Life During Wartime

Something about the times we're living through made me remember a scene from one of my favorite Alan Furst novels, The World At Night: In June of 1940, Parisian film producer Jean Casson finds himself remobilized into the army, part of a cinematography unit documenting what ends up as a massive defeat, and on the road walking back to Paris, in that order.

As Casson watched, the country died. He saw a granary looted, a farmhouse burned by men in a truck, a crowd of prisoners in gray behind barbed wire.

One night, he bumps into an old man, drinking something yellow out of a bottle, which he shares around a campfire with Casson. They talk, obliquely, about the coming occupation.

“We’ll all live deep down, now,” the sculptor said, throwing a stick of wood on the fire. “Twenty ways to prepare a crayfish. Or, you know, chess. Sanskrit poetry. It will hurt like hell, sonny, you’ll see.”

Casson has spent his life in the milieu of exclusive, wealthy Parisian society -- not quite Ancien Regime, old-monied nobility, but right next door. He found a niche in film production, made some money at it; but, assigning motive and direction to characters in a script was much simpler than determining where ethical, even moral, boundaries are in his own life.

Casson's story is where he draws those lines, and to what or whom he owes his allegiances. Furst is very good at presenting his character's search, warts and all.


Alan Furst

I admire Furst's writing, and enjoyed World At Night -- and a sequel, Red Gold -- among his ten novels of living in a Europe during the mid-thirties, and espionage, on into the Second World War. I recommend his work without reservation; it's good (You can see an interview with Furst here, talking about his 2008 release, The Spies Of Warsaw).

And, I only have one Alan Furst story: In 2006, with the release of his then-newest novel, The Foreign Correspondent, Furst was scheduled to do make a brief appearance at Stacey's Bookstore, an institution on Market Street since the 1930's; it closed in 2008, a victim of The Crash.

He appeared on the second floor at the back, with windows overlooking the street and a perspective that reminded me of a narrow Gustave Callibote painting of a Paris street seen from a second-floor balcony (the trunk of a tree; a circular iron grate around its base; a glimpse of a pedestrian).

There were thirty or so people there, at one o'clock in the afternoon on a workday in midweek. Furst seemed slightly preoccupied, but read the opening segment of his book easily in a warm contralto. When it was over Furst answered questions, then signed copies of the book.

Stepping up, I mentioned to Furst that I'd particularly enjoyed The World At Night, and the sequel, and particularly like the Jean Casson character; would he make any other appearances in another book?

Furst took my copy of Foreign Correspondent and looked at me as if stung. "No!" he said, with emphasis. "I had a bad relationship with my publisher at the time, and was locked into a contract. They 'suggested' to me that I write a sequel with Casson in it, and that's why I wrote Red Gold, under protest. It wasn't a happy experience for me."

I was surprised at his response, but added quickly that even so, it was a good read; I'd enjoyed it. Furst, who had bent down over a table to sign my copy of his newest, remained in that position and turned his head to look up at me.

"Thank you; that's very kind," he said quietly, then turned his head back to my copy of the book, and signed it.

Ever since then, when I've wanted to say Hey, pal; know what? You're an idiot to someone without being so blunt, I use that line -- a soft emphasis on the word 'kind', which indicates the comment is anything but sincere, and an assumption that the listener is too ignorant to comprehend the subtlety of the insult -- or, not; in which case my point is made, anyway.

But, fortunately or unfortunately, I don't have to spend time with Furst; I just buy and read his books. He's a good, even gifted, writer; his evocation of Europe on the edge of the abyss of nazi domination and occupation, and of people who resisted it, is brilliant.

Here's a tip: You can find good, used copies in hardback or paperback of any of Furst's work, some even signed if that's your thing, by ordering them through Alibris.com, or ABEbooks.

These bookselling services list inventory held by secondhand booksellers, who were having a hard time competing with McBorders or Burned & Ignoble even before the economy tanked. Want to buy books? Use either or both of these services. You'll wait a few days -- it won't be instant gratification -- but it's worth it.

