! safe and American – the crisis in New Orleans is happening in a “Third World” outpost and the United States remains rich, strong and invulnerable.
Snip:
Bush’s Remarks
It is interesting therefore to look at President Bush’s remarks after touring New Orleans on September 2nd after four days of inaction. His first sentence was “ I’ve just completed a tour of some devastated country”. A detached statement but it gets worse…
Snip:
The Myth and the “Third World”
An American dying in a natural disaster will look like a human being dying in any natural disaster and not necessarily like an African. A homeless American looks like any homeless human being and not always like an African. And a natural disaster should not be seen as somebody else’s natural disaster but as one that afflicts all humanity. We are of a common humanity. It is the myth that only other nations torture that led to Abu Ghraib . It is the myth that only other countries have political prisoners
that keeps political activists like Mumia Abu Jamal and Leonard Peltier in American jails for fighting American marginalization. It is the belief t! hat only other countries exile those that oppose their policies that has led to the bounty on Assata Shakur – exiled in Cuba for fighting for African American rights – being raised to one million dollars. And it is the myth that only other countries ignore and exploit their poor that led to the disaster in New Orleans.
emphasis of links added by your Uncle $…
Posted by: Uncle $cam | Sep 11 2005 6:45 utc | 23
Is Leni R. going to stop by to film “The Walk”?
Christofay, you’re running the tape too fast. The self-flagellation won’t be introduced til swearing in of Opus Deibot, Johnnie Roberts, whose hearing are this week. Participation by the masses won’t begin until his “Court” demands it as a mandatory alternative to the Pledge of Allegiance for school children whose parents consider their true allegiance to be to a vengeful god rather than the State.
Posted by: jj | Sep 11 2005 7:10 utc | 24
It doesn’t sound epic enough for Leni R. Maybe with some photoshopping so the small number of zombies that they expect to show up can be turned into a cast of hundreds of thousands. It’s a better scale for that character in American Beauty with the cool digital video recorder
Thanks for the clarification on when to expect the flagellation..
Posted by: christofay | Sep 11 2005 10:47 utc | 25
Within the last week someone posted a link here or at Crooks of a map of the U. S. locating the homes of our dead in Iraq. Unfortunately I didn’t save the link. It’s important. If anyone knows what I’m talking about I’d appreciate the address again.
Thanks for helping.
Posted by: christofay | Sep 11 2005 11:16 utc | 26
Is this the map you are looking for?
http://icasualties.org/oif/US_CITY.aspx
Posted by: Ensley | Sep 11 2005 13:17 utc | 27
The guy that said “Fuck You” to Dick Cheney while he was being interviewed on TV got arrested.
However Cheney can say “Fuck Yourself” to senior Dem Leahy at the Senate and get forgiven and even blessed….
Check it out!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3699-2004Jun24.html
Posted by: Anonymous | Sep 11 2005 14:09 utc | 29
Day of Remembrance already past. Still time to mourn. Informed Comment, http://www.juancole.com/, has an excellent overview of progress in the war against Osama in the past four years, not enough, for anyone who isn’t familiar with Cole’s website yet.
On the other hand, any news regarding the Day of Silly Walks? Klingon Black get down in a corporate coca cola way?
I heard Bush was made an honorary member of the Comanche Nation, he’s Big Chief Deer Caught in Headlights.
Posted by: christofay | Sep 12 2005 2:41 utc | 30
I live in Thailand and don’t have TV. I’d be interested to know if no one showed up for the Pentagon’s Iraq and Roll celebration on September 11.
I’m sure someone showed up. The only number I’ve heard seen is “several thousand”.
Is the msm giving skipping coverage of an event gone bust?
Posted by: John Francis Lee | Sep 12 2005 4:03 utc | 31
I haven’t seen a peep about it yet, but I haven’t been looking, either. It’s hard enough dealing with real events that they’ve made into contrived ones with historical back-engineering, I’m not going out of my way to read about the things that were never more than fabrications to begin with. I’m sure the Party spinmeisters at the Ministry of Truth have something nice worked up about it for tomorrow’s Times, so give it a few hours and I’m sure you will get more than your fill.
Posted by: Monolycus | Sep 12 2005 6:25 utc | 32
Gee… sorry Mr Monolycus. A simple “no”… or golden silence would have done. I didn’t realize I was making you go out of your way to do anything.
Posted by: John Francis Lee | Sep 12 2005 9:05 utc | 33
My hostility wasn’t aimed at you, JFL, but rather at the nature of the event itself. I’m sorry that you took it in a personal way that was not intended.
Posted by: Monolycus | Sep 12 2005 11:41 utc | 34
Mono:
I thought it was a valid thing to keep track of. It is the subject of this post. It looks like this little propaganda event has totally dropped out of sight due to the bone crushing reality that you mentioned while if this event disappears it is one of the few times the Bush Admin’s alternative reality hasn’t been primetime in peoples’ fore thoughts.
Hopefully we don’t have to start adding boiler plate disclaimers and can accept some reading between the lines amongst our posters here.
