Planet Waves | May 26, 2005 I rarely have moments of political glee these days -- there are so few voices that tell the truth or offer something other than the Official Party Line that when I find one, I tip over in rapture [read NOTHING into that remark but immense pleasure!] There are the [very] occasional moments that tickle me, like George Galloway's response to Congress the other day, and I am encouraged by the mutiny in the GOP, some of the Senators quotes are refreshingly "thoughtful" for a change. Aside from those brief moments, rarely reported, tv news is drearily "careful and correct" -- not worth watching; I can get headlines on the web without insult to my intelligence, so that's what I do. Let me say that more strongly -- I'm just so tired of "careful talk," I could spit -- and now that Bill Moyers has left the airwaves, I have only one respite ... Bill Maher, HBO, Friday nights [although his season is now done, he'll be back in mid-summer.] Gratefully, I have past episodes on tape so I can review ... and relax with the notion that there are those out there, like me, that DON'T think the US of A has turned into "Happyville," with Skys Clear, Children not Left Behind, old-folks Secure, both Iraq and Afghanistan liberated and doing oh-so-well ... that DON'T believe the Supreme Delusion that there are no serious problems to discuss. Back in 2001, Bill was the first media casualty of the post-9/11 season -- he had the audacity to suggest that the terrorists weren't exactly the "cowards" that the Talking Heads had branded them. On his late-night tv offering, Politically Incorrect, he said, in conversation, "We have been the cowards, lobbing cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away. That's cowardly. Staying in the airplane when it hits the building -- say what you want about it, it's not cowardly." There was a flap prompting the first of the "you better be careful what you say!" warnings from the government -- ABC lost several sponsers, and Bill was not renewed. Then HBO came to the rescue, resurrecting Maher and giving him an hour a week to discuss politics with representatives from the right and left, alike, on Real Time With Bill Maher. It's plain-spoken, irreverant, and goes for the laugh more often than not ... it's guests are politicians, actors, comedians, authors and intellectuals -- all of them prepared to deal with Bill's wicked and sardonic sense of humor. It's rated R in "fair warning" -- and HBO is a premium cable offering; you pay for it. Not long ago, Bill was talking via satellite to CBS correspondent Leslie Stahl about an example of our current erosion of free speech ... and mentioned that he was glad that the issue didn't include him, this time. Perhaps he should have knocked on wood. The other day an Alabama Republican Representative, Spencer Bachus, had a full-blown snit about Bill's recent comments on Army recruiting, delivered in his traditional pre-roundtable stand-up routine -- he noted that the Army missed its recruiting goal by 42 percent, saying, "We've done picked all the low-lying Lynndie England fruit, and now we need warm bodies." Bachus claims Maher's remark borders on the treasonous and demanded that HBO yank his show. HBO is ignoring him. PARDON ME! Treasonous???? Tacky, perhaps. Insensitive, maybe. Surely nothing that the High Command didn't mumble to itself when it saw the Abu Ghraib pic's of Lynndie with her leash and cigarette, I'd bet. But treasonous? I don't think there was a hidden message to subversives in his comments ... no state secrets were bartered. I think we have a failure to communicate, here! "Treason" is a word saved for extraordinary betrayal of the American nation. There are a LOT of people closer to treason than Bill Maher -- I can think of several dozen candidates without blinking an eye. This Republican better check the mote in his OWN parties eye, before he bandies the "T" word around. For instance, as we're discussing the military -- I think Pat Tillmans family would be willing to discuss the "nuance" of such words. It turns out that after leaving the Arizona Cardinals and giving up a slot in the NFL to join the Rangers, Pat was killed by "friendly fire" in Afghanistan -- covered up by the military, that fact was something his parents found out weeks later, after he had been memorialized by the nation as a hero. This, from his Father: "After it happened, all the people in positions of authority went out of their way to script this," Patrick Tillman said. "They purposely interfered with the investigation, they covered it up. I think they thought they could control it, and they realized that their recruiting efforts were going to go to hell in a handbasket if the truth about his death got out. They blew up their poster boy." Well -- it's not the first time the government has scripted a "movie of the week" from a soldiers story ... we all remember Jessica Lynch. In a nation where nationalism is epidemic, where it's "my