Anaconda, nearing success, continues; recession’s end wounds the Democrats; Colombians, and Zimbabweans risk their lives for democracy; Washington insiders make fun of themselves in annual jamboree.
AFTER THE DOCUMENTARY: I feel drained now, just with the images of it. The playful innocence of that morning; the boyish enthusiasm of the “probie” fire-fighter; the sudden noise of a plane too low; the confusion of the first hit; the denial; the helplessness in the lobby of Tower 1; Father Judge muttering his last prayers, as he paced the floor; the dread in the eyes of so many fire-fighters, about to enter the inferno; the foul, heart-stopping sound of bodies plunging to the ground; the dazed group of workers emerging from a suddenly-released elevator; the unforgettable footage under a car as dust – human dust – swirled through the air, turning it black, and then darting around like specs of plankton under water; the crowds of bewildered, terrified people running and walking and screaming and pointing on the streets; a strong man and experienced fire-fighter vomiting into the Fire House trash-can upon his return; the ashen quiet of white-powdered streets in the aftermath; the bemused, almost deranged, calm of an old, heavy businessman slowly walking away from Tower 1, not thinking even to wipe his dust-covered glasses; the strained and numbed relief of those finding their brothers are alive; the bleakness of those who weren’t so lucky. I would say I’m glad to be reminded, as one fire fighter put it, of “how evil evil can be.” But there is no gladness. It is simply a good thing that we remember that we are still at war; that the enemy launched it with a callousness that should banish any doubts about the morality of our cause; and that, when resolve falters, we remember the people and civilization we’re fighting for and the thousands of victims who have already paid the price. In an odd way, having seen it all again, I feel less afraid of what lies ahead, and more eager to get on with it. The simple virtue of those rescuers remind us of what human beings are capable of, and the invincible character of the civilization they are a part of, however ruthless the evil arrayed against it.
NO FALTERING: A new poll tells us largely what we knew. The Nation may be gaining subscribers, but the vast majority of Americans still get what happened six months ago today. Eighty percent believe, as do I, that the worst is yet to come, and seem to have no intention of letting down their guard. And the president can be reassured to know that, whatever ever else his administration accomplishes, if it defeats this enemy then it will need no other legacy. The president clearly knows this, and it’s by far his most admirable quality. As a retired plumber tells the Washington Post, “Bush is doing good; he’s doing real good. He ain’t going to take nothing from anybody. That’s the way it has to be done.” Amen.
BEST EUPHEMISM OF THE DAY: “But all the signs, including the exhausted but jubilant soldiers returning, profanely triumphant at blows inflicted on the enemy, pointed to a seemingly hopeless situation for a dwindling band of perhaps a few hundred Islamic militants holed up in caves and other pockets of resistance.” – John Burns, New York Times, today, (my italics).
THE POINT OF TERRORISM: The awful chaos in Israel will be described, as it usually is, as a new low-point in an ancient struggle between two warring peoples. But what we need to understand is that it is, in fact, the consequence of a deliberate strategy. The strategy of the PLO and its more radical allies is to negotiate a better deal with Israel than the one outlined at Camp David. Arafat knows that the people he represents will never be satisfied with a modest state in the West Bank and Gaza. He’s also terrified of trying to govern one. So he quit Camp David in order to try war as an alternative. It’s working. The mayhem Arafat has unleashed and the mayhem Sharon has sponsored in response has forced the U.S. to intervene again, and has thus set the parameters for Israel’s self-defense. Since those parameters do not allow for a real destruction of the PLO and its allies, Israelis must now choose between a lot of terrorism under the current stalemate – or almost as much terrorism and a more dangerous Palestinian state, armed to the teeth, on its border. That’s a pretty unpalatable choice. But, in the veiled threat issued last night, it is also Israel’s “last chance.” As Edward Said has recently, and candidly, written, that’s the whole idea:
The point here is that … even though Israel commands Bush’s support for the moment, Israel is a small country whose continued survival as an ethnocentric state in the midst of an Arab-Islamic sea depends not just on an expedient if not infinite dependence on the US, but rather on accommodation with its environment, not the other way round. That is why I think Sharon’s policy has finally been revealed to a significant number of Israelis as suicidal, and why more and more Israelis are taking the reserve officers’ position against serving the military occupation as a model for their approach and resistance. This is the best thing to have emerged from the Intifada. It proves that Palestinian courage and defiance in resisting occupation have finally brought fruit. [my italics]
If you substitute murder and fanaticism for “courage and defiance,” you have a very shrewd analysis of the situation. Barring a miracle, Israel’s future as a free and independent state is now very dark, if it has a future at all.
BRITS ON DOPE: One of the three major parties in Britain has now called for the legalization of marijuana and a full retreat in the failed and failing drug war. Will libertarian Tories follow suit? I sure hope so.
NERVES OF STEEL: A useful primer from Businessweek on the politics of Bush’s shamelessly political steel tariffs decision. More revealing is Francis X. Clines’ reporting from Ohio on electoral college politics. Broder seconds Clines. I think this call should be placed in the roster of Bush’s dark side. Like most of Bush’s unnerving decisions – like going to Bob Jones University, barely campaigning in the last days before the election, or spinning his travel itinerary on September 11 – this one was inspired by Karl Rove. Rove seems to think that cynical, purely political decisions make a president strong
er. Mark Steyn sums up my feelings pretty much in his Telegraph column. The Brits, in particular, are furious. And Bush now wants them to deliver 25,000 troops for Iraq?
LOWERING THE RHETORIC: A low-key and interesting analysis of Bush’s budget in the Washington Post. The philosophy behind it seems less skeptical of government than Reagan or Gingrich, but more results-oriented than Clinton.
BACK AT MASS: Cardinal McCarrick presided over the evening mass at my local, St Matthews, last night. There were no bidding prayers about the scandal, only a veiled reference in his homily to “these dark days” for the Church, and a call for more to enter the priesthood. But I wondered if his presence at a mass that many gay men attend wasn’t a sign of his commitment to us and his inclusion of us. The Gospel was the wonderful story of the blind beggar who sees for the first time when Jesus heals him. The Pharisees interrogate the man contemptuously. Jesus seeks him out gently and exposes him to the light of day. And then there was this passage from Ephesians:
Try to discover what the Lord wants of you, having nothing to do with the futile works of darkness but exposing them by contrast. The things which are done in secret are things that people are ashamed even to speak of; but anything exposed by the light will be illuminated and anything illuminated turns into light. That is why it is said: Wake up from your sleep, rise from the deal, and Christ will shine on you.
How good it felt to be home again, and welcomed too.
The Dish 