Life in the "Emerald City"

Tonight Keith Olberman (MSNBC's "Countdown") spoke with Rajiv Chandrasakeran, author of the book "Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone." Earlier in the day, both George Bush and John McCain blathered on about the successes of Bush's Baghdad "surge." Chandrasakeran's Oz language is a perfect fit for these Bopsy Twins of War, since they are holding hands deep in the fog of fantasty land. The Green Zone, surrounded by a wall 17 feet high, is supposedly the safest place in Iraq. But at present it is hunkered down more than ever. The heart of the Zone--the U.S. Embassy--has just ordered its people to wear flak jacket and helmet any time they are outside the building. Recently, dozens of rockets and mortar shells have landed inside the Zone.

In the meantime the newest numbers on US casualties read like this:

Since Bush let loose his "shock and awe" attack on Baghdad on March 19, 2003, 3,244 US troops have died. Since his theatrical "Mission Accomplished" speech--that was May 1, 2003-- 3,105 have died. Since the capture of Saddam on December 13, 2003, 2,783 have died. Since the so-called "handover" on June 29, 2004, 2,385 have died. Since the January 31, 2005, elections, 1,807 have died. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have died in these four years; according to the Lancet study, the number is over 650,000.

Not so many Americans are off to see the Wizard these days. The rest of the world figured him out years ago.

Worse and worse for migrants

It always seems to happen when times are bad--citizens go after the migrants and the immigrants. It happened to the Irish and the Italians and many other immigrant groups. Right now the rancor and even hatred are being poured on the heads of migrants coming from Mexico and Central America. People like Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado and Lou Dobbs of CNN feed the flames day in and day out.
This situation is just plain nuts. For decades, the unspoken--and often even spoken--invitation went out from America's farmers and builders and service providers that undocumented migrants were welcome. People desperate for work, desperate to support their families back home, came for jobs year after year, returning home for a while in the winter. Crossing the border around the towns and cities was easy.
But about 13 years ago, the feds began to close off the traditional urban crossing points. So people crossed into the US in remote areas, most of all here in Arizona. And they died by the hundreds.
So far this fiscal year (which began last Oct. 1), there already have been at least 41 known migrant deaths just on the Arizona-Mexico border. (Many bodies are never found, especially on the O'odham reservation, which is the size of Connecticut.) Soon the high heat will return, as it always does. (One summer we had 99 days of triple-digit temperatures.) And the migrants will continue to die, mostly in the agony of dehydration and hyperthermia.
The border issues are complex, but the fact of all these unnecessary deaths is not. Many groups are working to avoid the deaths, the deportations, and now the imprisonment of workers and even of whole families. But only congressional action will turn the deadly tide. And not much progress will be made there until the tirades against struggling, hard-working migrants stop getting air and press time. The dehumanizing of the migrants is dehumanizing our country.

A bit of urging

This has to be the shortest of my always-short blogs.

I try to avoid asking readers to do things. But tonight I am making an exception: I urge anyone reading this blog who has not seen Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" to find a way to see it.

By the way, here in Tucson today--remember, it is only March 16th--we broke our all-time record by five degrees. We reached 95, or for you readers outside the USA, 35 degrees Celsius.

Did somebody say "global warming?"

The White Housecleaning advances

With Libby and Rummy swept out, it looks like Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez--once George W. Bush's personal lawyer and top Texas cheerleader for full spead ahead on as many executions as possible--may now be headed to the dustbin of contemporary history. Good heavens, even the profoundly conservative Senator John Sununu of New Hampshire has put his hand to the broom. (For anyone watching news from the Bahamas and Hollywood instead of Washington, D.C., be advised that the legal arm of the Bush cabal fired eight federal prosecutors for not dancing to the flute of Karl Rove. Apparently their sins ranged from not throwing dirt at targeted Democrats to daring to prosecute big shot Republicans. (For example, fired prosecutor Carol Lam of San Diego sent the notorious Republican congressman Randy “Duke” Cunningham--who can truly be called the Prince of Bribes--to prison for eight years.)

Let the sweeping continue! All the way to impeachment of the boss.

Please pardon my criticism

Hey, what is going on here?

Lots of very loud Republicans want to build more and more prisons and lock up more and more (often very poor) people instead of taking some of the billions of dollars going down the toilet in Iraq and using them to pay for rehabilitation alternatives to prison. (Some of them are even getting their wish to imprison undocumented men, women and children for the crime of trying to survive by picking the nation's fruits and vegetables and washing the nation's dishes.)

But hark, what is that other Republican sound wafting through Washington and the offices of the national media? My goodness gracious, it's a call for Bush to immediately pardon Lewis Libby.

Yep, Libby, number one aide to Dick Cheney, the primary mover (yes, I'd say even more than Bush) of the Iraq war and occupation and the lies and manipulations behind them. The same very intelligent Libby claimed that he could not remember what eight other people - including the highly respected Tim Russert - remembered about the Valerie Plame leak.

Sure, Cheney and Rove and Armitage should have been prosecuted too. But Libby committed perjury, bad enough in a small town courthouse but one very high crime when it is committed by someone in as high a place as Libby's. If he's sorry, I say forgive him. But a presidential pardon would be a mockery, plain and simple. It is just too bad they can't send Libby and the whole Cheney gang to a good rehab center. They could spend their days studying the Constitution and international law.

71% wide awake, 29% to go

Last Thursday, the NY Times announced the results of their (with CBS) latest Bush poll.

Results show that The Decider "has lost substantial support among members of his own party." Since the November elections, his approval rate among Republicans has dropped 13% -- though, sadly, 65% of them still support him.

The bigger picture: Only 29% of all Americans now approve of how Bush is "doing his job." It was 34% at the end of October.

23% now approve of how he is dealing with Iraq. 25% approve of how he is dealing with foreign policy in general. Only 40% approve of his campaign against terrorism.

76% say it is going badly for the US in Iraq.

70% (including over half of Republicans) believe the US military cannnot do much to reduce the sectarian fighting in Iraq.

68% believe the country has “gotten off on the wrong track.”

Hmmm. Does Bush get the NY Times? Maybe on his desk. But obviously not in his head.