Genocide Is All They Have

By now it should be clear that Israel's genocidal campaign in Gaza was not a spur of the moment response to the October 7 attack by Hamas. It has been planned for a long time, just waiting for the opportune moment to spring. The same goes for the relentless attacks on Lebanon, and now Syria. Iran may be next, a fantasy that has been in the works for at least since Barack Obama was president.

What has been a surprise for most Americans is the exuberant complicity of the U.S. government in this carnage. It shouldn't be. Even before there was such a thing as the United States of America settlers in the "New World" were massacring the people who lived on both the northern and southern continents. Those that weren’t massacred were forcibly removed from their homes and relocated to "reservations" – large concentration camps in remote and westward areas of the newly claimed land.

Then came the empire. Historians disagree on when the U.S. empire began. It could have been the war against Mexico from 1846 to 1848, where Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Utah and California were "acquired" along with parts of Colorado, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Wyoming were annexed. Or maybe it was the Spanish American War, where we gained the Philippines, Guam and Puerto Rico. As late-comers in World War I we established our presence in Europe, effectively sealing the "victory" Britain and France. This was followed by overthrows of democratically elected governments in Central and South America, interrupted by World War II, which we were the dominant victors in both the European and Pacific theaters.

After World War II we had invasions of choice in Korea and Vietnam, the first ending in stalemate and the second in humiliating defeat. I was drafted into the Army during the Vietnam war, managed to avoid it by enlisting to get a school and getting sent to Germany, now our "ally."

Since then there have been invasions of Panama, the tiny island of Grenada, Iraq – twice, and Afghanistan. Mostly what our foreign "policy" establishment has been involved in is subversion, assassination, coup d'état sponsorship, funding of militias and guerrilla forces and economic blockades and sanctions, such as with Cuba.

Then there was Israel. When the nation state of Israel was created in 1948 it was a British handover, with United Nations support following World War II. The land of Palestine was not Britain’s to give, but they gave it anyway, a hubris that has been its hallmark characteristic for centuries. And soon in for a reaping.

For some strange reason it became the purview of the United States of America to step in as the guarantor of Israel's presence as a colonial settlement in the Southern Levant of the eastern Mediterranean. Many billions of dollars and vast supplies of armaments have been given to the government of Israel over the years, all for free, paid for by U.S. taxpayers, who have been largely ignorant of the largesse they have provided. Whatever brutality, destruction and land theft committed by Israel has been virtually unquestioned by U.S. "leaders" for the duration of the takeover.

We can surmise what the strange reason is. The U.S. is an empire. An empire possesses or controls other countries. Israel is indirectly controlled by the U.S. through weaponry and money. Israel uses that money and weaponry to control the region, and as a side benefit gets to steal land and resources. The Mideast is resource rich, especially in oil, and is strategic in establishing hegemony over Africa, southern and eastern Europe, and the far East.

Or so it seems. That may have been how the plan was supposed to work, but the best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men gang aft agley, an’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain, for promis’d joy! Empires die, some quickly, some not-so-quickly. Ours will be over very soon. Some, like Noam Chomsky, believe it already is. Others, like Alfred McCoy and Chris Hedges, believe it will be soon. Eminent economist Richard Wolf  also describes the end of the U.S. empire.

The end of the U.S. empire, whether already or soon, is for two reasons: stupidity and timing. The stupidity is plain for all to see, described in nauseating detail on a daily basis in worldwide news. I have written about it ad absurdum in this blog for a couple of decades. No need to run it into the ground again.

The other reason is timing. The climate crisis, while horrendously bad already, is about to get worse. Scientist after scientist are warning of impending planetary catastrophe in the very near future, and for the rest of the lives of anyone now alive, and well into the future. No need to run that into the ground here either. The information is plentiful.

In tandem with climate catastrophe is the end of Capitalism. It has run its course. It is a system that started roughly two centuries ago with the advent of the Industrial Revolution. It has befouled the planet, destroyed many millions of lives, and impoverished the vast majority of humans who have lived on Earth since it began. Because of the imperative that economic systems get bigger and bigger, Capitalism creates its own demise, outgrowing both the planet and itself. Karl Marx predicted this a century and a half ago, but Capitalists were too busy laughing all the way to the bank. They won’t be laughing so heartily when it collapses.

