In the incessant self-praise of the US imperial project, kept safe in a state of permanently enforced amnesia, occasional writings prod and puncture. Mark Twain expressed an ashamed horror at the treatment of the Philippines; Ulysses Grant, despite being a victorious general of the Union forces in the Civil War and US president, could reflect that his country might, some day, face its comeuppance from those whose lands had been pinched.
Low ratings, record sales and comedy quicksand + this day in history w/the Great New England Hurricane and our song of the day by St. Paul & The Broken Bones on your Morning Monarchy for September 21, 2018.
Ruinous obsessions, trance states and a southwest series + this day in history w/the CIA's Congo coup and our song of the day by Smashing Pumpkins on your Morning Monarchy for September 14, 2018.
Killed off characters, sacrificial advertising and Lana cancels Israel + this day in history w/rage against the video awards and our song of the day by Ty Segall on your Morning Monarchy for September 7, 2018.
Derailed investigations, killing Roseanne and a dying machine + this day in history w/Jack The Ripper's first victim and our song of the day by Muse on your Morning Monarchy for August 31, 2018.
Obit scribblers are calling John McCain a war “hero.” Well, I have to concede that unlike so many warmongering chickenhawks such as Karl Rove, Paul Wolfowitz, Robert Kagan and most other neocons, McCain did actually serve in the military. But the same could be said for nearly all top Nazis including Hitler and Goering; they fought in a war and they loved war. They were destructive persons who learned nothing positive from their military experience.
Obituaries are not the best places to identify faults unless they assume the form of a hatchet job. The opposite is more often the case: worshipful and respectful to the point of being cloying. As the tears dry, and the sobs of reflection pass, the figure transmogrifies. For a politician, aspects of the hero are sketched out, crumples and creases ironed. In the case of the late Senator John McCain, his role as sober, stable legislator were underscored in a world of Trumpland’s narcissistic chaos. His five-year stint a prisoner of war in that brutal school of re-education “Hanoi Hilton”
McCain mutiny, echo chamber and 'The Empire Files' shutdown + this day in history w/the death of Stevie Ray Vaughan and our song of the day by Atreyu on your Morning Monarchy for August 27, 2018.
Jennifer gets a star, Michelle gets canceled and Lana goes to Israel + this day in history w/the Judas Priest trial and our song of the day by Paul McCartney on your Morning Monarchy for August 24, 2018.
Being the head of a creature essentially without spine, and, even more to the point, with vague form, must be something of a challenge. Part of the failing of the United Nations probably lies in its disparate existence, a scattered composition of bureaucratic entities that, when they come together, supply a perfect picture of inertia. (Perhaps for the best: a more active UN could well lead to a deeper muddying of waters.) Such an arrangement invariably leads to one conclusion: The organisation tends to mimic the power order of the day, compliant to the great states, malleable to their ca
