Oh Shut Up

A lot of blather in the news, as institutions start to close shop for the holidays (brick-and-mortar stores notwithstanding), and the insistent chirpiness of Christmas music makes the purchase of an Ipod seem more reasonable, if only to drown out the din. Best to retreat to the quietude of my home where I can rail most effectively with this voiceless blog.

I was irritated by the recent plea, after Tookie's fatal injections, by another Death Row client, a 75-year-old whose basis for appeal is that he is too "frail" for execution. Now, putting aside my basic objection to capital punishment, this is the work of a very desperate or simplylame lawyer. What's going to happen if his body has to deal with a fatal invasion of barbiturates? Is it gonna kill him? Probably, and a lot more easily than it might have done to a stronger and resistant Tookie. Since when does a murderer get a Senior Citizen discount? That is, assuming he is guilty, which in this guy's case, is likely.

Almost as lame, though at least slightly different, is Dubya's admission yesterday that he indeed was misled by bad intelligence before he signed off on the Iraqi invasion. It was impossible to spin that part of the story any other way, so he tried to take a page from Reagan's Iran-Contra book and admit to some responsibility. It's hard not to view this admission cynically, especially as the President still insisted that the war was justifiable, and did not apologize for the Administration's demonization of all those who dissented, from Wilson to Powell. More chillingly, Bush promised to improve our intelligence-gathering services, which given what a splendid job his management of FEMA, the Department of Homeland Security and the Iraqi occupation, does not exactly instill confidence.

Most irritating, though tragically predictable, was the declaration of the Iranian president Mahmoud Amahdinejad that the Holocaust was a myth perpetrated by Europeans to jusitfy the creation of Israel. I am generally an advocate of free speech but sorry, this pushes the one button that is personally unacceptable. It is probably widely accepted among the Muslim fanatics that this event never occurred, since they are not allowed to see 'Schindler's List" or visit Holocaust museums, and enjoy watching the Egyptian miniseries about the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Diabolical ignorance is a tool used effectively by despots Eastern and Western; it is only the matter of degree.

What's most distressing about this maniac's oratory is that it will further serve to demonize his country in the eyes of the world, underscoring--even confirming--Dubya's characterization of Iran as being in the so-called "axis of evil." Whatever difficult negotiations regarding Iran's nuclear potential ensue will be colored by this nation's fanaticism, and that is not likely to defuse the explosive potential of Mideast conflict. It was just a few years ago that one of the justifications of Democracy-building in Iraq was that it was likely to spread to other nearby nations with vested interest in Middle East stability; Iran would be the next Democratic domino to fall, as the students' movement and a reformist government seemed pointed in that direction. No more, though. Next to Iraq is a land of hostility and intransigence. And if we don't have the military resources to deal with this country's more palpable threat, then perhaps Israel may have to intercede, as its right to survive is daily assailed.