> This is an election that
> has been framed along the
> lines of ñ elect this guy
> or you'll die. Don't,
> don't vote for the wrong
> guy. Or you'll be dead.

Isn't it the Ddemocrat Puff Daddy who's giving us all those attractive, nuanced, "Vote or Die!" t-shirts?

Nobody said the Democrats were geniuses. In fact, they seem a lot less crafty, in terms of getting their message out, and (over)simplifying it the way the Republicans do. I loathe most of the people on both sides. They're sleazy sell-outs for the most part, and we need to get rid of the damn electoral college and elect people by popular vote, in a way where all who are eligible to vote can, and all votes are counted.

Dear LYT: Yes he's still alive (or convincingly faked. But still this is not about personalities, it's a about civilization. And no matter how tidy his turban looks on TV, he's not a world leader.

What does whether he's a world leader have to do with anything? He's the mastermind of a mass-murder, and needs to be brought to justice to pay for his crime. Whether or not Al Qaeda continues without him is immaterial to that.

I'm amazed that many conservatives who preach responsibility and consequences seem not to care on that score.

As for oversimplification of messages: Alas, necessary. Working in customer service, I learned that you have to spoonfeed information as simply as possible to people if it's not something they think about on a daily basis.

As for P. Diddy: Do we know for sure he's a Democrat? That would be my guess too, but I haven't seen him declare anywhere.

> He's the mastermind of a
> mass-murder, and needs to
> be brought to justice to pay

Agreed. But it's not like he hasn't faced "consequences."

> for his crime. Whether or
> not Al Qaeda continues without
> him is immaterial to that.

I stongly disagree. Given the choice between the present arrangement and a parallel world where OBL is in jail and Al Qaeda is still in motion, I'll take this world!

Where did you work customer service?

To say OBL is not a world leader is ostrich mentality. He is the voice and goal for millions of disenfranchised Arabs and Muslims. OBL is a world leader just as Coke and GM are world companies- no longer confined to borders or nationalities. He has armies capable of weilding great military power, is freely able to communicate with his people through mass medias, and continues to be able to generate great economic power.

I think this latest message was designed to show him in a light that is far more acceptable to the people of many nations, who find it increasingly hard to differentiate the mass murder of tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians by the Americans and British with the mass murder of 3,000 people on September 11.

PS- The television images we see here in America are far more sanitized than the true images of war most Arabs see on their televisions.

PPS- This is not an apologist rant for OBL, who needs to be exterminated asap. I just think to know your enemy and walk in his shoes is a far better strategy than merely lumping him into the "evil-doer" bin.

> OBL is a world leader just as
> Coke and GM are world companies.

The difference is that Coke and GM can move product. OBL is a brand without a franchise. Or as Steve Jobs used to put it, "Real artists ship!"

> He has armies capable of weilding
> great military power,

Precisely incorrect. He's militarily impotent. If you could find his "army" anywhere on the globe, they'd be vaporized by Daisy Cutters before dusk. And let's not forget that in their most devastating maneuver, their bloodiest moment came from slitting the throats of a few unsuspecting stewardesses in polyester miniskirts.

> is freely able to communicate with
> his people through mass medias,

Kicking out a convincing video every three years is not "freely communicating." Brian Linse speculates...

. http://www.grotto11.com/blog/

...that this isn't even new footage, that it's perhaps old tape with new "narration." Maybe his cell phones are safe, but maybe not. He's the most wanted man on Earth. The walls have ears.

> and continues to be able to generate
> great economic power.

Quite the opposite, his financial apparatus has been disassembled, and his political machinery is a shadow of its former self. If one WERE inclined to send him a check to support the cause, where would one mail it? That's an inherent problem for fundamentalist Islam: But for the sale of oil, it's UNABLE to generate wealth.

> PPS- This is not an apologist rant...

I don't doubt your sincerity at all, I just don't understand why people are ready to romanticize this little fuckwit. I've written earlier that I think it's a twisted expression of Rousseau's rap about the nobility of savages, or a Cold-war team-switch fantasy stretched too thin.

> I just think to know your enemy and
> walk in his shoes is a far better
> strategy than merely lumping him
> into the "evil-doer" bin.

I don't believe you. I mean I literally don't believe that's true, because it's not that difficult to walk in his shoes, to look at this guy's life and see him for the shitheel that he is.