Of course, Alan won't receive a dime from these sales -- but the secondhand booksellers of America will; I'm really fine with that. And, isn't that gesture, well... kind?

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Times Are Good Again

(Screencapture: New York Times Online, January 25, 2010)

Times are good again for the BSD's of the financial world, the 'Masters Of The Universe', as reported by the New York Times' fashion section in a little article entitled, "Ready To Spend, But Not To Boast".

I liked the part where the NYT observed that the chief executives of the nation’s four largest banks took a drubbing in hearings from Congressional leaders. They "took a drubbing"? Please.

The four people who appeared in front of the Congressional Inquiry weren't that uncomfortable. It was Kabuki theatre for the Banksters, as much as it was for the politicians ("Shocked! I'm shocked to discover there is gambling going on in here!").

And, there was that special moment when one banker's wife (who did not wish to be named), noted

Of bonus critics [the wife observed that] executives like her husband work hard and are unjustly singled out as greedy. “Everybody wants someone to blame,” she said, “and rich people are an easy target.”

Everybody wants someone to blame -- gee, it almost sounds as if she considers the collapse of the American financial system and our economy as a crime so complicated that there's no way to determine who committed it. How could it be anyone's fault, really? Certainly not the people working in the financial industry.

And, hey -- what did you think about the Bankster, who just bought a $4.9 Million-dollar home in Vermont nearly out of the jaws forclosure, and hasn't told his extended family about his Big Purchase, or his Big Bonus this year... because "he's afraid they'll ask him for money"!!

Wow; I'm left breathless, man. This dude isn't only Greedy; he doesn't want to suffer the shame of being revealed as selfish, a mean-spirited bastard, and ready to ignore his own family's trouble! Classic. That's the spirit of Darwinian competition that makes the difference between ordinary men and Masters Of The Friggin' Universe, Baby!!

It's what's making America GREAT! Isn't it?

And, the real 'easy targets' the Bankster's wife mentioned for these little social tumbles aren't the wealthy. It's people further down on the economic ladder -- who lose their minimum-wage jobs, and the benefits of social programs (meaning, health care, food, shelter), cut because the economy collapsed, because the BSDs and Masters Of The Universe weren't satisfied selling securities backed with air (the dot-com 'Bubble' of 1995-2001); so they sold securities backed by real property but massively encumbered by risk (the 'Housing Bubble' of 1999-2007).

The Big Boys wanted more. And now, after a scary little blip on their radar -- well, times are good again. They can get back to the 'business of living'.

And, in These Times, that's so comforting to know.

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When They Rise So High, Or Are So Wide, No One Can Shoot Them Down

Lard Boy At The White House, 2008

I don't think it's possible to be Caucasian and raised in some denomination of christianity, here or in Europe, without passively absorbing both racism and anti-semitism. If you're counted among that number, these things are contained in the images around you, in casual comments of family. You learn that other races and religions are, well, other. Not us; therefore not equal. Strange. Excluded.

And you accept these images, and words from trusted people around you, because that's what children do. They become a part of you, normal and natural, whether you recognize they're a set of unchallenged assumptions about the world or not.

Once you do figure out that they're part of your makeup, I don't suggest becoming overly sensitive and and present a knee-jerk guilt about historical racism or anti-semitism, or gay-bashing, or misogyny, or whatever. The best you can do is be aware of your own issues and don't be an idiot any more -- though I do feel it's a responsibility to call others who toss out even a casual remark that denigrates another race, or gender, or religion, or sexual choice, on their behavior. It's bullshit, and needs to be labeled as such the moment it appears.

(I wouldn't use it as an excuse to be morally self-righteous, however. You're in the same boat, except you're aware and trying to behave differently -- so acting as if you're superior you're won't wash.)

