TAO,

In my last posting, my cells were altered from the liquids and music that united our different clans last night. Tonight, my senses slightly clearer, I see and understand that one possibly should not “give in” and abandon their way of life and personal beliefs. Hearing that you never separated from Mother Earth and that you refuse to “walk down the new trail” is comforting but disturbing at the same time. I find it difficult to agree or disagree on this though. My “clan” was transplants from Europe. The old ones brought with them their “values” and their “prejudices” too (to “their New World”). I could suppose that their ways just as “sacred” as your ways and your traditions. I broke from these ways and opened my eyes and my heart to others outside “the clan”.

To embrace your “Tiyoshpaye Way”, I would again be “giving up” and “beaten” and accepting something outside my original beliefs. I lean toward “One with Nature”. This is our true roots. However, clans and family go back just as far as roots for our seed stems from “Mom and Dad.”

So, the terrorist is from within all of us TAO. We can not follow the true path unless we follow that path alone. However, “alone” did not get one as a people this far on this earth. It is our natural and instinctive survival abilities and traits that enable us and that proves us to be one with Nature. It could be said then that us domesticated animals struggle with our identities because we struggle with who we are. We became smart enough to be domesticated but at the same time, we have our “wild traits” that unavoidably controls our very aggressive, yet necessary, actions and behavior. I suspect you have followed your path with a certain “clan”. A clan that you believe lives free and wild, and true to man and nature. I also suppose that you may respect all and know that we are all ONE people under Mother Earth. But, you all believe that it is the other clans (not yours) that has swayed from the true path.

So, the question to myself is:
Which clan and way of life does one turn from or toward? Joining your way of life, to be free and wild and to find my way back to Mother Earth makes be “beaten” or “enlightened”? Free and wild must not mean free and passive for wild is wild. To get back to who we are, you and I must embrace our natural selves. We can not have it both ways…we are the wolves in the wild prairies…grouping in similar packs…and attacking the weaker and slower moving prey……

I wish I had the answers to a brighter day. The rising Sun brings comfort to the one who takes the time to meet Her. She rises and the day is bright. But, she leaves us and it all becomes dark, dark for us to ponder if it will be bright again soon.

TAO Walker, I really like your posts and admire the deep philosophical aspects they express about life and death. Though my value system and my upbringing makes me differ with yours, nevertheless I see where yours and mine converge.

Life, in my value system, is precious and sacred, and no one has the right to bring death prematurely to oneself or others. Yet death is also inevitable, so when it strikes one should face it with acceptance and joy. Moreover, in my value system, physical death is not the end of my existence, it’s a prelude to an after-life which is hoped to be more peaceful and rewarding. Furthermore, since death is inevitable, in my value system, it’s considered the ultimate shame and disgrace to die as a coward.

Thus courage in facing life difficulties and putting up a courageous fight is noble; and so it’s also noble to die for a great cause, like defending your homeland, property, co religionists and things one holds sacred against an aggressor, marauder or invader. It’s in such cases when my value system and yours coincide and I might say like you: HokaHey! It is a Good Day to Die!

Good Dr. Knowitall, PhD, PhD (May 7, at 2:15 pm) is maybe “projecting” his own evident fatalism onto this old Indian, who is not much concerned about “death” one way or another.  It is certainly nothing to be afraid-of, whatever its relative “finality.”  The Song ‘n’ Dance of Life Herownself are ALL “....the things that remain.”

Fretting about a Person’s own “Good Day to Die” (coming sooner or later to us all) seems only to result in sour notes and missed steps….the same ubiquitous stumbling cacaphony filling the airwaves and pages of that disinformation mill force-feeding its toxic tripe to tame Two-leggeds the world ‘round.  That is of course its entire purpose and reason for being.

Meantime, captive peoples everywhere are being re-introduced to REAL weather, and its effects (invariably “destructive”) on their artificial non-living arrangements.  For those paying attention it is also a reminder that even “....those pretending to run things….” are equally subject to something much bigger than they and their petty self-satisfied schemes.

