The Lipman Times

OPINION: Live Blogging The Beck Rally

Dr. Alan J. Lipman — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 17:58:21 +0000

10:03 Where are the searchlights and the gold standards?

They had to put a scrim with a picture of the Lincoln Memorial in front of the Lincoln Memorial because the symbolism wasn’t enough.

This introduction has the sound of a 1950’s film strip.

10:06: Shots of the crowd. Pure White. Lots of shaved heads, American flag shirts.

You can feel a seething “against”

Boy Scout leading the pledge of allegiance. This is truly a nationalist rally.

The first people of color–as singers of the national anthem. Two and two. You can imagine the conversation–1 will seem as if it is too little, three too threatening.

10:10 Beck enters. Slightly messianic.

America begins to turn back to god.

For too long the country has wandered in darkness. Darkness again. The slight inference.

Possibly running for office.

Invoking Moses.

God and god’s law.

He may have pulled his bolt too soon. He’s not quite large enough for the occasion. Did he overestimate his own effect?

Behind him, meanwhile coming up behind him were a rabbi, a naive American and a pastor.

“I would like to introduce the rabbi (said with a slight note of triumphalism–proof)

A rabbi, a native American, a pastor and Glenn beck walk into a bar…

Each speaks. The Pastor first.

Every crowd shot. All White.

A self-satisfied, slightly aggressive Pastor combining nationalism and religion. “It was you the Pilgrims knelt to…”

Where is the black religious representative? This would be too touchy–over the line for the audience–combining religion and race. The audience would be confused, it would dampen the rising of the spirit–what is Beck saying?

They will come later–separately, alone–e.g., in their place.

This guy is likely taking more time than expected–going for his moment in the sun. Right now, this is a fully Christian rally.

Are they not going to have the other representatives talk?

Unbelievable–makes them second–supporters of the majority, “actual” voice of religion–the pastor. This must be the idea of unity–acceptance of the “truth”.

10:21 Beck continuing. “Where are the Heroes?”. Perhaps the other religious representatives will be interspersed…

Introducing the President of Special Operations Warriors Foundation, a Wounded Warriors group, John Carney.

This is bringing the sacrificing Colonel forward–rousing the sacrifice and strength of the Military, to build in that component into audience response. The nation we know. That is true America. Thus far: Jesus, Nationalism, and others that are on the same stage continent if they quietly know their place.

I’m embarrassed for the Rabbi and Native American couple.

10:25 Deb Argel-Bastian, a mother of a special forces tactics officer killed in Iraq, Capt. Derek Angel.
Red polo shirt with an emblem, blond hair. I’m getting angrier as I see Beck using the emotions of tragedy, death, to shape the nationalist message in a form known so well.

This is a tragedy. What is the message? That concern about such tragedies has been lost? That we should be angry that concern about such “honor” is not occurring? The pain of a mother who has lost a child is being used as part of the pageant, the emotional rousing of such feelings lost, transsubstantiating the origins of the loss of that very child from its origins in the war in Iraq to a blended emotion of rage at those who would build mosques, and not care about this. So now we have Nationalism, Jesus, the acceptance of Jesus by other religions, tragedy.

After, Beck asks the crowd to text to SOWF 85944.

10:33 He is talking about stained glass windows of Martha and Mary, that when the sun hits them right, their chests glow red.

So far, mostly symbolic rousing of emotions, no message really.

In a sense, he is being stripped bare–there is nothing at the heart of him. Introduces Sarah Palin

Big shouts, screams.

10:35: Palin: “Aren’t you proud to be an American?”
“We stand at the symbolic cross roads of American history”
Invokes King. All men are created equal.
The one true–emphasizes true–god of justice
Then makes the shift to men in uniform–nothing to apologize for.
Involves Lincoln’s mystic chords of memory.
“It is so humbling to be with you here today, Patriots…knowing to never retreat”
We must not fundamentally transform America as some people want–we must restore America and restore her honor. Biggest applause line of the day perhaps–hits the note of what the internal conscious of the crowd is about–THEY want to take away OUR America and they ARE TRYING but we will not let THEM we will RESTORE it. An electoral, divisive message and the core one, fusing rage.

“Honor was never lost–you will find it in those who wear the uniform.” And the others?