With all that as background, I offer this, from MediaMatters.org, in a slightly abbreviated form:

*****

From the January 20 broadcast of Premiere Radio Networks' The Rush Limbaugh Show:

LIMBAUGH: If you have often wondered just out of, you know, a legitimately curious political sense -- if you have asked yourself why are so many Jewish people, liberal, what when it seemed so much of what liberals do would be anathema to Jewish people, particularly abortion, but any number of things -- taxes, tax increase. Look it -- you know something, folks?

There are a lot of people, when you say banker, people think Jewish. People who have prejudice, people who have, you know -- what's the best way to say -- a little prejudice about them. To some people, bankers -- code word for Jewish -- and guess who Obama's assaulting? He's assaulting bankers. He's assaulting money people. And a lot of those people on Wall Street are Jewish. So I wonder if there's starting to be some buyer's remorse there.



Anyway, if you've -- if you have often asked that question, if you've been puzzled by so many Jewish people vote liberal or vote Democrat, you -- give Norman's book a shot. It's called, Why Jews are Liberals. He's Jewish and he would know. And it's -- look, it's a good read. And Norman [Podhoretz] is a -- there's no other way to say it -- he's a profound intellectual but he's not an egghead elitist. And he's written this book with an effort to have anybody that reads it understand exactly what he is talking about.

****

In short, what Limbaugh is saying is (1) The stereotypical view of Jew = Money / Banking is accurate and correct; otherwise, his statements wouldn't mean anything; and (2) Jews in America are frequently liberals, and since Jews are "money people", perhaps they are suffering "buyer's remorse" for supporting Obama -- since Jews are liberals? And Bankers? And Obama is attacking Bankers? Meaning, Jews?

Yeah; you got it.

Abraham Foxman, Chairman of the Anti-Defamation League (which has been very reluctant to criticize right-wing commentators), also got it, and did comment on Limbaugh's remarks on January 21st, calling them "a new low", and "borderline anti-semitic".


Foxman, Left, With Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel and Director
Of The Yad Vashem Memorial In Jerusalem, Avner Shalev

While the age-old stereotype about Jews and money has a long and sordid history, it also remains one of the main pillars of anti-Semitism and is widely accepted by many Americans... His notion that Jews vote based on their religion, rather than on their interests as Americans, plays into the hands of anti-Semitic conspiracy theorists.

However, Lard Boy wouldn't apologize. On his January 22nd program, he responded (again, via MediaMatters):

LIMBAUGH: ... I was referring to Jew-haters, and Mr. Foxman, this is what's been omitted from what you read that I said. I was alluding to what you know exists. You know that there are Jew-haters out there and I know there are Jew-haters out there and many of them are in the Obama administration or in his circle of friends.

And Mr. Foxman, if you really want to go after anti-Semitism, you should first start looking at it on the left and within the Obama administration and within his circle of friends because that's where you're going to find it. You're not going to find anti-Semitism on this radio show. You're going to find nothing but love and respect and admiration for the Jewish people and an unwavering support for Israel. That has not ever shaken. I was referring to the Jew-haters, the bigots. Twice I referred to prejudiced people.

My favorite part is where Limbaugh -- a white, male, Anglo-Saxon Protestant, lectures the head of the Jewish Anti-Defamation League about anti-semitism. And, historically, relations between the African-American and Jewish communities in the U.S. haven't been the best... so I'll just say it: Is Limbaugh suggesting that the Obama administration and the President's "circle of friends" are filled with anti-semitic blacks -- and that Jews (who he already suggests are liberals, with money) should stop supporting the President?

Then -- and I almost don't believe it -- Limbaugh went one step further: He used the "Some Of My Best Friends Are" defense; a classic:

I have to tell you, folks, one of my closest friends is Mark Levin. Everybody knows this. Mark Levin is Jewish. Mark Levin is disgusted with Abraham Foxman. What I've come to learn through this episode is how many Jewish people are disgusted with Abraham Foxman and have been for many years.

Shorter Rush: I can't be anti-semitic; I have a close friend who's one of them! And he doesn't like this other Jewish guy who criticized what I said -- so I have to be right!


