Drift Reality > Washington, DC > March 2004

I'd like to preface this letter by saying that freedom of speech and the right to decide who politically represent you are two of the most important rights that any human society can have.

That being said, I've always been amused when people say how great this country is because people think and say whatever they want - that it is the bastion of freedom in this world.

Why do I think this is amusing?

Because despite the fact that people can say whatever they want, and vote for whomever they want, I think it's a minority of people who actually put any substantial amount of thought into what they say and who they vote for.

I'm going to say something cynical now, which is the basis for most political and public relations strategies - that the majority of people can be easily influenced to believe that policy decisions are made for reasons that have nothing to do with why they are actually made.

This leads to another cynical statement that I'd like to make - All nations manipulate their citizens. The only thing that distinguishes one nation from another is how well they hide the fact that they are doing it.

The beauty of this country is that we have the ability to educate ourselves, realize when we are being blown smoke, and speak and act against it.

With election year coming up, I think there are two books that everyone should read: Richard Clarke's Against all Enemies, and Bob Woodward's Plan of Attack.

Despite the fact that Woodward explains how the White House began planning the war on Iraq weeks after 9-11 (when they didn't even have fake evidence that Iraq had anything to do with the attack), the White House is actually supporting the book.

Why?

It's because Woodward portrays Bush as a strong and decisive leader who made the final decision on White House policy.

In an election year, that is apparently more important than the fact that we are being lead by a cabinet who plan wars with no real evidence to back their decision.

My response to the White House's decision to back the Woodward book is that although Bush may be decisive, a circus elephant can also be decisive.

What we should be asking is whether or not he is intelligently decisive.

In Woodward's book, he describes how Cheney was the driving force for the war with Iraq, and how Cheney and Rumsfeld (surprise surprise) double-teamed Powell, who was opposed to the idea of war.

Although this is pretty much common knowledge, I thought it might be interesting to think about this conflict from a more biographical perspective by asking the question, "What are these three men's experience with war?" or more specifically, "What were these three men doing during the 50s and 60s while we were sending thousands of young men to Korea and Vietnam?"

Cheney - Cheney was earning his bachelor's and masters of Arts degrees from the University of Wyoming. In 1969, he joined the Nixon Administration and served in a number of positions at the Cost of Living Council, at the Office of Economic Opportunity, and within the White House.

Rumsfeld - Rumsfeld actually did have some military experience. He attended Princeton University on academic and NROTC scholarships. From 1954 - 1957, he served in the U.S. Navy as an aviator and flight instructor. In 1957, he transferred to the Ready Reserve and continued his Naval service in flying and administrative assignments as a drilling reservist until 1975. In 1957, he also came to DC, where he began working on the hill and hasn't looked back since.

Powell - The son of Jamaican immigrants, Powell was raised in the South Bronx (which some may say is war experience in an of itself - I personally think if you are going to count Rumsfeld's Ready Reserve time as military experience, then you should count Powell's youth in the South Bronx as military experience). He was educated in the New York City public schools, and at City College of New York (CCNY). He participated in ROTC at CCNY and received a commission as an Army second lieutenant upon graduation. Powell served two tours of duty in Vietnam, and as a battalion commander in Korea. He later commanded the 2nd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) and V Corps, United States Army, Europe. Prior to being named as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he served as the Commander in Chief, Forces Command, headquartered at Fort McPherson, Georgia.

So basically, on one side of the fence you have two rich white guys with no actual war experience clamoring for war; and on the other side, a decorated veteran who served in both the Korean and Vietnam wars, vying for peace.

Who do you listen to?

I'm not going to make a judgment call on this one (Don't laugh, but I try to stay as non-partisan as possible), but I do ask you to consider whether or not being decisive can be considered a characteristic of a strong leader without taking into account the context in which the decisiveness is exemplified.

On another note, I spent this past month visiting London and Paris. I've created sections of the site that will contain entries from my travel journal. I've already added a few, including one lengthy description of how I forgot my passport on the way to Paris.

If any of you are in the San Diego area, I may have some of my film work showcased at a monthly event at the Whistlestop Bar. For more information, you can visit www.johnryanshea.com. I'll keep you posted on specific times and dates.

Finally, in the next month or so, I would like to start offering digital video disks of my work (free of charge). To inquire about receiving a copy, please visit me on the Web.

Thanks,

Jiyan