10:44: Palin introduces Petty Officer Marcus Latrell. She seems to get genuinely excited in introducing these. Ret. Marine Sergeant James Eddie Wright, “once a Marine always a Marine”. The hug, just slightly long…

Tom Kirk, Air Force Combat Commander in Vietnam and POW for 5 years. So we have a touch of Swift Boating emotions being roused before the election. I wonder is some of the same people had a role?

McCain invoked. Tepid slow rising applause.

She does get genuinely excited by the idea of love of country and patriotism.

The crowd rises with each named person.

He embraces her a bit too long, a kiss on the cheek. She’s slightly taken aback by the degree of it for a millisecond.

Crowd chants “USA”.

She hits the note perfectly–let’s restore America and God bless America–in a way that Beck, whose inauthenticity, his acting shines through, he always has a slight sense of the slightly crazed, careening–cannot.

There’s a crazed subtext if you listen to it “broke into a cold sweat…screamed in his ear…” it’s a way of clearing listening room with a slight craziness

It was about 4 months ago that we were still lost–we didn’t know what we were going to do when we got here. Revealing because you can see the lack of driven ideological message at the center–rather utilities. He’s clever enough to create a kind of humor space to take his crowd. But there, he has nothing else really. He may be just not smart enough to trip himself up as he has his presence for awhile. (Maybe the end)

10:57: Announces that he will award three “Restoring Honor” medals. Faith, Hope and Charity.

It’s already a bit long. The hit of a powerful world changing event, the rise,

11:01: The Chief gets to award the Faith medal. Goes to Pastor C.L. Jackson. A quick Google search lists that Jackson is Pastor of the Pleasant Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Houston, TX, apparently shares with Beck speaking on talk radio, on KCOH AM, and has appeared on Beck’s show, where he compared Beck to Jehosephat, king of Judah in the Bible.

11:22: Tony LaRussa, Cardinals manager. Hope award goes to Albert Pujols. “I just want to thank God for giving me this platform as a baseball player. ”

11:29: Charity. Jon Huntsman. “A successful and wealthy industrialist.” Huntsman was interviewed by Beck for a hour-long program back when Beck was on CNN. Huntsman, according to Wikipedia, also had a political career in the Nixon Administration:

“Mr. Huntsman joined the Nixon Administration as Associate Administrator of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare and later served as Special Assistant and Staff Secretary to President Nixon.”

He also appears to be a major philanthropist. Indeed, according to Wikipedia, “the Chronicle of Philanthropy placed Mr. Huntsman second on their 2007 list of largest donors.”

11:42: Clearly, the rally organizers had a certain dilemma here. Without a genuine, fully expressible rallying theme–e.g., the fight for civil rights in the face of systemic inequality against minorities–they could not depend upon that single animating theme to keep the crowd fully motivated, driven by a single, known goal. As a result, they had to try to construct a message without one, and the time it takes to do that is long. Let the rally go on too briefly, and the audience would wonder what happened–where was the full bread and circuses experience? But try to build an emotional message without a single, actual animating goal, and it goes on too long, a diffuse, warming, but not a unifying drive towards an actual known outcome.

Nonetheless, the effects are there. They sit together and are warmed. They see the crowd, and feel they are a part of a larger experience, allowing a greater degree of open belief. A more diffuse normalizing of these emotions–a subtle tilting towards the justification of Nationalism, can occur.

11:49: Angelica Tucker is singing.

He’s set the stage for broadening his base slightly to a kind of conservative Oprah.

11:53 Minister is reading from the book of Ezra. Now, some gospel music. “Unity…unity”. They are running out of gas. Getting a bit frayed around the edges, and trying to tie it up.

11:58 Speaker:”I’ve been asked to read a scripture…E pluribus unum…we stand together…in the name of Christ”

11:59: Alveda King.

12:08 Video. Almost a parody of propaganda.

Shots of the audience–they look confused–what’s the message? A congealing of religion, images of the Founding Fathers–what are we supposed to believe?

A massive attempt at indirection. Carry this feeling to the voting booths.

A weak ending applause. Tailing off.

12:11 Beck again mounts the podium. Says 500,000 people there. “This is a day we can start the hearts of America again. And it has nothing to do with politics. It has everything to do with God.”

