The Allegator

"I do not deny the allegation, I deny the allegator." – Jesse Jackson

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Iran

Iran is an odd case in international relations. We’ve all gotten used to the regular media firestorms surrounding the nation. They begin with the implication that Iran is moving forward in some way with plans to launch a nuclear attack against Israel. This is followed by a lot of fearmongering by the Jewish Lobby in the media, some aggressive talk by Iran, talks with Russia and China, and ends with the international community threatening Iran and finally giving them some small boon in exchange for promises of being nice.

What I find so odd about this ritual is that it benefits all sides to continue to do it as regularly as the public will support. The media gets ratings, the politicians woo supporters, Israel gets more pity money and free weapons from the U.S., Russia and China strengthen their trade agreements, and Iran gets some trade concessions. All parties increases the fanaticism of their followers.

I’m of the belief that Iran has nuclear weapons, got them from the Russians, and has had them for a long time. I think all of the major powers know it, but keep it quiet because they like the current system and know the revelation would lead to panic and war.

Juan Cole recently wrote an article entitled “Top Ten Things You Think You Know About Iran That Are Not True” A few choice excerpts:

Belief: Iran is aggressive and has threatened to attack Israel, its neighbors or the US

Reality: Iran has not launched an aggressive war in modern history (unlike the US or Israel), and its leaders have a doctrine of “no first strike.” This is true of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, as well as of Revolutionary Guards commanders.

Belief: Iran is a militarized society bristling with dangerous weapons and a growing threat to world peace.

Reality: Iran’s military budget is a little over $6 billion annually. Sweden, Singapore and Greece all have larger military budgets. Moreover, Iran is a country of 70 million, so that its per capita spending on defense is tiny compared to these others, since they are much smaller countries with regard to population. Iran spends less per capita on its military than any other country in the Persian Gulf region with the exception of the United Arab Emirates.

Belief: Isn’t the Iranian regime irrational and crazed, so that a doctrine of mutally assured destruction just would not work with them?

Actuality: Iranian politicians are rational actors. If they were madmen, why haven’t they invaded any of their neighbors? Saddam Hussein of Iraq invaded both Iran and Kuwait. Israel invaded its neighbors more than once. In contrast, Iran has not started any wars. Demonizing people by calling them unbalanced is an old propaganda trick. The US elite was once unalterably opposed to China having nuclear science because they believed the Chinese are intrinsically irrational. This kind of talk is a form of racism.

I’m not a fan of Iran. I don’t like the part they play in this cycle any more than those of the rest of the contributors. My point in this is not to support Iran, but to end a cycle of fear and kickbacks, that while it may be beneficial in the short term to the top players, is bad for the future of the world at large.

Mancow Waterboarded

Mancow is a conservative radio host who has been critical of waterboarding. This guy is a bit too much of a publicity hound for me to consider him to have any serious convictions, but this is huge in a  symbolic way.  Nobody makes windbags like conservative hosts, from Limpbaugh toCoulter, to Hannity (who actually volunteered to be waterboarded when challenged by Olbermann, and then chickened out, even after an offer of two thousand dollars a second donated to a charity for the troops(video below)). I’ve been waiting for one of them to finally have the balls to do it. Mancow made it six seconds. The bar has been set. This video should circulate until the big names either try it or change their tune. It is one thing to think of torture as ok. As much as I disagree with the position, it is valid. To claim we are just splashing some water on their faces, and that it isn’t torture,  while being so obviously terrified of it is hypocrisy of the worst kind.

Update: Olberman came through! He donated ten grand because Mancow manned up were Hannity couldn’t.

Jesse Ventura Cage Match With 4 Harpies

If you had told me twenty years ago that Jesse Ventura would be one of my favorite political commentators, I would have worried for my future sanity, but he is; make of it what you will.

In the above video Jesse discusses the merits of waterboarding and torture with the cast of The View; not a favorite show of mine, but I do give them credit for at least showcasing several viewpoints. It’s like the McGlaughlin Group for housewives who care enough to argue over politics, but not enough to do any research. Jesse shows his mental wrestling skills to be superior to his physical ones.

Jon Stewart vs Cramer

Something constructive has come of the Santelli rant after all, albeit through a rather circuitous route. The above video is the meatier portion of the whole escapade thus far. After being taunted by NBC for just being a comedian, taking things out of context, and making funny faces, Jon Stewart had Cramer on his show and conducted the interview in a more serious and constructive manner than you will see any of the so-called journalists who leveled these accusations do themselves. Cramer was friendly and apologetic, so this must have been a hard thing to do to the man, but Stewart met any evasions with career crushing force. There have been responses from most of the major media and the White House.

CNN has a poll up that asks readers whether they see this interview as being a comic diversion or serious business. Comedy is winning 52-48. This shows a fundamental lack of understanding of what went down. A bit of background for those of you not well versed in investing; a short is when a broker sells you an investment they don’t own because they think it will go down. They intend to take your money, and when the stock goes down and you wish to sell, they just give you some of your money back and pocket the rest. Kind of like a Ponzi scheme, in the sense that if the stock market booms and everyone wants their money, we see a whole new scandal. This is legal. Some of what he was admitting to doing was not. Listen carefully to the clips Stewart plays, rewind if you have to, but make sure you understand what Cramer was admitting to. He isn’t a rogue bad apple. This is business as usual and whole system is full of rot. The government is rotten, the banks are rotten, as are the analysts, the brokers, the corporations, the media, and the investors. This isn’t something we can just make more rules against. This isn’t a failure of the free market. The people who make the rules are the same people breaking them. What we need is simple transparency. Jon Stewart has given us a taste.

Rick Santelli

I was recently baffled by the outbreak of support for a Rick Santelli rant. You can find it on Thoughts Aloud, or The Intellectual Redneck. In this case, Santelli got a bunch of Wall Street investors to boo people with an extra bathroom for being the cause and recipient of government bailouts. He suggested we all go have  Chicago tea party in July in protest. And do what? Should we all go to Chicago and not pay our mortgage? It seems all you have to do to impress conservatives these days is get so worked up with mock outrage that the cameraman needs a spittle guard. The biggest problem I have with Republicans of late is their willingness to start running with torches and pitchforks without deciding first what their goals are. Going along with them  is like hunting with Dick Cheney.

I was ready to let the matter drop until I saw this response by Jon Stewart over at The Osterley Times, as well as politickybitch. I would have loved to see Santelli on the show, but he apparently didn’t have as much to talk about as he thought he did. Stewart goes on at length to show how CNBC analysts are almost as bad as FOX News analysts. Please, if you care about your money, don’t listen to these analysts; they clearly have a conflict of interest.