It is not these ignorant “individuals,” or even the “global” apparatus of oppression they operate, that drains “....the real joy….” that comes so naturally to us as Singers and SunDancers.  It is cringing in-fear before these idolators of death and the “god” they worship, that is maybe robbing Dr. Knowitall, PhD, PhD, and so many others, of what is their birthright….which is to be IkceWicasa, free wild natural Human Beings.

That’s why this old Savage recommends turning away from the “bad news” bearers and looking to the light still shining where one lives, in the faces of children for example, for something to be an antidote to the constant barrage of fear-mongering and false images getting people “down.”  It’ll always be true, anyhow, that everyday is a “Good Day to Die.”  But so what!!!!

HokaHey!

HokaHey! It Is a Good Day to Die!

Hell yeah it is a crime. A crime that will go unpunished, per pelosi/reid, and the perpertrators will go scot free. Once they are out of office I don’t see any one or any authorized enforcement going after these crooks. As I have said, what is all comes down to is theft. Common thieves and robbers stuffing their pockets with every last cent they can get their hands on and the odds are much much better than playing the lottery. And I doubt seriously that anything they have said is true plus there are hidden meanings behind them, just look at w’s smirk every time he gives comments on anything. He is laughing his ass off at everybody because he knows no body will hold him or dick or the rest accountable for their crimes. I really don’t see why he doesn’t just get up and say ‘Well, today I am going to steal another 20billion dollars and let boeing and g.e. take another 100billion for shits and giggles. Or, get his favorite msm lackeys to bring the video cameras in to the treasury to capture him filling up suitcase after suitcase with $100 bills. This is where our government is so broken and corrupt that the only way to fix it is to out and out create term limits by voting out every incumbent in every election, as if that was possible.

Conservative Yankee:

Your father must have been a wise man who was ahead of his times. “Mount Zion Express” is even a more resonating name for Israeli-controlled media. With your permission, I will start using this term! My greetings to your father if he’s still alive, and may peace be upon his soul if he has passed. And thank you for the feedback!

While israel is a major reason for the US to be screwing things up in the middle east, never ever forget the corporate use of our military for the drive to a more ‘permanant’ presence in the middle east. Because the saudis are not such a great ally and have already kicked us out of the prince sultan military base so to stay in the middle east and maintain or gain dominance over the oil the chinese, indians and japanese want that makes for a very strong reason to just go in and blast the hell out of iraq to for this dominance. And maybe iran and some others until our economy totally collapses.
After all, since our previous manufacturing base has been whittled down to not much, to support the remaining manufacturing base and really the only one we have, the arms and munitions industry must have cause to produce and export. So what if little children and innocent civilians are slaughtered and murderd? Don’t you just feel better knowing the ‘free market’ is working for the good of our investors?
I mean don’t all those poor investors that are all so more important than people, governments and morals have to have some way of making their ‘killing’ in the stock markets?
Declare israel a terrorist state, institute sanctions and blockade the country and treat lobbyists for what they are, money laundriers for special selfish greedy agendas and tear down our monopolistic msm and make the fairness doctorine part of the bill of rights and regulate corporations.

^ need of a further comment: You can ride shotgun on my stage anytime you choose!  I’d welcome the company!

Thank you, now I don’t have to answer; you said it well.

You’re right, John: In the Land of the Free, there are some things you are free to say, but only if you’re ready to catch a ton of bricks dropped on you from the sky. One of those unutterable no-nos is that America is an empire. It’s a different empire from those of the past, but an empire nonetheless. Wouldn’t it be a glorious departure from the sordid march of history if some future American president (certainly not McCain or Clinton) were to declare that we are going to stop behaving like an empire? Empires typically die. They don’t heal themselves, renounce the lust for empire, and act as good citizens among all the other nations of the world. America has a chance to do that. But don’t bet the house on it. Don’t even bet the garden shed.

As good as the above article is; it is hardly the point; maybe it never was.  As bad as they are; our problems go far beyond the war in Iraq.  Iraq is just one horrible symptom.