It seems that he is feeling some of the weakness of the wrap up–a slight sense of desperation in his voice, recognizing that it’s not quite coming together. A bit tired. He’s lost his rhythm.

He’s not quite an orator. An edgy presence.

He’s going for the one internal message: “The right for everyone to have a dream”.

Do we say “The experiment cannot work? Man must be ruled by someone?” Do we set up a straw man?

The message: Be angry at those in power.

Keeps trying to hit that high finishing note.

The essential dilemma is that he can’t say what he’s actually trying to say. So he keeps trying to find ways to rise to it, to complete it, by unifying different elements: patriotism, religion, inference.

He’s analogizing himself to Moses. “They were just like you.” i.e.–Me.

I think he doesn’t want to stop because of how he will feel when it’s over.

Iceberg metaphor + “one man can change the world” plus Moses references = He does think he’s Moses.

“I asked you to do three things…The second thing I asked you to do”…this is getting to be too much. Images from Life of Brian are coming to mind.

How dare he equate this time as “failing with us” simply for his own opportunism. Deeply reckless.

OK, now he’s ranting.

“Divine providence.” Read your history.

Maybe he will just stay there forever.

A melding of AA philosophy with unleashed grandiosity. The connection of this to national restoration is unclear, however, and he seems to notice that leap.

“Human storm.” “Global storm.” Hmmmmm…..sturm. What’s needed for a storm, after all? Troops.

Another crescendo incompletus. See above.

He now claims a representation of 180 million people, at least by partial implication perhaps.

Bagpipes with their many emotional overtones. “Amazing Grace”.

Large applause for closing prayer.

And in this rally of unity–we close with Jesus.

Photo Reuters/Chris Keane via Minn Post

Generals Concerned About Gates Plan

Joe Patterson — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:42:31 +0000

The New York Times reports that most Generals are worried and wary about the plan of Defense Secretary Robert Gates to cut many generals within the US military because there are too many levels of correspondence in place. The main concern is that with less generals, the military may not get as high a return on its money as it used to. Many generals who are retired and get large compensation for their service say that the military gets a high return for its money in the service that these generals provide, one that will go down if the number of generals are cut.

Others approve of Gates and his efforts to cut bureaucracy and also to get rid of excessive generals in place. Ordering reductions at the highest levels of the military are usually not seen with a popular tone, but the difference this time is that the US is in a budget crisis, and needs to make some cuts.

Mr. Gates is not the first defense secretary to order reductions at the military’s highest levels. What is different today, however, is that his campaign comes as Congress confronts the largest budget deficit in United States history and the public grows increasingly impatient with what it perceives as government excess, even from a military at war.

“The department must start setting priorities, making real trade-offs and separating appetites from real requirements,” said Mr. Gates, who has made management efficiency his latest personal goal in a tenure that focused first on Iraq, then Afghanistan and later on overhauling the approach to weapons procurement.

The higher ups in the military seem to always try to stop cuts in the budget, as they are extremely protective of every privilege they receive. Yet many say that this attitude is protecting increasingly high-class and excessive lifestyles these generals receive while not in service. The debate on the Pentagon cuts will continue as Gates tries to cut against the grain as other Defense Secretaries have tried before.

Photo: Xinhua/AFP

Cybersecurity Plans Cold War-esque

Joe Patterson — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:28:22 +0000

A New York Times Op-Ed detailed the plans by the Pentagon for the nation’s cybersecurity, and they sound extremely similar to the quick counter-attack mobilization plans that were in place during the Cold War years. The plans have put in place an a”active defense” if cyber space undergoes an attack, and could put a hold on the entire US transportation and commerce system to prevent against a further attack. The plan draws America’s allies into a early warning cybersecurity network where mobilization of various agencies will counter the cyber attack.

The plan makes America’s security as robust as possible, in informing industry of the attack so they can prevent against further intrusion, as well as allowing the US military to strike against the electronic enemy as soon as possible.

In place of “massive retaliation” against attackers whose country of origin may be unclear, the strategy proposes an alternative concept of deterrence based on making America’s infrastructure robust and redundant enough to survive any attack. The Department of Homeland Security would oversee this hardening of infrastructure, with help from the National Security Agency.

