Article

2004-02-20

Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.

Posted by tipper 2004-02-20 11:08:01 AM|| || Front Page|| [2 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 You tell him, Don!

Posted by Steve from Relto 2004-2-20 11:19:43 AM|| 2004-2-20 11:19:43 AM|| Front Page Top

#2 Whats this Colliers International thing?

Posted by Lucky 2004-2-20 11:50:40 AM|| 2004-2-20 11:50:40 AM|| Front Page Top

#3 There is a Vietname Human Rights Bill apparently stalled on the house side, HR1587, that was referred to subcommittee in April 2003. I'm trying to find out what the status on that is.

Posted by Pamela 2004-2-20 12:10:19 PM|| 2004-2-20 12:10:19 PM|| Front Page Top

#4 "No Blood for Real Estate!"

Posted by Raj 2004-2-20 12:22:44 PM|| [http://angrycyclist.blogspot.com] 2004-2-20 12:22:44 PM|| Front Page Top

#5 Collier's International could well turn out to be Kerry's 'Conflict Of Interest' fiasco, Lucky. Much like the Dems want us to believe their Cheny/Halliburton rants. But 'Collier's' is much more well documented. A real estate conglomerate owned by Kerry's cousin. Whose major asset is most of what was South Vietnam!

Posted by Jack Deth 2004-2-20 12:46:49 PM|| 2004-2-20 12:46:49 PM|| Front Page Top

#6 Doesnt it make sense to have Viet Nam as an ally, in view of the growing strength of China? Has the Bush admin taken a different stance than John Kerry on Viet Nam?

Posted by liberalhawk 2004-2-20 1:33:33 PM|| 2004-2-20 1:33:33 PM|| Front Page Top

#7 Amen, brother.

Posted by Michael 2004-2-20 2:02:39 PM|| 2004-2-20 2:02:39 PM|| Front Page Top

#8 Thank you, Don, thank you!

There's probably at least a book, here. How about The Mythology and Conventional Wisdom of the Global Conscience Machine as a working title?

I've been wondering how long it would take before someone with credentials and dignity refuted Kerry's face-saving lies and guilty duplicity. I have no doubt Kerry thought, as those who are too full of themselves to see any other perspective always seem to do, that no one would seriously challenge his rose-colored memories of himself as hero and self-righteous Socratic conscience of a generation.

After all, 99% of the movies (the social myth-making machinery run by Hollywood's hapless heroes, loveless Lotharios, drugstore cowboys, and REMF warriors) about Vietnam were made by people who weren't there, have no clue, and swallowed this bullshit whole when they were dodging their own service obligation - cuz it soothed the wounds of their cowardice.

It takes a bigger lie (service in Vietnam was wrong) to cover and assuage the guilty sum of the teeming knot of nasty little lies (they were frightened kids who, when they discovered it was possible, stopped at nothing to manipulate the system to avoid dangerous service) that threatens to shatter the self-image of righteous indignation. The Vietnam myths abound. In fact, so great has been the effort that Vietnam has reached the status of icon, a symbol loaded with predigested (and, therefore, unchallenged) conventional wisdom and meaning: guilt and failure, both factually and morally. To challenge any aspect of such an iconic myth is to invite attacks from all who buy into it... The machine has much invested in this myth, this boogeyman...

So the machine succeeded. It has succeeded so well that the myth has grown until it encompasses the entire world. Since the vast majority of people are, in fact, fearful of conflict and loathe to confront evil - unknowns frighten most, the Vietnam myth has been embraced - swallowed whole - for the same reasons that it appealed to a generation of frightened teenagers (and their parents) of the US almost 40 years ago. The US is the planet's media giant. Our media machinery has manufactured myths for global consumption for more than half a century - and in this case we've fed them the same steady diet of half-truths and half-lies that we "needed" to "forgive" ourselves in the Vietnam era.

So there should be little wonder that any event or circumstance which challenges this global conventional wisdom, this myth of Vietnam, would result not just in a heated debate within the US, but would take on global proportions. Where this debate spills over and serves the vested interests of other societies and governments and even powerful business interests, such as George Soros and his ilk, we see the addition of well-funded and even state-run media attacks. So much for dignity and honesty in the debate.

