Call me a bitter and twisted old socialist curmudgeon if you like, but as I follow the unfolding of a humanitarian tragedy in Burma I get angry with the hypocrisy of western governments. Many times more people will die as a result of the intransigence and self interest of the fascist military rulers than were killed by the original natural disaster. Homeless, starving and sick with infections picked up from drinking foul water, they will die miserable, lingering deaths, denied any comfort or compassion.
Still, two weeks after the typhoon hit, the military government continues to block the delivery of aid from the west and from more democratic regional powers.
We have known about the Burmese regime for a long time. Their suppression of all opponents and dissenters, rigid control of the media, appalling human rights record and utter disregard for the wellbeing of the people they rule adds up to a level of tyranny that makes Saddam Hussein’s regime look like a bunch of incompetent amateurs.
The Burmese rulers knew which side their bread was buttered though, they were always careful to be friendly to western financial interests.
Now the lies about Saddam’s WMD have all been exposed and the ogre of his nuclear weapons program exposed as a myth all that is left to justify the costly and destructive war in Iraq is the lame excuse that it was waged to depose a brutal tyrant.
As thousands die in Burma for want of a bowl of rice, a drink of clean water and a shot of penicillin, all these vital supplies lie uselessly in the holds of aid ships refused permission to dock and unload their life-saving cargo.
We expect to hear at any moment strident rhetoric calling for a coalition of the willing to organise a military occupation and depose the dictators who have controlled Burma for decades.

The silence is eerie, don’t you think, possums?

TODAY WE COMMENTED ON:
Lib Dems become serial candidate dumpers
Tory blogger has a go about Lib Dems changing candidates for by-elections. Another case of Tory fears about facing tough opponents I think.

Burma Are the aid agencies doing ennough? asks Barbara Stocking. Not while the Junta is in power, says Little Nicky Machiavelli.
Even as hillary Wins Virgina, Obama moves further ahead Even as hillary Clinton wins an overwhelming victory, Obama goes further ahead in pledged delegates. Something stange is going on.

Even the racists are deserting Hillary One of the things that makes me mistrust Barak Obama is the tendency of his campaign team to gloat.

TODAY LITTLE NICKY COMMENTED ON:

Huffington Post - The Bipartisanship scam Is the two party system a confidence trick?

abc news Political Punch
Did Obama Insult The Jewish State? "Obama insulted Israel" say The Republicans. "No he didn't, the media twisted his words" say hid Democrat supporters. But if he had insulted the Jewish State it would have been the most politically astute foreign policy statement an American had made for years.

Proof at last - Einstein was an atheist Proof at last that Einstein was an Atheist - not that it will stop those bloody e-mails that claim to prove he wasn't.

Bush's mini-me John McCain could be even more dangerous. With an economic crisis, a food crisis, a fuel crisis and the climate change crisis threatening to force poor Americans to depend on their government more than ever, McCains financial policy is aimed at winning the votes of the zero tax wingnuts. Read the story at Huffington Post.

The Most Important Piece of Paper In America

today we commented on:
Hulabaloo Long Answers to stupid questions

Informed Comment: Al Jazeera and the U.S. election

While looking at Crooks and Liars yesterday reading comments on one of the articles which had suggested John McCain’s belligerent stance on Iraq and commitment to “staying in” indefinitely might alienate middle class conservatives, a Democrat commenter with more political nous than political correctness replied that talk of permanent war was just what middle class conservatives wanted to hear, they loved the wild west politics of Bush and wanted affirmation of America’s global ascendancy. Increased military action would take their minds off the price of gas and bread, the credit crunch, immigration and the rising tide of atheism.

As the person who wrote the comment expanded his theme it stuck me that I had heard something similar before. Something about giddy minds and foreign wars...

This sent me scurrying to Google to see what I could find. Sure enough the search came up with this, from Henry IV Part 2 (Act 4 Sc. 5)

King Henry is talking to his son, Prince Harry:

Therefore, my Harry,
Be it thy course to busy giddy minds
With foreign quarrels; that action, hence borne out,
May waste the memory of the former days.

So if we think about that then quite clearly the “action hence borne out may waste the memory of former days” is a reference to the fact that the GOP hierarchy know the economy is in a hole it cannot climb out of, society is divided as never before and the challenges posed by climate change may already be insurmountable. How then do they waste the memory of former days or to put it another way, discourage the electorate from looking backward to happier and more secure times under a Democrat President? Simple, distract them with foreign quarrels. Political orthodoxy holds that in times of war the electorate will rally behind the incumbent Government.

Well that could not be more plain could it. John McCain’s senior foreign policy advisor is William Shakespeare. So when you hear Republicans claiming McCain’s age should not be an issue, knock them down by replying “It ought not to be, but some of his team are way past their sell by date.”

TODAY WE COMMENTED ON:
Mr. Eugenides - Gordon and Wendy Could Gordon Brown's problems get worse this week as calls for a referendum on Scottish independence gather momentum.

Guido Fawkes on Critics of the Blogosphere Senior journos in the mainstream media are ever eager to ridicule the blogosphere but Guido Fawkes asks are they not just afraid of having their hypocrisy, laziness and complacency exposed.

Will Hutton - America remains an inspiration Senior economist Will Hutton thinks America's dynamism and positive attitude will enable it to bounce back from the current economic problems. Little Nicky Machiavelli argues that dystopic cities, a widening religious divide, racial problems and the excesses of capitalism mean this is more than an economic crisis across the pond.

Amanda on Faith Based Violence at Pandangon Pandangon's Amanda Marcotte looks at the downfall of the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints cult and asks why so many of these crackpot religions feel the need to oppress, abuse and violate women.

No post from Little Nicky today as all the effort has gone into a huge post on Boggart Blog about The Appeentice, which offers some whacky humour but makes a very serious point at the conclusion.

Sugar is kosher but stupidity and Michael's chicken aren't

TODAY WE COMMENTED ON:
I Don't Believe It Cardinal Murphy O'Connor offended this writer by suggesting Christians should respect atheists. But was he being pastronising as suggested or was he simply asking Christians to respect the right of others to hold a different p.o.v.
I'm with the Cardinal on this

McCain's Christocrat While the Evangelical Christian buddies of Barak Obama and Hillary Clinton have been closely scrutinised, John McCain has had a relitavelt free ride. But he is happy to accept support from some very scary nutters.

Poll shows record conservative lead A new pll out today shows a record conservative lead over Labour. But is it anything more than a knee jerk response to the local election results by the usual bandwagon riders?

Crooks and Liars McCain's Spiritual Guide Another blog another nutty evangelists unearthed in the McCain camp.

Down With Tyranny Some Obamaite Democrats across the pond are speaking as if the election is already won. This blogger warns against complacency.