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roachboy · 06-03-2005, 06:35 AM

on the ridiculous edito from the spectator:

the impeachment of nixon caused the collapse of the cambodian government and the period of the khymer rouge? that and not the american invasion, the destabilization of the situation in cambodia, the nature of the withdrawal? that's interesting...i think there is a term for this kind of argument..right revisionism.

the impeachment of nixon caused the implosion of the south vietnamese government? that and not its fictive status from the beginning? this position presupposes that the reader know absolutely nothing about the vietnam war itself. maybe that works for conservatives, not knowing anything yet passing judgements anyway, more revisionism.

nixon a peacemaker? i am sure the people of chile are still quite persuaded of the accuracy of that one.

nixon a peacemaker? nixon's adminsitration undermined the 1968 peace talks, which prompted another phase of war, which brought us such treats as the invasion of cambodia, the bombings and military action in laos, continued slaughter in vietnam---only to sign an agreement in 1975 on exactly the same terms as could have been signed in 1968--which means that all the deaths, on all sides, between 1968 and 1975 are on nixon's head, on kissinger's head, and that for nothing...yes, nixon was quite the peacemaker.

of course, he did make a tourist trip to china.
and it is clear that all he really did wrong was authorize the watergate burglaries.
that was the worst of it, all there was...so nixon is no worse than clinton etc.--these claims are really beneeath contempt. right revisionist horseshit.

i think that ustwo's "indifference" is a simple reflection of a problem for conservatives in america when it comes to history, particular when that history happens to involve the vietnam war--they can't make it go away--they can't change the legacy of that debacle of a war--they have tried and tried, starting with the fiction of the "vietnam syndrome" floated during the reagan period. trying to "overcome" the period of "self-hatred"--that is questioning of illegal and unnecessary military adventures undertaken by the american state--was an important motive for the fashioning of neocon ideology as a whole....the problems posed for the far right by vietnam have been amply documented: the whole genre of rambo-style vietnam revenge novels are one theater of compensation for a percieved humiliation...the rise of the fascist-style claim that the nice fellows in the american military were stabbed in the back by an evil anti-war movement floats through the same space. the rise of the militia movement is not unconected to this type of reactionary resentment--and you can see in that particular political sewer the origins of the contemporary right.

but the right cannot yet manage a wholesale whitewash of the vietnam period.
one result of this curious relation is statements like ustwos: who remembers who cares distant past another time dont think about it.

what strikes me as strange beyond this is that the americans have marched down the road of military humiliation and attempt to compensate for it that post 1945 france did: defeated in vietnam, the humilitated military hoped that the algeria would restore their "honor"--of course france found itself confronting an enemy in algeria that it could not really locate terribly well--the fln would today be branded a "terrorist" organization--and because the military could not locate an enemy to fight that resembled itself structurally, it had to try to make on up--a campaign of systematic torture directed at any and all suspected supporters of the fln followed from this. kinda like the place that the bush administration has found itself in, as a function of its absurd "war on terror"

it is clear that problems raised by the entire history of post 1945 war in vietnam are not worth thinking about.
it was long ago no-one remembers no-one cares dont think about it.

06-03-2005, 06:35 AM	#48 (permalink)
roachboy Super Moderator Location: essex ma	on the ridiculous edito from the spectator: the impeachment of nixon caused the collapse of the cambodian government and the period of the khymer rouge? that and not the american invasion, the destabilization of the situation in cambodia, the nature of the withdrawal? that's interesting...i think there is a term for this kind of argument..right revisionism. the impeachment of nixon caused the implosion of the south vietnamese government? that and not its fictive status from the beginning? this position presupposes that the reader know absolutely nothing about the vietnam war itself. maybe that works for conservatives, not knowing anything yet passing judgements anyway, more revisionism. nixon a peacemaker? i am sure the people of chile are still quite persuaded of the accuracy of that one. nixon a peacemaker? nixon's adminsitration undermined the 1968 peace talks, which prompted another phase of war, which brought us such treats as the invasion of cambodia, the bombings and military action in laos, continued slaughter in vietnam---only to sign an agreement in 1975 on exactly the same terms as could have been signed in 1968--which means that all the deaths, on all sides, between 1968 and 1975 are on nixon's head, on kissinger's head, and that for nothing...yes, nixon was quite the peacemaker. of course, he did make a tourist trip to china. and it is clear that all he really did wrong was authorize the watergate burglaries. that was the worst of it, all there was...so nixon is no worse than clinton etc.--these claims are really beneeath contempt. right revisionist horseshit. i think that ustwo's "indifference" is a simple reflection of a problem for conservatives in america when it comes to history, particular when that history happens to involve the vietnam war--they can't make it go away--they can't change the legacy of that debacle of a war--they have tried and tried, starting with the fiction of the "vietnam syndrome" floated during the reagan period. trying to "overcome" the period of "self-hatred"--that is questioning of illegal and unnecessary military adventures undertaken by the american state--was an important motive for the fashioning of neocon ideology as a whole....the problems posed for the far right by vietnam have been amply documented: the whole genre of rambo-style vietnam revenge novels are one theater of compensation for a percieved humiliation...the rise of the fascist-style claim that the nice fellows in the american military were stabbed in the back by an evil anti-war movement floats through the same space. the rise of the militia movement is not unconected to this type of reactionary resentment--and you can see in that particular political sewer the origins of the contemporary right. but the right cannot yet manage a wholesale whitewash of the vietnam period. one result of this curious relation is statements like ustwos: who remembers who cares distant past another time dont think about it. what strikes me as strange beyond this is that the americans have marched down the road of military humiliation and attempt to compensate for it that post 1945 france did: defeated in vietnam, the humilitated military hoped that the algeria would restore their "honor"--of course france found itself confronting an enemy in algeria that it could not really locate terribly well--the fln would today be branded a "terrorist" organization--and because the military could not locate an enemy to fight that resembled itself structurally, it had to try to make on up--a campaign of systematic torture directed at any and all suspected supporters of the fln followed from this. kinda like the place that the bush administration has found itself in, as a function of its absurd "war on terror" it is clear that problems raised by the entire history of post 1945 war in vietnam are not worth thinking about. it was long ago no-one remembers no-one cares dont think about it. __________________ a gramophone its corrugated trumpet silver handle spinning dog. such faithfulness it hear it make you sick. -kamau brathwaite Last edited by roachboy; 06-03-2005 at 06:39 AM..