With the collapse of Capitalism comes the collapse of the U.S. weapons industry – the military industrial complex. Indeed, it can be truthfully said that the free flow of weapons to Israel has kept the weapons industry alive, and by extension the weapons industry has kept the U.S. economy alive. No more weapons industry means no more weapons.

In this context, how fares Israel? Without unlimited and unquestioned aid from the U.S., what does a settler colonial country do? I make no predictions, but things will be different. The demise of Capitalism also bodes ill for Israel, since it depends on foreign trade to provide the goods and money that keep the country functioning. Just as Israel requires U.S. funding and weapons to exist, it also needs economic interaction with the rest of the industrial world. If Capitalism goes bust foreign money and goods no longer arrive to keep the country going.

This all is likely well-known to both Israeli and U.S. intelligence agencies. It may be why the genocide in Gaza and now Lebanon (and who’s next?) is proceeding at such a feverish pace. Get it done before it is too late. It is a loser’s endeavor, but from the perspective of empire, it is all they have. It won’t be for much longer. Should Donald Trump actually become president again – not so certain, given his mental and physical health – collapse will happen even sooner.

____________________________________   

Here's a song for the end of the empire. Here's another. Can't forget John Prine. Cream. The Doors. Chuck Mangione. I saw him for free in 1973, one of the best concerts I ever went to. I gave a presentation on freedom in an Economics seminar the following day, based on what I learned from his performance. It worked.

____________________________________
 

Surviving members of the Grateful Dead were honored at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. last night. Genocide Joe pointed to himself as a "Deadhead" in a short video. Jerry Garcia must be rolling over in his grave.  For the record, a Deadhead is someone who follows the band on tour. Jerry Garcia died in 1995, ending the band and thus all touring. Genocide Joe never followed the band on tour, and likely never went to even one concert. He is a dead head, though. Not the same as a Deadhead.

Another reason why Jerry Garcia might be rolling over in his grave is the array of celebrities doing cameo performances of the band's songs. The worst was Sturgill Simpson doing Ripple, followed closely by Dave Matthews doing Not Fade Away. They should have let Susan Tedeschi and her husband Derek Trucks do all the songs by themselves. They had the feel. Jerry's daughter looks just like him. Same smile too.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken was also in attendance, pleased with himself, grooving with the Dead vibes. He has stated publicly that he is a Jew first and an American second. He approved Israel's bombing of aid trucks in Gaza. Maybe he was wearing a tie-dye when he gave the go-ahead for bombing those who provide food, medicine and other humanitarian aid. 

Thankfully, Jerry Garcia was spared of the indignity of rolling over in his grave by being cremated, his ashes poured into the Ganges River in India and in the San Francisco Bay. This calls for a song. Alternate version.

Here's the real Grateful Dead doing Not Fade Away. See if you can find Genocide Joe in the audience, maybe tossing a balloon or beachball. He would be wearing a suit. Maybe even a tux. Here's the real Grateful Dead doing Ripple. This brief synopsis was played at the Kennedy Center extravaganza. It included remarks by Molly Tuttle and Nora Jones. Bill Walton can be seen in the audience in one short snippet.
__________________________________

R.I.P. Zakir Hussain. Here's a sample. I saw him perform twice. Absolutely mesmerizing.

R.I.P Michael Brewer. Here's a sample. Here's another.
___________________________________

I sent a message to Genocide Joe recently, suggesting he resign for the good of the planet: 

https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/share/

Hello Mr. Biden

You have proven yourself to be a man without honor in your zealous sponsorship of the genocide in Gaza, now Lebanon, and who knows next. The only honorable act available to you now is to resign from office immediately and let your vice president fulfill the duties of president for the remainder of your term. She will likely continue the genocidal campaign in the southern Levant, but perhaps not as unflinchingly and remorselessly as you have. She couldn't do any worse.

I voted for you in 2020, not eagerly, but considering the alternative, the only sensible choice. In 2016 I even campaigned for Hillary Clinton, walking an entire "turf" by myself, not a wise thing at my age. I am two years younger than you, and served three years in the U.S. Army while you were staking out your meaningless political career.

My first vote for president was for Hubert Humphrey in 1968, also my first for the lesser of two evils. I have never voted for a "Republican" for president, though I did once for mayor of Honolulu, Frank Fasi, a renegade "Democrat." C'est la vie. We do what we can. You could have done what you could in preventing genocide in Gaza and elsewhere, but instead chose the soulless politician option. I remember some of your past soullessness, Clarence Thomas, the 1994 crime bill, Iraq, Afghanistan, continuation of Trump's border crimes and tariffs. Yikes! What an unlife! You can rescue at least a tidbit of honor by resigning. A little honor could go a long way. It might do some good.