Obligatory Cute Animal Photo For Comic Relief
(Somebody Named Mystic_Calipso Is Responsible)

*****

All this engendered a flurry of blog posting by even more politically conservative Jews than Foxman himself is, defending The Blimp's remarks and claiming the ADL Chairman was irrelevant and 'fetid', and how dare he criticize someone who is such a great friend to Israel as The Lard Boy.

And, strangely, a visit to ADL's website has a link to Foxman's statement criticizing Limbaugh on its home page ("Limbaugh Reaches Low With Remarks About Jews"). But, when you follow it, there's nothing but an HTTP/1.1 500 Server Error message. Perhaps Lard Boy can silence the ADL Chairman, just as he is able to force apologies from Republicans who publicly criticize him.


(Image: A Town Called Dobson © 2007)

I don't know about you, but I'm tired of some people claiming that racial, gender, sexual, or religious differences are so completely essential. It's clear that in a combat situation, fighting a forest fire, or dealing with a gunshot victim in an ER, nobody gives two hoots about that crap. If anyone can look at photographs of people in Haiti -- traumatized, starving, grieving, hurt -- and think ahh, they're black, then they have long way to go to join the human race.

The world is about to begin facing some very basic, hard choices about survival and quality of life -- and we can divide off into national, or racial, or tribal, or economic class groups. We can fight each other for food and energy and water and technology. Or, we recognize that compared with that probable future, our differences are trivial -- and emphasizing them is only a method of dividing people, manipulating us against each other, when we most need to be united and compassionate.

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And, while I believe the term 'nazi' is very specific, and isn't just another verb to casually toss around, WNNX Radio in Atlanta, GA once broadcast a little tune they'd put together, splicing Blimpy's own words, and used as the audio portion of this video which Lard Boy has tried hard to suppress.

Limbaugh is a monumentally bigoted individual. It wouldn't matter -- except, he has a gigantic soapbox from which to broadcast a nearly unending river of vomit. He's shown he has serious influence in the Republican party, and with the American Right -- not because he's respected for wise and truthful counsel, or presenting practical solutions to the issues we face.



It's because he runs a daily radio show which taps, not into hopes and dreams, but encites anger, even hatred. He vomits over the air; his listeners lap it up and vomit it back when they call in. And, manipulating people's anger with half-truths is a cherished tactic of the Right (only they call it 'tapping into popular discontent'). So long as it elects GOP candidates, they're just fine with it.

Limbaugh appears to be untouchable. He can ridicule the sick, or children born with brain damage, and toss out a racial slur or two when he feels in the mood (that "Barack, The Magic Negro" clip wasn't racist?). He can abuse drugs... and nothing happens; this sack of shit is still on the air!. And, whether he understands it or not, when he starts going down a well-worn anti-semitic trail, no one should sit and be privately outraged.

And; WNNX called him a nazi? Yeah; for this? I'm fine with it.

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UPDATE: The Onion, in it's usual gerkin-in-cheek style, has an Op-Ed piece written by Das Blimpy:

The irony is that, even if I did die, the hell I would surely be sent to could not possibly be any worse than the bottomless pool of excrement I already paddle around in like some demented, shit-covered walrus. In fact, every time I hear my voice coming through the headphones I nearly gag, and I think, "What the fuck am I doing?" Why would I say that Michael J. Fox is faking his Parkinson's symptoms? Why would I find it funny to play a song called "Barack the Magic Negro"? Why would I tell people not to give aid to Haiti?

Why, indeed?

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I See Donka Ufman© -- All The Time

Coming soon to this space: More Donka Ufman.

All will be explained. Well, not all; I mean, we're not going to tell you if the 'Matrix' is real, or who killed JFK, or whether a big Rock™ is going to hit the Earth anytime soon.

But Donka Ufman? Ha ha; wait for it.

Dream Come True

The President, Glancing In A Mirror At The White House
(Photo: Talking Points Memo, "Obama's First Year")

Well, as Donka Ufman© would say, this is a rant n' rave™ that's going to be long. But, don't worry! I'll put in pictures of cute animals. Think of them as load-bearing walls in the Winchester Mystery House that is this blog.

