Heroes and Villains

 Guest Post by Jim Kunstler

The poet W.B. Yeats was right in 1919 when he said the center cannot hold, as if, following the first great industrial slaughter of modern times, he discovered the lethal vacuum at the center of modernity itself. There was a lot to be nervous about after the First World War. And right away, of course, enter, stage-right, Adolf Hitler. We’re still trying to explain that cat to ourselves, and not just the Germans, either. Who cannot be awed by the appearance of genuine evil in the world?

Although, perhaps most remarkable in our time is not merely the presence of evil, but the eerie dearth of heroes, and by that I do not mean supernatural gym rats in spandex outfits swinging from the Frank Gehry condos on cords of spider silk. I mean living, breathing humans willing to engage with great and implacable forces. American sniper Chris Kyle was one of the rarees, and he was a strange case, really. Not just because of his alleged frailties, his tendency to play up his exploits, brag, maybe lie a little, but because he carried out his lethal deeds mostly at a remove — up there on the dusty rooftops of Fallujah, where he could reach out with his sniper-scope and swat human flies from a position of relative safety. Yet it is not hard to identify with his mission to kill “bad guys” — especially two years after his loopy martyrdom on a Texas gun range at the hands of a deranged fellow soldier driven mad on his own wartime mission.

The more interesting hero to me is Snowden. The purity of his name alone kind of says it all. The documentary movie about his brush with history, Citizen Four (by Laura Poitras, also a hero), is now showing on cable TV. It follows Snowden during the days of spring 2013 when he went rogue on the National Security Agency and revealed to the public the extent to which the American government was prying and worming its way into everybody’s electronic life — ignoring the pain-in-the-ass constitutional limits on such mischief, and setting the USA up to be a police state beyond the frontiers of anything George Orwell dreamed about in his darkest nights of the soul.

It is more than ironic that Snowden was also Mr. Ed, because if you take his comportment on film at face value, never was there such an exemplary and seemingly normal American young man. His heroism resided largely in his amazing composure under the strain of events. He spoke English clearly and calmly, and reacted to the weighty events he set in motion with startling equanimity. He appeared to know exactly what he was doing, and with quiet, unshakable moral commitment. And then he disappeared down the gullet of America’s modern times nemesis, Russia, where he continues to taunt with his very existence, the NSA gameboys, lizard-lawyers and puppet-masters who cordially invite him back home to face, ho-ho, our vaunted justice system. Of course any six-year-old understands that they would love to jam Snowden down some federal supermax memory hole as an example to any other waffling NSA code-jockey having second thoughts about reading your grandpa’s phone records.

And then, strangest of all to relate, there is Putin. Our guys are moving heaven and earth to jam him into a red-hot Satan suit but it’s not working. The pitchfork they want him to brandish looks strangely like a sword of justice. Even Americans of modest intelligence, when not locked into the Kardashian trance, can detect something false in all our official handwringing over Ukraine — the made-in-the-USA failed state now eating itself alive on Russia’s border. Before February 2014, Ukraine was just a struggling, marginal demi-nation still economically dependent on Russia, of which it had effectively been a province for centuries. Mr. Obama and his haircut-in-search-of-a-brain Secretary of State, Mr. Kerry, thought it would be a good idea to make Ukraine our client state instead. The couldn’t have botched the operation more completely. I have to say, Vlad Putin’s composure in the face of this perfidious idiocy is really something to behold, regardless of the roughness of the polity he rules. Our guys, in contrast, look like something less than sheer clueless rogues. They look like empty suits.

Note: JHK’s 2015 Forecast is available now at this link: Forecast 2015 — Life in the Breakdown Lane

The new World Made By Hand novel

!! Is now available !!

Kunstler skewers everything from kitsch to greed, prejudice, bloodshed, and brainwashing in this wily, funny, rip-roaring, and profoundly provocative page- turner, leaving no doubt that the prescriptive yet devilishly satiric A World Made by Hand series will continue.” — Booklist

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My local indie booksellers… Battenkill Books (Autographed by the Author) … or Northshire Books
or Amazon

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card802

I’d like to chalk up the populations supposed skepticism over the governments stance on Putin or Snowden as people are waking up or smelling something fishy.

