THIS ARTICLE HAS NOT BEEN EDITED AND IS VERY, VERY DATED. IN FACT THE ENTIRE OXTOGRIND SITE IS AN ARCHIVED SITE, HAVING NOT BEEN FULLY FUNCTIONAL FOR QUITE SOME TIME. ONLY THE ARTICLES MOST RECENTLY POSTED ABOUT TAKING OVER THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA SHOULD ACTUALLY BE READ. I ADVISE READERS WHO MAY HAVE LANDED HEREABOUTS, INADVERTENTLY, TO GOOGLE “TAKING OVER THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA RICHARD OXMAN” (and then contact me at headburg@yahoo.com OR at tosca.2010@yahoo.com.)

Vienna Waits for You, Part I (First Draft)
by Rocco Rococo
Dedicated to my invaluable, loving friend from Vienna, H.H., who I trust will want to spread the word among like-minded Europeans

“Too bad but it’s the life you lead….” — Bill Joel

“What took a century to destroy can’t be rebuilt in thirty days.” — The author, paraphrasing Talleyrand, in response to the question of how long a second Congress of Vienna+ might last

Exactly fifteen years ago, there was a two-week Austrian shindig — World Conference on Human Rights — held in Vienna. (1a) By consensus 171 states adopted The Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action. All the pledges and commitments, for the most part very well-intentioned by any standards, have come to exactly nothing. Well, maybe… not enough. Not nearly enough, we can all agree to that, yes?

But that’s only to be expected when the leading state in the world (in terms of POWER) has been so disrespectful of international law, moral conventions. Yes, I know that the U.S. is not the only reason — not by far — that human rights have actually taken a nosedive since the early 90s, BUT (I’m singling it out because) it’s a country that can now be held accountable for its roguish, inhumane behavior, enabling new leaders to step up… to do the right thing, by example.

That’s partly what was done in the early 1800s when Napoleon took a dive, and the leaders of Europe — conquerors of France’s Diminutive Horror — met to make love, war and peace at the Congress of Vienna. (1b) They set the tone, and much more, for the following century, creating international peace of a sort for about 100 years, the various smaller abominations (such as the Spanish-American War, indigenous genocide, cutting off the hands of Congolese on King Leopold’s personal estate, etc.) notwithstanding. One could indeed argue that the Congress of Vienna had more impact than Napoleon in world history.

If John McCain gains an unlikely victory it’s all over in the deepest possible sense, on a truly fast track. I can’t begin to delineate what horror would come down with that scenario. But if Obama wins as expected and isn’t assassinated [a 50/50 proposition, if you ask me (2a)], the U.S. is in for the Biggest Surprise of Its Overrated Life (2b).

And now that it appears as if Barack Obama will take over the Oval Office in Washington, D.C., there’s a terrific opportunity for Europe to have a huge rendezvous once again… to celebrate and make proper plans for the future (dis)respecting the total collapse of America the Unbeautiful. Rating and berating the U.S. appropriately.

Yes, a Second Congress of Vienna+.

A call for like-minded people in Europe to gather for the purpose of joyously jumping out of their skin in happiness in public regarding the Decline and Fall of The Latest Vicious Empire. And a call for the same individuals to put out a call to those in power to do what they can to have the worn-out dollar replaced by another standard worldwide… where it’ll count for something. For starters.

Hey, for those with little knowledge about such things, I call your attention to the fact that wanting to head off such (devaluation of the dollar) trouble at the pass is one of the most significant reasons why the U.S. pushed its troops and others into Iraq in the first place. (2c) And why American leaders have been acting so abominably… forever. When economic competitiveness fails military pressure is applied. Rule of (heavy) thumb.

With an Obama victory American dreams will die… for good. All the “promise” will dissipate in short order. Things won’t get better. Oh no, they’ll get worse. Much worse than anyone can imagine.

I say that not just because he’s lying through his teeth (3a), but because all of the important issues from the dire environment to the country’s economic collapse (3b), and from the soaring health care crises to overseas atrocities, will not be addressed. Because the worst villains on the American stage, like Big Pharma & Co. and Pentagon, Inc., are slated to make the nation more toxic than ever, increasing the intolerable gap between the rich and those who are fighting for survival as they continue to emulate Exxon. And give the shiv to the world like Chevron and Citigroup (3c).