His family money comes from midcentury construction in the Middle East, i.e., oil-through-the-side-door money, right? This photo (via Jarvis) shows Osama living it up back in the day:

. http://www.uni-muenster.de/PeaCon/global-texte/g-notes/osama71.htm

Eric, you and I are about the same age. It's impossible to look at that photograph, and the fashion indulgences therein, without thinking of the Partridge Family. (I have a gently colorized copy of the photo that makes it even more apparent... Osama's [flared] pants are almost certainly Late Pre-Disco velvet.)

What I'm saying is, this guy's life is not about the devout, sharia'd Little People from the 'hood. He, like almost all the hijackers, comes from a middle-class or above background. But the people in the photograph only LOOK like students. None of them was studying finance, or medicine, or law or anything practical. They remain dependent on the oil money. (Remember, Arafat is in Amy's PARIS for medical treatment, not Tripoli or Damascus or Riyadh or Baghdad or Amman.)

Wanna see an even better photo? Hurry, save it to disk before they take it down:

. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1595205.stm

See those boots on the left? I remember thighs like those from that very year. And I remember looking at them and thinking, "Adulthood is going to be very good!" But look at the scary space between OBL and his cupcake on the right, and his tortured avoidance of physical contact.

It was in these years and these contexts that you and I learned what a smiling hug from a girl was worth, and why you wouldn't want to pass it up, but also why you couldn't push it too far. OBL and his friends didn't get that, and those freaky preteen energies have blossomed into a love of burkas.

A society like ours, cautiously but unstoppably digesting an acceptance of gay marriage, should not, cannot, and will not make peace with such people. I'm sorry Osama is still alive. But at least we can have the dream of finding him some day, and dragging him out of a hole like Saddam.

Last point: Jarvis notes...

. http://www.buzzmachine.com/archives/2004_10_29.html#008310

... that Osama (or his narrator) seems to get his talking points from Michael Moore nowadays, instead of the Koran. Paglia was right: Whether by 1970's TV shows or 2004 agitprop cinema, Hollywood rules the global imagination.

For more fun thoughts about Arab & Islamic economics, see this:

http://www.iht.com/articles/2004/10/15/news/edhaqqani.html

And hurry, because the link rots soon. If it's too late, see halfway down this page:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/shobak_news/message/2103

If you're still reading, Crid...I worked customer service at Laemmle's Sunset 5 movie theater.

Crid, you still think in terms of the 20th century when we fought wars against countries like Germany and Japan. That OBL does not have standing armies lined up at a border makes him no less dangerous.

What is it with you and daisy cutters? For the last year or two you maintained OBL was vaporized by one, and now you say that is still the solution. Killing OBL will not destroy his network any more than killing Kennedy dismantled our government.

That OBL does not have a PAC or address does not mean his access to finances is dried up- again you apply our system to his. Do you think that money funneled to him through Islamic political and Muslim religious organizations stopped flowing? And even if the money does not reach him, it will flow freely to his followers. Indeed, you mention "but for the sale of oil..." At $50+/barrel, these countries and individuals that have supported OBL in the past are awash in cash. And finances are largely irrelevant in this war, since a pound of high explosives in a pair of shoes can bring down an airliner, cripple an industry, and cause innumerable breast searches.

Effective military power in the future may hinge more on a hypnotic charisma than on who has more aircraft carriers.

When I mention that we need to understand the motivation of OBL, I mean also the motivation of his followers. That he is a "shitheel" simplifies a complex character, much as saying Hitler, Stalin, or Pol Pot were "shitheels". I would consider OBL's actions savage, but I would not consider him "a savage", at least in the colonial sense of the word. That word was applied to individuals whom we did great injustice to (i.e Native American & Africans) to dehumanize them. Simple. Savage. Dead. Justified.

Your even bringing up the whole "Partridge Family" concept is beyond irrelevant- I wanted to be Jim Morrison way back when, and now I recognize he was a buffoon. Do you expect a child to recognize his/her adult identity? People can make quantum chages in their lives, as OBL clearly has from then. To discount this is dangerous, and not recognizing the threat from within facing the Western World.

One last thing- I heard Peggy Noonan last night parrot on about how Kerry was an opportunist for making any statements about this new tape. She also mentioned that Michael Moore was giving "aid and comfort" to the enemy by creating these talking points that OBL used.

