Political Irony

The new Republican-controlled Senate immediately started paying back their largest campaign donors – the oil companies – by pushing for approval of the Keystone XL pipeline. Ironically, the beneficiaries of Keystone are mainly Canadian companies, but with our new rules that allow political contributions to remain completely anonymous, it is no surprise that there would be many large donors who are not Americans at all (or even American companies). Shouldn’t this worry us?

Passing Keystone requires the strange ritual of introducing amendments, many of which have nothing to do with the pipeline at all. For example, an amendment that would prohibit EPA enforcement officials from carrying guns (so much for being pro-gun!). Or an amendment to block Obama’s historic agreement with China to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. At least those are somewhat energy related. But what about the amendment that blocks the designation of any more national monuments?

Then, things turned even more ironic. The Senate voted on an amendment on whether climate change “is real and not a hoax.” This was mainly for show, as even most Republicans are willing to admit that the climate is changing. Indeed, only one (Roger Wicker, who apparently doesn’t believe in science; can you guess his party affiliation?) voted no.

Then Brian Schatz (again, can you guess his party affiliation?) introduced an amendment that doubled down on the last one, adding that human activity was a significant contributor to the previously admitted climate change. This time, the vote changed dramatically, and the Senate split right down the middle with 49 GOP senators voting against the new amendment. Wired magazine published a list showing the vote of every Senator. If one of your senators voted no, that means they don’t believe that humans have anything to do with global warming. Feel free to give them some feedback.

© Zack Weinersmith

Ever get the feeling that the echo chamber has taken on a life of its own, and doesn’t reflect the opinions of any real people? Back in 1964, Marshall McLuhan said, “The medium is the message”. It is even more true today.

McLuhan believed that a medium itself shapes and controls “the scale and form of human association and action”. Sound familiar?

The Charlie Hebdo killing was a tragedy, but it was also full of irony and was a stunning source of satire. In honor of that, I give Tom Tomorrow the last word. Over and Out:

© Tom Tomorrow

© Ted Rall

The weekly circulation of Charlie Hebdo is normally around 60,000. But in the aftermath of the death of 17 people, sales have topped 5 million copies.

I’m not really sure what to say about that, but you gotta admit it is ironic.

Finally! Attorney General Eric Holder today barred police from using Federal civil asset forfeiture laws without warrants or criminal charges. The laws were originally passed as part of the (failed) war on drugs (to confiscate money made in the drug trade, but quickly turned into a money-making operation for local police departments.

Over 55,000 seizures totaling $3 billion in cash and other property have been made. Often property was forfeited even if there was not enough evidence to charge anyone with a crime, and encouraged police to concentrate on otherwise low-priority crimes where they could profit as much as possible. Civil forfeiture was also used disproportionately against minorities, who could not afford to hire lawyers required to get their property back.

The new policy has limited exceptions for illegal firearms, ammunition, explosives, and property associated with child pornography.

I’ve posted before about these crazy laws, which turn our system of justice on its head, and are clearly unconstitutional, depriving citizens of property without any due process of law.

Civil asset forfeiture is institutionalized corruption, and I’m very happy that the Obama administration is taking steps to shut down its abuse.

© Tom Tomorrow

The Nib has a special series of responses to the Charlie Hebdo massacre from other cartoonists. This includes a particularly powerful piece from a Muslim cartoonist. But all of them are short and well worth a read.

How do you fight against powerful religion-based terrorist networks like ISIS? By using satire and humor! CBS News reports that “television networks across the Middle East have begun airing cartoons and comedy programs using satire to criticize the group and its claims of representing Islam.”

A producer and writer of a show that mocks ISIS says:

These people are not a true representation of Islam and so by mocking them, it is a way to show that we are against them. Of course it’s a sensitive issue, but this is one way to reject extremism and make it so the people are not afraid.

For example, in one episode of the show:

A taxi driver picks up a jihadi who rejects listening to radio because it didn’t exist in the earliest days of Islam, a knock on the ISIS’ literal take on the Quran. The driver offers to turn on the air conditioning, but that too is rejected. The jihadi finally criticizes him for answering a mobile phone.

Fed up, the driver asks: “Were there taxi cabs in the earliest days?”

“No, 1,000 times no!” the passenger answers. The driver responds by kicking out the jihadi and telling him to wait for a camel instead.

Even the videos of mass executions released by ISIS are fodder for comedy and satire:

Palestinian television channel al-Falastiniya aired a skit showing two militants shoot Muslim civilians for their lack of knowledge on the number of times to kneel during prayers, all the while reminiscing over the beautiful women and best party neighborhoods they’d visited in Beirut.

When a Jordanian Christian approaches, the two militants begin fighting each other over who gets to shoot him – each wanting the “blessing” for himself. Terrified, the man suffers a fatal heart attack, leaving the militants devastated.

Satire has long been used in Arab culture, all the way back to their ancient poetry. Laughter and mockery are a powerful weapon against terror.

Arabic TV is also using the format of reality shows to fight against terrorism. An Iraqi show “In the Grip of the Law” forces convicted terrorists to face their victims. From one recent show:

Haider Ali Motar was convicted of terrorism charges about a month ago for helping to carry out a string of Baghdad car bombings on behalf of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) extremist group. … On a chilly, overcast day last week, the crew arrived at the scene of one of the attacks for which Motar was convicted, with a heavily armed escort in eight military pick-up trucks and Humvees.

After being pulled from an armored vehicle, a shackled Motar found himself face-to-face with the seething relatives of the victims of the attack. … When Motar was confronted by one of the victims, a young man in a wheelchair who lost his father in one of the attacks, the convict began weeping, as the cameras rolled.

The show is very popular:

We are at war on terrorism, and this programme is one of our psychological tools to fight the terrorists. Most people have a curiosity to know how those [militants] are thinking, who are they, what are their scientific, cultural and social backgrounds, so we are focusing on these points to break their morale.

Many of these terrorists feel a lot of remorse when they see the victims. When people see that, it makes them think twice about crossing the law.