The Downward Spiral

Billmon's latest, is, as usual, worth a good read--or two--and in conjunction with these articles from Atrios and Kos, they not only are things you've probably seen, but reflect a pretty disturbing trend--sort of a global fallout from political wingnuttery of the Rovian variety.

Whiskey Bar offers the ultimate sneak peak, commenting on the latest from Studio Abu Ghraib, and examining the possible ramifications should the movies EVER make the light of day:

But surely Gen. Myers understands that while shots of helpless little boys being anally raped don't exactly meet local community standards (either here or in Iraq) the Freedom of Information Act doesn't have an obscenity exemption. Or a stupidity exemption, which would have left Myers, not to mention his boss, completely in the clear.

In other words, GSAVE might be off the table as far as GW is concerned, but unless the videos get flushed down the memory hole, we're unlikely to hear much more about Saddam's "rape rooms."

There are good reasons, both for and against general release of what amounts to shocking, disgusting material--arguing against, it's highly likely the Iraqi variety of wingnut WILL go batshit insane and seek to exact revenge (Billmon compares and contrasts with our wingnuts who insisted that Fallujah be razed following the brutal attack on the private contractors in March of 2004). The people who would bear the brunt of such a reaction would, once again, be soldiers simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

However, in the end, he argues for openness, despite the risks, because, if nothing else, it might force us to come to grips with the reality of the occupation (emphasis on "might," given that the original images have largely faded from public consciousness)--he cites the release of Srebrenica footage by way of comparison--AND the uncomfortable fact that if these get pushed under the rug, what's to prevent even WORSE abuses in the future?

Like, say, shooting someone in cold blood? As the facts of the Jean de Menezes case GRADUALLY come to light (which in itself is almost certainly by design, the hope being that the initial, sensationalist claims will be remembered, while the reality is forgotten--lost in the swirl of headlines), it's becoming clear that this was badly botched from the get-go. Menezes was NOT wearing a heavy jacket, he did NOT jump the turnstile--he PAID--evidently he'd been attacked by white British youth just a couple of weeks before he was attacked by the cops, who didn't exactly show any restraint, but coldly put seven bullets in his head.

So sorry...carry on.

Oh...one other thing. In a VERY convenient coincidence, Closed Circuit Television footage, otherwise ubiquitous throughout London, particularly the Underground, somehow was on the fritz at the station in question. Gee--imagine that.

Finally, while maybe not as horrific as the cases noted above, the Rove-worshipping minions of wingnuttia managed to pull off a twofer in Crawford--in the absence of any SwiftBoatable evidence to truly attack Cindy Sheehan, they've decided to hoot and holler about Ms. Sheehan's personal life and/or family...and at least one wingnut decided he wanted to spit on a memorial to the fallen...ok, he didn't actually spit--instead, he went after the memorial with his hillbilly chariot.

Welcome to political spin, 21st century--I guess that's what Shrubleroy meant when he said he wanted to "raise the tone."