September 28, 2007- The Mad Monks

  It seems that the latest hot spot in the world is not Iraq or Iran or the Gaza Strip or Darfur or any of these places that we have heard of for so long on the international stages. No, it seems that the attention of the world has been focused on a place other than the traditional hot spots on the planet, all the way over to Asia  to a little fucking country known as Myanmar. Once upon a time, this land was known as Burma, that was the colonists name for it, but they reverted back to their ancestral name a number of decades ago, but the American media still feel the need to tell us that this land was formerly known as Burma, why I do not know, like that makes any difference to most people. I think it was featured in some Humphrey Bogart movies or some shit like that back when it was known as burma, but it is not a land that most anyone outside of the area is famniliar with at all, you do not see ads telling you to take a trip to Myanmar or that  Mr. Businessman needs to do business with Myanmar or any of that shit, it is a land far away that America usually has zero to do with, however, that seems to be changing. This all centers around the government of Myanmar, which is some kind of military setup, how long it has been around is anyone's guess, no one pays too much attention to what goes on there, but apparently, these fuckers have been around for some time, and have not done the country a whole lot of good in all that time. Myanmar was not exactly First World material when they took over, and since they have been in power, it has slid even further down the line. Now, the country is mainly a Third World like basket case, and the people in Myanmar are fed up with that shit, mainly the Buddhist monks. They have been looking around their land and not liking what they see for a long time, so they have finally decided to do something about it. What they have started to do recently is to start up protests against the military government, and that has not been something commomplace in Myanmar since these fuckers took over.  Apparently, they are like most military governments, they ruthlessly suppress any and all dissent, and no one is permitted to rise up against them, so what the monks are doing is not going down very well in the halls of power in Myanmar. The governement has not been shy in saying so either, telling the monks to cut the shit and the monks have said no in return. So what we have been seeing there are these non violent protests led by these bald fuckers wearing saffron robes that have struck a newve with the people, and the people have responded in kind. The monks say that they are after only three things, they want price relief on basic goods, which are very highly priced there, they want al lpolitical prisoners freed, especially that famous one  Daw Aung San Su Kyi, and they want the government to meet with the pro-democratic forces as they call themselves.  The governemnt has been increasingly hostile in their reactions, they have done shit like raid the monasteries and beat the shit out of the monks and arrest them, and just yesterday, they went way the fuck over the top when they sent the military out to stop a peaceful protest by the people by indiscriminately shooting them down  where they stood, prompting an international outcry. Now, they have cut off the TV and Internet, effectively isolating Myanmar from the rest of the world and they try and deal with this increasing unrest they have on their hands. However, the word has gotten out, and the world is responding positively and that is what has made Myanmar a new hot spot on the planet.

   The reason for that is because these monks have cloaked themselves as a pro-democracy movement, and that's sure to get people's attentions in high places, and it surely has. None other than the man that says he is God's chosen one to help spread and defend democracy, President Bush, has heard of it and has jumped right in. Earlier this week at the United nationas birthday party, he spoke of the government of Myanmar by name and did not say very good things about it either. he basiclaly called them tyrants that had to be dealt with and that America was not going to sit idly by and see democracy beaten down like that. Bush was not just putting on his cowboy act ith this either, what he  and his people have done is to cobble together and package of economic sanctions against Myanmar that are being put in place  until the government starts listening to the monks and what they  want. Washington is now talking shit about Myanmar on a daily basis like they have talked shit about Iran and Syria, they have thrown them  right into that mix without actually calling them state sponsors of terrorism. A big reason for this is that it would sopund unbelieveably  ignorant of Washington to say shit like Myanmar is a harbor for Al-Queda or anything ,because this is a country that is mainly Buddhist in its religion, not Muslim. So Washington has  to gop back to the old Cold war days and paint Myanmar ike that, saying that they are a country that is run by evil and cruel military men that want to squash democracy in the name of something else and that they must be dealt with. The monks are eating this all up, as it is just what they wanted to accomplish, they have got the attention of someone that can help them more than anyone. They are saying that they are doing all of this because they are Buddhist monks that took a vow to help the people and that they see the people of Myanmar suffering under the regime and are just doing what Buddha  says for them to do under such circumstances. Washington is also taking Buddha's side here and telling the military junta to listen to him, so the heat is on these fuckers big time, especially after that massacre the other day. As if America does not have enough on its plate, now we have the Administration talking tough to some island nation in Asia that never gave America a problem at all, on top of the saber rattling against Iran, Syria, North Korea, and who the fuck knows who else. Bush says that this is a matter of America defending the right of people to live in a democracy and nothing else. The government of myanmar has not said much in response to Bush, they did not rebut him at the UN or anything, but you know it has to make them nervous to see Bush going off and condemning them by name like that, because they have seen the dude's track record and want no part of it. But they seem determined to do this on their terms, that massacre proved that and what Bush says does not sem to make any difference. In the past, when the likes of Saddam did that, it meant that he put his country on a crash course with America, and Bush has said "bring 'em on" before and Myanmar may just be the next target in his sights. These monks have really started something ,they literally have put their country on the map in the 21st century, and what they began is now taking on a life of its own and is loking to become something much bigger than the three requests that they said that they had when they started this. All you need to do is look at the Dalai Lama to see how far Buddhist monks can go, and these guys seem determined to follow in his sandalprints.