This is a charade intended to distract the point away from the fact that the leadership of the network that was behind 911 is still intact, that Bush has failed to capture or kill OBL/Ayman Zawahiri, and the threat still very much exists.

> That OBL does not have
> standing armies...

Well, you just said he did.

> What is it with you
> and daisy cutters?

I love that tinkly sound they make!

> even if the money does not
> reach him, it will flow
> freely to his followers.

As our friend Jack used to say, "Wrong verb." Trickle, rather than "flow". And surrepitiously rather than "freely".

> And finances are largely irrelevant
> in this war ...

Then why did you mention them?

> ...the whole "Partridge Family" concept
> is beyond irrelevant...

It's important to remember that many of the forces at work here are hideously mundane. We need not fear exotic systems of belief, and shamanic voodoo priests from distant lands. Nor need we deploy....

> ...hypnotic charisma...

Tell you what. You go with "hypnotic charisma," and I'll go with three new carrier groups.

> and the threat still very much exists.

Glad you're still up for the fight. Vote accordingly.

Crid-

I never said he had "standing armies". I said he did not have standing armies. I said he wields great military power. By military power I mean the ability to subject a group of innocent people to enormous violence with a given political result. Think Manhattan, Dresden, London, Bagdad, Hiroshima, or Paris if you like. All effective graveyards...

If you disagree that 911 had a strong political consequence please respond. Or Bali. Or Spain....

I'll defer to you on the daisy cutter sounds, on purely selfish conciliatory grounds. OBL is alive and well, but we probably wiped out a million daisies at Tora Bora.

As our friend Jack might say, "there ain't no freakin trickle here! Just cuz you can't hear it don't mean the water under your feet ain't rushin past!" I called to fact check this, but Jack hasn't returned my calls, so you'll have to trust me. Neither you nor I has a clue here. I hope you are right, though I suspect you are not.

If you'll remember, Tet was a suprise to our arrogant sense of victory. (Yes, yes, some will say Tet was a military failure, but it was an astounding political success.)

You go with 3 carrier groups. I'll take the leader who can lead his people into a vision. In this game of risk, who knows who will win? But there was a quote a few years back in a movie or real life about Vietnam that went something like: How can an enemy who shoots arrows at a helicopter gunship hope to win? And the wisened reply was "How can you hope to defeat an enemy that will shoot arrows at a helicopter gunship?" I think it was James Cann or James Earl Jones, but my brain is cloudy.....

Now, please explain how these forces are "hideously mundane", keeping in mind I don't care a whit about their interior lives.

PS- Was it you or Volkay who talked about the woman who was the background vocalist on Dark Side of The Moon months back? Truly a masterpiece of vocal talent which I appreciate all the more now days. Didn't someone say she got $40 bucks or so?

PPS- And, as a lifetime registered Republican, my vote was cast two weeks ago for Kerry, a decorated war hero who has proven himself to both his comrades and himself. My vote was not cast for a wannabe who is running around trying to show he is a "war president" with eager abandon.

PPS- I looked up Laemmle's Sunset 5 in google and there was Nancy Rommelmann on the first click. Do you people all live together like in Friends?

Nancy Rommelman, sadly, has departed for Portland, where she reportedly lives like a grownup. Apparently, Susan Goldsmith is living up there, too. (Just heard that from Elana, Luke.) Sorry, Crid -- bit of a divergence for a moment. Luke lives in an international museum of action figures. Lena lives for the stage. And I live in what used to be a darling little house, but now looks like a fulfillment center for Amazon.com. Perhaps the boys in the daisy cutter need some reading material? What IS a daisy cutter, anyway?!

As for me, come Wednesday, I am going to go watch the whales and dolphins play not far from Nancy in Oregon, drink lots of wine, and try to detox all the politics from my system for a month or so. Hopefully we will have a president when I get back.

A daisy cutter is a bomb about the size of a small school bus that was designed to created huge landing areas for helicopters in the jungle.

PS- Portland is a very cool, progressive city. You should all visit if you get a chance.

> I said he wields great military power.

