The Billiken's Bluff

Ask 'em how I know... it’s me surprise!



I wrote a bunch of short stories in college. They had footnotes, commentary in the bottom margin. This pre-dated Billiken and Blogger, but these footnotes functioned similarly to the comments sections in these posts. But, I wasn't having a conversation/debate with readers; I was critiquing myself, arguing perceived slights, anticipating future questions and criticism. The footnotes weren't to cite any source material; they were used to add information (parenthetically) in order to create the illusion of a larger audience, a community of like-minded readers who understood me and got...



It allowed me to be detached from the story, critical of and yet able to laugh at my own writing while it was being read. I wanted everyone to see how clever and introspective I was.



My post from this morning didn't feel right. I felt like I was just going through the motions of calling Bush/Cheney war criminals, of suggesting that the Iraq war was about oil, financial gain. This is how it came about-



I saw the pic of Iraqi General Abdul-Aziz Mohammed on Yahoo.



It looked silly. It looked like he was a floating head surrounded by colorful tree-like microphones. It looked like he was hunting ducks in the marsh, obscuring himself behind reeds.



This reminded me of Dick Cheney and quail hunting and the saying, can't see the forest for the trees. The latter seemed relevant. I couldn't see the general's body because/for the microphones. I/we can't see the larger point to our entanglement in Iraq because of the daily kidnappings, murders, US soldier abductions, civilian collateral damage, prison scandals, roadside bombs, prison camps and semi-civil war. This seemed like a good metaphor.

Separately, I recalled Jay-Z's Excuse Me Miss, which has a great finish to the last verse. The whole song he talks about a woman that he is into, he imagines various hip-hop-style-sexy-scenarios, vacations in St. Tropez, penthouse suites, Bentley convertibles, Moet, wine, cheese, cake, bread, dough, cream, cash, money. And at the end he says, but before I jump out the window, what's your name? Good, sober thinking by Jay. Let's not get carried away. Let's understand who or what we are dealing with before we get involved with anything.

Like we should have really understood the divide between Sunnis and Shiites. We should have understood that this was not Operation Desert Storm Part Deux and that there were groups in and out of the region that would take advantage of a destabilized post-invasion Iraq. We should have understood this prior to jumping out the window and commencing to shock and awe everyone.

Did we know Zarqawi's name before March 2003? Someone may have, did Bush?

And so why are we there? To bring democracy to the Middle East? To allow George W. Bush to finish the war his father didn't? To allow Cheney to entrench Halliburton and KBR in Iraq? To fight terrorism? To steal oil?

In a way it is all true now. KBR and Halliburton are involved in every aspect of security, supply chain logistics, transportation, infrastructure and civil engineering in today's Iraq.

There may not have originally been terrorists of the Al Qaeda-variety in Iraq, we certainly didn't fight them during the 2 weeks of the actual war operation. But we are fighting terrorists now. We attracted them, gave them targets, stayed around, created an environment where they are able to thrive and reach mass audiences.

This war might not have been waged in order to gain entrance to Iraq's oil fields. But it has become about oil. Instability in that region has caused gas prices to double since 2003.

Self-fulfilling prophecies these are called.

I referenced Death of a Salesman when Willy Loman's brother talks about emerging from the jungle a rich man. He made a fair diamond out of dusty coal, that sort of thing. This is an easy reference. Bush, Cheney, walking out of Iraq rich, oil money rich?



Is that what this is about? I have forgotten. I posted that this morning and it doesn't seem deserved. Like I'm making easy references and looking for lyrics and pictures and references that indict Bush, not because I feel they are effective or I because I am truly passionate about a regime change...

but because I think this is clever.

I don't want to even talk about Iraq anymore I want to talk about Dwyane Wade and the Mets and Jack White's new band and I want to see Jack Black's new movie (is it good?)

But remember I in the Spring 2004, a time when my cynicism was not so cynical, when Abu Ghraib was in the news and the electrified gimp on a soap box captivated the perverse in the world's imagination?



I was genuinely outraged when this happened. Not the standard anti-Bush bashing. This wasn't murder but it was so vivid and fucked-up looking that it just seemed like something significant had to happen in order to restore balance the cosmos.



Like if this happened to a CEO or a public figure who was exposed and shown to be involved in some sadistic S&M ring... it would be a public spectacle. The individual would be fired, their family humiliated, you would never hear from this person again. I thought that should happen to the US as an international entity. We should shamefully bow out.



It certainly wasn't on par with Agent Orange, suicide bombing, dropping two A-bombs on Japan, or Auschwitz in terms of human depravity and destruction but it was somehow more vivid and telling of where we were as a country and planet...



It was like the internet and digital cameras and computer viruses and 24 hour news and talking heads and Dateline's weekly pedophile expose and feces and life imitating the movies and girls gone wild the wonder years style home movies and look at me mom and industrial strength soap and latex and I want to send a shout out to ignorance and super-sized extra value meals and fake finger tips in chile for potential of lucrative litigation and ABC's new reality show.



(tell me, reader(s), what this reminds you of in the comments section)

I thought the President should quit because of this. It was embarrassing and it was completely dishonorable. Anyone with pride would have taken responsibility and resigned.



Nothing happened. They all remain or have swapped positions or have left on their own terms. Guantanamo remains open. I stopped complaining. People keep dying. The motivation/justification for the war has changed many times. I no longer care. People's attention has dissipated. It's 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006...

I hate writing about this. I will no longer reference Bush or his administration. I won't make fun when he misspeaks. When he contradicts himself. I won't point out when US foreign policy escalates tensions with Iran, N. Korea, Syria. I won't.

But, he/they should have resigned in 2004.



WE should have never been heard from again, quarantined or put in the corner for a timeout for a while anyway.



But yea I like footnotes and the comment section, and parentheses (so comment).