Doesn't Mean That Much to Me

--Stolen valor, anyone?
SOCNET would have a field day busting
Muommar Qaddafi

I been talkin' to playwriters
I been workin' on words, phrases
--Running Back to Saskatoon, Guess Who

The good life was so elusive
Handouts, they got me down
I had to regain my confidence
So I got into camouflage
--I Love a Man in a Uniform,
Gang of Four

But we've got to verify it legally, to see
If she is morally, ethic'lly
Spiritually, physically
Positively, absolutely
Undeniably and reliably Dead
--Ding, Dong, the Witch is Dead,
Wizard of Oz (1939)
___________________

Every time another story is spun on the Arab Spring, I am disgusted anew that the U.S. has wasted so much time and money for nothing to benefit ourselves, and possibly nobody else, either. (Aside from war contractors, that is.) Ten years wasted, and much pain wrought upon our own heads, not to mention others.

The leveling of our society is almost complete. First, they did in our schools with mainstreaming. Next came the corruption and dumbing down of entertainment and media. Now, the U.S. sits in thrall to events worlds away in time and space, their energy which should be placed into local issues dissipated in a flurry of much too many helter-skelter streaming media feeds.

It saddens me knowing my country is a dupe and has paid dearly for one side of the nutters to kill the other, having their snapshots taken near the iced, bullet-riddled body like some cheery Japanese tourists:

"In Misrata, residents crowded into long lines to get a chance to view the body of Gadhafi, which was laid out on a mattress on the floor of an emptied-out vegetable and onions freezer at a local shopping center.

. . .

"Men, women and children filed in to take their picture with the body. The site's guards had even organized separate visiting hours for families and single men." (Gadhafi Put on Display in Shopping Center Freezer.)

Libya's leader Qaddafi was killed in a most brutal fashion by a power-hungry mob of dissidents, yet Secretary of State Clinton heralds the barbarity as "[bringing] to a close a very unfortunate chapter in Libya's history, but it also marks the start of a new era for the Libyan people ..." How does Clinton know that?

"For the millions of Arabs yearning for freedom, democracy and new leadership, the death of one of the region's most brutal dictators will likely inspire and invigorate the movement for change." They summarily executed their nation's leader and are pumping meat cleavers in the air -- that is unlike any democracy I know. But it's pretty to think so.

Britain's defense secretary, Philip Hammond, said the Libyan revolutionaries' image had been "a little bit stained" by Gadhafi's violent death. Both he and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said a full investigation is necessary.

The head of the National Transitional Council, Mustafa Abdul-Jalil said Islamic Sharia law would be the "basic source" of legislation, and that existing laws that contradict the teachings of Islam would be nullified (Libya Declared Free).

So the mumblecore is, the new leaders' integrity is "a little bit stained". Well, thank Allah and the US they're free to oppress again in the spanky new Theological Republic of Libya.

Instead of discussing the implications of his murder, we are treated to news that Qadhafi's executioners tore off his toupee, and told he often looked like a comical buffoon (Arab strongman: With Gadhafi death, an era passes.) DUH? The press offers entertainment as commentary, mentioning his vanity until the end -- but what leader does not want to look good, and we have had our own share of "comical buffoons".

If our infotainment sector can be said to be more directional than a paramecium, there was some pretty good pre-planning here, collusive with our government's intent. There were articles predating the "uprising" by months of Qadhafi's feebleness, and his reliance upon his retinue of young female assistants. One coup interview was with one of his Ukranian nurses, spilling the goods on her erstwhile benefactor.

The press did not so much focus upon the relatively good state of women's right in Libya under Qaddhafi, something we like trumpet as a cause in Iraq and Afghanistan. After all of this time grooming Qadhafi as a world citizen, would it not have been less costly and destructive to have assisted on the negotiating side, rather than the inflammatory bombing side? It seems only when one becomes old and weak -- comical -- that we descend like vultures. Reverence for age (among other things) is something we lack.

Gadhafi's death proves one thing: The biggest brute wins, for the moment. Oh, and money is essential. Yet again, the U.S. forks it over, having spent several Billion dollars aiding this group of brigands to murder the last. Why the U.S. is in the business of facilitating the ouster of sitting rulers is an unanswered question.

Qaddafi was a brutal dictator, no doubt, typical of the stripe the Middle East is wont to create. But the U.S. or any nation cannot change the people in whom this spirit is indwelling. So Libya has gone from one monster, somewhat contained, to a metastacized new group of monsters -- why would that please anyone?

Libyans are wallowing in an orgy of blood. Meanwhile, where are my well-paved roads and all the other niceties and necessities fast-evaporating from my western nation.

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[cross-posted @ BigBrassBlog]