>The American men and women who had themselves photographed while
>torturing Iraqis look to be . . . a very cheerful bunch, in a
>mythical All-American sort of way, with big grins and thumbs up. I
>can imagine them telling the tortured Iraqis to "cheer the fuck up,"
>in a military version of the totalitarian command "enjoy!"
I can't believe I have to do this, but what the hell. I don't think people should be cheerful as a default temperament. I think they should take pleasure in past victories, and infuse the future with some degree of hope. There's a mood of "everything sucks and is getting worse" on much of the left today - if James Heartfield were still here he could talk about the embrace of limits of all sort - which is a betrayal of its past, which was about revolutionary possibility. Torturing Iraqis has nothing to do with it unless you're trying to make some cheap point, though calling it a point dignifies it, since the point of the point eludes me.
Doug
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Arise ye workers from your slumbers Arise ye prisoners of want For reason in revolt now thunders And at last ends the age of cant. Away with all your superstitions Servile masses arise, arise We'll change henceforth the old tradition And spurn the dust to win the prize.
So comrades, come rally And the last fight let us face The Internationale unites the human race. So comrades, come rally And the last fight let us face The Internationale unites the human race.
No more deluded by reaction On tyrants only we'll make war The soldiers too will take strike action They'll break ranks and fight no more And if those cannibals keep trying To sacrifice us to their pride They soon shall hear the bullets flying We'll shoot the generals on our own side.
No saviour from on high delivers No faith have we in prince or peer Our own right hand the chains must shiver Chains of hatred, greed and fear E'er the thieves will out with their booty And give to all a happier lot. Each at the forge must do their duty And we'll strike while the iron is hot.