country, right or wrong" it's warriors must NEVER look like anything but hero's. Whitewashing a soldiers story is just Good Business. Good PR. That kind of theatrics with people's lives isn't exactly treason, but it's certainly a betrayal of American trust. Rep. Bachus thinks Bill Maher's treasonous because he's taken a poke at the military -- and I consider him a patriot, giving us another way to look at our political landscape and hosting diverse voices in a national dialogue. Give Bill big applause for his courage, too -- he's twice, now, been called a traitor to his country for simply giving an opinion unpopular to the national leadership. Let's clear this up. Patrotism and nationalism are NOT the same thing. We can all be patriotic and still understand the psychology of war in an adult way. Pretending that our warriors are ALWAYS hero's ... don't ever make mistakes, kill the wrong people or have emotional breakdowns that leave mayhem in their wake ... is not patriotic, it's ridiculous. There has never BEEN a war that didn't have its share of atrocities and errors, friendly fire's and accidents. You can still be a patriot and acknowledge that we do NOT live in Happyville -- life is gritty -- death is ugly -- reality is harsh -- war is Hell ... ask the thousands of soldiers returning without limbs, and/or with emotional problems like PTSS. And it's not unpatriotic or treasonous to suggest that prior to launching BushWarII, we had drawn the majority of our troops from the lower-class and minority kids that were desperate for options and education -- we're still trying to do so, even though they're on to the pitch, now. I saw a recruitment commercial on tv the other night that showed a young black man telling his mother he'd found a way to "go to college" [and he didn't add, "by way of the middle-east" ... but he should have.] "My country, right or wrong," "our soldiers, right or wrong" -- is the worst kind of nationalistic jingoism. We are responsible for what we do in a civilized world. When I see the yellow metalic ribbons that say Support Our Troops fly by on cars I always wonder who the hell DOESN'T support the troops. The Left supports the troops ... they want to support them all the way HOME, away from the blurred ethical lines and dangers they face today. I read a suggestion that we ship all the metalic ribbons to Iraq so our soldiers could put them on their vehicles, to provide the armor the military can't get around to sending them. [ummm ... is pointing out the government's failing on our warriors behalf "treasonous?" By the Bachus standard, probably.] I'm inclined to give our soldiers a lot of latitude, they are highly skilled professionals with courage most of us couldn't muster -- but they are only as good as their leadership. When they snap a smart salute and say, "Yes, Sir!" that's exactly what they mean -- "Yes, whatever you tell me to do, sir." It is not speculation to suggest that the leadership of this military has failed to take the heat for their people, or the orders they were given -- it's a fact. Lynndie will be going to jail, but no generals are going ... Donald Rumsfeld won't be going, although a good many think he should. I expect Rep. Bachus would consider that suggestion treasonous too. I'm sure he'd rather focus on what the military told us, that those few "bad apples" that have outraged the world will be dealt with harshly. [Oh, wait ... that sounds a lot like "the low-lying Lynndie England fruit." Better not say that either.] There's just so damned many things you can't say, these days, aren't there? HBO is going to ignore Spencer Bachus -- Bill Maher will likely dismiss him, as well. I certainly will. His brand of mindless nationalism is what got us in this mess to start with, and now that you have an example of what it sounds like, listen for it ... you'll be amazed at how much of it you hear. Peace ~ Jude Congressman Slams Maher Over Army Remark http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050523/ap_en_tv/people_maher_2 Tillman's Parents Are Critical of Army http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/052305Z.shtml Galloway vs. the US Senate: Transcript of Statement http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/051805Z.shtml Note: Maher replied briefly to Mr. Bachus in a blog response, and then a veteran responded to Bill with a good suggestion -- below. Fruit Bill Maher http://www.huffingtonpost.com/theblog/archive/bill-maher/fruit_1561.html Bill Maher, You Are Wrong! http://www.huffingtonpost.com/theblog/featuredposts.html#a001595 Jude, the editor of Political Waves, is currently standing in for Eric Franics on his daily blog. You can subscribe to Political Waves (our all-politics news distribution list) for free at the link below. You'll receive between five and 10 news articles each day. You may write to Jude with your responses to her commentaries at moderator@planetwaves.net. 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