   However, just like the Dalai Lama, these monks have a whole other agenda besides the pious and holy one they claim to have. The real reason that they are so pissed off at the government of Myanmar is not because they steal and pillage the land and its people, but that they do not share the wealth with Buddha and his minions. That does not sit well with them because they feel that any governemnt should split the profits with them becasue they and their scene, like many religions, predate the secular governments and such and were the first socializations that country ever had. Like many religions, they gave up their positions of supreme power, especially in the political realm, because they wanted to kick  back and enjoy the loot they were gerting off of the people, so they let the secular governments take that over and they  moved into the background. Well, the problem became that the secular government forgot where they came from in the eyes of the monks, so they decided to try and get their cut,  and were continually rebuffed. The momks tried everything that they could think of to get these fuckers to change their moinds, but the government looked on it as the monks needed to be happy that they were just allowed to exist at all, they were on their own as far as making money was concerned, so they should just shut the fuck up. This arrangement was not something that the momnks were against at first, but the way that the government went after everything left nothing much  left for them to take off the people, so they are upset. What they have done is taken a look over at Iraq and gotten an idea. What they saw was when the American-led elections were held over there in the 2005, the Islamic Holy Men won almost every time. The fact that this pissed off America and these Holy Men  have not been allowed to assume their positions by and large did not mean anything to the monks, they just saw an oportunity. They knew that the reasons that the Holy Men were elected every time was because the people honestly felt that they were the only ones that had any qualifications at all to govern because the rest of society was so fucked up. The society in Myanmar is every bit as fucked up as the society in Iraq was, and the regular people have been denied Opportunities to do much of anything for a long time as well. This was why there had not been any uprisings against the government no matter how  bad they were, because there was just  no one amongst the people that could have taken over  if the military was overthrown. The monks are about the only people that get any kind of real education in that society, the incentive to join up with Buddha is that you get educated, and the common man is supposed to look up to you as an exalted one. The monk sknow that  if there were elections, that they or some puppet dude that they ran would win every time just like in Iraq. If that were to happen, then they would get a Buddhist state like they want, and then they get to plunder and pilage the land and keep everything for themselves, essentially taking  back the position that their church relinquished a while back. That is why they are wrapping themselves in the pro democracy shit and trying so hard to get the attention of Washington. They know full well who their candidates would be if there was an election, and they are trying to force one to happen because they know they stand the best chances of winning it. That' s why they are willing to get their asses kicked by the Myanmar military and Pigs and are doing what they are doing these days.

   So these monks do not really care about democracy, they care about Buddha, and what they are doing is for him, not those three principles they speak of. Whether Bush knows that or not is immaterial, because he can talk as tough towards them as he wants, there is not shit that he can do about anyting there. To begin with, the fact that America is fighting two wars takes away an awful lot of weight from his threats and such. There would just be no way that he could afford to send any American troops over there to help the monks, and besides that, he would not want to at all. It is now so late in his Administration that it is no longer worth starting shit anywhere else, despite what the paranoids  say, as there would just not be enough time to loot everythijng you'd want to loot out of a war now, and besides that, Bush's job now is to just run out the clock and wait for retirement in 2009 and make sure that nothing that he has done so far gets fucked up or undone before then. Starting up in Myanmar would fuck something else up and he is  not supposed top do that, so he'll stick to putting on his cowboy hat and six guns and waving them arounf and talking tough. He knows that the next President is the one that will have to deal with this issue now that the cat is out of the bag so he'll just support the monks with sanctions. Sinced the monks are educated men, they know that, and cannot really feel that Bush is going to be able to do anything for them except maybe scare the shit out of the government so they give the monks their way. What they are doing now is a show designed to lay the foundation for the next President to step up for them, that is, if the Myanmar government does not see the light first and agree to the monks demands. They are telling the military men  that they can expect to have troubles with America from now on if they continue to shut Buddha out of things like they have so they'd better sit down with them before things get worse. Whether or not this is going to work remains to be seen, but it seems that Myanmar has been made into the newest trouble spot in the world, and that Americans are going to hear of it now. If these saffron wearing baldies get their way, any government of them would be every bit as corrupt and selfish as the one they have now, and the people of Myanmar would probably be no better off, and maybe even worse off. The onlt difference would be that the government would be friendly with America as opposed to the one they have now. and that would man that Washington would turn a blind eye and deaf ear towards the very offenses that they get so upset over now. In the long run, even a Buddhist governemnt in Myanmar would turn against America, for religious reasons if for no other, as the Western ways are things that the disciples of Buddha do not like that well. However, for now, Washington is the very best friend that these mad monks could have, and you can rest assured that they are going to milk and milk and milk it for all that it is worth.  That's we are are going to see all these sympathetic portrayals of them in the American media for the  rest of the year minimum and well into next year too. These monks are an excellent propaganda opportunity for America, to show everyone just how much the oppressed still want the American ways despite what has happened in the world these last few years and how those that want it come straight to Washington. Each side will use the other, the backbone of international relations, and for now, nothing much will come out of it, but it could be an issue for the next decade of the new century, so stay tuned.

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