TAO Walkers’ comments are thought provoking as usual.

We pride ourselves on our individualism not realizing that in that very individualism is weakness not strength; in this individualism we fail to consider the good of the community.  We live in neighborhoods and don’t know our neighbor(s).  With this increasing isolation we entrust others (politicians) to do “our” bidding and then don’t hold them accountable while they are only self interested and act accordingly.  We listen to empty rhetoric and praise it as inspired wisdom.  We never demand to see results.  If we happen to ask a difficult question; we accept a non-answer.  We willingly accept lies.  We are very quick to accept excuses for failure.  What is that about?  We listen to the media and we believe what they print or say.  There is no reporting by the MSM; only spinning (Democracy Now excepted). 
Possible solutions are to stop indulging in the daily distractions:  Turn off the TV and radio, stop reading the newspaper, meet and talk to your neighbors, quit thinking you have any answers and start asking questions.  Listen carefully to the answers.  Stop blaming the politicians (we put them there), but demand accountability.  Unless we are mentally dead AND/OR very rich, we know something is very wrong.  Identify what is wrong.  The only time change happens is when community acts for a common good.  True solutions are not republican, democrat, progressive or independent; true solutions are human.  Salvation will never come from a president or god; salvation comes from within.  I think true change comes from the inside-out, not from the outside-in.  We must question everything.  I don’t think we can be constantly “of the world” and tend to the things that “matter”.  Given the current state of affairs I remain skeptical.
One of the fools.

Quote - AIPAC works with both Democratic and Republican political leaders to enact public policy that strengthens the vital U.S.-Israel relationship. With the support of its members nationwide, AIPAC has worked with Congress and the Executive Branch on numerous critical initiatives—from securing vital foreign aid for Israel to stopping Iran’s illicit nuclear program. Some highlights include:

Strengthening U.S.-Israel homeland security cooperation by passing landmark legislation creating an office within the Department of Homeland Security to support joint research and development projects between the United States and key allies such as Israel…... http://aipac.org/about_AIPAC/default.asp

Non Credo:

Ga caricatures my position. I didn’t say that Israel was the only interest tending towards (or “reason for”) the Iraq war.

I say that, of all the purported or actual reasons for the Iraq war, Israel was the one reason that was both necessary and sufficient.

...

Okay. But, you said, originally: “Israel is THE reason this war happened.”

But your reply is more detailed than your original statement. But still, you imply that Israel was the reason we invaded Iraq—i.e. that someone from Israel was whispering in Bush’s ear and that that is why we invaded; that Israel decided for us. If you do not mean that, then I still am mis-understanding what you are saying.

Many of the people pushing to invade Iraq had Israel’s interests also in mind. Obviously, Israel’s and the U.S.‘s interests overlap sometimes. Obviously, the U.S. “consulted” Israel, if you want to put it that way.

But the decision for war was our’s—our President’s—and not Israel’s.

Yeah, sure, a “think tank” with ties to Israel wrote up some plan for this. And many pundits with ties to Israel egged it all on…. etc. etc.

But it is a disgusting cop-out to blame Israel for our invasion of Iraq.

Our government is to blame, firstly and foremostly, for the invasion of Iraq.

NYT? Why waste my time?

Spot on. American success, victory and redemption can only be accomplished first within the 50 states as a precondition to America’s beginning to recoup some of its stature amongst the other nations/peoples of the world.

The only way it can successfully begin to accomplish the journey back is to sever the umbilical costly and parasitic neocon/zionist connection with Israel. Not so much to please the non-Israelis in the ME put to regain its soul back and vaunted stature back.

There is no other alternative that can provide a modicum of success.

Non Credo, thanks for the Reply tip.  I guess I don’t know it all after all.

Hi, TAO Walker, I admit I’m an idealist and that has caused me no end of frustration.  One difference between you and me is you seem to have come to peace with your beliefs.  I haven’t with mine. 

I believe people want to do and be good and I believe, though the world condition doesn’t reflect it, there is a world consensus on that. 

