Month: November 2002

History is the collective memory of a society. Individuals can be manipulated by tampering with their recollections (see Christopher Nolan’s eerie Memento), but doing this to societies is much easier. Personal memory is at least derived from human senses, unreliable as they may be. History is based on written interpretations of events that the authors … Continue reading “Forged Memories”

It had to happen sooner or later, and I don’t want to sound too full of myself, but I did predict it: I mean the attempt to tie the Saudis, Al Qaeda, and the Bush administration into one gigantic conspiracy and cover-up. Headlines are being made by Newsweek, which ran a story by Michael Isikoff … Continue reading “WAR PARTY DUMPS BUSH?”

The administration and Congress put the finishing touches on the monstrous Homeland Security bill last week, creating the first new federal department since the Department of Defense at the end of World War II. Laughably, the new department has been characterized as merely a "reorganization" of existing agencies, even though I notice no department was … Continue reading “Homeland Security Is the Largest Federal Expansion in 50 Years”

Well, President Bush has his Homeland Security Agency. I hope he’s happy. I doubt that American taxpayers and citizens will be especially pleased when it all shakes out, but the president has parlayed this year’s election results into the appearance of decisiveness and a short-term political victory. Good for him. Not so good for us. … Continue reading “Deck Chairs on the Ship of State”

It’s strange what the media has focused on in the extraordinary excerpts from Bob Woodward’s Bush at War published in the Washington Post. A single sentence about how Roger Ailes advised the President in the days after 9/11 has them all in a lather, but my eyes nearly popped out of my head when I … Continue reading “SABOTAGE!”

The latest scheme to enslave us in the name of waging a "war on terrorism" is so bizarre, so obviously the product of a nascent megalomania, that it seems like something out of a very bad novel. According to published reports, the U.S. government is compiling a database that will be used to monitor "every … Continue reading “TOTALLY CLUELESS”

On Tuesday, the Senate voted 90-9 to approve the landmark Homeland Security bill. What follows is the full transcript of Sen. Byrd’s remarks during the conclusion of the Homeland Security debate. We have come to the end of a long, long road. For nearly five months this chamber has engaged in discussions about homeland security. … Continue reading “‘An Irresponsible Exercise in Political Chicanery’”

On Tuesday, the Senate voted 90-9 to approve the landmark Homeland Security bill. What follows is the full transcript of Sen. Byrd’s remarks during the conclusion of the Homeland Security debate. We have come to the end of a long, long road. For nearly five months this chamber has engaged in discussions about homeland security. … Continue reading “‘An Irresponsible Exercise in Political Chicanery’”

The culminating change in China’s 20 year transition from a communist country paralyzed by revolution and poverty to a capitalizing golden child of businessmen around the world is passing before us this month. Jiang’s era is ending and a new group of leaders – controlled by the Elders most likely, but nevertheless, new faces – … Continue reading “The Incoming Hu Era”

In two commentaries this past week, Empire’s Balkans adventures were brought up in connection with the planned invasion and occupation of Iraq. They didn’t say, though they could have, that the new UN resolution paving the way for weapons inspectors was akin to the establishment of Kosovo Verification Mission, tasked in 1998 with finding a … Continue reading “Making the Balkans Connection”