The Spitzer Principle

I don’t know who Barack Obama would pick for his vice president. I would hope that it’s not Michael Bloomberg, but my guess is today’s press slathering from the Beltway Blogs is groundless.

I hope that Obama makes his decision by what we can call The Spitzer Principle, which is, knowing that the Republicans will seek to destroy a successful progressive leader, the selection of the second ranking official should tend towards someone who is a progressive who can continue on the policies of the first official if he or she is force to resign.

I am engaging in wishful thinking, though, at least as far as it comes to Obama. I’m expecting a red state, moderate governor to be Obama’s VP pick.

Robert Thurman

Robert Thurman, preeminent Tibet scholar and father of Uma, has a piece at WashingtonPost.com titled, “China Needs the Dalai Lama.” It’s a powerful article and this passage stood out to me as best capturing the moment that has been created for there to be resolution to the Tibet question resulting in freedom for Tibetans.

The promise of the present moment has been precipitated first by the innovative leaders of China, gingerly stepping out into the glare of world publicity and opinion by hosting the Olympic Games and second, just now, by the brave people of Tibet stepping out on their own past the plans of their leader and, against great odds, standing up for the truth of their existence as Tibetans. Risking their very lives, they protest the total destruction of their culture, environment, and way of life. They have done this in the spirit of nonviolent resistance, although decades of bitterness and the extremity of their present situation did cause some of them to lose sight of this foundational principle of their struggle and commit some acts of violence. They stood up to the firing of armed Chinese troops, they raised their flag of freedom, and they remain standing in spite of the massive loss of life and liberty they knew would come.

The Dalai Lama didn’t ask them to sacrifice themselves in this way. He tells them he will resign if they commit more violent acts, even exceptionally, and he agonizes over the vengeance the hard-line authorities can be expected to exact. At the same time, he and the rest of the world stands in awe of the extraordinary depth of faith being exhibited by his brave people, an echo of similar courageous acts witnessed in the last century during the Civil Rights struggles in the U.S. and South Africa.

As David Dayen wrote yesterday,  “The Tibetans can and will be free, and China’s remaining in denial will only harm them more in the end.”

Obey the NYT

Today’s New York Times has a piece about how young voters are getting news online, sharing it socially, and avoiding traditional outlets like the six o’clock news in favor of internet outlets for similar information. The Times ties metrics speaking to the voracious consumption of news online by young people to the massive rise of turnout by youth voters in the presidential primary campaign. In short, it’s an article that should serve as a combined validation for the work internet technologists on political campaigns and people like Mike Connery, Jane Fleming Kleeb, Alex Urevick-Ackelsberg, and Fred Gooltz who have all been evangelicals when it comes to the rise of youth vote.

It’s great to see the media finally recognize that young people care about politics and are finding new ways to learn and share information about politics online – and then taking that information and voting on it. That said, I wonder what the reasoning for having the art for this article included a photo of youths at an Obama rally holding a poster designed by Shephard Fairey. It’s a nice picture and all, but while the article uses a couple Obama references for how youth enthusiasm is manifesting itself in the presidential campaign, the article isn’t about Obama’s support from young voters.

Tibetan Monks Disrupt “Guided Tour” for Journalists

AP:

A group of Tibetan monks disrupted a tour by foreign reporters to Lhasa Thursday, complaining that there is no religious freedom and that the Dalai Lama is not to blame for recent violence.

About 30 monks surged into a carefully stage-managed visit to the sacred Jokang Temple in Lhasa by foreign reporters. They yelled “Tibet is not free. Tibet is not free.”

They also said their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, had nothing to do with recent anti-government riots by Tibetans in Lhasa, where buildings were torched and ethnic Han Chinese were attacked. Government handlers tried to pull the journalists away when the monks protested.

The government has said the March 14 riots were supported by “the Dalai clique.”

With the exception of Thursday’s disruption, the first group of foreign journalists allowed into the Tibetan capital since soon after the riots has been given a carefully monitored glimpse of a city divided.

On Wednesday, the first day of the visit, police presence was visible but not overbearing in the newly built up and heavily Chinese portions of Lhasa, teams of security forces stood in the lanes near the Jokhang Temple.

Two Tibetan teachers drinking in a nearby bar said they were enjoying a first night out after nighttime curfews kept them at home eating mainly tsampa — roasted barley — since the day after the March 14 riot. One reason the curfew was loosened, they said, was the foreign media visit.

Students for a Free Tibet responded to this act of brave disruption of China’s propaganda machine in a statement by Executive Director Lhadon Tethong:

“In Tibet, where the free expression of political views is met with incarceration and torture, these monks risked everything to show the world that Tibet is not free. While the Chinese government tries to paint a picture of criminal Tibetan riots and many in the press focus on ethnic tensions, the fundamental issue is freedom. The Tibetan people are not and never will be content under Chinese rule.”

