Burma bleeding

The slaughter unfolding in Burma makes me want to find one of those enlightened, "reality-based," soft-power-advocating liberals and rub their nose in it. The Burmese junta IS what they like to accuse the United States of being. You can't criticize the junta and live. You *certainly* can't have your own guns, let alone your own opinions. The populace is sadly denied the joys of giant paper-mache' protest puppets and scatalogical jokes on the leader's name. There isn't much more non-violent than a Buddhist monk, and look what's happening to them, just because they dared to march. Nothing else! No Black Bloc stupidity, no vandalism, nothing but peaceful assembly. They are dead. Not inconvenienced, not tear-gassed, not (shudder!) forced to listen to differing opinions, DEAD. And from the photographic evidence, they weren't killed quickly either.

FISA got you scared? How about no Internet at all? How about ALL phones tapped, regardless? How about actual forced labor camps--if they don't just shoot you out of hand?

Think Bush stole the election? (either Bush, any election ...) Aung San Suu Kyi's party won 80% of the vote, everyone agrees--the junta just shrugged it off and kept power.

Think the US only cares about places with vital resouces? Burma is awash in natural gas. The country doesn't *have* to be grindingly poor, if the money was actually used for all Burmese and not just the junta.

Where's all the wonderful nuanced diplomacy of Europe? France doesn't want to pull out of Burma; Total is worried someone *else* might profit from the natural gas pipeline. Where's the UN? Their representative can't get in to see the people in power. Hard to do the nuancy thing if they won't even listen.

So, dear liberals, tell me. Given that the current government ignores sanctions and in the face of protests will calmly slaughter its own people and even foreign journalists ... how do you stop what's happening in Burma?

Hint: starts with v, rhymes with violence ...