__________________________________

Update, December 26: This feature in Salon gives a pretty good rundown on the psychology of Trump supporters.  This, from Slate, reveals some of the stupidity of the Cold War. Meanwhile, Americans are tuning out on political news. 

Update, December 30: R.I.P. Olivia Hussey. We crossed paths a few times when we were both followers of Swami Müktananda. She was stunningly beautiful, a bit of a prima donna, but I didn't care. Her performance in Romeo and Juliet was by far the best portrayal in a Shakespeare play that I have ever seen. She brought it to life, made it understandable and fun. Here's a sample. The balcony scene.

R.I.P. Jimmy Carter. There are many remembrances of the great things he did. I have one no one is mentioning. He appointed John Froines, Chicago 7 defendant, to head the toxic chemicals division of the Occupation Health and Safety Administration (OSHA). This shows much about his character and beliefs.

___________________________________

Update, January 5, 2025: José Andrés, founder of the World Central Kitchen, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Genocide Joe yesterday. It would have been much more honorable if he had refused the award, given the carnage in Gaza has been sponsored thoroughly, enthusiastically and unscrupulously by Joe Biden and his henchpersons. Among the tens of thousands of people killed indiscriminately in the carnage were seven World Central Kitchen aid workers April 1 of last year, and three more in November. It seems fame, awards and celebrity are drugs that render all other concerns meaningless, even when it comes to being flattered by Genocide Joe.

Then there's this.

Events Will Overtake

The election, such as it was, is now three weeks old. For some, it was the Second Coming, American style. For many others it brought on waves of fear, foreboding and depression. Another Trump presidency promises lawlessness, oppression, worsening climate disasters and international instability.

It took me a few days to regain my sense of perspective and optimism. The prospect of four more years of Trump is almost unthinkable, but here we are. We’re cooked.

So it seems. But seeming isn’t the same as actual. Donald Trump may not, for one reason or another, be inaugurated on January 20 of next year. His mental state is pretty well-known: deranged criminal sociopath, narcissist, bully, fraud merchant, demagogue, pathological liar, clown, glutton and sexual predator. It seems obvious to many behavioral scientists and clinicians that he also is in decline. He has difficulty remembering things, though it can be hard to separate forgetting from lying. He has trouble focusing, speaking in a wandering, incoherent manner, saying whatever comes to mind, making no discernible point.

He also has uncontrollable anger, making him a dangerous person to be president, but making him also a danger to himself. His preference for low quality fast food can be seen as further evidence of pathology - food addiction, with inevitable health effects.

This isn’t exactly cause for cheer, but the prospects for another four years of Donald Trump don’t appear so likely. Project 2025, blah, blah, blah. The fascists are coming. Make plans to move to Canada, Europe, Australia, etc. Or wait a while.

So Trump himself is more Wizard of Oz than Adolph Hitler, and his fifteen minutes of fame are way past expired, but what about the wrecking crew he is bringing in? Won’t they do his dirty work whether he is here or not? His threat to “burn it all down” can take place with or without him.

It isn’t likely. The threat of Trump’s revenge crusade (after all, he is the Messiah of vengeance) depends entirely on him. If his health fails and he is incapacitated, his phony power ceases. Without the illusion created by endless bluster he has nothing.

So Donald Trump, deranged and in decline, 78 years old, six-foot three and obese, is an implausible dictator. Not for lack of want or trying. He would like to be worse than Hitler, Stalin, Franco, Pol Pot, Pinochet, Suharto and Amin put together. In addition to his declining mental and physical health, he is lacking in intelligence and competence. His life is a pathetic study of failed businesses, unpaid debts, fraud and disgrace. His only talent is as a performer – a mob inciter and entertainer. A hate monger. He has an audience. It worked for the past nine years. It won’t be for much longer. Events will overtake.
______________________________________

Here's a song. A movie. Another movie. Otis Rush. A going away song for Trump. A lesson he was incapable of learning. Maybe when Trump is gone we can do this. Amanda Rheaume sings a going away song for the American Dream

Kamala Harris For President

Joe Biden is mentally unfit to hold office. This has been plainly obvious since his debate with Donald Trump on June 27, but he has likely been unfit for over a year, maybe longer. He never was a particularly bright guy, so it might be hard to tell when the decline advanced to a level of unfitness. 

