David E Kelley picks up drama and comedy series awards, The East Timor crisis, Are the "whackos of Waco" really the FBI and the Government? More East Timor paranoia of the North Queensland ("they're invading") type.
DAVID E KELLEY TRIUMPHS AT EMMYS
When suggesting that Ally McBeal is the best comedy around, one normally gets sniggers, especially coming from a male. Ally McBeal is a "girly" show: or so the "in" crowd suggest. Of course, they don't realise its popularity with older women is the lowest of the show's demographics - which suggests that this show is watched by more than single chicks searching for the perfect man. And if you want to know why the show is so much more broadly appealing than at the Ally age bracket, take no further look at the supporting cast. Peter McNiccol as John Cage is a major talent, so to is the man that plays Fish. When they teamed up for their first joint court case, the comedy in those scenes alone warranted an award. Then there's Lucy Lui - whose finger sucking and work on Payback adds a further element. And we need say no more than the secretary and her antics. And to think that David E Kelley writes every single episode for that show, long hand on yellow note book is astounding. Of course, as with any show that would come from the pen of one hand, the dialogue can be a bit forced at times, but it is still the best comedy writing (with the exception of the brilliantly structured and written Frasier). So, Ally McBeal ended up winning its first EMMY AWARD for best comedy series after its second season. Frasier seemed a shoo-in after all of the same winners trudged up to the stage just like last year. David Hyde Pierce beat out Peter McNiccoll's John Cage for best supporting actor, and the writing went yet again to Frasier. So David E Kelley's shock to be called to the stage for the second time in a row was amazing. I don't think we'll ever get to see a situation where the same writer producer pulls off the double for comedy and drama. And he writes every episode!!!!
That's not to mention the under-appreciated THE PRACTICE, which won the EMMY for best drama show. It beat out ER, NYPD Blue and critical favourite THE SOPRANOS. The Practice is the ultimate ensemble drama, with each actor being able to shine. Evidence of this is the nominations. The lead actor was nominated, three supporting actresses were nominated (out of five possible slots for all drama shows on tv), and two male roles were nominated as well. The surprise victor was the winner of supporting actress who is the old lady who plays the judge. Compared to the "fat one" and the prosecutor her role was minimal. Maybe her wierdness won out. But the practice is a brilliant drama. David E Kelley manages to keep the shows dramatic core focussed and builds the tension throught the script, interweaving past episodes into a methodic, coherent and highly involving process. The show contains some excellent ethical situations and while I sense a great deal of revenge politics permeating in the background, I wonder how much of it is his actual thought process or whether it is just a reflection of our feelings (one episode turned out to be completely involving revenge - quite an astounding piece of story editing and writing). As with Ally McBeal, Kelley writes every single episode. When you think about it, some (half hour) shows have five to ten writers. Kelley has two hours worth of tv to write for, and on top of that produces (and will write again for) Chicago Hope as well as start a new series (he also wrote and directed the critical flop "lake placid"). I'll never forget discovering Picket Fences and all the weird situations that eventually showed characters with heart and humanity, and it's great that for the on season of the ratings year, we get a double dose of that very same magic on Monday nights channel seven. It's the only time I tune into the network and can put up with the watermark. Both shows deserved their Emmy's and hopefully the good ratings keep on going when the new series of both shows resume next year.
INDONESIA FINALLY LETS THE PEACEKEEPERS IN!
11:00pm Sunday 12 September:
Indonesian President, B. J. Habibie, finally relented to international pressure and has said that he will allow a peacekeeping force into East Timor to resolve the violence. In an interestingly worded phrase, the UN Peacekeepers will work with the Indonesian military to restore order. Whatever that means, it is a welcome development that there will be a force other than the Indonesians in the territory. Habibie also vowed to implement the results of the referendum. It therefore appears that perhaps what did take place in the province was vengeance and mass slaughter with darkly religious overtones. I won't comment more until we actually find out what the peacekeeping force involves and how soon it is to be deployed.
WHERE'S THE OIL?
