The Gulf of Tonkin Incident That Wasn't: LBJ and Robert McNamara On Tape

THEY Say: "You learn something new everyday!" (Thanks to YouTuber, "Thoughty2", I just learned THIS:

My Working Title Is: "Oops!"*
My 2nd Choice Is: "Holy Crap!"

"This is all going to work out, right?"

August 2, 1964: The U.S. destroyer, Maddox, was off the coast of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam on an intelligence mission to intercept North Vietnamese communications. Following some shenanigans carried out by S. Vietnamese raiders against the North (as part of the U.S.' "OPLAN 34-A"), the Maddox was attacked by three North Vietnamese torpedo boats. In no way was the attack was a surprise: as stated, communications were being intercepted. Two of the N.V. boats were sunk. The third was seriously damaged.

There were "0" ("Zero") casualties on the Maddox.

Then, "... on the night of August 3/4 the warships recorded a series of sound (sonar) and electronic (radar) readings interpreted to be attacking torpedo boats."

It's been argued that, due to the crew's hyper-alert status and the "confusion of that night"... radio signals from the initial, "0" U.S. casualty (and only) aggression of August 2nd were mistaken as being "Hanoi ordering a fresh attack".

The on-scene Commander, Captain John D. Herrick... stated, then, that he "doubted the reality of the attacks".

Despite this..

the decidedly NOT "on-scene" "Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Ulysses S. Grant Sharp nevertheless proceeded as if the attacks were genuine".*

(*Possibly due - in part - to the crushing weight and 5-sizes too-big shoes which accompanied the name that his patriotic parents stuck him with?)

Thus the U.S. bombing of North Vietnam went forward based on the MISTAKEN belief in a second (and non-existent) attack in the Gulf of Tonkin.

And, yes, in the early 1960's, communication back and forth took a little longer than it does today. But, it's not like LBJ and Robert McNamara were kept out of the information loop.

I'm guessing that the towering Texan in the Oval Office wasn't exactly a "let's-sit-back-and -think-about-this" nor a "let's-wait-and-see" -kind of guy.

And, based on the chronology of events/decisions/actions, it's reasonable to suggest that, once good 'ol LBJ got the "conflict"-machines in motion, he either felt he couldn't (that might have been embarrassing) - or he simply wouldn't (not one to back down from a fight, even one he "mistakenly" started) - bring himself to stop it.

Click The LINK Below To Go To the NATIONAL SECURITY ARCHIVES where you can listen to the actual recorded conversations between LBJ and McNamara (transcripts are posted as well).

"... the ENTIRE Vietnam War can be said to have been based on a 'misunderstanding'."

This is now consensus among Vietnam War historians.*

(*I'm sure that relying, exclusively, on rooms-full of testosterone had a little something to do with it, too.)

Open Your Eyes: The Great Forgetting (from @Truthdig) Don't Look Away!

The "Silent".

If you're a Doctor Who fan, you're familiar with villains known as "The Silence" and the group of member-priests, known as "The Silents", who used post-hypnotic suggestion to manipulate other species into doing their bidding.  One of the greatest challenges to taking on the Silence was that all memories of any encounters with the Silents would be instantaneously erased from one's memory as soon as an individual's gaze moved away from them...

"DANGER! DANGER, WILL ROBINSON! DANGER!

"Trump and Clinton, along with fellow candidate Bernie Sanders, refuse to admit what they (and quite a few of us) know:

Our most basic civil and political rights have been taken from us, the corporate oligarchy will remain entrenched in power no matter who wins the presidency, and elections are a carnival act.

The downward spiral of lost jobs and declining incomes, of shredded civil liberties, of endless war, is unstoppable as long as we use the traditional mechanisms of reform, including elections, to try to cope with the existential threat we face.

A VOTE FOR CLINTON, in essence, IS A VOTE FOR TRUMP or someone as bad as Trump.

Right-wing populism, here and in Europe, is not the product of an individual but the disenfranchisement, rage and despair stemming from the damage caused by (Surprise! Er, not.) Globalization.

And, until we wrest back control of OUR Destiny by BREAKING CORPORATE POWER, demagogues like Trump, and his repugnant doppelgangers in Europe, will proliferate."