I think it’s simply worth pointing out that China has been severely embarrassed by these monks. China thought that by hand-picking a group of foreign journalists and bringing them to Lhasa for a brief guided tour of the city, with similarly hand-picked Han Chinese settlers who were injured in protests, they would be able to convince these journalists and then the world that all the problems in Tibet originated from oppressed Tibetans, but now all is well. Unfortunately, it’s hard to get that story line out when the Tibetan monks are willing to risk their personal safety to disrupt the propaganda tour and give these foreign journalists their first real access to Tibet.

This propaganda tour aimed to present a facade of press freedom. China sought to quiet the loud, global sentiment that foreign journalists must be allowed back into Tibet. But it was an illusion, empty of the truth the world needed until these brave monks spoke out and made sure that the press had access to real Tibetans who suffer under oppression and risk their lives for freedom.

Update:

Al Jazeera has video footage of the Tibetan monks at the Jokhang temple as well, though they say 50-60 monks participated in their impromptu news conference.

Someone Finally Said It

The Editors on the energy crisis and global warming:

People, listen: reducing the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere?  Obtaining all the energy we need directly from sunlight?  These are the kinds of insurmountable engineering challenges overcome every day by plants.  Plants.  And not just those clever trees or those cunning shrubberies, mind you – single-celled algae-type bullshit figured out workable solutions to these questions 3.4 billion years ago.  Call me speciesist (kingdomist?), but I’ve never found the flora to be particularly deep thinkers.  I suspect we can probably do a well if not better, but we might have to cease our incessant whining and excuse-making for a while.  Oh, and stop spending billions of dollars a week so that Friends of Dubya don’t have to admit that they fucked the dog.

Somewhere in this argument, a creationist is outraged.

The Blackwater Fever

Gorilla’s Guides:

FALLUJAH, Mar 26 (IPS) – Iraqi doctors in al-Anbar province warn of a new disease they call “Blackwater” that threatens the lives of thousands. The disease is named after Blackwater Worldwide, the U.S. mercenary company operating in Iraq.

“This disease is a severe form of malarial infection caused by the parasite plasmodium falciparum, which is considered the worst type of malarial infection,” Dr. Ali Hakki from Fallujah told IPS. “It is one of the complications of that infection, and not the ordinary picture of the disease. Because of its frequent and severe complications, such as Blackwater fever, and its resistance to treatment, P. falciparum can cause death within 24 hours.”

What Iraqis now call Blackwater fever is really a well-known medical condition, and while it has nothing to do with Blackwater Worldwide, Iraqis in al-Anbar province have decided to make the connection between the disease and the lethal U.S.-based company which has been responsible for the death of countless Iraqis.

The disease is most prevalent in Africa and Asia. The patient suffers severe intravascular haemolysis — the destruction of red blood cells leading to kidney and liver failure. It also leads to black or red urination, and hence perhaps the new name ‘Blackwater’.

The deadly disease, never before seen in Iraq on at least this scale, seems to be spreading across the country. And Iraq lacks medicines, hospitals, and doctors to lead a campaign to fight the disease.

“We informed the ministry of the disease, but it seems that they are not in a mood to listen,” a doctor from the al-Anbar Health Office in Ramadi told IPS, speaking on condition of anonymity. “We are making personal contacts with NGOs in an attempt to get the necessary medicines.”

The three doctors who spoke to IPS in Fallujah and in Ramadi in al-Anbar province that lies west of Baghdad, seemed sure that the Iraqi government would do little to face the plague.

I don’t know that either the associating of this fever with Blackwater or the continued failure of public health system in Iraq is surprising, but it is tragic and depressing. Hopefully this gives both the US government another impetus for eliminating private military contractors from Iraq – and the US government’s employ on whole – as well as compel the Iraqi government to treat public health risks seriously as soon as they arise.

Oh Noes!!

funny pictures

Mike Gravel has dropped out of the Democratic presidential primary (Breaking: he was still in it) and is bolting the Democratic Party.

Long-shot presidential candidate Mike Gravel told supporters Wednesday he is leaving the Democratic Party to join the Libertarian Party.

Gravel, a former Democratic senator from Alaska, said in an e-mail that the Democratic Party “no longer represents my vision for our great country.”

Via Melissa McEwan.

Just A Thought

Between my vacation and the few days I’ve been back, I’ve pretty much focused my energies on writing about what is happening in Tibet. While I was away I was able to avoid probably 95% of the Clinton vs. Obama daily pie fights, which was refreshing beyond words. It’s harder for me to avoid them now, but I’m doing what I can.

Moreover, the presidential campaign and the daily pie fights continue to suck up a massive amount of oxygen in the news, beltway blogs, and, to a slightly lesser extent, the progressive blogosphere. With both the House and Senate on recess, there just isn’t that much that I’m feeling a hankering to write about right now, other than Tibet and a few passing things.

If this isn’t what you usually get from me, dear reader, I apologize and assure you I will be back on my moral high ground regarding civil liberties and FISA just as soon as the Senate reconvenes.