WASHINGTON (CNN) -- About 100 demonstrators rallied outside Myanmar's embassy in Washington on Saturday, joining an international day of action in cities around the world to "free Burma."
...and if the Shrub came on TeeVee tomorrow and said, "You know, we've heard the protesters and have decided to free Burma. The airstrikes start in 15 minutes." the protesters would have been all aghast and saying "But we didn't really mean it!"
In their world, you "free" something by carrying a sign and thinking happy thoughts, not by risking your life in fighting oppression. Soon enough, "Free Burma" will be like "Free Tibet", a way to put some content-free good karma points on the bumper of your Volvo.
+11
ReplyDeleteI guess I'm just misanthropic, but I fail to see why the US should ever lift a finger to "free" anyone. Christ, if you can't nut up and effectively defend yourself, you aren't worth the blood to do it for you. Same basic thing for any country's sovereignty. If you can't keep the neighbors out of your yard, you don't deserve your own house.
ReplyDeleteBumper sticker: "Free Tibet. Dial 1-800-MARINES to schedule."
ReplyDeleteThat's some unadulterated craft-brewed snark you did there. Piquant.
OA, your point of view is a popular one. I agree with it often, depending on the day someone asks.
ReplyDeleteBut at least we can all agree that these hypocrites are funny.
Couldn't put it any better than you did, Tam.
ReplyDeleteExcellent comments from oa and comatus, too.
Uh, well, yes.
ReplyDeleteAnd that's all I can say about that.
Well, maybe...
"Did you bring guns?"
"NO!"
"Then you ain't changin' nothin'."
And we're supposed to free Burma from what?
ReplyDeleteHow about free Burma from NED/CIA interference and America's "privatized" foreign policy to cold-war warrior George Soros?
It is an open secret that Anug San Suu Kyi is connected with the CIA thru NED-funded think tank Einstein Institute (operated by DIA intel ops Robert Helvey):
http://www.google.com/search?q=Aung+San+Suu+Kyi+Robert+Helvey
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Albert_Einstein_Institution
Burmese pro-democracy activists openly acknowledge they are bank rolled by OSI, a quasi-government organization funded by George Sorors - the guy who raped the Thai Bhat.
Again I ask - free Burma from what?
Free Burma*!
ReplyDelete*With qualifying purchase. Limit one Burma per customer visit. Quantities limited. Some restrictions apply. Not available at Myanmar locations.
"Burma!"
ReplyDelete"Wot?"
"I panicked."
Free 'em all. GM's looking for work, right? We can pass the hat to have them stamp out a few zillion Liberators and start airdropping them where it will do the most good.
I'm sure the protesters Tam cites will be among the first to dig deep and give 'til it hurts! Yeppers.
Thank you for helping. FREE Burma!!!
ReplyDeleteBush slammed the UN and the rulers of Myanmar in his UN speech last week. The only country that has any influence over Myanmar is China, and they can't and won't push too hard. There is too much Oil & Gas there that they need.
The UN must do something, but they never use military force to fight.
That is a huge problem.
Illegal drug and ruby fortunes are a BIG part of this too.
absurd thought -
God of the Universe wants
complete narco states
criminals in power
loving the corrupt drug war
absurd thought -
God of the Universe says
shoot peaceful protesters
calling for democracy
which you must never allow
absurd thought -
God of the Universe thinks
keep trying communism
you can never KILL too much
pursuing Utopia...
http://free-burma.org/
http://absurdthoughtsaboutgod.blogspot.com/
:)
.
You know, we've come to expect weapons-grade snark from you... but this brings you very close to critical mass.
ReplyDeleteAung San Suu Kyi
ReplyDeleteAppeals to those
Who want a sharp
And very close
Burma Shave
...and bobby fletcher just made "the list"
ReplyDeleteCan't wait, I'm telling ya.
Sorry chili, the Liberator is a Ford product. Willow Run plant, also home to Kaiser-Frazer. No GM.
ReplyDeleteI hope I am not way out of line for making a bibliophilic note here. Anthony Burgess' earliest novel of note is a massive Burmese trilogy, "The Long Day Wanes." It's not about Burma today, of course, but believe me, it's all in there. Most shocking from our perspective is that the colonial Brits seem more historically distant than Malay and Chinese characters. It's a rip-snorting triple-decker with fascinatingly snarky insights on European converts to Islam, and a score of other things.
Half of Tuchman's "Stilwell and The American Experience in China" isn't about China, but Indochina. Please, let's argue about Stilwell all week. I'll just toss out his money quote, "All of Southeast Asia is not worth one American life," and roll right along to "Europeans see war as an extension of diplomacy. Americans see it as a disease, to be eradicated as swiftly as possible by whatever means necessary." (That last may not be exact, since I say it so often I know it by heart).
Okay so do I make "The List" now, or was I already on it?
No, comatus, you aren't on it.
ReplyDeleteSeems our friend bob is a bit of a denier of sorts.
He's also head-up-ass about how dirty and evil our (that'd be the USA's) dealings have been in southeast Asia, and thinks that the whole thing is some sort of covert CIA-led operation to misinform the public with outright lies, or serious distortions, at the least.
The list is reserved for ass-hats like him.
Last I knew, you were quite sane.
"Quite sane." Praising with faint damn, if ever I heard it.
ReplyDeleteHow often I have wished, just lately, that the CIA were as all-seeing and all-knowing as I used to accuse them of being.
Apropos, then, would be the one Stilwell line everyone knows, the absolute worst Latin aphorism ever: Non illegitimi carborundum.
Ford, GM, Random Tool & Die, I don't care: start churning out those .45 popguns and getting them into the hands of the unarmed. When the smoke clears, it'll be a whole new day.
ReplyDeleteRepeat until most Burmese left are tired of it. This is messy and awkward, just look at the French reboot in the 18th century, but it's worth a try.
And it would make George Soros wet himself. That's the best part.
comatus,
ReplyDelete"Don't let the bastards grind you down."
Pretty hard to resist the onslaught, but that's the hand we've been dealt, so I'll keep trudging along, as long as necessary. I'm going down with the ship. Faint Damn? No, sir! If I were going that route, I'd come right out and say it.
chili,
I'd agree with your analysis. Problem being that most in this world we now live can't see anything other than the rose-colored picture that they paint for themselves. They just can't believe that the world is really different from the way they see it, and they are willing to cram it all down everyone else's throats to prove their point.
War is messy, but in this situation, it's going to be that way regardless. Fight to win, and be quick about it. At the end, those who win are almost always pretty amenable to peace.
oh yeah, those Liberators. Yes, GM, Guide Lamp division, Anderson Ind. Fair enough. I've got Air Corps on the brain just lately.
ReplyDeleteb&n, "trudging along" really fits: Stilwell walked all the way up Burma to India.
Hard for me to accept there could be a Burma solution that didn't involve William Holden and Alec Guinness...Madness!
Yes, Comatus: those Liberators. The big ones that suck petrol don't qualify as air-droppable, or not more than once!
ReplyDeletePlus, they're not a local, sustainable fix. Tsk, tsk, we must be PC now. :D
...But the real reason I like air-droppable disposable popguns is that they'd let Burmese people have a go at solving Burma's problems in a hands-on manner. I'll (reluctantly) spot the rest of the world some fifty-cent guns and few rounds on my tax dime but bombers add up to real money and lack the personal touch. Especially if you're after something of recent vintage.
There's no point our young dieing over this when it could be the people who have an immediate stake in the outcome doing the bleeding.
chili,
ReplyDeleteYou took the words right out of my mouth.
Been saying the same thing about Darfur for at least a couple of years.