The daily news is a metaphor on the world condition:  it’s all bad, despite there being so much individual and collective good in the world.

I’m going to die relatively soon.  Your view seems like a religion to me, i.e., the real joy, fulfillment from having lived comes with dying because not only are we powerless to effect change, we’re altogether subject to those “running the show.”
But that doesn’t matter.  They’ll get their’s.  And we people of integrity will be rewarded by death. 

For me, one who believes this life is all I get, I don’t want to buy into that. 

I admit, I fear you’re right and that causes and has caused me no end of anger and frustration with the world. 

Thanks for responding.  I always learn from you.
I wonder what it was that MLK saw when he “saw the other side of the mountain?”

BTW, when I’m most frustrated, I, like you, “tend to the things that remain.”

One more thing, what is Hokahey?

Dr. Knowitall, PhD, PhD (May 6 at 6:22 p.m.) urges upon “....people of integrity and good sense….” behavior they exhibit and exemplify as a matter of course anyway….else they wouldn’t be that.  What he doesn’t say, though, is exactly what sorts of decisive actions might be undertaken to address the deteriorating social and ecological conditions he seems to agree make-up the “dominant paradigm” here in these latter days.

He also seems to limit the company-of-fools to only those among the self-selected elite who are currently pretending to be running The-Show.  This old Indian was suggesting yesterday, and has consistently for more than a year here now, that there is no part of the entire contraption not saturated with folly….that theamericanway itself, right along with the “civilization” in which it is embedded, is absolutely foolhardy in its very conceptual underpinnings.  Theamericandream is a self-induced semi-coma, and all indications are that even as it degenerates into nightmare the vast majority of sleep-walking americans refuse to rouse themselves and one another from their make-believe fantasies, and to stop taking their various drugs-of-choice, to face the increasingly bleak choices looming in the waking world.  What’s more, not one of their wannabe “leaders” is at all interested in trying to shake them out of their stupor….maybe because they’re are themselves deep in the same state.

As for the I Ching, this old Savage looks at it as a kind of distillation of several thousand years of one People’s experience under the yoke of “civilization.”  That among its later compilers (most notably, perhaps, Confucius) were those who believed the point was to make the lethal apparatus into something they could somehow go on living with, as so many here still do today, is a matter of more than mere academic interest.  Yet the essential nature of the “operation,” and the anti-Life objectives of its “mission” remain plain to see….if you’ve got the stomach for it.

From the perspective of us IkceWicasa, all that has occurred here on Turtle Island since the Europeans arrived is in the nature of a “cyclone” of great extent and long duration….but it is still only a species of “weather.”  Our “fate” has been to endure it.  Our destiny is to survive it….along with persons of integrity and good sense everywhere.

Being free wild natural people is an organic condition.  It is not exclusive to any ethnic type or national group.  Any number can play….and Sing and Dance.  It is the Tiyospaye Way of Life Herownself, not the “property” of us native Turtle Islanders.

It’s true the “consequences” of this now gone “global” fools’-game could yet prove “fatal” even to our Mother Earth….along with all Her native children.  Can we better address that by trying vainly to “beat” the fools at their own game….or by leaving them to it’s and their own devices while we attend to “....the things that remain”?

This Old Person’s response to that question is by now a matter-of-record here.

HokaHey!

As a follow up to my previous post, our battle cry from now on should be:

“God save America from its domestic enemies!”

My comment above is in reply to TAO Walker’s Hexagram #4, The Fool comment below.  For some reason, it didn’t post as a reply.

The Two Domestic Enemies!

Thank you John Cheney-Lippold for refocusing our attention on two of the most domestic enemies America has.

The first is, of course, the political-military establishment’s media, also known erroneously as the “mainstream media” of which the New York Times is an example. The New York Times should be renamed “The Israeli New York Times.”

The second domestic enemy is the so-called “experts” of the so-called “think tanks,” such as the militaristic American Enterprise Institute (AEI). The very word “tank” is very indicative of their militaristic terrorist mentalities. Those are a bunch of evil savages who lost their capacity to think as normal people should think. Given that those evil ones were already planning the invasion of Iraq before the 9 /11, many are inclined to think that they also planned for the 9 /11, to give a justification for their evil agenda.

