Politics

Michael Swanwick is keeping a list of SF authors opposed to the war. Linked for my reference (via Making Light).

The Chicago Tribune reports that many of the recent pro-war rallies were sponsored by Clear Channel. Clear Channel is currently lobbying against proposed regulatory changes that would limit its ability to expand. This doesn’t diminish or negate the sentiments expressed by those attending, but it sure raises some interesting questions about Clear Channel.

Weird little Cheney interview. He says, referring to terrorism, “[T]he United States and the president have been forced to come to grips with issues that our allies to date have not yet had to come to grips with…” And I really don’t understand that. Has he somehow missed the Red Army, or more recently the Chechnya terrorists who took over a theater in Russia? Shining Path ring a bell? Or, hey, how about the IRA and the Basque separatists? It seems very clear to me that many European nations on both sides of the debate have seen more than enough terrorist activity to get a very clear idea of the issues.

This is kind of trainspotting at this point, but the Guardian is running live coverage of the British House of Commons debate on Iraq. There’s no doubt Blair’s resolution will pass at this point; the question is how many Labour MPs will defect. Robin Cook adroitly separated opposition to war from opposition to Blair’s government yesterday, which makes today more interesting.

There we go. Here’s the full text of Robin Cook’s resignation speech, which I’ve been pitching as a must read, so hurry up already. In other British political news, Clare Short (original) withdrew her threat to resign, confirming everything skeptics think about the left.

So. We’re going to war. I think a number of things, which I will outline here, as much to remind myself of them in the days to come as for any other reason. I think that regime change in Iraq is an admirable goal; Saddam Hussein is a terrible leader who has caused great harm to his citizens. He is a dictator and a criminal. I have no doubt of this. ...

Charlie Daniels continues to be a sad, sorry little son of a bitch. He sent that “ open letter” out to a bunch of people. Tamara Saviano (who works in the music industry) got the letter, apparently directly from Daniels. She responded, from her home, on her own time. [She got fired](http://web.archive.org/web/20080705040512/http://web.archive.org/web/20080705040512/http://www.blogcritics.org/archives/2003/03/10/185255.php (original) “Blogcritics: Free Speech Crushed in Nashville”) (original). After Daniels’ publicist complained. So not only is Daniels revealing himself as the worst kind of idiot, but if you dare to disagree with him, he’ll see if he can get you fired. ...

Two very important speeches were delivered today. One was delivered to the people of the United States; one was delivered to Britain’s House of Commons. I’m glad I had the chance to watch both of them. President Bush made what we must now consider the definitive Administration case for war on Iraq. Robin Cook made what I consider to be the definitive case against. (I have not found a transcript of the latter, but there is a RealVideo archive.) ...

Robin Cook and Tony Blair displayed uncommon class in their letters regarding the former’s resignation. That’s how you disagree with someone’s policies without attacking them as a person. It’d make good reading for a lot of people on both sides of the aisle.

Last night, Bush said “Tomorrow is the day we determine whether or not diplomacy can work.” Today, the US, the UK, and Spain [withdrew the British resolution](http://web.archive.org/web/20081013005051/http://web.archive.org/web/20081013005051/http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/03/17/sprj.irq.main/index.html (original) “CNN.com - Bush to address nation on Iraq - Mar. 17, 2003”) (original). Dude, it’s not even noon yet. That was a pretty short day. I mean, OK, leaving aside the issue of whether you’re pro or anti — isn’t it a little weird that Bush can’t even stick with a diplomatic plan for 24 hours? Couldn’t he have just said, “If we don’t see a diplomatic solution by tomorrow morning, time’s up,” perhaps? You’re President of the most powerful nation on Earth. Gotta stop sending these mixed messages. ...