William J. Lynn III, the deputy secretary of defense, explained the new approach, known as “Cyberstrategy 3.0″ within the Pentagon, in an interview this week and in an article that appears in the new issue of Foreign Affairs. The formal policy should be completed by December, he said; meanwhile, the Pentagon’s new “Cyber Command” will have responsibility for “active defense” starting Oct. 1.

Although the strategy is extremely proactive, it could also be costly and overly cumbersome to actually use effectively against cyber attackers. The Pentagon continues to see cyberspace as a domain that can be taken over and hacked, while the general public simply sees it as a friendly and relatively benign part of their lives, much like oxygen. The US is more vulnerable to these attacks than other countries due to the fact we are much more wired, but the Pentagon plans may go a little overboard in buffering up cybersecurity in a Cold War manner.

Photo: Helen Nezdropa via Sydney Morning Herald

American Released At Visit of Jimmy Carter

Joe Patterson — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:11:00 +0000

The New York Times reports that former President Jimmy Carter has officially succeeded in bargaining the North Korean government for the release of an American who was kept in the country for entering illegally. The man, Aijalon Mahli Gomes, was sentenced to eight years working hard labor after entering the country illegally, and Carter visited Pyongyang specifically in order to try and get his release.

A statement said that the man would be returned to his home and family in Boston today. Carter went to North Korea to try and get Mr. Gomes released after his sentencing in April, and succeeded in doing so amid concerns that North Korea is increasing tensions intentionally with the rest of the world.

Mr. Carter had arrived on Wednesday at the invitation of the North Korean government, but it was not known whether he met with Mr. Kim, the North Korean leader.

South Korean officials said Thursday that a special train believed to be carrying Mr. Kim had entered China around midnight on Wednesday, setting off speculation over what might have compelled him to travel to his isolated government’s closest ally while Mr. Carter was visiting.

After watching Mr. Kim’s movements for the past few days, the South Korean authorities said his train had crossed the border with China, traveling from the North Korean town of Manpo to Jian in China, according to an official at the presidential Blue House in Seoul.

It appears that the Korean leader was visiting China simply in order to talk with the seemingly one friend North Korea has left. There are also reports he is attempting to groom his own son to succeed him as leader of North Korea. The reasoning behind the North Korean government inviting Carter to Pyongyang seem increasingly to be to somehow use him to decrease tensions between them and the US. Whether they succeeded or not in establishing this relationship is a far different story.

Photo: AP via The Hindu

NASA’s Kepler Telescope Discovers Earth Size Planet

Joe Patterson — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 13:58:48 +0000

The New York Times reports that NASA’s Kelper satellite has found a planet that is around 1.5 times the size of our own Earth and is orbiting around a sun. This planet is around 2,000 light years away, but the discovery is extremely important in showing that some of the key aspects of Earth in terms of orbit around a sun are duplicated in different parts of the universe. Matthew Holman, who published the finding on the journal of Science’s website, said they are still in the process of confirming it is a planet.

This discovery is the first by Kepler that is an Earth-sized planet. The Kepler’s mission is to search for Earth-like planets that may harbor life in the same way we do, and so far this is one of the most promising find.

This is the first announcement of a candidate Earth-size planet by the Kepler mission, which in March 2009 launched a one-ton spacecraft to search for planets like ours that just might harbor life. The planet was among more than 700 candidate planets that the team announced in June. If it is made of similar stuff as Earth, its mass would be three to four times as much.

Astronomers are quickly closing in on Earth-size planets elsewhere in the galaxy as they find planetary systems that look more and more like our solar system.

“This represents a significant step toward Kepler’s goal of determining the frequency of Earth-size planets in the habitable zones of Sun-like stars,” Dr. Holman said. Earth-size planets in orbits that are not too hot or too cold are considered the most likely places to look for life elsewhere in the universe.

The findings by Kepler could lead to finding sustainable life elsewhere in the universe, and scientists seem to only be beginning the process of verifying the planets the telescope has discovered. As detection methods have increased, scientists have begun to find many solar systems just like our own, and that signals the possibility of life somewhere in the universe.