(Excerpted from:)

The Great Forgetting (from @Truthdig):

"America’s refusal to fund and sustain its intellectual and cultural heritage has come with an enormous cost. We are now paying the bill."  - 2016/01/10

Bo Burnham: From God's Perspective. (Video) Please SHARE!

This is a clip from a Bo Burnham performance.

I'd seen his name on a few titles on Netflix, but, I'd never watched him before stumbling across this video completely by accident on YouTube and...

I think I'm In LOVE!!!

(Please find Bo's "From God's Perspective" lyrics below the video.)

Enjoy!
(I sure did!)



"From God's Perspective"

The books you think I wrote are way too thick.
Who needs a thousand metaphors to figure out you shouldn't be a dick?
And I don't watch you when you sleep.
Surprisingly I don't use my omnipotence to be a fucking creep

You're not going to heaven
Why the fuck would you think I'd ever kick it with you?
None of you are going to heaven
There's a trillion aliens cooler than you

You shouldn't abstain from rape just 'cause you think that I want you to
You shouldn't rape 'cause rape is a fucked up thing to do
(Pretty obvious, just don't fucking rape people, please, didn't think I had to write that one down for you)

I don't think masturbation is obscene
It's absolutely natural and the weirdest fucking thing I've ever seen
You make my job a living hell and I sent gays to fix overpopulation
And boy did that go well

You're not going to heaven
Eat a thousand crackers sing a million hymns
None of you are going to heaven
You're not my children
You're a bad game of Sims

You shouldn't abstain from pork just 'cause you think that I want you to
You can eat pork 'cause why the fuck would I give a shit?
(I created the universe, think I'd draw the line at the fucking deli aisle?)

You argue and you bicker and you fight
Atheists and Catholics, Jews and Hindus argue day and night
Over what they think is true
But no one entertains the thought that maybe God does not believe in you

You pray so badly for heaven
Knowing any day might be the day that you die
But maybe life on earth could be heaven
Doesn't just the thought of it make it worth a try

[2x]
My love's the type of thing that you have to earn
And when you earn it you won't need it

I'm not gonna give you love just 'cause I know that you want me to
If you want love then the love's gonna come from you

Africa: What Lies Behind Different Reactions to Paris and Beirut Attacks? And, Baghdad?

                                          ISIS struck Beirut, then Baghdad, then Paris.

Many are asking, "Why Paris - Again?!".

"France is also a country with a strong anti-immigration political rhetoric that actively discriminates against those who are different. The most renowned case was the controversy surrounding the hijab.

ISIS has claimed responsibility for these attacks.

World leaders have pledged support, solidarity and condemnation of terrorism. In the next few weeks we may even see a resurgence of rhetoric calling for more resources to fight this (abject failure known as the) War on Terror (which has only succeeded in producing more terrorists!).

There is also the inherent risk that Islamophobia may take deeper root - not just in France but in Europe as a whole.

Yet as the world consumed the messages of support, sentiments of outrage and condemnation of violence, some also asked:

'Why such a strong show of support for Paris but, not the same for Beirut?'

The answer, seemingly, was that it is because Arab lives matter less than those of Europeans."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Contrary to what President Hollande declared, these were not 'acts of war'.

These were Acts Of Terrorism committed by individual people compelled by - what? Desperation... marginalisation and... what else?

Perhaps it's rage at the West for doing whatever it wants to do, to whomever it wants to do it, whenever it wants (*and 'damn the torpedoes!')?:

"Oops!  Our bad!  (sheepish grin)  Sorry for bombing the hell out of your beloved homeland and - in doing so - for blowing up your families, homes and businesses - all in the name of some non-existent WMDs!  Wow!  Are our faces red?!  Ttyl!  Oh, and good luck with Al Qaeda!"

Perhaps we should start to try to figure that out?"

Africa: What Lies Behind Different Reactions to Paris and Beirut Attacks - allAfrica.com

US. State Department v. ISIS Propaganda War: John Oliver (Video)

The U.S. State Department's "Run - Don't Walk - To ISIS Land" (No, I'm not kidding.  Yes, that's the actual title.) Video Was Predicated On That Agency's Unfounded Hope/Wishful Thinking That Potential ISIS Recruits/Militants Understood Sarcasm.

Doesn't the U.S. State Department know that "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery"...?

Enjoy this brief video:

John Oliver - Ironic Propaganda