So, let's see: President Obama decided that, in his first year of office, he would

--> Continue the Bush-Cheney Policies on Executive Privilege and National Security programs which allow spying on Americans' communications, and blatant violations of Due Process and protections against Unreasonable Searches and Seizures -- frightening legal precedents that undermine basic constitutional principles;

--> Allow to be placed in appointed positions, in the SEC and Federal banking system, former or current executives from Wall Street investment firms (principally, Goldman-Sachs) where they are in positions to affect national policy and legislation that could directly benefit those 'former' employers (this is commonly called "conflict of interest");


This Little Guy Doesn't Want To Live Under Sharia Law.

--> Expand the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan and, insofar as we're able the northeastern provinces of Pakistan to seek out and destroy Taliban and Al Qaeda leadership and infrastructure (this, I absolutely agree with -- it should have been done years ago... so, about damn time);

--> While overseeing a massive, taxpayer-funded bailout of banks and investment firms (all so interconnected that if you paid money to one it ended up with another -- for example, a third of the bailout funds paid to AIG actually went to Citibank and another large percentage to Goldman-Sachs), Obama made the assumption that the money would allow banks to begin lending again, thus fueling a recovery by creating production, demand, and jobs for the millions who badly need them.

Instead, the banks and investment firms took the Federal bailout money -- that would be yours, and mine -- and rather than lend more to small businesses, restricted their loans... and then paid out hundreds of billions in bonuses to its executives (and some to a few staff employees, too).


This Little Kitty Is Goldman-Sachs' New Advertising Mascot --
You Know, Like The Aflac Duck, or the Merril-Lynch Lion.

--> At The Same Time, the banks were slow to renegotiate the terms of many toxic mortgage loans (when they did at all), and Federal programs to assist homeowners with mortgage issues seemed designed more to help the banks holding the mortgages, rather than homeowners;

--> Finally, Obama, as head of the Democratic Party, gambled all its political capital with the public that had voted, hopefully, for Obama in 2008, on a single throw -- Health Care reform legislation. That may now have gone into the toilet.


This Cute Puppy Is Non-Denominational.

As a result, in a future not all that long from now, the period of mid-2006 to early 2009 may be seen as an aberration, a break in the Thug dominance of the country. We may be headed towards a Dream Come True for the wealthy and the social conservatives, who don't really care if a Christian Hitler clone or an Avocado is made President (please note: I didn't say elected).

We may move closer to the kind of nation Lil' Boots was beginning to rule when he was brushed off: Where the Middle Class is made poorer, year after year; where the upper 2 to 5 per cent of the American population is made richer; where politics is dominated by a single party so completely that most national policy is about allowing the Free Market to do whatever it wants...


Daily Purchase Of These Plush Mini-Toys Will Be Mandatory.

Leaving us with a small group of Owners with money, access and influence; and a group of social Xtian Thugs allowed to enact whatever laws or regulation they want on the country -- so long as they don't really challenge the Owners. And then there's the rest of us, serving both of these groups or their interests, one way or another -- because we won't have any choice.

And for all this, I'm pissed off.

UPDATE: Over at TPM (a site I go to daily, just to note what new Thang is happening in American politics), a former Republican Congressional staffer emailed the site's owner, Josh Marshall, with some observations about What's Up With Obama and the Dems.


Our Fiscal Problems Have Forced Us To Rely On New Forms Of
National Defense That We Can Afford. China Is Pleased.

Ask yourself, is it easier to pass a difficult, complex legislative agenda when the country is under stress if the opposition party is seen as the Party of Bush, or if the opposition party is able to begin redefining itself as the party of populism, or of un-Washingtonism, or of fiscal restraint? Give the opposition party a fresh start, for free, and you've bought yourself all manner of trouble. That's really the only transformative development Obama has presided over so far.

A fairly trenchant and cogent analysis, as they say; worth the read.

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