It is now popular, fashionable and politically calculated for a lot of men, mostly from the Bush-Cheney administration, to come out and claim that they had spied on their own citizens and residents, or had lied to them, without any "real knowledge, power, authority and co-operation". They are all victims now! Who wants to believe this...except maybe the New York Times that loves to help such men re-invent themselves?
Remember Eliot Spitzer, whose only crime, I agree, was gallivanting with prostitutes. But did this man not politically run on a campaign of cleaning up the very people he was diddling on the side? Now he has a second career as a CNN commentator - a respectable job with a great pay and perks. Some of us women, or people of color, with great qualifications do not get even a first chance...let alone such a well supported second chance, a second career and a great second check! It is truly amazing how far White men can go, how much support and sympathy they receive, even when they lie to their own people...and/or spy on their own citizens and legal residents!
I agree diddling prostitutes is much less an economic or a political crime, especially in a democracy, than spying on your own citizens and legal residents.
Where does this place Thomas Drake: a National Security Agency (NSA) worker who has now admitted to espionage, and has revealed information on NSA’s overspending and failure to properly store its large domestic spy data? He faces a 35 year prison sentence. He is now claiming to be a whistleblower! The questions that are not being asked by our congenial-complying-conniving media are, "Are such men coming out of the woodwork because they are being flushed out? Or, are they coming out to reinvent themselves and deflect responsibility for what they did in secret - without much accountability or public scrutiny?
When lot of the media presents men like Thomas Drake as whistleblowers who, according to them, require great admiration and sympathy, one wonders if the popular media is dumb...or just devious?
These men, after using their talent, qualifications and expertise to commit heinous acts of spying, surveillance and civil rights violations on their own citizens and legal residents, in the so-called "greatest democracy in the world", are now trying to cunningly claim innocence. Are they, as some would inquire, trying to avoid scrutiny and responsibility for their past activities? Are they being given the opportunity, and the special privilege, to re-invent themselves: now as victims...or innocent guys who-were-just-doing-their-job?
As one blogger noted, "There is no way an upstanding American, even with a clean uncontroversial boring personal and professional record, is ever going to succeed in the American political system without having his or her personal and private information cunningly used or distorted by secret institutions, or hidden operatives, so their political careers, even their professional reputations, can be directly or coyly sabotaged...because they challenge the big dicks and the big kahunas of the big powers!"
There are women, young people and people-of-color in this country who are saying to these men, like Thomas Drake, who violated the Constitutional rights of their own countrymen and legal immigrants, "Thanks for coming out and telling the truth...But you still deserve to go to prison arse----!"
One must also ask, "Can one trust a scorpion that is by nature a scorpion...or trained to be one for a very long time? Can one trust a person, an institution or a community that has continuously re-invented itself for its survival and success - many times with an Orwellian brilliance and cunning? Can one trust a vampire - that is intrinsically socialized or trained to suck the life-force of people, cultures and communities to survive and thrive? Can one trust a Frankenstein out of control - that intimidates, controls and destroys while also re-inventing itself every once-in-a-while? Can one trust a monster...no matter how pretty, attractive, seductive and apologetic?"
Think of numerous young men, some of them your sons, brothers, friends and peers, whose silly immature porn collections being conveniently and cunningly used twenty or thirty years later to sabotage their political careers? Think of women whose youthful dalliances, or personal sex lives and conversations - even innocuous ones, being used or distorted to manipulate their reputations or political careers - especially when they take on the big powers?
Think of liberals and progressives, or just social activists who speak honestly and boldly to power, already vilified and demonized in the mainstream media, constantly being targets of selective, skewed, distorted, and manipulated information that is secretively collected and cunningly collated? Think of the numerous covert methods by which information, sometimes selective, skewed and distorted, is used to sabotage or set-up people whose politics do not match the interests of the elites, or those who are powerful and distressed...or powerful and scared?
One wonders!
And when some hidden men, with secret power and unaccounted for authority, like Thomas Drake, who have conducted heinuous crimes against their own Constitution and the collective conscience of their good citizens and legal residents, come out of the dark or the woodworks to change their intent, their face, their status...one wonders!
Are these men, on the dark side, now trying to re-invent themselves - as victims?
All so strange...and all so frightening!
Remember Eliot Spitzer, whose only crime, I agree, was gallivanting with prostitutes. But did this man not politically run on a campaign of cleaning up the very people he was diddling on the side? Now he has a second career as a CNN commentator - a respectable job with a great pay and perks. Some of us women, or people of color, with great qualifications do not get even a first chance...let alone such a well supported second chance, a second career and a great second check! It is truly amazing how far White men can go, how much support and sympathy they receive, even when they lie to their own people...and/or spy on their own citizens and legal residents!
I agree diddling prostitutes is much less an economic or a political crime, especially in a democracy, than spying on your own citizens and legal residents.
Where does this place Thomas Drake: a National Security Agency (NSA) worker who has now admitted to espionage, and has revealed information on NSA’s overspending and failure to properly store its large domestic spy data? He faces a 35 year prison sentence. He is now claiming to be a whistleblower! The questions that are not being asked by our congenial-complying-conniving media are, "Are such men coming out of the woodwork because they are being flushed out? Or, are they coming out to reinvent themselves and deflect responsibility for what they did in secret - without much accountability or public scrutiny?
When lot of the media presents men like Thomas Drake as whistleblowers who, according to them, require great admiration and sympathy, one wonders if the popular media is dumb...or just devious?
