Bloody Flag Blog

Free Tibet Rally

2008-03-24T01:41:57Z

I attended a vigil for Tibet yesterday in Balboa Park. It was really sad to hear about the persecution of the Tibetans. It reminded me of the Tiananmen Square massacre. I was attending a residential high school at the time. It was so surreal to watch the television in the common room and see kids my own age facing down tanks and then go take exams. We were told back then that if we continued normal relations with China and granted China permanent most favorite nation status that free trade would bring liberty. This obviously hasn’t happened. If you want to get involved you can visit the International Campaign for Tibet site. You can also sign a petition here.

When We Incite Terrorism

2008-02-14T06:49:06Z

Imad Mughniyeh was assassinated today in Syria. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack made the following statements “The world is a better place without this man in it. He was a cold-blooded killer, a mass murderer and a terrorist responsible for countless innocent lives lost.” and, “One way or another, he was brought to justice.” We will never be able to win an intellectual argument against terrorism as long as we make the argument that means of accomplishing ends just don’t matter. We are essentially saying if you see a bad guy kill him in whatever manner is convenient, to hell with the rules. If this isn’t an incitement to terrorism, then I don’t know what is.

For example, Henry Kissinger appears to be a person of interests in relation to numerous terrorist killings in South America, and perhaps in the United States. Several countries have sought his testimony in regards to various crimes, but he, of course, has not been extradited. But if someone put a bomb in his car, they would be arresting him!?!? I mean either we are living in a world where we just kill guys we don’t like or we’re not. There is no middle ground. You simply can’t claim to be a nation of laws when it suits your fancy.

Student Slavery in America

2008-02-15T01:32:52Z

Whether the advice I received as regards graduate school consisted of the good, the bad or the ugly, that advice was always accompanied by the same caveat, a required understanding that student abuse at this level is deeply institutionalized. I was even warned by a respected acquaintance that my penchant for telling the truth could serve me no good in graduate school. I have listened as friends in graduate school described legally actionable conduct with little more than a verbal shrug. I try to comfort myself by saying that surely there must be graduate advisors out there who value personal honor, discipline, control, respect and the value of doing great work in their fields. Surely it must be so, but still I find myself afraid to open my eyes and look. A year ago I was so buttressed by that near certainty of purpose that comes from conviction. Graduate school lay in my future. And then zip turned to fizzle.

Though I have a degree, I do not have the requisite credit hours in the field of study I wish to pursue at the graduate level. In recognition of this, I have been taking classes to fill in the gaps in the necessary requirements. Looking around me now, through my own eyes as well as those of friends, I see that the slave-training begins early. I gladly acknowledge that there are many educators and educational administrators who adhere to rules of common decency and respect in regards to students. It would seem, however, that their respect stems more from personal value systems than those cultivated by institutional concerns. From all appearances there seems to be no immediate disdain for those employed in education who would assume that attending a school of study comes with the addendum that the student agrees that further education comes at the cost of accepting subhuman status while walking the halls.

There are many who would argue that the Constitutional protections of our United States are being stripped away by legislation and limp-wrist judges. But this is only the end game. The real game begins with stripping away any ideals of rights or freedoms from the hearts and minds of the citizens. I attend a school at which the student body president was elected in a process in which a mere three percent of the student population participated. I am sure some pins must have dropped at this absurdity, but the sound made was not in the general range of that heard by the human ear… apparently. Now that is one grim acceptance of student powerlessness.

Coming from a plantation society myself, I can not help but wonder whether this current state is some type of payback for those times when only the rich could afford to educate their young, and educators were just another variety of servant. Of course this would not be so much of a good plan in that it is sure to result in a return to that uneasy state of attempting to command respect simultaneous with bowing before the young master or mistress. Or maybe it is just the prevailing of the British attitude that one must continually press every advantage that is at work. Or maybe somewhere in the heart of some jungle, a mischievous fly whispered to a mosquito.

I wondered if enough of us shouted, “Hey, students have rights, and the Constitution does not dissolve at the threshold to the classroom,” whether we would make audible noise. Can we have respect, responsibility and duty of care instead Phds squawking and clawing like the young of some nitwit succubus. Let us bring down the curtain on this shameless cacophony. Let us have education be an arena of mutual respect, learning, unguarded curiosity, unrelenting discovery, passion for knowledge and study.

This begins with students asserting their membership in humanity, declaring their right to personhood, refusing to bow down to the tyranny of inflated egos and deflated self-worth. Most school systems have an avenue of complaint. Use it when your rights are violated. Use it when your dignity is denied. Stand up for yourself even if no one will stand with you. Potmarks in ones estimation of self-worth is too high a price. What rights do you have? Find out. Let us start that dialogue. Share that knowledge with others. Demand more from your educational institution. Organize into student action groups. We can teach each other how to do it. I hope to find in myself this strength.