If you were ever in doubt that the Gulf War was about Democracy and freeing a people from the chains of a ruthless regime - well then double that doubt, triple it and then multiply it by infinity - because the Gulf War was obviously about oil and the mid-east balance. If the USA was so concerned with democracy, where is the military ready to stand up to the thugs in East Timor. Tommorrow, the UN leaves its compound, leaving East Timor to the Indonesian military and those 2000 people in the compound to near certain death. I almost feel sick that we have betrayed them like this and I can't believe that it will once again come under Indonesian rule. How can we ever have credibility and security and dignity if we are this weak, if we cannot stand up to this? I hope things change, but the situation is getting worse and worse. The situation in East Timor has done so much to expose how weak Australia is on its own. I don't know what it can do, but if it is really to be able to stand up for "democracy", it needs to take a new approach. It's a nightmare, and I don't even want to begin to criticise Downer - but in hindsight, an armed UN should've been what hapenned, not some half-hearted unarmed international police force. This would have to be THE most monumental stuff up, and I don't think any of the political parties would've done it any differently. The only hope now is the muscle of the United States. Only they can get action. cnn.com makes no mention of pressure to the USA, so if cnn.com isn't pushing for it, then there's no reason the USA should even though if there is any case that the democratic will of the people are being ignored, it is this. If ever we can accuse the USA of hypocrisy, then this is it.
IT'S THE MILITARY STUPID!
Tuesday 07-09-99
New bulletin's (channel nine 07-09-99, 6pm) report that there is "mob rule" in East Timor and that militias are bombarding the UN building. This is not true. The facts are that the Indonesian Army has been in charge of things in East Timor for at least the last three days. The people shooting at the UN compound are INDONESIAN soldiers, and the precision with which Dilli has been cleared and torched has a military precision to it - so advanced, that one wonders whether Australia's pact with the Indonesian military has indirectly resulted in the amazing success with which the army has had in clearing out central dilli. AAP (australian associated press) reporter in the UN compound, one of the only Australians left in the war zone stated clearly on Monday and again today that it was indeed the army that was carrying out many of the attacks, and that the militias were moving out. And today came another report from the UN coumpound clearly stating it was the Indonesian military surrounding the compound and indeed shooting over the heads of the people, and shooting over the compound in what amounted to psychological warfare (and there's more of that in my WACO comments coming up). They want the foreigners out, and it has become like a game of intimidation that has had stunning success. But now that Dili is virtually destroyed, I wonder whether the tactic has always been to destroy the town, destroy everything, loot the homes of these people that voted for independence, and THEN allow a peacekeeping force in or begin maintaining order after this most inhumane slaughter and dislocation of people from their families. Only time will tell about that, but that's what I suspect is going to happen. PS. Dr Kevin Baker on the 7:30 report said that he thought the army was clearing Dili to get more people from a different ethincity in. This is interesting, though unusual in that the ballot has already taken place... do they just not want to accept the ballot and try a new round of bringing in outsiders?
WACO DISGRACE - THE "WHACKOS" ARE THE GOVERNMENT!
This page is taking on the vibe of right wing extremism, but I have to comment about WACO. Firstly, can I recommend the documentary: "WACO: rules of engagement". In my opinion it is one of the best documentaries around - it is very powerful. But the point is, that I would've been watching this video only two weeks ago with an element of skepticism... how true are these accusations? How true are the claims that the whole thing was a Government botch up at first and then an actual massacre of innocent, law-abiding citizens who had all rights to defend their property from a corrupt, inept and merciless gung ho Government? Well, I would say that now the documentary makers have absolute credibility and the government has ZERO credibility on this issue. It highlights how dangerous the "thin blue line" is between good policing and bad policing, and how an overzelous Government can hide and obfuscate the truth and destroy the constitution in the process. That Timothy McVeigh was seriously angry about the "Government coverup" over WACO must make many of the families in Oklahoma sick that this mad man was not so whacky about the GOvernment coverup aspect. And that I have as well as millions of others, made jokes about Koresch, have made jokes about WACO, all with that background of government misinformation angered me. The extreme right wing in America has obvious grounds to believe that the Government has a vendetta against them - just look at the way Koresch was treated and ultimately, look at the way these innocent people were butchered by a militaristic operation that employed everything from psychological warfare to toxic chemicals (which made the entire compound a tinderbox). It is pretty clear to me, that Koresch couldn't have started the fire, and experts in thermal imagery show that flashes coming from government tanks were shots fired from them, and from snipers on the ground. There were 27 Branch Dividian bodies found with bullet wounds on them, all of them were said to have been killed by Branch Dividian members - from the footage, and dispite FBI denials of no firing at them, this seems like a lie and a fabrication. The government set out to punish these law abiding citizens, whose only crime was to defend themselves against ATF agents in a search that was probably illegally obtained and unlawfully carried out. And when people cry out against "civil libertarians" when they ask why we should limit the powers police have - I say to you, look at WACO - look at what hapenned to people when the govt misused its power to torture and massacre these people. Maybe then we won't be as blaze about not wanting to protect our freedoms from laws we might think at the time are for our own good!