With these two domestic enemies at work, America can only hasten its path towards the abyss of self-destruction!

And despite all that, many fake patriots will continue to sing: “God Bless America!”

When the “inferior individuals” are embodied in the likes of Bush and Cheney and lost in their fantasy world, it is most incumbent on people of integrity and good sense to act morally, ethically, and decisively to preempt damage and destruction caused by fools’ folly.  To wait for them to reap the natural consequences of their folly is irresponsible and derelict of our duty of citizenship in this world.

I haven’t researched it—I will—but, surely, I Ching must have been “invented” in a time fraught with colonialism, imperialism and genocide. 

People of integrity and good sense have to stand up for moral and ethical good.  Otherwise, we’re all doomed.  Dying to make a point is pointless.

Look at “you old Indians.”  Your fate would have been altogether different if someone had stopped the effing Europeans. 

This is why the UN is so important but it’s been an utter failure in this regard.

Please tell me if you think I’m off base here.  I’m only a regular senior American, not qualified probably, to argue against I Ching. I have great respect for ancient Eastern Philosphy
but I think fools, on this level, have to be stopped.

“expansionist desires of Iran”

You don’t know any of the history of the Middle East, particularly Iran, do you?

Obviously, or he would never had made such a ridiculous statement. But that’s the case of them all, isn’t it?

Hardly any of our hard-liners know anything, really, about the Middle East, besides “it’s full of oil and Arabs and in need of Democracy.” (Which isn’t even true, of course.)

Gawd, the ignorance. It boggles the mind.

What is worse, though, actually, is not their ignorance, really. It’s their utter MIS-understanding that is so horrible.

Which is the point of the John Cheney-Lippold’s piece: the utter and complete FANTASY that exists in the heads of so many who write in the Op-Ed pages of this country.

Oh, come on.

The “it’s only because Israel wanted it” is, on face value, an absurdity beyond measure. There is absolutely no way—and zero evidence BTW—that our government is so controlled by some Jewish “star-chamber” or any other sort of cabal. (Such thinking is the same as the “our government orchestrated 911” consiracy bullshit.)

There are many pro-Israel folks who were pro-Iraq War, of course. Obviously, this is true. And, of course, there are many pro-Israel folks in the Bush Administration. And, again, of course, our government openly supports Israel in many ways.

But, Israel as THE reason?

That would mean, oil had nothing to do with it. “Draining the swamp,” had nothing to do with it. Just plain “He (Saddam) tried to kill my Dad,” had nothing to do with it. “Bringing democracy” had nothing to do with it. WMD had nothing to do with it.

So, nothing had nothing to do with it besides “Israel wanted it?”

Why? What benefit would Israel get? And who exactly is “Israel” any way? The Likud Party? Labor? The Prime Ministry? The Israeli people? Does Israel have it’s secret cabal controlling it?

If Al Gore was elected President in 2000 would we have invaded Iraq?

And what about the fact—FACT—that part of the U.S. support of the State of Israel is based on a Christian belief in the Second Coming of Christ on their land? (Equally, I might add, as absurd.)

The Vietnam War was about fighting communist expansion in Asia; that if the Reds won South Vietnam other countries would fall like dominoes (which ultimately turned out to be a false premise).

Whether we were “close to a military victory” is questionable—perhaps in some aspects, depending on how one defines victory. Of course, our hard-liners will all go to their graves muttering under their breath “we lost our will” and would have won if we had not.

(Our military has to “accept” civilian, political will, as that is how our Constitution written. Our generals must accept their orders from the President, as our soldiers must accept their orders from the generals. And Congress too has it’s power to set policy and the direction of military in certain ways.  They will have to “accept another Vietnam” if Democrats get the Presidency or 60% of Congress.)

