Bulletins From BA #07
03 Noviembre 2012
¡Hola! there… Rodger French
here.
Photo Update Alert: www.picasaweb.google.com/rodger.french
“BA-Buildings 2”
This past Sunday, A.J. and
I took a significant, nay, monumental step forward in our continuing journey toward
normalcy as residents of Buenos Aires. We figured out how to go to the movies.
En realidad (actually), it
was quite easy, except for the whole “set up an account with an online ticket
service website entirely en español” thing. But once that was done, we were
able to purchase and print our tix, which, incidentally, are much cheaper than
in the States. We even picked out our assigned seats.
The theatre itself, a
fifteen-minute walk away, is very nice; complete with big screens, comfortable
stadium seating, and overpriced refreshments. In Argentina, all foreign films
are shown in their original language with Spanish subtitles. (The exception is
children’s flicks, which are dubbed so the hijos don’t have to work too hard.) For
our first South American cinematic experience, we selected the Ben Affleck
movie “ARGO.”
In case you haven’t seen
it, “ARGO” is a thriller based on events that occurred during the Iran hostage
crisis in 1980. Since some of the protagonists were State Department diplomats
and employees, this film hits close to home. Anne and I liked it and feel that
it rings pretty true, especially the opening sequences recreating the takeover
of the U.S. Embassy in Teheran, which are simply chilling.
I’m not a Foreign Service
Officer, but I make it my business to keep as current as I am able on what’s
shakin’ in terms of safety and security issues. I have worked for FSOs who survived
embassy bombings and I know people who have had to evacuate their posts and
leave everything behind. The State Department isn’t the military, but that does
not mean we don’t sometimes have to deal with matters of life and death.
Example: Of late, there is
a lot of squawking concerning the recent event in Benghazi, Libya, where four
Americans were killed. I cannot know for sure what happened, but, from talking
to and reading the opinions of people I trust, I have deduced the following:
Intelligence is not always accurate, events cannot always be predicted, and the
“fog of war” generally tends to render any situation FUBAR. So when I hear pundits
and politicians spinning the deaths of these four American diplomats/citizens
as “Benghazi-gate” even before all the facts are in, I have my doubts as to
their sincerity.
Many of these suddenly
concerned citizens consider the State Department a haven for elitist pinkos,
feckless liberals, and even godless “communists.” DOS budgets, including funds
for security, are constantly under siege. And yet, due entirely to the fact
that a Democratic administration is in charge during an election year, these
same chowderheads are suddenly our BFFs, railing about a cover-up “worse than
Watergate.” One FOX-based jackass actually offered up the following: “Did we
trade off – and I have no evidence of this – did we trade off the lives of our
ambassador and three other Americans for that crowd? and “Were these people
expendable as part of a Mid East foreign policy?”
Really. REALLY? Perdóneme,
but that is some mierda de toro escandalosa (outrageous bullshit). Exactly how
ridiculous is the wingnut “Benghazi-gate” meme? So ridiculous that Republican
icon and former Secretary of State Condi Rice, to her credit, has called them
out on it. This “cover-up worse than Watergate” postulation is cynical drivel.
They know it and so should we all.
I apologize for getting all
up in this, but sometimes the mendacity is just too much. Foreign Service
Officers are skilled, motivated, patriotic Americans doing important work for
our country. They deserve recognition and support whether it’s politically
expedient or not; and, IMHO, exploiting their deaths for the sake of political
opportunism is utterly vile.
OK, I’m done. Thanks for
hearing me out.
¡Adelante!
Rodger