Thanks Billmon for putting up this freedom fighting frontier. Perhaps there is some DoD monitor reading this who seeing the Grand Canyon between the wing nuts’ rhetoric and reality will be turned to the world of reality.
Posted by: christofay | Sep 12 2005 12:35 utc | 35
I’ve been reading Sense and Sensibility on my commute lately. In the back, the editors list the differences between the first and second editions. In several places, they note that Austen had deleted passages because she may have felt she was “piling it on” or needed to “lighten her satrical touch.” I’m grateful nothing like that happens at the Whiskey Bar.
Posted by: Jeff R. | Sep 12 2005 15:58 utc | 36
Here’s an interesting question… why am I taking heat here for being in agreement with you guys? Billmon pointed out that it was a stage-managed event and I concured. Fortunately (I thought), it didn’t have the propaganda impact that it was intended to have… are you pissed at me about that? Were you hoping for something more to be outraged about? Jesus, Mary and Elvis, I thought it was a good thing that Hate Week turned out to be a dud.
Posted by: Monolycus | Sep 13 2005 0:04 utc | 37
Okay, having now let 24 hours pass to give people time to write about an event after it has actually happened, there are a small trickle of AP and Knight-Ridder articles coming out that sound like the whole thing was, as expected, a trite and tightly screened picnic for the true believers. So far, I have seen no indication in the stories to indicate the actual number of true believers in attendance.
There are, however, small sidebars in the stories that indicate that the efforts to politicize a memorial to the victims of 9/11 into a commercial for the Iraq war were not appreciated by those darned
“The dual message angered many Bush critics and peace activists who question the administration’s motives in implicitly linking Sept. 11 with the war in Iraq, and introduced an element of political controversy to the anniversary commemoration.”
So, while we can not say for sure how many pre-registered attendees there actually were (somebody could count the registration forms , I suppose), from what I’m hearing the event didn’t seem very high on the administration’s list of priorities. And that, as usual, has gotten me to thinking.
How unlike this administration it is not to capitalise on a photo-op… no matter how callow or contrived it might be. In the midst of plummeting approval ratings, disasters both natural and unnatural, low recruiting numbers, Patrick Fitzgerald, A belligerent Iran, et cetera… don’t we need a Nürnburg-style rally now more than ever? Heck, the first lady seemed so unconcerned and out of touch about the disasters around her, she couldn’t even recall the name of the most recent hurricane, while her husband wasn’t even aware that Mike Brown had resigned from FEMA until he was informed by reporters.
What has these guys so preoccupied that they would let a well-timed and well-orchestrated chance to look like they care about the victims of tragedies slip through their fingers this way? Honestly, it’s just sloppy. I thought Karl Rove had taught them better than this.
Posted by: Monolycus | Sep 13 2005 9:13 utc | 38
The quote above was from a Knight-Ridder article written by Banks Albach. I had linked to it, but for some reason it did not appear that way after I posted. The attendance is mentioned as being “thousands”.
Posted by: Monolycus | Sep 13 2005 9:22 utc | 39
Update from the NYTimes on the Walk to support Govt programs (but not social security)
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/12/nyregion/12walk.html
“More than 15,000 people registered online to participate in the walk. Pentagon officials could not say how many showed up in 80-degree weather to complete the 1.7 miles, though it was clear that there were several thousand people….
“At the cemetery, Mr. Rumsfeld gave a somber speech, commemorating those who have died and calling for renewed vigor in the battle against terrorism. “We did not begin the war on terror, but we will win it,””
No word of members of the young Republican affliated Bad Ass Friends of Crony Enterprise Federal Contracts for Halliburton Brigade jumping out of the crowd kniving to death bystanders that they thought were disrespecting the flag.
Mike Jaegger in effigy was burned.
Clint Black mentioned it took only three image consultants and $153,000 to develop his stage name. The expense was tax deductable.
Please use the link above to read more.
Posted by: christofay | Sep 13 2005 9:39 utc | 40
Since Billmon has been posting about the lovely humanitarian Jimmy Reiss, I thought I’d post this tidbit I just found in the Guardian:
Two Israeli mercenaries from ISI, another private military company, were guarding Audubon Place, a gated community. Wearing bulletproof vests, they were carrying M16 assault rifles.
Gill, 40, and Yovi, 42, who refused to give their surnames, said they were army veterans of the Israeli war in Lebanon, but had been living in Houston for 17 years. They had been hired by Jimmy Reiss, a descendant of an old New Orleans family who made his fortune selling electronic systems to shipbuilders. They had been flown by private jet to Baton Rouge, the capital of Louisiana, and then helicoptered to Audubon Place, they said.
“I spoke to one of the other owners on the telephone earlier in the week,” Yovi said. “I told him how the water had stopped just at the back gate. God watches out for the rich people, I guess.”
(at http://www.guardian.co.uk/katrina/story/0,16441,1567656,00.html )
Posted by: lefty minion | Sep 13 2005 19:38 utc | 41