Comments on: Absurd Comic-Book-Style Villainy and “the disastrous rise of misplaced power”

By: admin

admin — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 20:08:50 +0000

Oh please. Your jingoist ignorance only serves to demonstrate how shrill and ridiculous you neoconservative ideologues really are. DIAGF.

By: Samuel J. Mayer

Samuel J. Mayer — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 19:53:37 +0000

Pro-terrorist and anti-american rhetoric only serves to embolden the enemy.

By: gordonmcdowell

gordonmcdowell — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 23:16:38 +0000

Eisenhower’s “military industrial complex” is such an amazing speech. I really wonder how many Americans (percentage) have heard it. For example, I wonder what Doreen Tucker would make of it. Eisenhower was an American, so I guess his opinion would count.

By: interpellate

interpellate — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 03:21:08 +0000

I am always amazed when “socialist” is used as an insult. Perhaps if Doreen took the time to educate and think for herself, rather than passively swallowing and regurgitating whatever the Republican party propaganda machine spews out on FOX News or wherever, she would realize that not letting people die on the streets because they don’t have health insurance (for example) is not something that Canadians are especially ashamed of.

Oh, and great response and overall blog entry Andrew!

By: Mike Soron

Mike Soron — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 01:31:23 +0000

I’m completely shocked by the comments from Doreen above. She is perhaps more terrifying than Mr. Cheney himself — it is attitudes like hers that permit such gross abuses.

There could be no Dick Cheney without Doreen Tucker.

By: admin

admin — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 22:33:33 +0000

That’s a great point Mike. Often times only the “boogeymen” of the military industrial complex are visible to us. If the experience with Cheney has taught us anything, it’s that the true power exists in the secret meetings among enormous low-profile players.

“The Shock Doctrine” had some great examples of other big “low-profile” players in the “security industry.”

By: admin

admin — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 22:24:14 +0000

Doreen,

In Canada, as in the US, we have a constitutionally protected right to free speech. I don’t know why I would assume that you know anything about constitutionally protected rights, or the rule of law for that matter, if you are really defending the actions of DIck Cheney. But what I wrote wasn’t slanderous, and I referenced everything I said with links to American news stories.

Furthermore, I make no apologies for offending you, as I find your defense of Dick Cheney offensive. How exactly did he defend the “American way of life” by authorizing the use of secret prisons and torture?

Lastly, my country has also committed blood and treasure to the “war on terror” by participating in your unwinnable war in Afghanistan. Over 100 Canadians have been killed as part of the “coalition forces” your former leaders emphasized.

By: Doreen Tucker

Doreen Tucker — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 21:48:00 +0000

I find it quite offensive that you would question the leadership of our government that was elected by the American people. Our former vice president was a true patriot who defended our families and the American way of life after the attacks on 9/11.

As you are not a citizen of the USA, what gives you the right to slander the leaders of the greatest nation in the world from your backwoods, socialist country full of cowards who will not do their part in the war on terror.

By: Mike Soron

Mike Soron — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 21:24:34 +0000

I love when a CNN interview with one of these “comic book villains” cuts to an ad for Boeing or some other defense contractor. Or when a segment about the crisis cuts to an ad for AIG consumer insurance.

It’s shocking that they media buyers don’t pick up on this… or, perhaps they do.

Tragically, these companies that are household names, like AIG and Boeing are only the most visible part of the commercial appeal of modern villainy. ITT Corporation, General Dynamics, Bechtel (still perhaps too notable) and other intentionally obscuring companies — the kind that don’t advertise — are the most troubling. (Reminds me of this post on Blackwater, now XE, at Wired. )

Although, if Cheney is any indication, there’s no need to keep anything secret anymore. No one will make a fuss about any horrors — comic bookish ones, especially.