I think most people just don’t give a damn. We have sports stars, music stars, movie stars, social media stars and a goddamn white dress with blue trim to occupy our time with.

robert h siddell jr
robert h siddell jr

Maybe Saddam, Gaddafi, Mubarak, Assad etc are villains but GW and Obama are at best jerks to have replaced them with ISIS.

Sensetti

Propaganda or Fact? What do you think?

A British man who went to fight with the Kurds against Islamic State has claimed the terror group fed a desperate mother a meal of meat and rice before revealing she had eaten her own son. Yasir Abdulla, 36, from Yorkshire said that the woman had appealed to IS to release her son when they tricked her.

Adbulla told The Sun the woman was offered a seat at IS headquarters, then given a drink along with cooked meat and rice. At first she thought they were being generous, but when she finished the meal they revealed the cooked meat was the flesh of her son, whom they had murdered earlier.

Mr Adbulla said: “I hate IS because of what happened to an old Kurdish woman from a nearby tribe. Her son was captured by IS fighters and taken as a prisoner to Mosul.

“She was determined to find her son and went to IS headquarters and asked to see him. The IS men told her to sit down because she had travelled a long way and said she should have some food before they took her to meet her son.

“They brought her cups of tea and fed her a meal of cooked meat, rice and soup. She thought they were kind.

“But they had killed him and chopped him up and after she finished the meal and asked to see her son they laughed and said, ‘You’ve just eaten him’.”

He added: “All the tribes are united against IS. They burn people alive, they chop off people’s heads, there is no limit to their depravity. They are not Muslims, they have hijacked Islam. All they do is hate.”

This is not the first report of horrific barbarism by the Islamic State, a group that have become famous for the gruesome treatment of their prisoners. In some cases they have beheaded them on camera, and in others they have burnt them alive.

The woman who ate her son has not been traced.

http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2015/03/02/islamic-state-fed-murdered-man-to-his-own-mother/

Sensetti

They have not found the unknowing cannibal. I call bullshit as well, next up, ground invasion, boots on da ground. Cry Havoc

flash
flash

, enter, stage-right, Adolf Hitler.

more bullshit. Hitler came for the left…Marxism ,fascism and socialism are all forms of collectivism..

Kunstler is a sneaky left-wing bitch…he only voted for Obama twice before he learnt better…sheesh.

llpoh
llpoh

Admin – it may well be bullshit. It sounds like it. But those sick fucks are committing some serious atrocities. Burning folks alive (US is pretty good at it too, but it uses drones, planes, and napalm), and beheading them with knives is not a long walk from the deed described above. The doing it up close and personal is what triggers the human emotional response.

Not to suggest the US should be involved in any way. But those fucks are sub-human.

Re napalm, I worked with a guy that flew many combat missions in Viet Nam. He was a truly nice man. At least seemingly. The nice man told me, gleefully, on more than one occasion, that his favorite thing to do in Viet Nam was to drop napalm. I can still recall his exact words: “It really fucked up their day”, referring to the Viet Cong, and anyone else in the area, I suppose.

It was extremely difficult to reconcile his love of burning Viet Cong with the nice family man I knew.

flash
flash

speaking of villainy ..Scientristy because ” the greater good”

http://www.voxday.blogspot.com/2015/03/vaccines-are-safe-and-effective.html

Vaccines are “safe” and “effective”
Because they are totally “tested”. By scientists doing science:

Merck, the pharmaceutical giant, is facing a slew of controversies over its Measles-Mumps-Rubella (MMR) vaccine following numerous allegations of wrongdoing from different parties in the medical field, including two former Merck scientists-turned-whistleblowers. A third whistleblower, this one a scientist at the Centers for Disease Control, also promises to bring Merck grief following his confession of misconduct involving the same MMR vaccine.

