Comments on: Weekend Read – Not “So Ronery” Anymore: Where’s the Outrage Over NY Philharmonics’ Feting of Kim Jong-Il, North Korea?

By: supercargo

supercargo — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 01:57:24 +0000

They aren’t dancing to his tune; they are playing to the NK people. The commie tyrants are on the way out; the muslim fascists are on the way in.
Fuck the US media for not publicizing Karzai’s indulgence of the Afghan heroin trade. Billions of dollars are pouring into that drug industry, and taliban gets the same 15% cut that they got when they were in power. The Globe and Mail – citing UN and other statistics reports today that opium production is up 20 times since 2003, when Karzai’s Pashto govt started indulging the druggies. Two million Pakistanis are now hooked on heroin, joining an equal number of Iranians.
The UN website reports that there is an archipelago of heroin factories along the border with Pakistan. There were ZERO factories in 2003.
Canadian soldiers report that every inch of captured land in Kandahar and Helmand District, goes right back to the Taliban the second it is delivered to Karzai’s thieves.
Stop denying that Bush – the moralist who initiated $750,000 fines after Janet Jackson exposed her floppy tits – is indulging an industry that is causing human misery through Asia and Europe.
You know what the Saudis do with OUR money transfers; who the hell needs a rich Taliban? Those same animals who allied with the 9-11 terrorists, are now armed to the teeth; drug rich warlords now direct the trade by use of cellphones. McCain has no chance whatsoever if he stands with Goof#1. Obama’s Black Church Agenda will lead America to ruin, as its enemies are empowered. Bush is a dypso, oil patch brat with a community faith concept of the Islamic murder cult. He is a human perfect storm for national catastrophe.

By: Pat

Pat — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 00:49:59 +0000

NorKor executed 21 fishermen today that strayed into SoKor waters. That was the crime. All returned home and pledged their allegiance to Kim. Then they were killed.

By: Pat

Pat — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 22:42:25 +0000

I have changed my mind and come to agree with you, DS. We have become no better than sending blond whores to the Saudis hotel rooms. Who is the audience? The privileged perverts that run these countries. They cheer not for the music, but the fact that they have conquered the West on some level. Savagery wins again.

By: c f

c f — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 02:00:56 +0000

As it happens, Maazel did refer to the NY Philharmonic’s cultural exchange visit to the Soviet “Union” in 1959 as an illustrious precedent for the present tour. The conductor at that time, Leonid Bernstein was the same disloyal American who held a reception in his swanky home for Black Panther cop-killing assassins, and who also supported candidates from a Communist-led political party in 1948. Some cultural exchange!

By: bma00000

bma00000 — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 23:41:27 +0000

Cultural exchange is one of the best forms of diplomacy. Talking about this as if the conductor was selling arms to the North Koreans is absurd! If you’re going to try to build the bridges to get the North Koreans into the world stage, merely ignoring the country in the hopes that it goes away won’t help in the slightest, and this is a far cry from diplomatic relations or relaxation of sanctions.
Were cultural exchanges with Russia during the Cold War treated with such disdain?

By: c f

c f — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 20:03:08 +0000

!!!!
The thing that got me the maddest about this tour was reading about the great emotion felt by Maazel and other members of the orchestra — hopefully there were a few of them who didn’t like what they were doing but were afraid to say anything, but who knows?
What kinds of emotions would they have felt if they had decided to support our troops in Iraq and go there or to Afganistan to boost the morale of those in the military who are fighting for them instead of to the home of our enemy?
As you say, the fawning in the press was just as bad as the trip itself. Some favorable publicity for the orchestra without taking the chance of unfavorable critical reviews that might occur if they went somewhere where people really knew anything about culture. Was there really any chance of unfavorable reviews by No. Korean “critics” who don’t know music from a hole in the wall? A great opportunity for recognition without taking any risks.
It could have been worse though. What if Clueless Condi, who strongly supported the trip had decided to join them on piano:?!?
One political dimension of the trip is to humanize our enemies. It focuses attention on one or two nice violinists, and gives the impression that the whole country is like this, and wants to be friends with the Americans, so why don’t we talk with them, instead of opposing them (as if Bush is really doing that)? It makes people forget, if they ever knew, how No. Korea is working with Iran, Syria, and other enemies of the United States.