esrosedotblog

STOOGE

You saw it here first. I had this Chalabi guy down as a double-dealing stooge from the beginning. He had all the hallmarks of a puppet of the Americans. We have often tried this approach when we don't know what else to do. Set up a local with some power, give him some money, and get him to stand up tall for our side. Of course, by definition, you are going to get the two-faced type, the double dealer, and now we are finding (alleged) double agent. This nasty cartoon is from an arabic website. They can scope this guy.

What is sad is that Chalabi was already under the gun for double dipping in Jordan. He had the power-grabber written all over him. Of course, one of the problems of choosing stooges is also that you fail to see the defects which are similar to your own. Rumsfeld/Cheney have been doing double speak so long that someone like Chalabi seems to be just one of the guys.

The other thing about this, which requires a jump in logic. Is it possible that Iran used this guy to get us to attack their long time enemy Iraq? Nooooooo. That is too far fetched. Junior was motivated enough wasn't he? He didn't need his skids greased. That would make HIM the STOOGE!!!! But then again. The thing about conspiracy theories is that they have this wierd way of being real ex post facto.

GENERALLY SPEAKING

I don't know whether someone pulled a switch or if it is spontaneous; but I notice all that generals are now speaking out: Hoar, then Zinni, a couple of others. Actually, I suspect a domino effect; the named are both Marines. Someone said what they were thinking and the others fell into line. Soldiers are like that.

I don't know what took them so long. It is OK though. I suppose the tradition of respect, whether you have it or not, for your civilian leaders prevents too much mouthiness. And then, there is the loyalty to the soldier in the field. But, when they have had enough, they have had enough and will wade in. It is evidently time.

I remember Douglas MacArthur very clearly. I would not call him a personal hero but I sure admired him. He had no problem mouthing off to the civilians and even came and tried to trounce Truman on the Korean War. He didn't succeed; nevertheless, his dedication to his own beliefs (and some would say 'ego') was such that he spoke out and made the issues clearer by doing so. I am for upset and acting out. Thanks to the guys who tell us what they think.

OH, and let's thank Lugar and a few other Senators while we are at it. After weeks of dropping hints that he was pissed and unhappy at fearless leader he has now come forth with the particulars. McCain has had no problem doing that. A few others would help. Let's face it, when the shit flies, and it is flying, everyone gets hit whether they are loyal or not. A few more would not hurt.

SELF ESTEEEEM

I seem to be hearing a lot of stuff about low self esteem lately. I am sorry to jump on anyone when they are 'down' but I have pretty low esteem for the concept of 'low self esteeem'; let's just call it lse. I am tired of typing it already. I will bow to the form by using the lower case though. Can't have too many uppers.

It seems to me that most people who are crying the blues over their lse are actually chock full of self esteem. They esteem themselves so highly to assume that we all care about their mental attitude. And beyond, the whole exercise seems to me to be more about self centeredness. As an expert in the latter, I can attest that it is certainly a malfunction of the thought apparatus and a dislocation of the ego but it is brought on mostly by myself.

OK. Before you get all irate and such, let me point out that this is not about your circumstances. There are certainly a lot of people who have real shittiness to deal with in their lives. Sometimes this is how the cards were dealt and others, I fear, brought on by their own magnetism for the tragic. Whatever the case, I am not talking about the outside. I am talking about in here; where I think about it and me and the whole shebang. I am thinking of self obsession and self pity.

OK. Now that we stirred that one up, what do we do if we are in the grips of self-centeredness? Well, for one thing, getting out of yourself by actually lending a hand or asking someone else how they are might shake the pillars a bit. Another thing folks might consider is to quit thinking about lse so much and begin to 'act as if' they had some--any amount will do.

Now I am getting out of my range. I suppose there are some genuine lse-ers around who need a little kick in the pants from therapy or something. I am not talking about real depression. That is Depression. I am talking about the pop-psych addicts who use some lame concept concocted by tv-talking heads to camouflage their lack of ambition or feed their self pity. If professional help is needed, then go get it. Join a self help Program. The main thing is to duck the whining. My business partner Alex had the most effective way of kicking me or us or himself out of despondency when we had setbacks and problems (usually of our own creation). The phrase was "let's get on with it". A rolling stone gathers no moss. Don't look back; the bastards might be gaining on you. And so on. Get over yourself. I am talking to me now. You are free to run with whatever you want to. Just quit telling me about your lse. Run. Action.