The single political issue that I care most about—the only one that really even exists—is out-group vilification. It is what allows us to have some people starve to death while others have dozens of servants waiting upon their every need. It is what allows us to deny healthcare for tens of millions in the name of theoretical concerns like liberty and choice. And most of all, it is what allows us to kill other people.

Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks put together the video below that calls attention to the many children who have been killed in our drone strikes. I’ve been in horrible conversations even quite recently with people claiming that our drone strikes are right and proper. Normally, politicians will say that they are unfortunate and unavoidable casualties. But most regular people either don’t think of it at all, or think that the people in Afghanistan hate us and therefore deserve to be killed. They should have loved their kids more by loving America.

The contrast now with this killing and the children killed at Sandy Hook last week is stark. In the defense of some conservatives, I’ve heard the same arguments. I’ve heard people say that these mass shootings are the price we pay for the 2nd Amendment. But mostly, this is not what people say about mass murder in the United States. So there is a disconnect. It is unacceptable that our children are murdered. And that’s absolutely true. But somehow it is acceptable to kill their children because it could be maybe that—if the moon is in the seventh house and Jupiter aligns with Mars—those kids were near a terrorist.

This is hard to watch, but not because it is graphic. It is hard to watch because it is true.

I get a lot of grief from people when I talk this way. The idea is that I am anti-American just because I don’t think that an American life is worth more than than Afghani life. Somehow, nationalism is a good thing, despite all of the lessons we supposedly learned from the 20th century.

Afterword

Just to make myself feel better:

Yesterday, I snuck out to see a movie. There is not much at the $3 theater. Actually, there is nothing at the $3 theater because they have raised their prices to $3.50. Over the weekend, Matt Yglesias tweeted something to the effect that Pitch Perfect was very good. I have my problems with Yglesias, but he is smart so I didn’t even think about it. Plus, I saw the poster for it and it looked kind of industrial to me so I thought it might be something like Rent—but good. I should have known better.

Matt Yglesias is a big Breaking Bad fan. He even blogs about it. I too am a fan of the show. But whereas I saw that the fifth season was a complete failure—something that fans should forget about and assume the series ended at the very natural fourth season—Yglesias was very happy with it. So I think despite his notable intelligence and erudition, he doesn’t have much insight into drama. Especially after Pitch Perfect.

I should be clear: I didn’t see Pitch Perfect. At least, not all of it. I got into the theater, found my traditional seat in the middle of the fourth row and waited. I sent a text to Andrea, “I am seeing Pitch Perfect.” She shot back, “Ah. I thought that went straight to DVD.” Bad sign. It turned out she was wrong. Pitch Perfect made a bundle. Worse sign.

The movie starts with an a capella group competition. It was the kind of music I hate, but okay. Whatever. Then the girl group gets up and one of them vomits on stage. And then we are at the first day of college. And the nerdy kid thinks he isn’t because he does close-up magic (actually, that had a certain charm). And the girl with her midi keyboard and people making music on laptops. And the guys in chairs giving ratings of all the girls who walk by…

I ran from the theater. It had been 15 minutes. It was all too much Glee without the salve of Jane Lynch. Too much useless music. Too much teenage angst. I didn’t even like this kind of thing when I was 17. I remember being bothered in the movie Fame that Bruno would would write a stupid pop song like Fame. So I was glad to be rid of this unfortunate experience, even if it continues to haunt me.

Having said all this, I suspect the film is very good for teens and others who haven’t yet developed must taste for art. Or entertainment.

I wasn’t actually looking for something to cheer me up, I was looking for something to express my current mood without having to put the feelings into my own words. That’s just narcissistic. Instead I went to my favorite quotations page and found this from Albert Camus:

I’m not sure, but I think he’s saying that I’m a foolish coward. Wow. What a jerk.


Strangely, this is one of my favorite songs. Maybe it’s because I kind of like women and don’t like men. That is to say: I don’t really like anyone. This is especially true right now when I’m sick and can barely breathe. It is great storytelling. It is the language of love.

I saw a bit of The Ed Show tonight as I was making dinner. Ed Schultz said something that shocked me. I don’t have the exact quote, but it was more or less, “I know that the president isn’t going to agree to any deal that we don’t like.” I could hardly believe it. Did he really just say that? After chained-CPI and $400,000 lower limit for tax increases? Maybe by “we” he meant “multi-millionaires on TV.” Because the only liberals who expect Obama not to make a very bad deal are liberals who aren’t paying attention.

In the same segment, he talked about how Boehner’s “Plan B” (That’s the name of a birth control pill, right?) would raise taxes on the poor and middle classes because of other tax cuts that were part of the stimulus bill. Greg Sargent deals with this in detail in an article earlier today on The Plum Line blog, John Boehner, Scourge of the Wealthy, Ctd. (“Ctd.” means “continued” because of a previous article.) He shows that half of the households in the top 1% would get a tax break. So this is not a serious plan.

But there is a lot more to be upset about. For years, Digby has been (rightly) screaming about the fact that the “balanced” approach involves painful cuts for the poor and “tip money” for the rich. This chained-CPI makes it even worse. Of course, this is a major and increasing cut to Social Security. But it is also a major and increasing tax increase on the middle class.