The controversies will find Merck defending itself and its vaccine in at least two federal court cases after a U.S. District judge earlier this month threw out Merck’s attempts at dismissal. Merck now faces federal charges of fraud from the whistleblowers, a vaccine competitor and doctors in New Jersey and New York. Merck could also need to defend itself in Congress: The staff of representative Bill Posey (R-Fla) — a longstanding critic of the CDC interested in an alleged link between vaccines and autism — is now reviewing some 1,000 documents that the CDC whistleblower turned over to them.

The first court case, United States v. Merck & Co., stems from claims by two former Merck scientists that Merck “fraudulently misled the government and omitted, concealed, and adulterated material information regarding the efficacy of its mumps vaccine in violation of the FCA [False Claims Act].”

According to the whistleblowers’ court documents, Merck’s misconduct was far-ranging: It “failed to disclose that its mumps vaccine was not as effective as Merck represented, (ii) used improper testing techniques, (iii) manipulated testing methodology, (iv) abandoned undesirable test results, (v) falsified test data, (vi) failed to adequately investigate and report the diminished efficacy of its mumps vaccine, (vii) falsely verified that each manufacturing lot of mumps vaccine would be as effective as identified in the labeling, (viii) falsely certified the accuracy of applications filed with the FDA, (ix) falsely certified compliance with the terms of the CDC purchase contract, (x) engaged in the fraud and concealment describe herein for the purpose of illegally monopolizing the U.S. market for mumps vaccine, (xi) mislabeled, misbranded, and falsely certified its mumps vaccine, and (xii) engaged in the other acts described herein to conceal the diminished efficacy of the vaccine the government was purchasing.”

These fraudulent activities, say the whistleblowers, were designed to produce test results that would meet the FDA’s requirement that the mumps vaccine was 95 per cent effective. To the whistleblowers’ delight, the judge dismissed Merck’s objections to the case proceeding, finding the whistleblowers had plausible grounds on all of the claims lodged against Merck.

llpoh
llpoh

Yup – I iz agree with Admin.

I just wanted to point out that NOTHING surprises me re how subhuman people can be.

Personally, I find “sand nigger” to be a tried and true euphemism. But ragheaded camel jockey works, too.

bb

Problem is those ..sand niggers …are coming here by the thousands. Only took 19 to fuck up New York and kill close to 3 thousand.Will we ever learn?

Westcoaster
Westcoaster

Empty suits indeed, for those WITH the power are behind the curtain, at Raven Rock “Site R” and places like it. Making decisions in our name but not on our behalf. It’s the .1% and it’s evil when viewed by the “common man”. Those we see in public are weak, neutered (if they had balls in the 1st place, which is questionable), and control-filed excuses for Human beings.
For all we know it’s not even Humans who DO control them, and that’s the scary part.

SSS

Interesting mixture of heroes mentioned by Kunstler ….. Chris Kyle, Edward Snowden and Vladimir Putin.

I do not argue with Kyle and Snowden, but Putin is a strange mention in the American context. We know the Russians overwhelmingly support the guy, but to call him a hero in my world is a stretch.

Putin is tough, he’s resolute, he’s smart, he’s a leader, yes ……. all that stuff. He’s not our friend, nor our “hero.” He’s Mother Russia’s dearest son. I’d love to have the opportunity to go toe-to-toe with that guy.

Sensetti

Tripple S I agree with you. When Putin sends a nuclear missiles our way his supporters on this site will change their minds ASAP.

The United States Military will reign supreme until it’s beaten on a battle field which means after WW3 and the Nukes fly. I cannot for the life of me understand why that is so hard to grasp.

Read this and then re-read it again.

The United States will get more ruthless, more aggressive, we will attack and take whatever is necessary to keep this empire afloat.

Those that say “well we’ve been fighting in Iraq for years how’s that turned out” I say this, have we carpet bombed the entire population? No we have not. Could we? Hell yes we could, never putting a boot on the ground we could kill anything that moves inside Iraq in a matter of weeks. We wiped out entire towns in WW2 what do you think the advanced weapon systems of today could do? We could put thousands of drones in the air and kill anything that dare move. You’ve never witnessed an all out conflict. But you will, don’t worry.

Now somebody jump up and make the argument that what I just said is false.