What people “don’t get” is that offensive military action, even by ‘the greatest military on earth’, can NEVER, EVER achieve any sort of victory at all. The Vietnam War could never have been won. Just as the Iraq War can never be won. We lost the day we invaded. A war of aggression—and that is what the war is—can never be won.

Our “espansionism” as Blackspeare like to talk about,  is really about the control of resources and lines of supply—that is why the U.S. (and the other super-powers) meddle in the affairs of other nations. Usually though, we do it covertly via economic means, or, when that fails, the CIA’s jackals.

Also, what people “don’t get,” is that for the first time in our history the U.S. has overtly used an un-offical declaration of war and the full use of our military to invade another nation in order to control it. This is a big and disasterous step. One can argue that this too is for our national security. But ultimately our invasion does more harm than good.

That was the Stupiest move - unless their intention was to invade Iraq to begin with and Provoke at the entire M.E. Then it was Brilliant!We told this Gov’t to get out of the ME in the’70’s we told them to get off their Oil- they refused becasue it was far too profitable.The blood of 9/11 is On their hands (Gov’t, Corps and the ME Royals who rolled out the Red Carpet).Any thinking person Knew by the targets taht were hit the attacks ahd nothing to do with ‘Our Freedoms’ (they would have hit the Starue of Liberty), Nor our ‘Sinful ways’ (they’d have hit San francisco) Nor our conspicuous consumption (it would have bee the Mall of America) .they aimed for targets specific to the Military Industrial Complex ( Money (WTC), Pentagon and the WH (foreign policy)
So I am one who has been watching an dlistening to lies for 7 yrs! so whats new about these?

we coveted, we lied, we murdered, and we stole.

we won the war because we control the oil.

Israel has nothing to do with it and never has had except with respect to murdering Lebanese for us so we could also control the pipeline to the Med.

Two verities:

1. It’s about oil.
2. Bush is a moron.

ISRAELIS .......expecting war with the Arab world within five years…. http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,236 56467-2703,00.html

On the contrary,  Blackspeare, the USA will push Israel into a full scale war with their neighbors.

Israel has become totally and utterly expendable since their selling off of US military secrets and what happens with Hillary’s “closing down OPEC” will be the devastation of Israel in the end by Arab, Persian and Turkish forces.

Using the term “mission” to describe murder by soldiers gives it all a quasi-religious fake moral rectitude.

Previously, the military and the administration liked to use the term “operation” which also engendered a fake medical rationale to the slaughter and horror.

But one thing is for certain, though. War IS the treu religion of the people of the USA, uhh, and especially the white ones.

Blackspheare…Sorry. I don’t buy it.

Your reading of history is slanted and naive (to say nothing of arrogant) - and it buys into the very sound bites and coverups you claim to expose.

As Robert McNamara himself said (see the excellent documentary “Fog of War”), he didn’t “get it.” Vietnam was NOT a war against communism. It was a civil war and we totally misjudged and misunderstood the nature of the conflict. We were never close to success because we were in a war for all the wrong reasons.

And here we sit again - the world’s richest and most powerful nation unable to win this war against a backward, crippled nation less than one-tenth our population. 

Blackspheare…no nation is forever. Ours peaked in the 1960s and is now slowly, inevitably, going down the drain (and moving faster, thanks to the sorry blunders of the current administration). 

We’re still in an expansionist mode? Please, with record debt, a decaying infrastructure, polarizing wealth and entitlement, a crumbling dollar and overextended military, we’re in a recessionist mode.

Brusays:  You’re joking, right?)

No—-no joke just was being realistic.  Remember don’t take what politicians say as anything near the truth——it’s all sound-byte flavored for public consumption.  We have to read between and through the lines.

As the global economy evolves so does international competition.  The history of the US over the last 150 years has been one of expansionism, creation of spheres of influence prompted by a neurotic fear of socialism and incorporating periods of violence.  Today the US is in an empire-building mode as outlined in the PNAC.  Yes, you can say the country has been hijacked by corporate and military interests——but that’s Capitalism operating at it’s highest level.

