More Monbiot

Now you can read George Monbiot's impressively clear-eyed account of how he came to attempt the Bolton arrest. Monbiot makes an eloquent and convincing case--take that, Michael White--on why Bolton, et al, deserve to have war crimes charges brought against them (note implied right to due process). Don't forget to read the comments. My favorites are from those who stick to the strict legalities: Monbiot's attempt wasn't an actual legal citizen's arrest, they point out. Thus missing the point, which is that so many unconscienable means of effecting all kinds of international policy and events have become so normalized that we now describe torture as "prisoner abuse." Etc. etc.

I know, it seems that I'm just a shill for the Guardian. In my defense, I run down the LA Times, NYT, Wa Po, BBC and the Guardian most days, and time and again it's the Guardian that I read more of more often, with the LA Times coming in a close second (writing for an audience presumed to be as sophisticated as the NYT's, but without the weighty pretense of the NYT's historical "paper of record" burden).

Not that the Guardian is beyond stooping to bits on the hair habits of pols. It's just that rest makes up for it, and more.

The Arresting George Monbiot

A quick but substantial one I just came across during bedtime reading:

While George Monbiot (pictured here, via the Guardian) failed in his attempt at making a citizen's arrest of John Bolton, there's nothing to do but admire the effort. If the U.S. Congress won't go after war criminals, perhaps it's up to like minded citizens of of the world to do it. Sure, the American constitution suffers when our own don't act, but it might actually do that making-the-world-safer-for-democracy thing. And sure, it might cause a little havoc here, but imagine, all over the world, deserving officials from this administration (and there are of course no lack thereof) being arrested by common men and women of the world.

UPDATE: The Guardian's Micheal White--who wrote aforementioned story--talks about just what a war criminal is and whether or not Bolton fits the bill. Also, you can now find a slideshow of Monbiot's arrest attempt. Bolton received a warm reception, it seems: