Rudyard Kipling Redux

I'm starting to wonder about reincarnation? Specifically, that of Rudyard Kipling. You all remember Kipling, don't you?

No? OK, here's a brief intro:

"In February 1899, British novelist and poet Rudyard Kipling wrote a poem entitled The White Man's Burden: The United States & The Philippine Islands. In this poem, Kipling urged the US to take up the 'burden' of empire, as had Britain and other European nations. Published in the February, 1899 issue of McClure's Magazine, the poem coincided with the beginning of the Philippine-American War and US Senate ratification of the treaty that placed Puerto Rico, Guam, Cuba, and the Philippines under American control. Theodore Roosevelt, soon to become vice-president and then president, copied the poem and sent it to his friend, Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, commenting that it was 'rather poor poetry, but good sense from the expansion point of view'. Not everyone was as favorably impressed as Roosevelt. The racialized notion of the 'White Man's burden' became a euphemism for imperialism, and many anti-imperialists couched their opposition in reaction to the phrase." ('The White man's Burden': Kipling's hymn to US imperialism, historymatters.gmu.edu)

And here's part of his famous poem:

Take up the White Man's burden-
Send forth the best ye breed-
Go send your sons to exile
To serve your captives' need
To wait in heavy harness
On fluttered folk and wild-
Your new-caught, sullen peoples,
Half devil and half child

Take up the White Man's burden
In patience to abide
To veil the threat of terror
And check the show of pride;
By open speech and simple
An hundred times made plain
To seek another's profit
And work another's gain

Well, I've reason to believe that Rudyard's soul currently inhabits the body of one, Micah D. Halpern, a restless soul who, so his website, The Micah Report, tells us, "currently divides his time between Jerusalem and New York City." How very Zionist!

Micah D. who? OK, here's part of his spiel: "Micah D. Halpern has a track record. He is a frequent analyst on network television and radio in the areas of terror, the Middle East and Muslim Fundamentalism. He is the author of the recently released, best selling, book THUGS." Again, how very Zionist!

Now why am I beating around this particular bush, you ask?

Well, it just so happens that I came across the following impassioned plea from Micah D, channeling Rudyard Kipling, in yesterday's Australian:

"Muammar Gaddafi is dead. The Gaddafi family will never again rule Libya. And that leaves Libya where? On the verge of civil war... All people yearn for freedom, but not all people know how to attain freedom. Not all people know how to reorganise, re-educate and instil the passion for freedom to younger generations. Not all people have the patience to wait, listen, watch and learn. We who have known freedom for many, many generations must step in and help those people in need. We must do it cautiously and respectfully, but we must do it, and we must do it quickly. Libya is on the verge of civil war. Libyans cannot help themselves. That is our role." (Gaddafi void opens civil war threat)

Now doesn't that take you back?