Biden's unfitness seemed clear to me when he went to Israel last October 18, hugged the vile Benjamin Netanyahu, and declared himself a Zionist. He then proceeded to supply the government of Israel billions of dollars in money and weaponry, more than they could ever want or need. 

Whenever Biden's condition advanced to unfitness we will never know, but he is now in a sufficient degree of incompetence that he is a danger to the country and to world peace. It is probably too late to invoke the 25th Amendment to the Constitution, but we can pressure him to resign from the presidency. Kamala Harris, next in line for the presidency, would assume office for the duration of Biden's term, and would surrender the office to the thoroughly evil Donald Trump on January 20, 2025.

Kamala Harris lost the election resoundingly to Donald Trump in what has to be the greatest political humiliation in modern memory. She is through as a politician, but she is not unfit to hold office and is not a danger to the country and the planet. She would be an interim president, leaving office on inauguration day, but that is far preferable to Joe Biden being in office for even one more day.
_______________________________________

And, for the Democratic Party, nice going assholes! You deserve this for your nothing campaign, your nothing candidate and your nothing stance against the worst genocide since World War II. History, should we have a history, will remember this nothingness as symbolic of the times in which we live. 

Here's a song. Here's another. Laura Marling. Tommy Emmanuel. Tony Furtado. Van Morrison and Brian Kennedy.

All the more reason for Joe Biden, unfit for office, to resign. He, still assessing aid restrictions to Israel, might want to reassess his prospects for "Heaven," should he be facing the Grim Reaper after he leaves office.
_______________________________________

Here's an image that can be used as a bumper sticker, sign, or any other kind of prompt. Click on it and get a bigger version.

_______________________________________

Update, November 20: White House Says Democrats Who Oppose Weapons To Israel Are Aiding Hamas. I responded thusly:

The soullessness of this accusation is revealing, showing there is no depth to which Biden and his servants will not sink. It is also revealing of how desperate they are. As the genocide in Gaza progresses towards its, er, final solution, time is running out for Biden to wrap things up before January 20, when he will face not only powerlessness, but universal condemnation for his futile effort.

Out of office, he will face the further humiliation of having Trump take credit for whatever peace follows this shameful episode of U.S. history. He will not be able to leave the country, lest he be arrested and sent to the Hague for war crimes prosecution.

This should be a warning for all who seek power. Biden has been seeking power for his entire public life. In the four years in which he was the "most powerful man on Earth" he steered Russia towards invading Ukraine and sponsored the worst genocide since World War II in Gaza. He made powerlessness look attractive.

_____________________________________

Pollster Nate Silver is calling on Biden to resign. The chorus is likely to grow.

Official Truth

I voted Tuesday, the first day of early voting in Wisconsin. As I said I would, I voted for Alfred E. Neuman for president and U.S. senator. It felt good. It was not an easy decision, risking passive support for totally evil Donald Trump with my one vote. It was worth the risk. Given Kamala Harris's full support for president Joe Biden's sponsorship of genocide in Gaza, I couldn't bring myself to vote for her. No morality about one area of concern means no morality about anything. Expedient and situational ethics are no ethics at all. A president with no morals or ethics will sell-out any and every principle or policy if it is politically inconvenient.
It is hard to comprehend how the lives of an entire population can be politically inconvenient, but this is the stance of the supposedly decent candidate. She is a fellow-genocidist with her mentor and bestower Joe Biden. This is a lesson in politics for the whole world. The U.S. presidents, present and future, are not only comfortable with genocide, but are threats to world peace.

How can this be? Are "Americans" genocidists? Some, maybe, but the broad population of the United States is no more likely to be a mass of genocidists than the German public was during the time of Adolf Hitler. This is the fatal flaw of the mass system. The many are governed by the few, who ostensibly represent them, stand in for them - democratically or despotically. 

Experiences with bureaucracies are good lessons in how representative governments operate. They are authorized to perform certain functions in service to the public, and they generally do serve the public. They also serve themselves. The way organizations function is through internal processes, practices and relationships that cohere to perform their roles in society. Internal dialogue becomes organizational truth, or what John Kenneth Galbraith called "bureaucratic truth." It may or may not be actual truth, but it is working truth, operational truth that the organization presents to itself and to the public. Another name for it is institutional truth, but for me official truth works best.

