A Rational Animal

So I’m getting ready to make a coffee run this morning, and I have C-SPAN 2 on in the background.  It’s Steven Emerson, who I largely ignore because I consider him a self-aggrandizing panderer to the basest instincts of the right.  Yeah, yeah, I know he argued that OBL posed a threat, yadda, yadda, yadda, but so what?  So did Richard Clarke.  And when you take a scattershot approach like Emerson, who never met a Muslim he didn’t think was a closet jihadist, the laws of probability dictate that a few of your pellets will find a mark.

But what caught my attention wasn’t his insistence that groups like CAIR are actually terrorist cells here in the U.S., nor was it the rantings of the various callers who complain that jihadists are conducting training maneuvers in "our national parks."  No, what roped me into this morning’s exercise in pathological wingnuttery was the phrase - and I quote - "white indigenous Americans."  He used this phrase, or some variant thereof, multiple times, including using it to describe . . . wait for it . . . Timothy McVeigh.  Yeah.  That Timothy McVeigh:  white Irish-American Catholic mad bomber extraordinaire.

Oy.  Where to begin?

Stevie, Stevie, give it up.  Your fucked-up attempt at political correctness with the label "indigenous" just digs you deeper - and shows just how little you actually 1) know, 2) care, or 3) both.  Whatever - it just underscores your essential idiocy.

You know, suppose that I didn’t already know who Stevie was.  And suppose that I actually thought that there might be some merit to his scaremongering allegations about secret cells of Islamic extremists who want to kill, kill, KILL Americans and who are systematically subverting the nation from within.  As someone of actual "indigenous" ancestry (as well as "white" ancestry), all I need to hear is a fucking stupid phrase like "white indigenous Americans," and I’ll feel like that tells me all I need to know about the likely scholarship and accuracy of his book.  (Of course, I feel like that anyway, but that’s another issue.)

Stevie:  Yes, I know what you meant.  You meant "Americans" who were born in this country.  That doesn’t excuse it, fuckwit.  When referring to matters of ancestry and ethnicity, "indigenous" has a specific meaning, one that is not synonymous with small-n "native" with regard to national origin.  And as someone whose "white" ancestors have been in this country since the beginning of the 1600s, and whose "indigenous" ancestors go back at least 2,000 years, I’ll take on your anti-immigration arguments and your half-assed characterizations any day of the week.

Frankly, the better use of C-SPAN’s resources was the next segment, with OSU poli-sci prof John Mueller, on his book:  Overblown: How Politicians and the Terrorism Industry Inflate National Security Threats, and Why We Believe Them.  From the Booklist review:  "If the objective is to keep Americans frightened and willing to spend money and relinquish freedom, then the terrorists are winning, Mueller maintains." 

No shit.  This one I might actually buy.

I did not intend to be away from blogging all week - initially, I thought I’d be on the road on Monday only, but it turned into a week-long trip.  I’d like to be able to excuse my absence on grounds of the press of work or lack of Internet access, but as the boys would say, Sadly, No.

After my Albuquerque meeting on Monday, my friend invited me up for a visit.  And when I’m here, it’s hard to concentrate on all the things that piss me off enough to require the catharsis of blogging.   Yes, these visits are truly therapeutic:  I even managed to watch the SOTU  in its entirety without running straight for my laptop afterward.  And long-time readers of ARA know that the likelihood of that usually wavers somewhere between zero and none.  (Of course,  I was also otherwise occupied, but that’s another story . . . .)

At any rate, I’m getting adjusted to my travel schedule now, and while I can’t promise new bloggery goodies every single day, ARA will be updated much more regularly.  I’m also instituting a loose schedule of sorts here:  I’ll be devoting specific days largely to specific topics - e.g., Sundays will focus on national and international news, Mondays will be devoted to Richardson’s run for the White House, Tuesdays will emphasize tribal affairs, and book reviews will appear on Saturdays.  That leaves Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays for miscellaneous screeds and shameless blogwhoring for the rest of you.  And, of course, I reserve the right to throw said schedule under the bus the moment another member of the Bush maladministration engages in another act of treason (or just general douchebaggery) that can’t go unanswered. 

And I’m deferring the start of this great new schedule to tomorrow, because an accumulation of Native issues are the immediate burr under my saddle, and I’m getting tired of the constant irritation.  So keep your reins loose and your feet solidly in the stirrups, kids, and let’s ride!