Likewise what about the NSA, per Snowden, did we not have foreign leaders phones tapped? Is our spying capabilities better than theirs? I think so.
I posted military to military stats the US vs #2 Russian, not even close.

So what’s my point., there’s one hell of a lot of blood that’s going to be shed before the United States is unseated as #1. Who knows the nukes may fly and wipe human beings off the face of the planet letting the cock roaches take over.

I will gladly dispatch my detractors with speed and accuracy. What says you?

Sensetti

T4C Putin will be the guy that will sends a nuke our way.

Sensetti

Damn T4c I should be able to get a little stronger reaction out of an experienced ICU nurse.

Sensetti

Female nurses are the hardest women on the planet bar none. They can kick some ass, nothing bothers them. Hat tip

Zarathustra

Administrator says:
. I’m not a fan of Middle East Muslims in general. They all hate us.
______________________________

Except for the Iranians. Despite everything we have done to them, they love us.

https://vimeo.com/111380331

Sensetti

Z, I will watch your video it’s 42 minutes long. But first I want to say I’am going to hate it for you, Iran is at the heart of Middle East conflict, war is coming their way. If you live in the Middle East and have anything to do with oil the United States, is, will, every time, going to lite your ass up if you try to sell oil using anything other than a Yankee green back. Russian interference in Iran and Syria is what has brought trouble down up on them, it really is all about the petrodollar. I wish it were not so but oil and the United States Military back the dollar and the only thing going to change that are a lot of dead people. I have Iranian acquaintances and they are kind people, very respectful, hard working. But it is what it is and will be what it will be.

Sensetti

Z, I just watched every second of your video. Thank you!
My take, the Iranian people love Amaerican cars and the American way of life. At the same time they despise their own leaders and are oppressed by them. That one dude is still locked up, his wife was smokin hot, they turned her loose.

Their food looks amazing, beautiful country, lovely people. Those people in the video don’t give one rats ass about building a bomb.

I really hope war does not come their way. Those people in the video don’t want or need a nuclear bomb they just want to be left alone to live in peace. So why does their leadership want a nuclear missile? Why wont the Iranian leadership back down, allow inspection, and de-escalate the entire situation? Sad, very fucking sad!

Sensetti

You all sad sacks of shit may be right, we maybe fucked beyond all reason.

Zarathustra

Sensetti says: So why does their leadership want a nuclear missile?
_____________________-

Iran is not free. Nobody can say that. But it is also true that nobody can say that Iran has a nuclear weapons program or ever has had one. There is no evidence of such. Back during the war with Iraq when Iraq was losing, Khomeini refused to use chemical weapons on the Iraqis, saying it was anti-islamic, even though they could have and some of their generals were pushing for it. Both Khomeini and Khamenei had issued fatwas against weapons of mass destruction including atomic bombs.

flash
flash

We coulda’ had a Pat or a Paul , but for the moron vote. DES!

Best of Times or Worst of Times?

By Patrick J. Buchanan

Let us put this peril in perspective.

Each year, 33,000 American die in auto accidents and tens of thousands die of the flu. Last week, the Center for Disease Control reported that in 2011 alone, Clostridium difficile, or C. diff, a disease this writer had never heard of, caused 15,000 deaths in the USA.

How many American deaths did ISIS cause?

As the Shiites are already engaged against ISIS, we should inform our Sunni friends — the Turks, Egyptians, Saudis, Gulf Arabs: As you are the most threatened here, you are the first responders to this blaze.

We will have your back, but we will not fight your war for you.

Let’s Keep ISIS in Perspective

flash
flash

I really wish that super shit stain had his chance to go toe to toe with Putin and thus leave the rest of US out of his stupid noecon quest for glory….but , it is not to be.. statist morons will push the envelope even further.

US to Deploy Six National Guard Companies to Ukraine This Week

http://sputniknews.com/military/20150303/1018973141.html

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The United States will deploy personnel by the end of this week to train the Ukrainian national guard, US 173rd Airborne Brigade Commander Colonel Michael Foster said at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC on Monday.

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