20 March 2003
As an example of the media's kind of unseemly gee-whizness about this war(of the anchors Peter Jennings seems the least pumped about this and has given a lot of airtime to the protests) that seems to be kind of willing blindness to the nature of the operation, Ted Koppel's been quoting from Shakespeare to describe the situation, the quote being "Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war." Actually, I think he got the first word wrong(don't recall what he had instead) and changed "let slip" to "unleash" but there's something telling about it in that he said it was from what is considered a very patriotic play about a young, untested(and a bit of a partier in his youth) ruler gaining his rightful manhood by taking back what his forefathers lost, HENRY V. I'm sure many rulers would be flattered by a comparison to that ruler, though I suspect it'd be lost on Dubya.
But in fact it's from a play about a well-intentioned but destructive act that leads to the end of a Republic and the start of an Empire. The act causes exactly what it's meant to stop, and what may have been inevitable anyway. It's called JULIUS CAESAR. Interesting slip he let slip there.
Speaking of the protests: looks like the Chicago cops have reclaimed their porcine ways from 35 years ago. They went into a crowd they did not bother to ask to disperse with riot gear and clubs(even the horses had face shields), drove them to Lake Shore Drive, and now have them rounded up in the middle of the Northbound side awaiting arrest, or so I'm seeing on live TV now. This was a nonviolent protest except for one isolated window-breaking incident that occurred long before the cops started coming in. The cops gave no warning and indeed many of the protestors herded to Lake Shore Drive would have gone home but the cops had them hemmed in so tightly they couldn't even breathe easily, and they're keeping them that way right now.
This is only the first 24 hours. What are they prepared to do if protests continue? In Chicago they almost certainly will: this is the city of the '68 Democratic Convention and the Haymarket Massacre. Chicago protestors aren't easily intimidated and Chicago cops don't have to get things like brutality put on their record(no, seriously; it's something several organizations are lobbying to change), which is why it's hard to prove charges of it here.
This doesn't bode too well.
But in fact it's from a play about a well-intentioned but destructive act that leads to the end of a Republic and the start of an Empire. The act causes exactly what it's meant to stop, and what may have been inevitable anyway. It's called JULIUS CAESAR. Interesting slip he let slip there.
Speaking of the protests: looks like the Chicago cops have reclaimed their porcine ways from 35 years ago. They went into a crowd they did not bother to ask to disperse with riot gear and clubs(even the horses had face shields), drove them to Lake Shore Drive, and now have them rounded up in the middle of the Northbound side awaiting arrest, or so I'm seeing on live TV now. This was a nonviolent protest except for one isolated window-breaking incident that occurred long before the cops started coming in. The cops gave no warning and indeed many of the protestors herded to Lake Shore Drive would have gone home but the cops had them hemmed in so tightly they couldn't even breathe easily, and they're keeping them that way right now.
This is only the first 24 hours. What are they prepared to do if protests continue? In Chicago they almost certainly will: this is the city of the '68 Democratic Convention and the Haymarket Massacre. Chicago protestors aren't easily intimidated and Chicago cops don't have to get things like brutality put on their record(no, seriously; it's something several organizations are lobbying to change), which is why it's hard to prove charges of it here.
This doesn't bode too well.
Labels: politics
¶ March 20, 2003
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