ADAM CURTIS: THE CURSE OF TINA The guiding idea at the heart of today’s political system is freedom of choice. The belief that if you apply the ideals of the free market to all sorts of areas in society, people will be liberated from the dead hand of government. The wants and desires of individuals then become the primary motor of society. But this has led to a very peculiar paradox. In politics today we have no choice at all. Quite simply There Is No Alternative.
Mirror, Mirror on the Wall
And I turned to one of my editors — First I said, “Oh, my God.” And he said, “What?” And I said, “You’ve got to see this picture of Bush. This is really stunning.” And I flipped it over to him to process and his first reaction was, “Wow.” And I said, “If he wasn’t just back there behind that door crying, I don’t know what that look on his face is.” Because he just looks absolutely devastated as he comes through this door after essentially ending his eight year presidency. And it’s just really striking. He just looks absolutely devastated.
‘Outwitted’ Obama has Israel just where he wants it
However, if there’s one thing to understand about Obama, it is his indifference to the kind of tactical coup that Netanyahu has pulled off. He is Mr Spock to Netanyahu’s Captain Kirk.
Fox News is now running this as a lead-in story across the US and it is being used by right-wing bloggers as a timely anti-environmentalist talking point.
…yikes.
I’m going cold turkey off American news for a while. It’s gone from entertaining to painfully agitating in just a week. I feel like certain yank contingents have finally gone full retard and I nearly punch my computer whenever I hear the term “death panels”.
But Ottawa alone will not meet my junkie needs, so, any suggestions?
ZIZEK on the IRAN - ITALY connection
What all this means is that there is a genuinely liberatory potential in Islam: we don’t have to go back to the tenth century to find a ‘good’ Islam, we have it right here, in front of us. The future is uncertain – the popular explosion has been contained, and the regime will regain ground. However, it will no longer be seen the same way: it will be just one more corrupt authoritarian government. Ayatollah Khamenei will lose whatever remained of his status as a principled spiritual leader elevated above the fray and appear as what he is – one opportunistic politician among many. But whatever the outcome, it is vital to keep in mind that we have witnessed a great emancipatory event which doesn’t fit within the frame of a struggle between pro-Western liberals and anti-Western fundamentalists. If we don’t see this, if as a consequence of our cynical pragmatism, we have lost the capacity to recognise the promise of emancipation, we in the West will have entered a post-democratic era, ready for our own Ahmadinejads. Italians already know his name: Berlusconi. Others are waiting in line.
In African countries where leaders have unrestricted power, it takes more than voting to bring about change.
Here is the catch: Crooked elections have no effect. In most African countries the frequency of contested elections has increased, but this does not help if they are not properly conducted. Robert Mugabe’s stealing of the Zimbabwean election last year is an extreme instance, but not an isolated one.
Obama just arrived in Saudi Arabia. Hmm. I kind of feel like he’s biting my style.
G20 round-up.
The Times London: Protestors storm Royal Bank of Scotland
A computer monitor taken from the Royal Bank of Scotland is hurled through a window during G20 disturbances in the City of London, the financial hub of the capital.
Gawker: America is losing the class war war!
This is the level of commitment that turns street protests from boring retreads of laughable kids playing anarchist and chanting “Si se puede!” into truly entertaining affairs. They have jeering bankers hurling money out windows and tomato-slinging angry unemployed workers stealing armored cars; we have AIG employees scared to wear logo-ed golf shirts, and NYU food court revolutionaries demanding the right to a vegan lunch.
Guardian: Welcome to the multi-polar world
It’s not here yet, but the direction is clear. President Obama will discover this week that as much as he is loved and respected around the world, he can’t reverse the declining influence of Washington that his predecessor clumsily accelerated.
Economist: China takes centre stage
Now, with the West in economic disarray, China’s leaders see an opportunity if not to supplant American power, at least to start wielding a bit more of the clout that they feel they deserve given recent, rapid economic growth and the country’s importance to a global recovery.
1992 US Presidential Debates = The 3 American political brands during a recession.
Ross Perot = Americans have been brainwashed by fear and advertising.
Bill Clinton = Hope, change, hope, change, hope, change.
Bush = Nuclear war. Misery. Fear. Experience.
Gaza: citizen journalism round-up
Reactions to Israel’s five-day bombing campaign in Gaza have been posted all over the web, with some arguing that these firsthand witness accounts and real-time citizen journalism are more interesting than some of the mainstream media coverage. Below is a selection of online content we have come across. Do share your own picks of blogs and sites that are covering the conflict in the comments thread.
PALESTINE
After a fourth day of Israeli attacks and Palestinian casualty figures rising to more than 370, there came the first signs of diplomatic activity getting under way as the EU discussed a call for a “humanitarian pause” that would require a ceasefire and the cooperation of both sides.