Official truth can have tragic results, such as the genocide in Gaza. The front man for the genocide is Joe Biden, President of the United States. After the October 7 attacks last year he declared himself a "Zionist," hugged Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and supported the onslaught on Gaza with the slogan "Israel has the right to self-defense" and "Every effort is being made to protect civilians." Lies. But true for the organization, the Biden foreign policy establishment. They started with lies, and no matter what happened in the ensuing months they stuck with the lies. They also stuck with supplying Israel with all the bombs, artillery and bullets it could ever want, the instruments of genocide, er, Israel exercising its right to self-defense.

This madness will not end well for anyone. The war has extended into Lebanon, and Iran is next. Based on the genocide that Israel is already perpetrating, deaths could mount into the millions. It couldn’t happen without U.S. funding and weapons. Or Joe Biden and his underlings Blinken and Austin. Who knows where it will go from there? Israel is on a rampage, and it is apparent that it was planned for a long time. Because of organizational inertia and hubris our "leaders" are unable to stop the carnage. They will continue to lie, and they will continue to arm Israel. This is the fatal weakness of organizations. They live by their own truths, and damn the consequence.

There is an added factor. The weapons industry. The military industrial complex. They stay in business by selling armaments. Wars, any kind of wars, are good for business. The assault on Gaza, and now on Lebanon, are a bonanza for gun-runners. That, plus the billions in weaponry for Ukraine are making the gun merchants very rich. In an election year the jobs provided by the weapons industry can mean the difference between defeat and victory. All the more reason to keep the slaughter going.

These people are that bad. All of them: Biden, Blinken, Austin, Netanyahu, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the arms merchants. All genocidists, and in the case of the Israelis, gleefully so. We will all pay dearly for this crime. Paying for this while we are also paying for what we have done to the planet. Alfred E. Neuman, who never existed and couldn’t possibly have generated such madness, is already a far better president than Biden or Harris could ever be. Without ever being president. Nothing and nobody are better than these two genocidists.
__________________________________

Here's a song. Here's another. Brewer and Shipley. Bob Dylan. Another song from Steve Miller. Another from Brewer and Shipley. Citizen Kafka.

Some background on how genocide in Gaza is being carried out.

Here's some news about Donald Trump. I predicted over a year ago that neither Biden nor Trump would be their party's candidate by election day. So far I'm half right. Trump is disintegrating before our very eyes. Between now and November 5 his disintegration will likely be complete. Good riddance to both of them.

R.I.P. Phil Lesh. A tribute from Warren Haynes. He didn't sing often, but was revered for this song, written for his dying father.
_____________________________________

Writing beyond the bounds of thinkable thought, I submitted the following to four local newspapers. None of them published it.

To The Editor (oped@badgerherald.com, editor@dailycardinal.com, wsjopinion@madison.com, tctvoice@madison.com)

Ahead of the Pack

It would seem that the University of Wisconsin’s football fortunes are back on track with the blowout victory over Purdue. In actual fact, though, the fortunes remain exactly the same. Gargantuan. College football is all about money, and win or lose, athletic departments nationwide stand to reap a vast fortune year after year. In order to make even more money, the major conferences have consolidated into still larger conferences, with the Big 10 now consisting of 18 teams. It used to be, when the big 10 was a real 10 teams, that they all could play each other every year and have a sense of cohesion and regional identity.

A huge money-making scheme needs marks, suckers who fall for the grift, believing the hype and the pretense that it is about athletics, sportsmanship and an integral part of the educational process. If you believe that, I have some land in Arizona you might be interested in. Students play along, filling stadiums with bodies, noise, bands and even jumping on the supposedly indestructible stadium. Players, pawns in the game, risk lifelong injury and obscurity, giving their most hale and hearty years to an increasingly brutal game. They move easily from one school to another, maximizing their marketability and NFL draft posture. Most drift into anonymity when their playing days are over.

I have a solution. Drop football. A state university, funded by the public, should not be a professional sports vehicle. In ancient Rome crass entertainment was known as bread and circuses. What we have today is bread and circuses on steroids. I don’t have cable, dish or Internet streaming, but on any fall Saturday I could watch football for free on about seven channels, maybe more. It is madness. No one could watch that much football, but madness knows no restraint.