Photo via National Geographic

Justice Department to Challenge Stem Cell Ruling

Joe Patterson — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 16:18:55 +0000

The New York Times reports that the US Justice Department is planning to challenge the ruling of US District Judge Royce Lamberth that the Obama Administration cannot directly fund stem cell research through the National Institutes of Health(NIH). This ruling would cancel dozens of research projects that would work to find cures to various diseases such as Parkinson’s and diabetes. This ruling would force the government to use its extra funds on research by the end of September if the ruling is upheld.

Though the projects already under way will continue, this ruling really gets to the current stem cell research issue and may slice it with a partisan knife. The NIH has spent the last couple days informing researchers that funding is now threatened by this ruling.

“This decision has the potential to do serious damage to one of the most promising areas of biomedical research, just at the time when we were really gaining momentum,” said Dr. Francis S. Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health. The ruling, he added, “just pours sand into that engine of discovery.”

The ruling, issued Monday, revived what had been a dormant moral and political debate over the research just in time for the November midterm elections. At a time when members of both parties are trying to focus on jobs and the economy, thorny questions about the ethics of scientific experimentation were once again percolating in Washington.

Representative Diana DeGette, a Colorado Democrat who is a leading proponent of stem cell science, said in an interview that she had briefed fellow Democrats on Tuesday morning by conference call on the decision. She urged them to quickly revive a measure — twice passed by Congress and twice vetoed by President George W. Bush — that would legalize the studies and codify the policy Mr. Obama announced in March 2009.

Stem cell research is the most promising new technique to find cures to persistently incurable diseases, and this ruling really gives Congress an incentive to codify stem cell research policy and rules for funding in a new law. Previous efforts to do so were vetoed by then President George W. Bush. This ruling may even get rid of the rules Bush put in place that allowed the use of aborted fetuses and less ethically testy procedures in stem cell research.

Photo via Discover Magazine

US Concerned About Al Qaeda in Yemen

Joe Patterson — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 16:05:02 +0000

The Associated Foreign Press reports that the US is growing increasingly worried about the influence that Al Qaeda is having in Yemen, and that officials will begin to increase pressure against the group in the country. Counterterrorism officials report that although Pakistan’s Al Qaeda operation has had a variety of serious setbacks, the force in Yemen has actually gained power and is becoming a serious force to be reckoned with.

The tribal areas of Pakistan have been getting large amounts of heat from US military strikes and increased enforcement by Pakistani military groups, and thus have taken hits to their operations. The forces in Yemen have not been under near as much pressure, and thus their influence grows.

“They’re not feeling the same kind of heat — not yet, anyway — as their friends in the tribal areas” of Pakistan, he said.

“And everyone involved on our side understands that has to change.”

The official did not specify how the United States would counter militants in Yemen but in Pakistan, the Central Intelligence Agency has targeted Al-Qaeda and Taliban figures with a major bombing campaign using unmanned aircraft.

The Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post reported Wednesday that the new assessment of the threat raised the prospect of expanded US operations in Yemen, including CIA drone strikes.

CIA spokesman George Little said that his agency and the US government continue to work against Al Qaeda operations all across the globe, and the threat that is now seen in Yemen is one we must address as soon as possible. Although Yemen operations have been fulfilled by the US military, increased CIA responsibility is something security forces are considering as a way to begin to increasingly pressure Al Qaeda.

Photo via CBS News

Hillary Expresses Concern Over Congo Sex Crimes

Joe Patterson — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 15:28:44 +0000

RTT News reports that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has expressed “deep concern” over the mass rape of many women and children in Congo recently. This most recent crime in the Democratic Republic of Congo(DRC) showcases the serious problems that are still apparent in this area in terms of social unrest and widespread occurrences of war crimes throughout the region.

Clinton released a statement which summarized that the continuing of sex crimes in the Congo region undermines the ability of various groups to work towards a peaceful solution to the ongoing conflicts that are present. The US State Department publicly condemned the actions of Congolese rebels.

“This horrific attack is an example of how sexual violence undermines efforts to achieve and maintain stability in areas torn by conflict, but striving for peace,” she said in a statement.

Pointing out that the U.S. repeatedly condemned the “epidemic of sexual violence” in conflict zones around the world, Clinton asserted Washington would continue to speak out on this issue for those who could not speak for themselves.