No. He "wields" in the sense that a snowskier with a leg broken in two places can still wiggle his toes. He's "military" in the sense that his people are capable of violence, but any soldier will tell you that there's more to the military than that. And he's "powerful" only in the sense that violence in particular contexts can cause disproportionate horror. You can slip onto an airliner, slit the throat of a stewardess, and take out an office building. But that doesn't demonstrate muscle, any more than it does when a child disrupts a family table by throwing his plate of food off his high chair. The vulnerability of the setting to such assaults is what makes a meal pleasant; and the child WILL be disciplined.

> Think Manhattan, Dresden, London, Bagdad,
> Hiroshima, or Paris if you like.
> All effective graveyards...

Turtleneck nihilism: 'Dark things happen in people's hearts, therefore no war has ever done anyone any good, and the richness and decency of our lives in late-20th/early-21st America is merely a function of our cuteness and sensitivity.' Do you suppose Amy (or Yassir) would enjoy their recent trips to Paris as much if there hadn't been that little war in the forties?

One problem with the Cold War for lefties was that we were obviously fighting the most BORING people on Earth. The Soviet Union produced nothing but grey-flannel technocracies, without even the dignity of grey-flannel suits. It became no fun to defend this alternative approach to civilization.

I think the left is now enchanted with the mysticism of this adversary, and inflating it's exotic, inscrutable nature whenever possible. 'Oh, these are foreign men, men with strange ways and crazy beards and different rituals. Their ancient cultures have strictures and contexts that we, in the isolation of our undignified wealth, know nothing of. And Osama? He's DANGEROUS! He's POWERFUL! He commands HOARDS of BROWN-SKINNED meanies! We can only defeat him by listening to Lennon's early solo work!'

> explain how these forces are
> "hideously mundane"

The culture Osama comes from, and perhaps aspires to foremost, is the one where the happy family takes fashion-shopping trips to Europe (see photo link above). Nobody who spent 1970 dressed like David Cassidy deserves to be regarded as a mystical sorcerer for the downtrodden and the pious.

> keeping in mind I don't care a
> whit about their interior lives.

Me neither. Imagine how pleased I was when he told me that the American election was in my hands. Thanks, Osama.

> I'll take the leader who can
> lead his people into a vision.

There are probably exceptions, though I haven't found one during this election, but lefties seem enchanted with the idea that the president is a leader (and look for "hypnotic charisma," etc). Sensible people regard a president as a SERVANT. That's why they call it public service. That's our miracle. We don't need people to tell us how to live or what to aspire to. (And if we did, it sure wouldn't be from Hillary.) Throughout American history, the people who've done best with government, within and without, are the ones who remember who's working for who.

> Sorry, Crid -- bit of a
> divergence for a moment.

Well, WHOSE BLOG is this anyw...

I like the dogutante look better. Also it's fun to type and read aloud: "Dogutante."

Lucy thanks you, but wishes you'd come to your senses.

Amy, your dog is --while indisputably decorous in her own theatrical, high-strung way-- a prissy liberal. Go ahead and deny it!

This morning Reynolds quotes Virginia Postrel quoting Andrew Sullivan:

"Voting is an expressive activity, but it need not be emotional. Andrew Sullivan's invocation of "The deep emotional bond so many of us formed with the president back then" does not apply to me. Bush leaves me cold and always has. I never wanted to hang out with him, so I don't take our policy differences personally. I never idolized his leadership, so I don't feel he's failed me. He gets my vote in part because I don't identify with him. He's just a hired hand, and he's better than the alternative."

And remember, she's TEXAN now. (She used to live on my block.)

Virgnia Postrel sounds like snotty little girl I beat the shit out of in the 6th grade. As much as I find Sullivan boring, an attitude like hers calls for a stilletto up the ass.

So, like, you're saying she touched a nerve. Care to say which?

I dig her. Paglia cites "Postrel's ever-growing reputation as one of the smartest women in America. For years, she has demonstrated her daunting gift for cutting-edge social and economic analysis as well as her admirable command of lean, lucid prose."

Yeah, she touched my "I hate snotty little girls" nerve. Paglia touches my "I hate dried-up turds on the street" nerve. I can't believe you like Paglia, Crid. She is such a windbag. You deserve better!

PS: I do think Postrel's work sounds interesting, even though still she badly needs a stilletto up her ass. Okay, maybe I'll compromise: A lubricated stilletto heel.

Your honor, move to strike as non-responsive....