John Edwards Withdraws from Presidential Race

2008-02-06T19:58:11Z

Senator John Edwards has withdrawn from the presidential race. He had run as the Vice Presidential nominee with Senator John Kerry in the previous presidential election. They were defeated by President Bush and Vice President Richard Cheney. During that campaign, Edwards sounded populist themes which would become much more prominent in his recent run for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Edwards was considered the most liberal of the viable candidates, though Dennis Kucinich had more liberal views, most notably advocating a single-payer health care system. Edwards’ decision to run as a progressive is consistent with the rise of the more progressive wing of the Democratic party which has occurred during the Bush years following the defeats of moderate candidates Kerry and former Vice President Al Gore.

Though Edwards seemed to adroitly predict the mood of the Democratic party during the current nomination process, his candidacy was hindered by a number of factors. Both Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator Barack Obama have run campaigns promoting policies that are not as progressive as those of Edwards, but that are substantially more progressive than those pursued by the administration of former President Bill Clinton.

Further, he suffered from being a white male in a competition with the prospect of the first African American nominee from a major party and the first such nomination of a woman. His candidacy was met with disapproval by many pundits who complained that his campaign was to confrontational for a country that, in their judgment, has become too partisan.

Despite his strong pro-union rhetoric, he faced strong competition for union support from Clinton, who benefited from a superior organization and ties to unions dating back to the presidency of her husband. former President Bill Clinton. Also, the lack of a win in either a primary or a caucus made Edwards campaign seem somewhat quixotic.

Though the impact of his withdrawal remains to be seen, some trends are evident already. Firstly, it is clear that the Democratic party will nominate an establishment figure. Hillary Clinton, despite running to the left of ex-President Clinton, still represents the interest of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), the moderate to conservative group that rose to prominence in the Democratic party with the election of Bill Clinton. Members of the Kennedy family, including daughter of President John F. Kennedy, Caroline Kennedy, and her uncle, Senator Edward Kennedy, have endorsed Obama. This endorsement is notable because the Kennedy family has represented the more liberal part of the Democratic party, and Obama is arguably the most conservative candidate for the nomination as he was the only candidate against individual mandates in his plan for universal health care.

Edwards’ departure from the race could presage a movement to the right by both Obama and Clinton. Both candidates seemed to propose more liberal polices only in response to Edward’s proposals. The remaining candidates may want to start positioning themselves to attract independent and conservative voters in the general election.

McCain Wins Florida Republican Primary

2008-02-15T01:39:54Z

John McCain has won the Florida Republican Presidential primary. Former mayor of New York, Rudolph Giuliani, is expected to endorse McCain. The Republican race is now considered to be a two man contest between John McCain and former governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney. The competition between the two men has become more pointed as tonight’s primary approached.

Neither man has been able to unite the party so far. McCain has been a stalwart conservative for many years. But, he has raised suspicions in Republican party for worrying about intolerance in Christian right movement, supporting campaign finance reform, and for opposing Bushes tax cuts. Recently he has embraced the recently deceased Jerry Falwell, Sr. and claimed that he voted against the Bush tax cuts for the lone reason that they were not offset by spending cuts.

McCain was a war hero in the Vietnam war. He was captured by the enemy and was tortured for years by them. As I explain in the post Bloody Flag: Our Gratitude, but Not our Endorsement I think that the very real possibility that McCain suffered mental damage during this episode makes him to risky a pick for President and Commander and Chief.

Mitt Romney has two major problems in gaining the Republican nomination. He was governor of Massachusetts a liberal state were he governed to the left of the mainstream Republican party. He is also a member of the Church of Latter Day Saints which many conservative Christians view as a heresy. During the end of his governorship Mitt Romney was able to appeal to conservatives in the party by staunchly opposing the Massachusetts’ Supreme Court’s decision to legalize same sex marriages.

Governor Romney tried to counter suspicion of his religious beliefs by making a speech in which he argued that his faith led him the same conservative values as more traditional Christians. He claimed that conservative followers of religion should unite against Americans with secular beliefs.

The former Governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee hoped to use his conservative record and the fact that he had been Baptist minister to energize the Christian conservatives. But he was opposed by fiscal conservatives who viewed him as to liberal on financial issues. In the South Carolina primary he made the following statement “In fact, if somebody came to Arkansas and told us what to do with our flag, we’d tell them what to do with the pole, that’s what we’d do.” This statement did seem odd given his strong opposition to sodomy. However, this vulgar appeal to supporters of the Confederate Flag was not enough to secure a victory. He no longer is considered to be a viable candidate, but he is considered a likely choice for Vice President.

The Democratic Primary for President in Florida was not seriously contested because the party stripped the state of its delegates for moving the primary forward. Senator Clinton gained the most voters.