“Less than a year ago, I presided over the U.N. Security Council session where Resolution 1888 (2009) was unanimously adopted, underscoring the importance of preventing and responding to sexual violence as a tactic of war against civilians,” she said.

Hillary also said that now the US and other UN member nations need to go a step further in this issue to protect those at risk to sexual violence, and measures need to be taken to prosecute those who commit these sex crimes. The sad part is that the 20,000 strong UN peacekeeping force in the DRC only heard about this sex crime a week after it occurred. That does not bode well for any type of protection against these acts.

Photo via Salon

Stimulus Driving Green Economy

Joe Patterson — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 14:50:33 +0000

An article in Time discusses some of the labeling of Barack Obama’s economic stimulus package, as well as what much of the money is being invested in for America’s future. The partisan bickering over whether or not the stimulus was really just for jobs and the economy is still up for debate. Republicans say it actually was just an advancement of Obama’s agenda, and from the funding for education, cutting our oil addiction, and fighting global warming and health care faults, it seems they might be somewhat correct.

Now, although the stimulus has accomplished a variety of crucial things in terms of cutting taxes and saving jobs, the fun stuff starts. That refers to the 1/6 of the package that is dedicated to a full overhaul of green jobs and creating a sustainable US economy.

But in the words of Vice President Joe Biden, Obama’s effusive Recovery Act point man, “Now the fun stuff starts!” The “fun stuff,” about one-sixth of the total cost, is an all-out effort to exploit the crisis to make green energy, green building and green transportation real; launch green manufacturing industries; computerize a pen-and-paper health system; promote data-driven school reforms; and ramp up the research of the future. “This is a chance to do something big, man!” Biden said during a 90-minute interview with TIME.

For starters, the Recovery Act is the most ambitious energy legislation in history, converting the Energy Department into the world’s largest venture-capital fund. It’s pouring $90 billion into clean energy, including unprecedented investments in a smart grid; energy efficiency; electric cars; renewable power from the sun, wind and earth; cleaner coal; advanced biofuels; and factories to manufacture green stuff in the U.S. The act will also triple the number of smart electric meters in our homes, quadruple the number of hybrids in the federal auto fleet and finance far-out energy research through a new government incubator modeled after the Pentagon agency that fathered the Internet.

Most of the stimulus programs that really increase green energy funding have been off to slow starts themselves, but as Joe Biden says, now many programs will be receiving funding and America’s green energy future will stop being behind the rest of the developed world.

Photo: AP Photo/Charles Dharapak via Washington Post

Primaries Showcase Establishment and Outsiders

Joe Patterson — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 17:06:42 +0000

The New York Times reports that although various incumbents and established political powers saw some serious challenges from outsiders of the political process, most found themselves winning their primary in the end. Arizona Senator John McCain showed especially that it is possible for a candidate to seriously overcome a challenge from an outsider with ample time to react. Yet in Alaska Senator Murkowski barely edged out her opponent in the primaries with a last minute boost from former Gov. Sarah Palin.

Florida became the most interesting battleground for alternative candidates, as the senatorial race heats up in a three-way election after Gov. Charlie Christ quit his party and is running as an independent after he feared he might not win his party’s primary.

In Florida, voters delivered a mixed verdict on the outsider versus establishment question. In the Democratic Senate primary, Rep. Kendrick Meekeasily defeated billionaire businessman and political novice Jeff Greene.

His victory set up a compelling three-way general election that includes Republican nominee Marco Rubio and Gov. Charlie Crist, who quit his party to avoid a defeat in the primary and is running as an independent.

In Florida’s Republican primary for governor, however, wealthy businessman and political newcomer Rick Scott defeated state attorney general Bill McCollum after a bitterly fought campaign that saw Scott spend tens of millions of dollars of his own money.

Although the primaries on Tuesday mainly saw little shake-up against established politicians, elsewhere in the country, outsiders have been winning nominations and gaining significant ground. The general political rhetoric is continuously anti-incumbent and anti-Washington, and it seems to be working almost everywhere. The tea-party movement sparked much of this political movement, and in November, the US Congress and many states could see representatives and Governors with little to no prior political experience in office. Whether or not this will be a good thing is still up for grabs.

Photo: Zuma Press via Mother Nature Network