Musings: Get the Picture

The thunder came again at about 3 a.m., accompanied, perhaps preceded, by lightning and followed by torrential rain. It made for a restless new moon night of trembling dogs that ended with a dawn walk beneath a sky that had white puff balls floating against a pearlescent background. As the sun rose, shards and shafts of rainbows appeared in the misty rain above the mountains, where Waialeale stood clear-topped, draped in a filmy shawl, and Makaleha was black-hooded, her face streaked with falls.

As the media frenzy over the reported death of Usama bin Laden continues unabated, my mind keeps playing that old Marvin Gaye song:

People say believe half of what you see,
Son, and none of what you hear.

It seemed especially fitting when I read an AP article that reported:

[Northern Illinois University psychologist Brad] Sagarin said most people will probably be convinced bin Laden is dead because they cannot imagine the government maintaining such an extraordinary lie to the contrary in this day and age.

Suckers! This is EXACTLY the kind of stuff the government thinks up, and has for years. And it’s easier than ever to perpetuate lies in “this day and age” of unquestioning media and hordes of sheeple who believe everything they see/hear on TV/Internet/radio.

But like I said yesterday, it doesn’t matter if he’s dead or alive, what matters is what people believe, and the incredible political hay that is now being reaped from it.

Consider this: We have a president who was sucking wind so badly that even idiots like Donald Trump thought they could beat him. Next thing you know, Obama reportedly issues the order to blow away bin Laden, and suddenly you have photos — issued by the White House and dutifully reprinted by media lapdogs — that proclaim him "on the cusp of history" as he deliberates the hit.

Meanwhile, John Brennan, the president's top counterterrorism adviser, is completing the varnishing by claiming his boss made “one of the most gutsiest [sic] calls of any president in recent memory" in an article that includes this very telling paragraph:

The revelation that intelligence gleaned from the CIA's so-called black sites helped kill bin Laden was seen as vindication for many intelligence officials who have been repeatedly investigated and criticized for their involvement in a program that involved the harshest interrogation methods in U.S. history.

"We got beat up for it, but those efforts led to this great day," said Marty Martin, a retired CIA officer who for years led the hunt for bin Laden.

Are you starting to get the picture now? It’s OK to use torture, black sites and secret renditions if you get your guy! And so what if Congress has appropriated $1.3 trillion on wars, extra security measures and veterans' healthcare since 9/11? It’s all worth it if you get your guy!

But vigilance, of course, never sleeps, so pungle up another trill, give up some more of your rights and screw the rule of law. We’re America. We’re not bound by that shit.

While we’re on the topic of the feds and the rule of law, it seems the Obama Administration, after initially saying it was gonna take a hands off approach to how the states handled medical marijuana, is now sending threatening letters that warn even state employees could be subject to prosecution for their role in marijuana regulation.

The letters have had a chilling affect on several states preparing to implement medical marijuana laws, and this stance points to yet another area where Obama, who has proven to be such a disappointment to progressives, has backpedaled.

Meanwhile, a group of citizens is hoping that KIUC directors will backpedal on their plan to develop hydro with Free Flow Power using the FERC process, which gives the feds power over local water uses.

Yesterday, they delivered a petition with the signatures of some 300 coop members that asks the Board to reconsider its contract with FFP and bring the issue to a vote of the membership. Now the KIUC attorney is asking for the original signatures, even though KIUC by-laws do not specify that original signatures must be submitted. The request poses a problem, since many of the signatures were collected electronically, and raises the question of whether KIUC can legitimately request them.

Isn’t it great to know our cooperative is so cooperative?