This won’t last. Our unsustainable infinite-growth economic system will fail, likely soon, and the money for ever-expanding football hype will dry up. Universities will have difficulty filling stadiums, TV revenue will shrink, and the enormous salaries paid to coaches will be a thing of the past. Many schools will no longer afford to have football teams. Wisconsin can get ahead of the pack and drop football now.

John Hamilton 

Madison

___________________________________

A surprising update about University of Wisconsin football. They are hosting the nation's number one team, Oregon - now a member of the Big 10 - on November 16.
___________________________________

Here's an update about how AIPAC controls Washington. Here's another update on how an Israeli digital intelligence firm, "Cellebrite," is becoming the top U.S. contractor. The moving finger writes, and having writ, moves on.

This interview on Madison's WORT is pretty comprehensive about the dangers of genocidal theology. It is one of the best interviews I have heard in a good while. A week later this interview about Hamas on the same show is great too. It doesn't seem like it now, but I believe truth will prevail. It might take until Satya Yuga, but we are likely to see an infusion of truth in the current times. Meanwhile, you can tune in to Democracy Now. It is also on YouTube.

The Cause

Over the years I have donated small amounts of money to various causes, mostly environmental, human rights and some indigenous groups. When a candidate for public office seems worthy, I have sent a few dollars, such as to Russ Feingold and Tammy Baldwin for U.S. Senate. Unfortunately, when you give money they sell your address to other causes and candidates in a relentless and unending onslaught of money appeals. The causes may be good, the politician may be worthy, but they all have fundraising departments, and their purpose in life is to panhandle, to beg for money.

A perfect example is that in 2000 I started getting emails from Joe Biden. He was running for president. The emails didn't say from the Biden for President Campaign, but from Joe Biden personally, though he no doubt wasn't personally sending me a money appeal. The content was typical Joe Biden blah, blah blah, forgettable stuff that meant nothing, but I remember the essence was that he among all people on Planet Earth was the savior of mankind. Or some such.

Biden referred to his campaign as "The Cause." There were never any ideas expressed, no policies or proposals, just "The Cause." No mention of just what the cause was, except by implication. The cause was Joe Biden. Rally around Joe Biden because, well, just because.

It was clear then and it is clearer now that Joe Biden is nothing more than a hack politician, a handsome guy with a wide smile. The hair on top of his head is transplanted from elsewhere on his body, a vanity move to improve his electoral prospects, he having gone bald somewhere along the long line of "The Cause." He has perfect teeth.

Joe Biden has never had an idea of his own about anything. His "Build Back Better" program was inspired by Bernie Sanders, concocted by subordinates with Biden as the pitch man, the front man who took credit. It worked, and he was supposedly on his way to reelection. The Cause Part 2.

Unfortunately for Joe Biden, reality intervened. The onslaught on Gaza by the government of Israel showed Biden for who he really is, an empty suit, a hack with no moral or ethical principles, and a threat to world peace. Some cause. He continues to this day to send money and weapons to Israel with no meaningful restrictions, no limits.

Then came the debate. It has to be the humiliation of eons, of epochs, to be defeated by Donald Trump in a debate. Defeated resoundingly by what may be the worst human being in human history. It wasn’t because of any skill or superior policies that Trump "won." It was because Joe Biden wasn't just a terrible debater, but he exhibited a serious decline in mental capacity. He showed himself to be not just unfit to run for reelection, but unfit for office in the present tense. He should be removed from office through the 25th Amendment to the Constitution.

Biden has continued to show himself unfit for office on a daily basis. His latest effort, a "letter" to Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israel military command, "strongly" criticizing the ongoing genocide in Gaza, is a big nothing, just window dressing, a fake effort to give some public relations cover for U.S. support for whatever Israel does. And, I suppose, to give some plausible deniability should they be charged with war crimes by the International Criminal Court.

Dumb guys. It is all a bullshit game. It is the downfall of dumb guys in politics from time immemorial. Do what you do to serve power, and when doubt arises, just create a pattern of bullshit. Lies upon lies upon lies. Deflect. Undermine. Quash dissent. Buy people, governments off. Bribe. Blackmail. Threaten. Kill if it suits you.