EAST TIMOR SHAME
Monday 06-09-99
Australia has betrayed East Timor for the last twenty or so years. Now we have done so in the most astonishing way and cannot do anything about it until Indonesia relents. We have been kow-towing to Indonesia for so long - and why shouldn't we? There is a population of 200 million people just above our continent - and no matter how good our army is, we would not accept the loss of life necessary to ensure that Indonesia keeps its promise to maintain order in East Timor. As it stands today, in East Timor there are between 20 and 50 thousand troops and police (source: Alexander Downer, 7:30 report, 06-09-99). Australia just can't send the army in. Firstly, it would be treated as an invasion on sovereign territory (and it would be hypocritical of us in a way, because like the East Timorese, our Aborigines have never ceded sovereignty to Australia - it's just that the East Timorise have been able to hold out on the assimilation that Indonesia has been attempting for 30 years - australia has had 200 years to make dormant most claims of svty). Secondly, the loss of lives would be immense. As Alexander Downer himself subtley reminded him - 50 thousand troops is an enormous number for one small territory. If Australia had the resources, would we even consider such a semi-kamikaze style mission to rescue the East Timorese, even if we have promised to "stand by them". One can only feel sympathy for Downer; as Foreign Minister he has had to radically oversee a transformation in thinking with regards to Indonesia and East Timor from the previous champagne swilling foreign minister Gareth Evans. But still, perhaps Australia was naive in the extreme to believe the Indonesian promises before the election that they would maintain security. Surely our intelligence is not that pathetic that we couldn't see it coming (lay observers have said it months in advance). Maybe our policy is to hope for the best. Who are we after all, to dictate to Indonesia what to do?
So, what are the options. I think Alexander Downer could tell no more than the truth when he said our options were basically dimplomacy, help from the "international community" (which to use a word means AMERICA) and as a last resort threaten Indonesia with a withdrawal of IMF funds that are propping up the ailing economy. But the latter option is really unrealistic - and Australia knows it. As bad as Indonesia is with the IMF funds, the chaos that would spread with a second economic collapse would no doubt send shudders into military types - imagine the rhetoric: "Australia caused the IMF funds to stop". Now, maybe I'm reading too much into it, and maybe the North Queenslanders have gotten to me, but my impression from Downer's interview lies in the subtext of it. We are powerless to exert anything but diplomacy on Indonesia. We cannot risk a war with Indonesia, because the consequences of that is unimaginable - I mean, how are we going to tame an army that dwells from a pool 200 million people strong (without significant loss of life)? The situation in East Timor, exposes the problems and the deep complexity of many of the options one is to take. It is at once very easy (get indonesia to accept international troops) and hard (how to get them to accept this before thousands of innocent people are killed). What bugs me even more is that the army will probably have a district by district or even ballot box by ballot box sum up of the votes. In towns where 90% of the people voted for independence, watch the revenge take place (this is how Saddam Hussein maintains tight control in elections). They are a casualities of a system that enfranchised them into a world of terror - and the people that set it up, the international community - cannot do anything except hope. Australia needs to think long and hard about how it is going to have any sort of bite. In times like these, we cannot guarantee that America will be with us 100%. Perhaps it's time to heed the words of Jeff Kennett and tell school girls to propogate - because with an aging population - we'll barely be able to look after the elderly, let alone stand up to such a barbaric, disgusting and inhuman regime.