Burma Schmurma

In his speech to the U.N. President Bush announced that the U.S. was imposing sanctions on Burma (or Myanmar or whatever it's called) in support of the protests by 10,000 monks of the brutal regime of the military government there. Many are calling this manifestation of people power a Saffron Revolution. And as the government begins to crack down there are fears of widespread bloodshed.

But even though President Bush thinks we should care about what's happening in Burma, I must confess I'm just as bored by what's happening there as most liberal bloggers seem to be. It's the number one story at places like the BBC. A number of conservative bloggers have covered the story and bloggers around the world are talking about it. But if you got all your news from American liberal blogs you would hardly even know this is happening. A few of the small liberal blogs have mentioned what is happening there, sometimes with genuine concern, and sometimes just as a way of bashing Bush or Cheney, but as far as the major liberal blogs are concerned, with just a few exceptions, the monks might as well be filling the streets of Jena, Louisiana, for all they care.

But for once I must say I agree with them. Who really cares about bunch of people in a country halfway around the world? Do they care about us? And the story just seems so confusing to get a handle on. There's a brutal dictatorship by the name of SLORC, which frankly sounds like a made-up name. Apparently, they massacred protesters in 1988 and in 1990 invalidated the election of Aung San Suu Kyi, who won the Nobel Prize the following year. (What's with all those difficult to pronounce names?) You might think a few feminist bloggers might be interested in her story, but apparently not. If they aren't even interested, why should I be? And frankly thousands of people rising up to peaceably protest a brutal dictatorship seems so 1989. We've seen it all before.

I'm surprised that some conservative bloggers are interested in what is happening over there. It doesn't seem to have anything to do with the War on Terror. Ed Morrissey at Captain's Quarters says that the government is starting to crack down on the protesters and that "Either it will act as a Tiananmen Square moment, where the protests shut down from fear of the government, or it will serve as a death blow to the junta." I must admit, I just don't care either way. Gateway Pundit has been covering this story since August and has put together a number of detailed posts filled with pictures and background on what is happening there. Michelle Malkin has a big story on the protests and the government's crackdown. Pajamas Media has also featured the story. Confederate Yankee chastises the Washington Post for not referring to Burma by the name the dictatorship imposed on the country, but at least he mentioned the story, which would be enough to shame liberal bloggers alone if it were actually that important.

I suppose I should be interested, but I'm not. For the first time I can remember, I agree with the liberal bloggers. Who cares?

I have to admit, some of the pictures you can find on Burmese blogs are interesting. I might download a few of them before the government shuts the blogs down and throws the bloggers in prison. They might make nice screensavers.

I have been very worried about what might happen if a Democrat is elected President and he or she starts listening to liberal bloggers about foreign policy. I thought liberal bloggers believed the United States was self-absorbed and arrogant and they want to change the perception of our country in the rest of the world. But the reaction to what is happening in Burma leads me to believe that maybe they don't want to change so much after all and that's a big relief.

Update: Feministing finally mentions Aung San Suu Kyi, but not out of concern for her safety from SLORC, but to attack Desmond Tutu for sexually harassing her.

Update 2: Soldiers fire into a crowd of protesters. Pamela Leavey of The Democratic Daily makes some time to write about Burma even though she's had a lot on her plate. Mahablog continues with regular updates. Brownfemipower draws from a number of sources in her detailed piece. Melissa McEwan of Shakeville writes in the comments: "Hey, I'm a feminist blogger interested in Ms. Suu Kyi's story! :)" No word yet from other liberal blogs.

Update 3: On the evening of September 27 Atrios writes on Eschaton: "Right this very moment there's bad stuff happening all over the world. I don't always get around to mentioning it all. Weird." What could he be referring to? The next morning, the word Burma appears on the site for the first time, when Thers Molly writes "Anyone for a Burma Shave?" and links to a Mission of Burma video, then adds, "Sorry I was just snarking" and links to a site with news from Burma. Funny. Later, she leaves the snark behind in a more serious piece on Whiskey Fire.

Update 4: Christy Hardin Smith of Firedoglake emails me to say, "Considering my child is home with a huge fever and barfing, and I'm happy to have been able to post at all today, I'll take that as an aborted attempt at snark and leave it at that..." I reply that as a conservative I'm opposed to abortion and wish her child a speedy recovery. The next day she appends a P.S. to this post.

Update 5: Amanda Marcotte at Pandagon finally posts something, writing, with surprising modesty, "The situation in Myanmar continues to spiral out of control and there’s more calls for we wee bloggers to say something helpful. I’m not sure there’s anything we can type furiously that will help, but if it does, here’s a post with a wish attached to it that our wretched species would evolve into a semblance of decency already."

Update 6: Dusty at It's My Right To Be Left of Center has uploaded exclusive video of the killing of a Japanese journalist in Burma. Nate at It All Goes Here has another video of this tragic incident. Don't let any of the "A-List" liberal bloggers see them because it might weaken their resolve.

Update 7: Bitch Ph.D. writes a piece about Burma that she says was inspired by this modest blogger, oddly enough. My account of reaching out to liberal bloggers to offer support for their lack of coverage can be found here. Meanwhile, the Daily Mail reports that thousands of monks were massacred and their bodies were dumped in the jungle.

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Technorati Tags: Jon Swift, Burma, Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi, Michelle Malkin, Politics