Kamala Harris, now the leading candidate for president, supports Biden totally, seeing it to her advantage to ruffle no feathers. She supports the genocide in Gaza fully, as well as for whatever pending genocide Israel might have up its metaphorical sleeve for the rest of the Mideast – as long as Joe Biden remains complicit. As such, she is just another hack politician, another empty suit, in this case a pantsuit. Her trademark appeal is her unending smile, but not as good as Joe Biden's.

Meanwhile, the planet is getting hotter, we are getting closer to global thermonuclear war by the day, and our unsustainable infinite-growth economic system is about to unsustain. Anything unsustainable eventually unsustains. The illusion of "The Cause" of Joe Biden, carefully crafted for decades, unsustained. It was nothing, and now it is seen as nothing. In terms of Christianity it is ashes to ashes, dust to dust. From here on out for Joe Biden every day is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, a time of penitence. From dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return. He might be working on his act of perfect contrition. Whatever the case, good riddance Genocide Joe.
______________________________________

Here's a song. Here's another. This song is for the U.S. and Israel. Good luck with this one. A lost cause song. A song for Donald Trump. We shouldn't have to feel this way.

No Surprise

In what should come as no surprise, the independent investigative organization Pro Publica has revealed that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken lied to Congress and the president about how Israel deliberately blocked humanitarian aid to Gaza - food and medicine - including killing aid workers, razing agricultural structures, bombing ambulances and hospitals, sitting on supply depots and routinely turning away trucks full of food and medicine.

This is nothing new. We, the uninstructed around the world, could see with our own eyes what has been going on in Gaza since last October 8. Genocide. Blinken has been lying about the genocide from the beginning, as has been his boss Genocide Joe. And, it should be noted, almost all of both houses of Congress.  Lying among political actors is as easy as breathing, in many cases easier, and is only different by matter of degree. Our news media have been stenographers, supporting the lies with active and passive propaganda. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which authored the report, likely knew that their findings would be ignored, but submitted it anyway, choosing integrity over conformity and career.

Even our leading candidate for president, Kamala Harris, is genocide compliant, parroting the party line that "Israel has the right to self-defense" and trotting out the phony slogan about a two-state solution. Genocide, in the calculus of our nation's leadership, is a legitimate tool of self-defense. Her opponent, Donald Trump, is a totally evil human being, and would jump at the chance of engaging in genocide. If he is "elected" he would have impunity, thanks to our corrupt supreme court.

Given our mindless and unhesitating ease with genocide, we might pause and wonder how we pick victims. Who gets to be the target of genocide? It has to be someone. In order to kill an entire population there has to be a killor and a kilee. It could have been the reverse. We could have picked the Palestinians as the killors, and the Israelis as the kilees. Israel is a created state, granted by the Western powers through the U.N. in 1948. There is no rhyme or reason why we chose one over the other, except imperial prerogative. It was largely the British ruling elite that made this choice, and after World War II we went along, fresh from victory and needing to cement "the Allies" in the newly formed North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), in which I "served" from 1969 to 1971, the greatest ugh! of my life.

So here we are, stuck between a proverbial rock and a hard place. We have a thoroughly corrupt political system, an election in little over a month, and a non-choice of continuing genocide in Gaza or something worse in every respect. Meanwhile, Israel has embarked on a new genocide: Lebanon. With our help. For now. It won't last. Nothing lasts.
__________________________________

 
Here's some traveling music for the journey ahead. An interview with Roger Waters.

Update, September 30: Here's some news.

R.I.P. Kris Kristofferson. His best-known song. He gave the song to Janis Joplin for her last hit, posthumous. Others have done it, such as the Grateful Dead.

Delta Mike Foxtrot

Israel is still at it with genocide, still supported with U.S. weapons, money, diplomatic cover and propaganda. A new U.N. report accuses Israel of waging a starvation campaign in Gaza. 

Joe Biden, President of the United States, is the chief facilitator of this genocide. It couldn't happen without U.S. sponsorship, and the sponsorship couldn't happen without the full approval and cooperation of Joe Biden.
_______________________________________

I sent a message to Joe Biden last Friday:

From: Me
To: https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/share/
Subject: Foreign Policy
Date: September 13, 2024

Greetings

POTUS. POS. GJ. WC. SP. SF. SHB. GR.
_______________________________________

I forgot one. Delta Mike Foxtrot.
_______________________________________

Here's a song. Here's another. John Prine. A song for the Delta Mike Foxtrot.