Secondhand Sun

Local Democrats were excited about the selection of Jim Webb to give the Democratic response to the State of the Union address. We bumped up the time of our meeting last night so that we could go to a bar together afterwards and watch. They gave us the whole back room, and free chicken wings, and we ate and drank and critiqued the president. And then we fell silent when it was Jim Webb's turn. And then he said this.

On both of these vital issues, our economy and our national security, it falls upon those of us in elected office to take action.

Regarding the economic imbalance in our country, I am reminded of the situation President Theodore Roosevelt faced in the early days of the 20th century. America was then, as now, drifting apart along class lines. The so-called robber barons were unapologetically raking in a huge percentage of the national wealth. The dispossessed workers at the bottom were threatening revolt.

Roosevelt spoke strongly against these divisions. He told his fellow Republicans that they must set themselves as resolutely against improper corporate influence on the one hand as against demagogy and mob rule on the other. And he did something about it.

As I look at Iraq, I recall the words of former general and soon-to-be President Dwight Eisenhower during the dark days of the Korean War, which had fallen into a bloody stalemate. "When comes the end?" asked the general who had commanded our forces in Europe during World War II. And as soon as he became president, he brought the Korean War to an end.

These presidents took the right kind of action, for the benefit of the American people and for the health of our relations around the world. Tonight we are calling on this president to take similar action, in both areas. If he does, we will join him. If he does not, we will be showing him the way.

And the room erupted. You should have heard them roar.

Posted by Joanna at 9:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It was Armitage.

Wow, yeah, man, that totally happens to me all the time. I'll just be bullshitting with Bob Novak or Bob Woodward, and then I'll let something slip to BOTH of them in TWO separate conversations, but completely by accident, about this completely innocent scrap of information that just happens to be a result of a dirt-digging character-assassination mission out of the White House, and then it ends up in the paper and there's this huge stink about it, and then months later I'm like "Wow, wait a second, did he get that from ME? Man, I never meant for there to be such a big deal over this."

Totally plausible. Totally.

Posted by Joanna at 12:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Remember how, immediately after September 11th, 2001, airline security was suddenly a lot tighter, and everyone was glad? "I'm just happy they're there to protect us," we'd say sanctimoniously, to justify to ourselves that we had failed to protest the indignity of having our underwear spilled out of our luggage for all to see. But after a while it got old, and instead of relaxing, the restrictions got, well, more and more restrictive. And those of us who'd travelled overseas, to countries that had dealt with terrorism on a recurring basis since long before 9/11/2001, remembered that we didn't have to sacrifice our personal dignity to clear security, there.

When I was travelling to visit my family over the winter break last year, I flew for the first time in perhaps two or three years. I've always liked flying. And I was happy to be doing it again. I arrived plenty early at the airport, got my e-ticket, and joined the security line. People were shuffling through the line, pulling their laptops out of zippered bags and placing them in the plastic tubs, taking their shoes off, putting those in the plastic tubs, and shuffling on through the metal detectors in their sockfeet. I took one look at the spectacle of hundreds of adults in their socks, and when I heard the recorded looped message that said taking your shoes off was optional, I decided I wasn't going to do it.

Then as I approached the X-ray machine with my stuff, a suited man eyed me, and told me drily that he suggested I take my shoes off. The implication of the look on his face was that there might well be something much more unpleasant in it for me if I refused. I gave him the evil eye right back... and took my shoes off. I didn't want to miss my plane, after all.

But I didn't have any illusions what that confrontation was about, not then, and not now. It was to prove to me that They - the faceless suits of government authority - can make me do what they want me to do, even if, strictly speaking, it's optional.

It's about intimidation. That much is clear if you only look at a crowd of grown men and women shuffling through an airport with no shoes. But to strengthen our case, let's consider this:

Many more airplanes have been brought down by bombs in luggage than by bombs in shoes. (The number for the latter statistic by the way is zero.) Yet 100% bag match - where each bag in the cargo hold of an airplane is registered to a passenger who actually boarded the plane, or the plane does not take off - was a surprisingly low priority for those in charge of airline security in the months and years after September 11th. Then one day, some crazy guy tried - and failed - to blow up a plane by burning his shoe, and suddenly we all have to take our shoes off before getting on a plane.

It's perfect, really. Because having your bag X-rayed isn't really embarrassing. Having your luggage hand-searched in front of you isn't even that bad, unless the screener pulls out your dildoes and waves them around, as happened to a friend of mine. But taking your shoes off? That makes you vulnerable: you can run, but you won't get very far in all likelihood without shoes. It can embarrass you: are your socks holey? do your feet smell? And it certainly sets you off balance, takes you outside your comfort zone, to shuffle through an airport with no shoes.

The shoe thing is not about keeping you safe. It is an exercise in power, in intimidation. And there are similar actions taking place all around us.

Continue reading "It's the intimidation, stupid" »

Posted by Joanna at 9:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)