CommonPrejudice

Heights of Ineptitude

I have always asserted and will continue to assert that the US invasion of Iraq was doomed from the very beginning. The idea that US forces would be welcomed in a Muslim country in the Middle East and that a society torn apart by war and rife with sectarian tensions could be easily mended was always preposterous. Nevertheless between the incompetence, corruption and mistreatment of the Iraqis themselves, the US administration and its forces are doing everything in their power to demonstrate that it was they who screwed up the operation themselves. Some examples from today.

From BBC today on training the Iraqi police

$1.2bn (£590m) contract for training Iraqi police was so badly managed that auditors do not know how the money was spent, the US state department says.

The programme was run by a private US company, DynCorp. It insists there has been no intentional fraud.

Auditors have stopped trying to audit the programme because all the documents are in disarray and the government is trying to retrieve some of the money.

E&P while commenting on another issue notes a survey of the American troops in Iraq a while back:

the study found that at least 10% of U.S. forces reported that they had personally, and without cause, mistreated "noncombatants" (not detainees) through physical violence or damage to personal property.

The survey also noted that only 47% of the soldiers and 38% of marines agreed that noncombatants should be treated with dignity and respect. More than 40% said they backed torture in certain circumstances. Even worse, nearly one in five said that all noncombatants "should be treated as insurgents."

And Atrios notes that the Blackwater guards (you know the private contractors so obsessed with decorum and Iraqi civil rights) have been granted immunity by the State Department (he also notes how it isn't in the State Department's authority to do such a thing).

It is true that when all is said and done  it is very difficult to imagine a war being conducted any more incompetently and corruptly.

Media Manipulation 101

Very simply now:
Republicans make dubious allegations about  wrongdoing. Media reports allegations. Republicans issue press release noting media reporting wrongdoing. Talking heads blather on incessantly about the new scandal.

Polyarchy

Paul Krugman's article today on the closeness of the Democratic Party to corporate America is a good read but hardly surprising or unanticipated. The corporate powers in the United States have been hedging their bets since money became instrumental in determining political outcomes (ie since basically forever). Krugman:

...yesterday ABC News reported on its Web site that the Clinton campaign is holding a “Rural Americans for Hillary” lunch and campaign briefing — at the offices of the Troutman Sanders Public Affairs Group, which lobbies for the agribusiness and biotech giant Monsanto.

Monsanto? AYFKM?

It's a cliche to say so, but nonetheless patently accurate. The lobbying culture and vast amount of cash spent to win political office in the United States makes a joke of the claims of an American democracy.

The country should clearly be referred to as it actually is; a polyarchy. (I certainly don't want to claim that the United States is the only important example, though given their power, arrogance and influence in the world, along with their now constant talk of democracy promotion they are undoubtedly where the focus must be). Polyarchy originated from theories of elitism dating back as far as WWII with its characteristics ultimately defined in Robert Dahl's 1971 study Polyarchy. Professor William I. Robinson explains polyarchy as

a system in which a small group actually rules, and mass participation in the decision making is confined to choosing leaders in elections that are carefully managed b y competing elites...

...In contrast to more popular conceptions of democracy, which see political power as a means for transforming unjust socioeconomic structures and democratizing social and cultural life, the polyarchic definition explicitly isolates the political from the socioeconomic sphere and restricts democracy to the political sphere. And even then, it limits democratic participation to voting in elections. ["Promoting Polyarchy in Latin America," William I Robinson in Latin America After Neoliberalism, pg 99, 100]

This isn't some Naderite rant. It is simply stating what is baldly and undeniably true and has been for decades. Of course this should render the country's criticisms and lectures to the Chavezes and Morales of the world empty and ludicrous. But, then again, the country is also known for its tendency to carry and use "the big stick" and we know in this cynical world that far too often might makes right.

Wingnuts

From Easily Distracted (via Atrios)

...He leans out to point at my car bumper. Which is entirely unadorned except for a Kerry-Edwards sticker from 2004.

“YOU FAGGOT YOU VOTED FOR THAT WAR CRIMINAL. I’M GOING TO BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF YOU.” Guy is turning a shade of purple. I don’t think he’s just putting on a show. He actually sped up, nearly rammed with his car at high speed and is now seriously contemplating attacking me over a bumper sticker. I’m so astonished that I’m speechless. He looks at me, looks at the house, and I think he’s noticing that there’s another car there and therefore maybe someone who is going to call the cops if something happens. Plus, I’m thinking the same thing myself, and getting out my cell phone. Machismo be damned: we just entered psycho territory. He pulls away and speeds off, yelling all the while. I spend about ten minutes kind of trembling as the adrenaline drains away...

These are the Limbaugh listeners. These are the ones who cheer wildly as the Malkins, the Steyns attack children and families for supporting certain health care programs. And there are millions of them. Scary place this United States.

Quote

It seems amazing to say, but in the Bush era, distancing oneself from the Spanish Inquisition actually qualifies as political courage. - Matt Taibbi

Lol, I didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition ... you know what's coming...

(Btw, he is referring to how waterboarding originated from the S.I.)