8/17/24

 Saturday, August 17, 2024

1943 498 British bombers attacked Peenemunde (development base for the V weapons)

1946 George Orwell published "Animal Farm" in the United Kingdom

1998 Bill Clinton admitted he had an "improper physical relationship" with Monica Lewinsky and that he "misled people" about the relationship

2005 The first forced evacuation of settlers from Gaza began as part of Israel's unilateral disengagement plan

In bed a little after 9, awake at ? and up at 3:30.  I let Lilly out at 5 and dozed off at some point till 6:30 or so.    

Prednisone, day 97, 10 mg., day 4/28.   I took the 10 mg. at 5 a.m. with 4 saltines and my morning meds at 6:45. I applied diclofenac at 3:30, and again at 9:30, with my knee and hip quite painful this morning.  I took 1300 mg. of Tylenol at 11:30, giving up on my resolution to stop putting my liver at risk for an analgesic that is so poor at relieving osteoarthritis pain.  Desperate people, desperate things, and all that.

More on the apotheosis of Joe B.  I am still so angered by Joe B's arrogance in running for reelection and his protracted refusal to bow out as it became increasingly clear that he could never outpoll Trump in November that I'm loathe even to write his family name, of which he is so unreasonably proud.  "My honor as a Biden" and all that. Nonetheless, I note that despite all the praise that was and still is thrown at him for his 'selflessness' and 'patriotism' in finally withdrawing from the race in which he was destined to get "shellacked" as Obama might say, he hasn't fooled Maureen Dowd who writes in this morning's NYTimes:

[A]t some point, when the polls cratered, Democratic mandarins decided to put the welfare of the party — and the country — ahead of the president’s ego, and stop catering to his self-regarding fantasy that he was the only one who could beat Donald Trump. Also, they all could know that Biden was slowing faster than he and his family and his inner circle were acknowledging.  Biden went from looking “forward to getting back on the campaign trail” to gone in one weekend, with the handprints of Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries on the president’s back. . .     

The president already resented Obama for shoving him aside for Hillary, and he resented Hillary for squandering that opportunity and losing to Trump. Even though Obama tried to do everything quietly to protect his saintly status, Joe was furious that Obama was sidelining him twice. 

She points out that despite all the real and faux jubilation in the Democratic Party, everybody's mad at somebody.  Joe won't talk to Obama, Pelosi, Schumer, or Jeffries.  Joe, Jill, and Hunter - all self-catering fantasists - are mad at everybody.  Ron Klain still thinks it was wrong to push Joe out. After all, he won the primaries in which he was virtually unopposed because he froze everyone else out.

I was surprised to learn that Michelle Obama, perhaps at least the equal of her husband in popularity and at fundraising, has shunned Joe B's family and political events ever since Joe's family ostracized Huner's first wife, Kathleen Buhle, after her messy divorce from Hunter.  Hunter of course promptly took up with brother Beau's widow, Hallie B.  Obama has privately described the Biden family dynamics as "weird shit," according to one knowledgable source, which reminds me of so many reasons why I have long distrusted and misbelieved Joe B's shtick about his family and why I have believed that Obama said 'Don't underestimate Joe's ability to fuck things up.' Now he has fucked up the Democratic primaries, the Democratic Party, and the 2024 presidential election, and with his overinflated ego and self-catering fantasies, he thinks he's the one who has been wronged.  Please, pass the basin, and remind me not to watch his speech Monday night at the DNC convention.

Sweet sour cabbage borscht.  I manage to make every iteration of this favorite soup an adventure.  I am never sure of what the final product will taste like.  Yesterday I had to go on errands to the hardware store (ant traps), wild Birds Unlimited(suet cakes), Sendik's (fruits, vegetables, groceries), and the pet store (Lilly's kibble) while the beef stock was supposed to be simmering but was boiling.  What effect, if any, will this have?  Then, I bought a head of cabbage that was too small, so my soup may be pretty thin and 'soupy.'  The last batch I made was too thick and I had to add a second can of diced tomatoes to thin it.  Today, too thin.  The last batch ended up quite tasty.  Keeping my fingers crossed for this batch. . . . 4 p.m.. report: the borscht is tasty.  At first, I was a bit put off by the dill flavoring in the soup, perhaps because I had never included the 1/4 cup of chopped fresh dill in prior iterations but when I consumed a whole bowl of the soup, I found I enjoyed it, dill and all.

Vietnam: An Epic Tragedy 1945-1975 by Max Hastings.   I've been listening to and reading portions of the lengthy tome.  Today I focused on the mess in Saigon and throughout South Vietnam in 1964 and early 1965, the period before I received my orders to the 1st MAW.   President Diem had been assassinated in a military coup on November 2, 1963, and replaced by ARVN generals. led by General Dương Văn Minh who was eventually replaced by General Nguyễn Khánh who was then replaced by a triumvirate of himself and Gererals Duong Van Minh and Tran Thien Khiem who were replaced by a "High National Council" that elected Phan Khắc Sửu as its Chairman who were replaced by Phan Khắc Sửu as the new President of South Vietnam and Trần Văn Hương as Prime Minister who were replaced by General Khánh who led a group of military officers called the "Young Turks" in a coup. They dissolved the civilian High National Council,  With all the confusion and in-fighting among the South Vietnamese generals and lack of civilian leadership in Saigon, there were continuing demonstrations by Buddhists against both the government and the American 'imperialists',' continuing successful attacks by the VC on ARVN and American forces and on Catholic and other villages, continuing attacks on LBJ by Republicans, especially by Richard Nixon and by Barry Goldwater who was running against LBJ for the US presidency. Goldwater had suggested the use of nuclear weapons during the campaign.  What was clear was that South Vietnam was going to lose the war because of its own internal divisions and inability to govern the country, especially the countryside.  That was the background to the American invasion with the 3rd Marine Division in March 1965 and my sorry arrival a few months later.  Reading and thinking about this history now is painful, like recalling a comedy of errors.  By the end of 1964, Two hundred and sixteen American soldiers were killed in the war in 1964.  23,310 U.S. military personnel were in South Vietnam at the end of the year.  By the time this comedy of American and South Vietnamese errors was finished, more the 58,000 Americans would be killed, and perhaps a couple million Vietnamese.  What did we learn from this military and political misadventure?  Next to nothing, witness Iraq, witness Afghanistan,

Anniversaries thoughts.  First, it took almost 500 bombers to attack Peenemunde and the V rocket program.  Today, a single missile could do the job.  We call this "progress."

Second, in Animal Farm, all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.  In America, no one is above the law, except for those who are above the law because of wealth and power.  In American foreign polity, no nation is above the Leahy Law, except Israel.

Third, we tend to forget what a bum Bill Clinton was.  We tend to forget that Trump is not the first president to be accused of forcible rape.  We tend not to ask why Hilary Clinton chose him of all people to marry and to stay married to.

Fourth, the Israeli people, including those in government, remember what the forced evacuation of the Jewish settlements in Gaza was like in 2005.  It was nothing compared to what a forced withdrawal of 500,00 or 700,000 Jews from the settlements and outposts in the West Bank would be like today, a true civil war with unknowable outcomes for the State of Israel.  So much for the two-state solution to to Zionist conundrum.