Osama bin Whatever

[zoocoyote]

 So apparently Osama's dead. This, in spite of the pretty persistent rumors that he died up to a decade ago. Maybe things really did go down as they're portrayed in the news, but in all honesty, it would not surprise me one bit if the whole thing was staged and he really did die several years ago. Whether a partisan ploy by the Democrats or a pro-

Comments

[southern_wuff]

Thanks for saying that - I couldn't agree more.

Bin Laden, if it really was him, was a poster, a symbol. Giving him so much attention has only helped his cause. He wanted to die in a glorious battle against the infidels, and he got his wish. Now he is a matyr and a more powerful figure than he was in life.

Honestly, I don't think it's about oil any more, or "regime change", and it's certainly not about fostering peace and democracy. It's not even about increasing the security of America - or if it is, they are even stupider than I thought. All that's left is a political game played out on a giant board by shadowy security agencies, corrupt governments and fanatics, with the ordinary people the pawns.

[zoocoyote]

Agreed--oil is probably not the whole motivation anymore, though I think it's still a huge part of it. Anyone with half a brain would see that this sort of military action ultimately decreases America's security, but that's assuming politicians actually have the requisite attributes and/or are willing to move their foresight further than their next paycheck from their favorite corporate lobbyist. And that's assuming a lot.

[heavens_steed]

Well, I'm afraid I have to take issue with a few of your statements

(part 1)

[zoocoyote]

It's true that bin Laden's potential earlier death has an element of conspiracy theory to it, but the fact that recent administrations (dems and reps both) have blatantly lied to the American public on multiple occasions leaves it within the realm of possibility to me. Besides, if he did die, for example, 6 years ago, that wouldn't helped Bush much given that he was already reelected. Nor would it have had a major influence on the legislature, where the party in power is cyclic--Americans get tired of one shitty party and switch their allegiance to the other shitty party

(part 2)

[zoocoyote]

I can think of many examples of lost liberty: the increasing obsolescence of warrants in surveillance, suspension of habeus corpus and indefinite holding of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, SB 1070 in Arizona, increasing hostility to, and tracking of foreign visitors, even those from "friendly" countries, the legalization and banality of torture in violation of the Geneva Convention, the use of secret prisons overseas by the CIA, the conditions under which Bradley Manning is being held (I don't oppose his incarceration in itself), the restriction of free speech to "zones" at protests, the privatization of prisons (leading to a financial incentive to incarcerate Americans, when we already have the highest rate of incarceration in the world, mostly for victimless crimes), and of course the whole TSA. By the way, they've started branching out to bus terminals and train stations too, and neither of those modes of transportation are typically flown into the sides of buildings at 500 miles an hour. Some of these losses of liberty aren't as

[hastka]

I need to say I agree 100% with the notion of them "winning" in regard to the "loss" of liberties. Even though the loss isn't complete, it's sure a daily reminder of inconvenience

I couldn't resist resisting resistence...

[gabrielhorse]

Are you familiar with the concepts of the benefits of social conflict? You know, give people something to group together to focus on and hate to avoid focusing their attention on ...other things? Like China? Or North Korea? Or who was born where? Or all these uprisings in smaller countries? Or what former commander & cheif and his henchman did what and how they did it

Re: I couldn't resist resisting resistence...

[zoocoyote]

Sounds about right...I suspect that things have always been like this since the dawn of our country, to some extent; one wonders if things are now getting markedly worse, or if we're simply becoming more aware of it as a society

[hastka]

Depends on whether you consider stamping license plates to be rewarding ;P

Remember, dogs are not naturally sexual creatures, unless corrupted by humans. But you should chop their balls off anyway, just to be sure.

Oh, also true of horses. Because you know, animals that can run away and/or pretty easily maim or kill you also are incapable of communicating consent. Sure they clearly communicate whether they want petting, food, outdoor breaks, etc. BUT NOT SEXUALITY, you pervert.

Atone immediately. Your progress will be monitored on numerous surveillance cameras.

Ahem. Quick unrelated rant there.