Obviously, the Vietnam myth is ripe for debunking and the process has begun - hell, we owe it to ourselves to clean out the collective closet, now and then. Perhaps the WoT will provide the collective experiences, the solid evidence and proof to do it. It certainly needs some light-of-day exposure - for today, given the lethality of weaponry and its proliferation, it is incredibly dangerous for a society to replay old tapes of irrelevant history. And mere irrelevant history it is, complete with machine-generated myths and bullshit and vested interests and manipulation.

Back on topic to this particular episode of manipulation and bullshit, Don Bendell has challenged one of the beneficiaries of this myth eloquently (Kerry's been feeding at the public trough and propagating the bullshit with every vote in the Senate) and with the dignity that the pretenders, the myth's True Believers, can only dream of possessing.

Now let's see how long it takes for a major press outlet to pick up Don's challenge and make it common knowledge. Since propagating the myths are their bread and butter, I won't be holding my breath. Apologies to all for my pedantic ranting. Some topics just scream for a big pic airing, IMHO, lest we forget. Perspective is second only to the truth in importance, methinks.

Posted by .com 2004-2-20 3:11:54 PM|| 2004-2-20 3:11:54 PM|| Front Page Top

#9 Mull things sometimes .com?

Posted by Shipman 2004-2-20 4:48:29 PM|| 2004-2-20 4:48:29 PM|| Front Page Top

#10 May God Bless you and your service to the United States, sir. Were I qualified to salute you, I would do so, readily.

Posted by badanov 2004-2-20 5:43:24 PM|| [http://www.rkka.org] 2004-2-20 5:43:24 PM|| Front Page Top

#11 Ship - Hey, I apologized at the end! I know this is preaching to the choir, etc, and that everyone here knows the bits and pieces ring true, but when drawn together they provide a context within which responses like Mr Bendell's can really make sense to the fence-sitters who know something's not quite right and can't quite overcome the myth's grip. Oops, I'm doing it again. Sorry! ;-)

Posted by .com 2004-2-20 5:56:17 PM|| 2004-2-20 5:56:17 PM|| Front Page Top

#12 .com, I'm with you on the myths being created and propagated by those who were not there or were there and somehow failed, in order to make sense of their absence or failure.

I concluded sometime ago that the only way to get past the myths is to read first hand accounts by people who were actually there.

Posted by phil_b 2004-2-20 6:11:55 PM|| 2004-2-20 6:11:55 PM|| Front Page Top

#13 phil_b - [insert favorite diety here] Bless the Blogosphere!

Posted by .com 2004-2-20 6:56:28 PM|| 2004-2-20 6:56:28 PM|| Front Page Top

#14 lets let this one percolate quietly... until Kerry oficially has the nomination in hand.

Then you open up, after time has passed and its too late for the Dems to reload with Edwards.

Just keep gathering the facts, dont push at all. Not until the right moment...

Posted by OldSpook 2004-2-20 7:57:45 PM|| 2004-2-20 7:57:45 PM|| Front Page Top

#15 Oh you're mean. Really mean. Melike beaucoup!!!

Posted by .com 2004-2-20 8:20:08 PM|| 2004-2-20 8:20:08 PM|| Front Page Top

#16 Well said Dot. The VN myth. So very well said.

Posted by Lucky 2004-2-20 11:54:56 PM|| 2004-2-20 11:54:56 PM|| Front Page Top

#17 Oh yeah, Jack. Post what you know. Pamela, big kiss. Lay it on us!

Posted by Lucky 2004-2-20 11:58:37 PM|| 2004-2-20 11:58:37 PM|| Front Page Top

11:58 ravin
11:03 Anonymous
09:31 B
09:23 B
02:10 SON OF TOLUI
00:18 Lucky
00:10 Lucky
23:58 Lucky
23:54 Lucky
23:47 True German Ally
23:28 OldSpook
23:11 whitecollar redneck
22:48 Alaska Paul
22:33 Fred
22:30 .com
22:28 john
22:24 Steve
22:15 GK
22:03 Fred
22:01 Fred
21:47 john
21:29 john
21:25 john
21:18 Phil Fraering