reed writes

by Lord Anthony – guest author

US presidential hopeful John McCain has said when elected he will be "Hamas’s worst nightmare".

A curious statement, coming from within the awkward giant of western democracy towards another product of democracy.

It’s not all about you or your pathetic pimping of the Bush agenda, John. If we are entering an era of nightmares, what about some of yours, John?

Like the rapid tanking of the US Auto Sector. Toyota outsold American cars last July for the first time in history. Is that a fluke?

Like the collapse of NAFTA following which Canada is making China its main customer for Alberta oil, see how you get along with  Venezuela and your good "anti-terrorist" friends in Saudi?

How will the world recognise your knee-jerk response,  illegal invasion and occupation of Canada?

Do you ever wake up in a sweat unable to grasp why so many people in the world hate USA, it all came about well into your senior years.

Do you ever think you’ve missed something? 

We Ought To Be Optimistic About The Future Of The Middle East

I have often been critical of Israeli government policy; at the same time I have always been cautiously optimistic. My optimism has  stemmed from the fact that I know so many North American Jews who agree with me that, very often, the policies of Israel are at  odds with both common sense and the search for peace. For many years now, ever since I became a serious student of Middle  Eastern politics, I have been watching for signs of the emergence of a North American constituency that agreed with my own point of   view. That was selfish perhaps. Perhaps I’ve been looking for vindication. But…the fact is that the signs are beginning to appear.

Of course Noam Chomsky, the renowned linguist from M.I.T. has been in this rational groove for ages. But until recently he has been  virtually alone, except for a few Jewish scholars such as Avi Shlaim and others. And while Chomsky may be too tough for some, one does detect some movement.

We are beginning to see an amoeba-like growth of constructive thinking amongst prominent, influential and well-informed North  American Jewish scholars and thinkers.

A short while ago I wrote about the work of Aaron Miller. Mr. Miller (the author of "The Much Too Promised Land: America’s Elusive Search for Arab-Israeli Peace"), is the first prominent and influential Jewish American to call for substantive changes in the American approach to Israel. More "tough love", Miller says, and less pandering. A little cracking of heads is what’s needed.  

Now we see the coming out of a group called J Street. The Executive Director of the new group is Jeremy Ben-Ami. He says, “a  large number of American Jews and their friends have dropped out of the discussion about how to bring peace to Israel and its  neighbors because they don’t have a home politically.” Ben-Ami and the group he leads thinks…as does Aaron Miller…that the  established Israel Lobby in Washington exercises too much raw power, with no brake on its support for Israel Right Or Wrong.

Mr. Ben-Ami is quoted in the International Herald Tribune  as saying that J Street would "choose candidates in June who are willing, for example,  to express forcefully their support for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine issue and for aid to the Palestinian Authority".

This is a welcome development both for Jews who want Israel to survive and for non-Jews who want the same thing in a peaceful  setting. J Street represents a home for all supporters of Israel’s right to exist, but who oppose that country’s more extreme policies.

It’s a group, incidentally, which will find many many supporters within Israel itself.

You can read the IHT article here.

Dear Readers,

One of our colleagues here at RW, recently returned from an extensive tour of the United States. Lord Anthony, who has, until now confined himself to the "comment" section has agreed to become a special contributor. His Lordship has strong convictions about politics, current events, justice, decency and common sense and will initially be contributing material to RW about this blog’s  choice for  the American Presidency, in the category Canafanabama. If The New York Times editorial board can make recommendations for the top job in the "free" world, then we can too.

We are not recommending a Republican however, as our board concensus is that no suitable Republican has put his/her name forward. Nevertheless, the good Lord includes important information and commentary about the presumptive Republican candidate.

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FOR THOSE WHO DON’T DIG TOO DEEP

by Lord Anthony – guest author

For those who don’t dig too deep, it seems McCain is another GWB.   His father and grandfather were admirals.

This presidential contender crashed three planes in 20 hours of flying according to contributors at the Common Dreams website. They also said he got special treatment at the Hanoi Hilton, but I’m not writing this to dispute his military or prisoner-of-war history.

At this crucial stage of social and moral evolution for the civilised world, all leadership hopefuls must be closely examined….. and watch out for sniper-fire when taking your daughter to Bosnia in a helicopter.

McCain at least appears honest, he doesn’t try to come across as anything but a jowly old Popeye warmonger.

Why are Americans so slow to awaken?

Why would Pennsylvania endorse someone as frightening but much slicker than McCain? Are they racist?

What if Obama was the pesky egomaniac loser trailing in this campaign who just won’t quit? What would the Clintonista do to get him out of the frame as Hillary proceeds to her annointment with destiny?

An ugly six months ahead. Wake up, America!

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Take a look at this too.

In his new book, "Human Smoke", Nicholson Baker taps into letters, diaries, conversations and newspaper clippings to paint a portrait of war as the ultimate human calamity.

Its extraordinariness is in its ordinariness; its lack of pretense, so common amongst mainstream historians and pundits.

In plain-spoken, straight-forward language, Baker paints a portrait of power-mongering political leaders that is unequaled by anything on today’s bookshelves.

I know this is fulsome praise, but when it comes to books, which give the reader a sense of "being there", Human Smoke is unparalleled.

Here’s a short excerpt:

"Ezra Kraus, a botanist from the University of Chicago, had an idea for how to win the war with japan. It was December 18th, 1941.

Spraying rice fields with toxic levels of growth hormones, Kraus thought, "would be a feasible and comparatively simple means of destruction of rice crops, the staple food of the Japanese."

  Krause’s work led him to experiment with two synthetic hormones – 2,4-D   and 2,4,5 -T – components of a defoliant that would later come to be called Agent Orange".

Baker reveals facts that many of us have either forgotten or have treated with a sense of denial. He shows us the anti-Semitism of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the cynical warmongering of Winston Churchill. He also shows us the pathetic reality of pseudo men like Himmler, Goebbels and Hitler.

Most of all, he gives the reader a deep and abiding insight into the true madness of war.

His finished work is a source of light in a darkening world.

I refuse to be caught up in the details of history and prefer to dwell on the truths that are revealed. In some ways, we have been continuing on the path of the autocrats, the dictators and the warmongers. The wish to impose our will on others and bring them to emulate our philosophy and way of life seems overwhelming.

The truth that Baker underlines so effectively and so clearly, leads me to a tentative grasp of the repetition of patterns that were set in those years following WW1 and including WW2. We have had cleverly managed coups, like the one in 2002, when George W. Bush used the U.S, Supreme Court to gain power.

We have seen the horrors of Vietnam.

And also, we have seen the militaristic overthrow of democracies in Latin America and the Middle East and many others over the decades.

The immutable truth is that in all of these instances, military power has never worked for ordinary people. It has only worked for those who derive profit and enjoyment from the practice of war and the violence and destruction that attends it.   

Baker shows that leaders who win wars, win them by slaughtering innocents. He shows too that leaders who lose wars, lose them by slaughtering innocents.

You can order Human Smoke: The Beginnings of World War II, the End of Civilization from Amazon by clicking on the title.

Photos Exclusive To RW by Lord Anthony – Taken During A Recent Lengthy Foray Into the Land Of Confusion. Needless To Say – L.A.- Like Many of Us Would Like Obama As President

(These photos were slightly enhanced by Sam Mooney)

Si se Puede translates loosely as : "together, we can do it"