Check out today’s Non Sequitur.

After reading all of the puff pieces on the death of Michael Kelly, David E gives us a welcome antidote, titled Speaking Ill of the Dead. Michael Kelly, assuming homosexuality was some kind of decadence of the elite, gave us this as an example of what is wrong with liberalism:

One of those cultural interests is stamping out discrimination against gays. The problem is, all the people who are for this don’t have their children in those schools anymore. The sons and daughters of editorial writers at the New York Times haven’t been in those schools for generations. The children who are in those schools are the sons and daughters of working-class people, many of them immigrants, many of them Catholics, and they don’t want their children propagandized against their wishes.

The working class don’t have any homosexuals, right? It’s only rich lefty pansies, and no working class man ever killed a homosexual who didn’t deserve it.

Mourn for the dead Iraqis, Americans, British, and journalists of many nationalities who have died in the war, but not for those who helped send them there with writings like these:

The depth of denial here is stunning. Lieven concedes that the militarily superior United States probably could topple Saddam’s regime. But what then? He writes: “The ‘democracy’ which replaces it will presumably resemble that of Afghanistan—a ramshackle coalition of ethnic groups and warlords, utterly dependent on U.S. military power and utterly subservient to U.S. (and Israeli) wishes.”

Yes, I suppose what exists in Afghanistan is only (so far, at least) a “democracy,”’ not a democracy. And it sure is ethnic. And ramshackle. And, sure, post-Saddam Iraq would probably be the same.

But isn’t Afghanistan after America’s rescue a better place to live than it was before? I mean, again, from the liberal point of view: no more throwing homosexuals off buildings, whipping women, banning kites, that sort of thing. No more fascists.

and

These people could be liberated from this horror—relatively easily and very quickly. There is every reason to think that an American invasion will swiftly vanquish the few elite units that can be counted on to defend the detested Saddam; and that the victory will come at the cost of few—likely hundreds, not thousands or tens of thousands—Iraqi and American lives. There is risk here; and if things go terribly wrong it is a risk that could result in terrible suffering. But that is an equation that is present in any just war, and in this case any rational expectation has to consider the probable cost to humanity low and the probable benefit tremendous. To choose perpetuation of tyranny over rescue from tyranny, where rescue may be achieved, is immoral.

…

To march against the war is not to give peace a chance. It is to give tyranny a chance. It is to give the Iraqi nuke a chance. It is to give the next terrorist mass murder a chance. It is to march for the furtherance of evil instead of the vanquishing of evil.

For those who think Afghanistan is fine now, and we’re going do the same for Iraq, I recommend reading this post from Digby — direct link might not work. The Taliban is organized enough in Afghanistan to be killing Red Cross workers, and remember this story from February 14:

The United States Congress has stepped in to find nearly $300 million in humanitarian and reconstruction funds for Afghanistan after the Bush administration failed to request any money in the latest budget.

A Tomahawk missile, of which we have dropped hundreds on Iraq, cost $1.4 million each.

Inspired by Greg Allen’s post regarding Norway’s non-violent resistant to Nazi occupation, I present a piano piece by Harald Sæverud titled “Ballad of revolt”: MP3 (3:19, 2.3MB).

The story from the composer regarding the work:

I was not in a good mood, standing there freezing, getting more and more angry as I spotted the German barracks on the hillsides, disgustingly marring our lovely scenery. My parents had not taught me to swear, but I had to make some kind of exclamation… BAM BAM… Like a shot the theme for Ballad of Revolt came to me. And this was my shot during the war

The work, written in 1943 is dedicated to “small and large Resistance fighters”, and it became a symbol for the Norwegian struggle during the war.

This performance is by Leif Ove Andsnes a beautiful and talented Norwegian pianist.

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Update: I fixed the bad link to the mp3.

I don’t want to write only about war. Here are some recent art exhibits I’ve seen, plus a future recommendation. Some of the shows have already closed.

