Apparently, Obama has inherited
some
kind of project to replace the aging presidential helicopters, those old
Sikorskys, with something new and more powerful. How powerful?
About $11.2 Billion powerful.
The program was initiated by the Bush Administration after 9/11, and it
should symbolize to all of us everything that is wrong and stupid about
government today. Firstly, $11.2 Billion dollars is too much to
protect anybody, even Obama. Yes, I am a fan of Obama, but that
doesn't mean I believe he is some kind of divinity who is so valuable and so
important that we must spend an infinite amount of money to keep him safe.
In fact, there is only one word for the idea of spending $11.2 billion on
presidential helicopters: obscene. It is obscene in every respect, in
the idiotic belief that technology can make us invulnerable, in the deeply
offensive idea that the President is so phenomenally amazing and important
and irreplaceable that we cannot countenance the slightest hint of a threat
to his continued existence, in the way government functionaries behave as if
they live on some magical planet with infinite money to spend on toys and
gizmos and uniforms and parades.
The truth is that if Obama died tomorrow, the sky would not fall, the
economy would not falter worse than it already has (while the previous
administration was all safe and sound) and life would go on much the same as
it has before.
As far as I am concerned, Obama should take public transit. Better
yet: one secret service agent should drive him to the airport in a Prius.
Another one should follow behind on a moped, in case anything happens.
February 12, 2009
I thought for sure that George Bush would issue a large number of pardons during
his last few days in office, eight years after Republicans expressed dire outrage
at Bill Clinton's last minute pardons. He did not. I'm guessing he
thought it would look hypocritical. He deserves credit for that, if not
for
much else.
Apparently, VP Cheney lobbied long and hard for a pardon for "Scooter" Libby, reflecting the more
traditional Republican approach to justice: severe punishment for the poor and
minorities for even minor
crimes, and bottomless generosity and grace towards our friends.
Libby was convicted of perjury by
a trial jury and the fact that he was buddies with the VP should not have played
any role at all in the consideration of a pardon-- and the fact that Bush
resisted it is a little amazing, but was clearly the right decision.
Libby likely lied to cover up the role played by Cheney and Rove in the outing
of Valerie Plume. To pardon him would be a clever way for any president to
lie at will, induce lower-ranking aides and officials to take the blame, and then issue pardons
to them. Bush was right in every respect to
withhold the pardon.
All Libby had to do to avoid any punishment at all was reveal who lied and who
leaked. The Bush Administration tried to discredit political opponents who
knew the truth about the doctored intelligence on Iraq. The tragedy is
that Cheney and Rove both walked away.
“It is MOD policy not to comment on submarine
operational matters, but we can confirm that the U.K.’s deterrent capability
has remained unaffected at all times and that there has been no compromise
to nuclear safety,” a ministry spokesman said. NY Times (Feb 15, 2009)
So two subs, one British, one French, collided in the mid-Atlantic, and we
are supposed to be relieved that U.K.'s "deterrent capability" remained
unaffected. Which of course makes you wonder, who exactly is an
imminent threat to the U.K.? Who is threatening to launch their
nuclear missiles (that is what a "deterrent" is for) at London and
Liverpool? Why is Britain spending so much money to keep these
floating doomsday devices out there?
But the most interesting thing is
this. Think about it: these two subs are absolutely loaded with the
most sophisticated, powerful technologies available to mankind. We
have spared no expense to provide them with every tool imaginable to ensure
that they can reliably murder millions of their people if someone
dares to murder millions of our people. Their crews have been
trained by our most experienced, wisest, and ingenious scientists and
leaders.
And they couldn't keep from running into each other on the open seas.
And they are supposed to have "fail-safe" systems in place to keep the bombs
from going off by mistake. But all their resources couldn't keep them
from running into each other.
The subs look very solemn. They are
huge and weighty and black. They are coated with materials to hide
them from sonar. They are powered by nuclear reactors. They can
go under the arctic ice. The men on them wear uniforms on land and
salute each other reverently when passing. For all the costumes and
show, they are like little tin soldiers marching back and forth, back and
forth, under the delusion that they keep the sun shining and the stars from
falling with their little ministrations.
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© Bill Van Dyk
2009 All Rights Reserved
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