These men, after using their talent, qualifications and expertise to commit heinous acts of spying, surveillance and civil rights violations on their own citizens and legal residents, in the so-called "greatest democracy in the world", are now trying to cunningly claim innocence. Are they, as some would inquire, trying to avoid scrutiny and responsibility for their past activities? Are they being given the opportunity, and the special privilege, to re-invent themselves: now as victims...or innocent guys who-were-just-doing-their-job?
As one blogger noted, "There is no way an upstanding American, even with a clean uncontroversial boring personal and professional record, is ever going to succeed in the American political system without having his or her personal and private information cunningly used or distorted by secret institutions, or hidden operatives, so their political careers, even their professional reputations, can be directly or coyly sabotaged...because they challenge the big dicks and the big kahunas of the big powers!"
There are women, young people and people-of-color in this country who are saying to these men, like Thomas Drake, who violated the Constitutional rights of their own countrymen and legal immigrants, "Thanks for coming out and telling the truth...But you still deserve to go to prison arse----!"
One must also ask, "Can one trust a scorpion that is by nature a scorpion...or trained to be one for a very long time? Can one trust a person, an institution or a community that has continuously re-invented itself for its survival and success - many times with an Orwellian brilliance and cunning? Can one trust a vampire - that is intrinsically socialized or trained to suck the life-force of people, cultures and communities to survive and thrive? Can one trust a Frankenstein out of control - that intimidates, controls and destroys while also re-inventing itself every once-in-a-while? Can one trust a monster...no matter how pretty, attractive, seductive and apologetic?"
Think of numerous young men, some of them your sons, brothers, friends and peers, whose silly immature porn collections being conveniently and cunningly used twenty or thirty years later to sabotage their political careers? Think of women whose youthful dalliances, or personal sex lives and conversations - even innocuous ones, being used or distorted to manipulate their reputations or political careers - especially when they take on the big powers?
Think of liberals and progressives, or just social activists who speak honestly and boldly to power, already vilified and demonized in the mainstream media, constantly being targets of selective, skewed, distorted, and manipulated information that is secretively collected and cunningly collated? Think of the numerous covert methods by which information, sometimes selective, skewed and distorted, is used to sabotage or set-up people whose politics do not match the interests of the elites, or those who are powerful and distressed...or powerful and scared?
One wonders!
And when some hidden men, with secret power and unaccounted for authority, like Thomas Drake, who have conducted heinuous crimes against their own Constitution and the collective conscience of their good citizens and legal residents, come out of the dark or the woodworks to change their intent, their face, their status...one wonders!
Are these men, on the dark side, now trying to re-invent themselves - as victims?
All so strange...and all so frightening!
Dear Dr.,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your bold writing! I am glad you took out the part on Kahn. I believe he is guilty of harassment...though one wonders about the timing - as you mentioned. What is strange is why a man with his reputation and money would bother harassing a hotel maid? Manhattan has a huge escort service that businessmen, wealthy men, well connected men and IMF delegates use...why go after some maid? That does sound fishy...unless the man is drunk, deranged or is devious enough to fall on the sword to avoid following up on his push and shove to deal with the Greek debt. I do believe Greece needs to pay its debt and merely borrowing and later burrowing responsibility is wrong. The US might end up doing something...$ 14 trillion is a lot of debt. US might go on a war with China to avoid this debt. This Kahn is a fool...but he is also being used and set up. Both are possible. You need to know that. Your sweet socialist - love everyone and give to everyone - is showing. Where do you teach again?
Thanks for taking out the part of Kahn! The timing, the issue...is all so fishy, I agree! There are plenty of prostitutes for hire that businessmen in hotels can easily order. Manhattan is great for visiting businessmen and rich men when it comes to prositutes...Think Eliot Spitzer. So, why go after a maid? The man is deranged, but that does not mean he is also not being set up. Your bleeding heart liberalism is showing. You women social worker want to save everyone...save yourself first! You guys are going to be run over.
ReplyDeleteThanks Dillon and Jake for responding. Keep reading, though you do not agree with me. I am not sure what I said that gives the impression that I am a Socialist or a Liberal or a Moderate or This-Or-That. I'd like to think that smart creative people, in the 21st century, can defy traditional labels and come up with more innovative social, economic and political theories for the future.
ReplyDeleteBut I agree that timing of many issues makes one wonder. My article is not about Kahn - which is a side issue, it is about men like Drake, who pretty much have disappeared in our mainstream media, who admit to terribly undemocratic acts like spying and survellience...and later claim innocence, victimhood and sympathy. How come you guys are not commenting on this? It seems these days men, more so than women, are obsessed with people's sexual life...
Good title. I never thought elite men, wealthy men, powerful men...can play the victim. I thought only women did that...and sometimes did it to their advantage. Real victims are easily forgotten. But why is the American media so obsessed about this...as is the European media? What are they trying to cover up by distracting people over another "sex scandal"? You know something else is going on when people in power cunningly throw something the press way to keep them preoccupied so they will not cover the importnat issues, some bigger matter, more insidious stuff and really really politically and economically dangerous revealations. You are so smart...you spotted two writers to your article who focussed on one paragraph that was a question...but never bothered to respond to other issues. Very shrewed!
ReplyDeleteWho is going to go after all those guys who have information on my masturbation, porn collection, library records and all my exes who want kill me or make up stories about my cruelty? And all my exes are in Texas!