At a time when such cannot be absorbed.

Oh yes, 20% or so of U.S. citizens will make out like bandits possibly for awhile longer, but nothing will keep the Karma of U.S. incessant support of Congo and Palestinian genocide (3d) from coming home to roost like a carcinogenic chicken with rabies. A plague will finally descend on Main Street, and the taste of each and every plate of Apple Pie will die… slowly in the mouth.

Freud died of mouth cancer, yes? Yes. Back to Vienna.

Where they discovered on February 26, 1815 that Napoleon had slipped past his guards on Elba, and escaped back to France. That news put quite a damper on the wild waltzes that were dominating the royal 19th century bedrooms. (3e) And on the unbridled, masked fornication (and much else) in other rooms, locales.

By August, 1815, however, the Little Colonel was caught and banished — under stricter terms — to St. Helena, and irresistible Viennese harmonies held sway once again, panic subsiding, debauchery resumed. Once Nappy was finally firmly ensconced, in between relaxed ejaculations the diplomats wrangled over the spoils of his former empire by day, and dined on his china at night with delight.

Those gathering in Vienna to celebrate America’s Waterloo should prepare properly for the demise of the U.S. For one, they cannot afford to slip back into delusions regarding American exceptionalism… or solidarity… or compassion… or freedom. Cannot let Obama escape.

I am America’s Mortician here. And I ask my European brothers and sisters to bury Obama (as he’s burying himself) with an all-out effort to destabilize the dollar, denigrate The Arrogance… and let the chips fall where they may. I know that there will be serious fallout in Europe if that happens, and I know that the leaders of other countries are fully capable of unimaginable horrors too. But it is time to force a radical change in leading players for the world stage. The Tsar, if you will, for Guaranteed Tsuris.

It’s not time to play along with the image of another Napoleon donning the peasant garb and popular speech of a disaffected Italian patriot, and making like he’s going to meet expectations or hopes and dreams of unification. Confusing? I’m trying to paint a picture here of the disingenuous Obama, the guy who I just caught doing a commercial for the new American TV series, Army Wives. He is NOT “Just Folks.” (4)

This is just the very tip of an iceberg’s worth of thought regarding The Second Conference of Vienna+. There’s much, much more to share upon request. The fun of the nuts and bolts, for one. For a production that wouldn’t be the usual star-studded emptiness along Sir Geldorf or Bono or Sting lines. Which leads to nothing significant. Because it refuses to call a spade a spade, preferring the easy route of attacking scarecrows, straw men. PC for PR (5).

No, this shindig would not only address The American Abomination, it would call attention to the scam that is the EU, wherein leaders are logged in along class lines whilst those ruled are encouraged to self-label nationally. Making change from the ground up… unlikely. Oh, there’s a whole lot that can be covered that’s only been covered up before.

Especially when you’re putting on a watershed event. Intending to out-influence Napoleon. Like Talleyrand… who was a guest of honor (of sorts) in 1814, in spite of his previous collaboration with Horror.

In the meantime (until you contact me at headburg@yahoo.com), I recommend that you zone out with your own imaginative powers to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7hORtbGk3c …or with another version. Or with another song. Or another singer.

As long as there will be music in our lives.