Our only hope is that the Republicans continue to be as stupid and greedy as usual. Because, regardless of what Ed Schultz says, the president will most definitely agree to a deal that we don’t like. And by “we” I mean all of us: even the vast majority of conservatives, even if they don’t know it.

The Onion Reports: ‘Right To Live Life In Complete, Stunned Horror,’ Added To Constitution
NEWS IN BRIEF • News • Dec 15, 2012

WASHINGTON—In the wake of yesterday’s gruesome mass shooting that claimed the lives of 27 people, including 20 schoolchildren, the United States ratified a new constitutional amendment this afternoon guaranteeing American citizens the right to live life in a perpetual state of abject horror. “The provisions of the 28th Amendment will fully protect the right of all individuals to spend every waking moment utterly terrified at the thought of a deranged stranger with a semiautomatic combat rifle gunning them down,” said House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), explaining that the measure also permits Americans to suffer panic attacks anytime their loved ones go to work, school, malls, or virtually any other public location. “In addition, the new amendment prevents the government from ever infringing on a citizen’s inalienable right to lie awake at night visualizing the images of crying children being ushered out of a school and wondering where it could happen next.” The new amendment comes on the heels of numerous other proposed changes to U.S. law, including a highly contested bill that would protect the right of Americans to ignore a widespread, deadly problem until it is far too late.

The Onion Reports: Fuck Everything, Nation Reports
Just Fuck It All To Hell

WASHINGTON—Following the fatal shooting this morning at a Connecticut elementary school that left at least 27 dead, including 20 small children, sources across the nation shook their heads, stifled a sob in their voices, and reported fuck everything. Just fuck it all to hell.

All of it, sources added.

“I’m sorry, but fuck it, I can’t handle this—I just can’t handle it anymore,” said Deborah McEllis, who added that “no, no, no, no, no, this isn’t happening, this can’t be real.” “Seriously, what the hell is this? What’s even going on anymore? Why do things like this keep happening?”

Continued McEllis, before covering her face with her hands, “Why?”

Despairing sources confirmed that the gunman, armed with a semiautomatic assault rifle—a fucking combat rifle, Jesus—walked into a classroom full of goddamned children where his mother was a teacher and, good God, if this is what the world is becoming, then how about we just pack it in and fucking give up, because this is no way to live.

I mean, honestly, all 315 million Americans confirmed.

“Well, I suppose we have to try to pick up the pieces and make some sort of sense of this tragedy and—you know what? Fuck it, I can’t do this,” said Connecticut resident Michael Zaleski, his remarks understandable given the circumstances, because, holy shit, what else can one say? “I’m sorry, but I can’t fucking do this. Can you? Can anyone?”

Witnesses said the gunman fired at least 100 rounds during his deadly rampage, which, according to children in the school—goddamnit, how? How? Twenty children. Dead. In a fucking school.

No. No, no, no.

“I just feel so [why does it even matter what this person said when no words can bring 20 dead kids back to life?]” said some person who, just like everyone else, is completely unable to process or handle any of this. “It’s awful. Just too awful to bear.”

Americans reported feelings of overwhelming disgust with whatever abhorrent bastard did this and with the world at large for ever allowing it to happen, as well as with politicians, with the NRA, and above all with their own pathetic goddamn selves, sitting in front of a fucking computer instead of doing fucking anything to help anyone—Christ, as if that were even fucking possible, as if anyone could change what happened, as if the same fucking bullshit isn’t going to keep happening again and again and fucking again before people finally decide it’s time to change the way we live, so what’s the point? What the hell is the goddamned point?

“I…” said Tom Miller, 27, after reading an article about the tragedy online. “I just…”

“…” he added.

At press time…screw it, there’s nothing else to say.

I’ve had my problems with the idea of Chuck Hagel as the new Defense Secretary. Why is it not possible to have a liberal? Why does Obama continue to try to court the right by having Republicans in his cabinet? But the Washington Post has a different take on this in an editorial, Chuck Hagel Is Not the Right Choice for Defense Secretary. According to them, Hagel is to the left of Obama, and that’s a bad thing.

So what are Hagel’s sins? First, they claim that nominating a Republican is only done in the name of bipartisanship. Somehow they don’t even consider that maybe Republicans of only a few years ago are now to the left of our current president. That can’t be. Obama’s choice of Hagel would only be to make nice with the right and so he apparently has to pick someone like Allen West.

The biggest problem for the Washington Post is that Hagel thinks going to war with Iran is a bad idea. “Mr. Obama may be forced to contemplate military action if Iran refuses to negotiate…” But the Post does not know how Hagel would act in that situation. Regardless, he would be pursuing Obama’s agenda, not his own.

There’s more. Hagel thinks the defense budget is bloated. This is indisputable. The military says the same thing. The only people who want to continue to throw more and more money at the Pentagon are chicken hawks like those at the Washington Post. Hagel, having actually been at war, thinks a little more carefully about these things.

What is most telling in the editorial is that it is filled with caveats. The truth is, even from their own perspective, they don’t have the goods on Hagel. They just think that there are “other possible nominees who are considerably closer to the mainstream.” The mainstream of the Villagers who the Post represents. This is nothing more than a hit job.

It isn’t just because the Washington Post is conservative that people call it “Fox on 15th Street.” But I guess we should be pleased that this article was put on the opinion page rather then on the front page where many of their editorials go.