So the occupation of Iraq is a necessary step in the march to achieve world political and military domination while trying to stabilize an important world commodity.  We were close to a victory of sorts in Vietnam, but lost the political and military will.  Even General Giop said before he died that a few more weeks of intensive bombing of north Vietnam would have forced them to accept a division of the country a la North and South Korea. The US military will not accept another “Vietnam”.

It is a fact that true Capitalism fosters social Darwinism virtually placing more and more of a country’s GNP into the hands of fewer and fewer.  The trickle down theory doesn’t work and such countries develop a large under class that will rise and effect a regime change usually in the form of a new political party.  Sadly, bad times must occur for that to happen, but in the very near future we will see not only higher gasoline prices, but shortages of fuel, food lines, and health care migrating into a true class system——already physician’s groups are utilizing retainer programs for their elite patients.

Oh, Blackspeare, I see it clearly now! Our “mission” in Iraq was to secure a political and military presence in the Arab Middle East! I guess I must have missed that declaration back in ‘03.

I thought it was to remove a terrorist dictator who threatened the unleashing of WMDs on us. ‘03

Or to free Iraq’s citizens from a madman. ‘04

Or to install a democratic government in Iraq. ‘05

Or to send a signal to the world that we’re in it for the long haul and will stay the course. ‘06
Or to stablilize the nation sufficiently so we can remove our troops (and presence) from that country. ‘07

Or to stall long enough so that another president inherits this disaster of foreign policy and futility of hopeless occupation. ‘08

But really, it’s no matter that our “Mission Du Jour” continues to change. It’s comforting to know that this “...current insurgency in and around Baghdad is just an annoyance and will eventually ebb.” In fact, I’m sure that what we’re seeing is the “final throes” of resistance.

(You’re joking, right?)

Line four of Hexagram 4 in the I Ching, The Fool, points-up the hopelessness of getting through to those irretrievably lost in their own fantasy world.  It advises further that persons of integrity and good sense will best let such “inferior individuals” alone, to discover the natural consequenses of their folly “the-hard-way.”

The editors and publishers of the NYT, the “experts” on the “panel” in-question, the entire U.S. ruling apparatus, and indeed theamericanpeople and their allamerican “enterprise” are captured by Line 4 in a nut-shell.  It only remains to be seen now, as a Nam Vet nephew noted in an e-mail today, just how completely “....the destroyers of the earth will be destroyed.” 

This old Indian has maybe already opined “out-loud” on this site that americans look like the first (and only?) people ever to fall into a bed-of-roses and then die there smelling like shit.  “What fools these…....”

HokaHey!

On the contrary, the “mission” has been accomplished.  The definition of ‘mission” is really at the center of the controversy.  Without belaboring the point the true mission was always to secure a political and military presence in the Arab ME and that surely has been accomplished and no future president is going to alter that fact and leave the door open to Iran, China, Russia or a combination thereof.  The current insurgency in and around Baghdad is just an annoyance and will eventually ebb.  The US presence will evolve into a south Korean-like presence and serve to mitigate any expansionist desires of Iran.  Russia has plenty of oil reserves and controls a nice portion of the international oil transportation system——they’re quite well set and content.  The US will have to develop strong ties with
China in developing alternate sources of energy as each is oil dependent.  The short term answer for each is coal and the long term answer and need is nuclear.

That is why I no longer read the NYT, but subscribe to LD.

Please hire Mr. Cheney-Lippold as a regular political commentator.His article is well written and argued.And worthy of the time, and serious consideration that went into its composition.

The Bushies probably pay the Times to keep Kristol on board. They also probably continue to use secret payments to the Times so they generate half-assed articles as the one noted above.

At what point does someone lose credibility.What the article misses is the Times complicity in the run up to war.Why not the same “experts who helped the Times cheerleaded us into the war?The same “experts"who told us how easy the invasion of Iraq would be are the same"experts” who are telling us what a bloodbath will occur if we leave.Does the hiring of Kristol at the Times tell you anything about the Times.I find the Times is good for wrapping fish and if folded correctly catches bird dodo at the bottom of the cage.