For those who care, and those who do not prostrate themselves to barrels of crude oil, I shall be delivering an Angry "eulogy" for King Fahd tomorrow morning (5:30AM Pacific Time, 3:30PM Beirut Hummus Time zone) on Democracy Now. You may listen live (or watch on Dish Network). How can I keep my cool? How can I not yell and scream? I am suffocating watching the Arab media today. The supply of untruths and hagiographic propaganda about somebody who was most despised in every Arab home is just frustratingly unbelievable. To watch those Arab intellectuals, who preach "liberalism" during the day and write about the "enlightenment" in Al-Hayat and other Saudi-funded media, and sing the praises for their entire lives about one of the most reactionary figures in Arab contemporary history, only tells you about the quality of official Arab political culture and discourse, and its vapidity. I wish I can shield myself from the insincere lies that are being generated in every Arab media now: even the right-wing (and racistly anti-Arab) Lebanese Forces militia-owned LBC-TV is going along with the trend. This culture of submission to Arab oil wealth only augments my sense of political hopelessness about the prospects for positive change in the region. Chirac is flying for the funeral. How could he not? Has Chirac ever met a barrel of oil that he did not prostrate himself to?