• Jeff Burton at Casey Kaplan: Trust me it was great. Casey Kaplan has a lousy website without images. There was a good article on it in HX of all places — but I can’t find it online. The whole photo shoot consisted of him spending 10 minutes with a go-go boy, Kevin, in a gay strip club in New Orleans. Kevin is wearing a red velveteen thong, white socks, and Bass Weejuns.
  
• Larry Mantello – “Box Rap” at Henry Urbach — an installation of kitsch, patriotic and otherwise
  
• Type A at Sara Meltzer
  
• Group show at John Connelly, including Wade Guyton — no web site!
  
• Öyvind Fahlström at Feigen — brillliant Scandinavian/Brazilian conceptualist whose work seems decades ahead of its time
  
• Doug Wada at Elizabeth Dee — semi-photo-realistic paintings, especially for the fans and air conditioners</a>
  
• Holly Coulis at LFL Gallery — This gallery is a consistent favorite, especially for work of interesting young painters</p>

The future recommendation is Jules de Balincourt, opening at LFL in May. When we were there on Saturday to decide on buying a couple of works, having seen the work when visiting to see the Holly Coulis exhibit, the back was buzzing with people looking at his work. While we were there a collector/critic and a good artist stopped by to check out his work.

Police Attack California Anti-War Protesters

OAKLAND, Calif. – Police open fired Monday morning with non-lethal bullets at an anti-war protest at the Port of Oakland, injuring several longshoremen standing nearby.

Police were trying to clear protesters from an entrance to the docks when they opened fire and the longshoremen apparently were caught in the line of fire.

Six longshoremen were treated by paramedics and at least one was expected to be taken to a hospital. It was unclear if any of the protesters was injured.

“I was standing as far back as I could,” said longshoreman Kevin Wilson. “It was very scary. All of that force wasn’t necessary.”



A protestor, who refused to give her name, bears the wounds after she says was hit by Oakland police weapon during a anti-war protest in Oakland, Calif., Monday, Aug. 7, 2003 outside the port area. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

Also there was a demonstration at Carlyle Group in Manhattan today. I can understand that those engaged in non-violent civil disobedience were arrested, but the police also arrested legal protesters across the street from Carlyle.

There will be a demo in support of those people at One Police Plaza tonight beginning 5-6pm.

I think we all better leave before the 2004 GOP convention is held in NYC.

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Update: Yahoo has a story with photos on the Oakland attack.

I wrote about this project in late February right before it happened: “a live satellite conversation between students in Iraq and students in America to include the voice of a younger generation in the current public discourse.”

I just watched a few minutes of the show on WNYE (channel 25 in Manhattan), and I’m ordering the video. The American students were at DCTV, and the Iraqi students were at this gallery — yes they have a web site. You can order the video, or watch a few minutes from it here.

They have been unable to get any of the major networks interested in the show. I heard the producers this morning on WNYC’s On The Media show.

Iraq-O-Meter

I’ve never really worried about being masculine. I know it’s a very popular thing, especially in America, to not want to be seen as homosexual. But I thought it was kind of exciting.

Ewan McGregor, via Welshcake.

I’m not sure I recognize this country anymore. I think we’ve slipped down the rabbit hole and only a few people I know are still sane.

Americans say they’re ready to go after Iran and Syria next, and that driving Hummers is patriotic. They think war is something to watch on TV. This is also war, more than driving some 10 mpg SUV is:

William Buesing III, the biological father of U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Brian Buesing, is overcome with grief as he holds the U.S. Flag presented to him at the funeral services for his son Saturday, April 5, 2003 at Cedar Key, Fla.

The government can hold American citizens in jail without charging them using sealed warrants. We are not a nation of laws if no one bothers to enforce the Constitution, and frankly that’s one of the only good aspects of our society. If we lose that, what do we get to be proud of? A commercial culture? The fact we can’t provide healthcare to over 41 million Americans? That we make things like Something About Mary: The Collectors Edition?

Digital Journalist has some good photo galleries from photojournalists covering the war on Iraq. [via kottke]