Footnotes:
(1a) http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu5/wchr.htm
(1b) I almost always expect readers to check out terms, events, etc. with which they’re unfamiliar; I rarely write pieces laying out all the who, what where, etc., believing that my type of communication makes reader research, inititative an integral part of any hoped for solution that I’m focusing on. Short of that, it seems to me, all one has is the usual interesting or fascinating made-for-spectator-at-a-distance writing.
(2a) The scenario that would follow such an act would be tantamount to a McCain victory. With or without fires being set nationally a la the sixties, the total psychological and physical damage to the country would far outweigh what happened with Martin Luther King’s assassination. A dream wouldn’t die, dreaming would…within the dominant culture.
(2b) To just tiptoe gently into this concept (in the context of this article), I recommend thinking about what’s in http://www.counterpunch.org/kozloff06262008.html
The reason is that there’s a great parallel between the ridiculous hope associated with the Obama campaign and the “hope” that circulated around Jimmy Carter when he first came onto the national scene. In both cases, The School of the Americas (now WHINSEC) was not… addressed. No elimination of SoA = No Hope for not only America, but for The Americas. On any level. On a day when the Supreme Court ruled on both the Exxon Valdez litigation and the question of whether or not child rape should be considered a capital offense, Obama decided to say something about how he thought states should decide whether or not to kill rapists, and to say nothing about Exxon getting away with murder. These are just tips of Obama Iceberg; for definitive takes on what Obama’s all about simply google Obama Paul Street. In short, America can (easily) be seen to be overrated because its highest rated figure of “Hope” is a Pure Horror. Upon request, however, I can provide many other criteria/standards by which to measure our sad state. We are NOT good, not great.
(2c) For an introduction to this notion, see http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Iraq/Iraq_dollar_vs_euro.html
Please note, however, that the euro is merely a satellite dollar of sorts (as per Dr. Michael Hudson of www.michael-hudson.com), and that the real threat to the dollar will have to come from countries, in confronting the U.S. threat/dollar, coming up with a new kind of unified currency. The audio http://www.audioport.org/index.php?op=program-info&program_id=19216&na v=& from KPFA’s Guns and Butter is fascinating on this count.
(3a) http://www.zmag.org/znet/viewArticle/17974
(3b) Listen to http://www.audioport.org/index.php?op=program-info&program_id=19216&na v=&.
(3c) The Citigroup scamming, as is often the case with other shiv-in-the-back shenanigans, involves federal agencies as per http://www.counterpunch.org/martens06212008.html
(3d) That’s just to name two ongoing, longstanding examples. See http://allthingspass.com/ for an introduction of sorts to American complicity in Africa. Keith Harmon Snow risks his life to get the information to you. Few Americans know or care about the role of Barrick Gold in the Congo. Let alone who owns major shares in the company. Kind of like the ignorance regarding the role of Rudder Finn in the Balkans. Ad infinitum. Hell, most educated souls in the U.S. would be hard pressed to tell you a single thing about the original Conference of Vienna. Or much about Vienna, for that matter. And people ask me why I don’t want my son Marcel to go to American schools! Why would any parent wish acclimatization to such arrogant complacency on their offspring?
(3e) Waltzes at the 1814 balls were not yet the dance of later Vienna fame, but they were still quite controversial… for dancers moved as couples, not in groups, and there was a helluva lot more touching than there had been with any previous dance in modern history. The thrust of it all carried over into the decadent boudoirs.
(4) As per the not “Just Folks” comment, see http://www.zmag.org/znet/viewArticle/17971. None of the major American political candidates are ever any good, all with deep red blood on their filthy hands. The peripheral ones like Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader, however, often have much to offer. The ones who will never be given the chance to plant seeds… in the electoral arena.
(5) Anything but political correctness clothed in public relations. Just as the original 1814 Vienna Congress was not destined to be a congress, no parliament of equal sovereign states, certainly not any kind of a deliberate assembly of Europe, Vienna Congress #2 would be a site of many individual negotiations, a Europe without distances, wherein people on the ground, of the street, might meet… in lieu of a Central Committee or Directing Committee of Great Powers. This is about as far from the best of what’s been organized to date as a pregnant partridge from a barren, greenless pear tree. Not a gathering of egotistical and/or bootless cries directed at compassionless leaders. A real addressing of balance of power. In spite of my thrill over this whole idea, friends are urging me to drop my “save the world syndrome,” and to simply enjoy myself. What then, open an Anti-American Coffee Central somewhere on Mariahilfer Strasse?
SPECIAL NOTE ADDED July 9, 2008, the same day that I posted TOSCA: The fellow to whom I dedicated this piece — H.H. indicated directly under the title above — dropped out of contact inexplicably following the posting of this article. Up until that point everything seemed fine and dandy. That kind of thing has happened a lot to me. It begs a number of questions, yes? On another plane, yesterday someone asked me — because I had mentioned that I had written an article “about Vienna” — whether or not I had ever been to Vienna; they had… several times. An intelligent, well-traveled soul, apparently an open individual. But when I briefly launched into how the article was centered on the Congress of Vienna and the carving up of the world by European powers… she commented… not at all.