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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
Living proof that jackals can be taught to type.
GG:
Speaking of lessons learned, what about this:
*snort* Accountability's a bitch, huh? Real bright, that one is.
Waiting for the scythe
Richocet ricochet
The world is on a corner
Waiting for jobs
Ricochet ricochet
Turn the holy picture
So they face the wall
And who can bear to be forgotten
March of flowers
March of dimes
These are the prisons
These are the crimes
Sound of thunder
Sound of gold
Sound of the devil breaking parole
Ricochet
It's not the end of the world
From the original post: The greater one's physical or emotional proximity to the attacks, the greater is the danger that one will seek excessively to empower and submit to government authority and cheer for destructive counter-measures which allow few, if any, limits.
I've spoken before about how I was supposed to be in Tower 2 the morning of the attack. At no time, then or since, have I thought either the Bush Administration or Congress were responding to the threat involved either intelligibly or appropriately. Nor can I recall speaking with anyone else living in NYC proper who thinks this.
I have, however, worked in domestic preparedness consulting in the past, so maybe I've just been better prepared for the reality that terrorism is an omnipresent danger that can only be managed and minimized, never completely avoided. My wife is an EMS with FDNY, thus would be among those running into bombings and such, and she's even less enthralled with the government's actions the last eight years.
I'm sure there are plenty of counter-examples of NYCers who wanted martial law and mass arrests, and I recognize Glenn was speaking of the danger of over-reacting. I'd like to think that by and large American citizens are intelligent enough to recognize when something isn't working and decide to try something else, even if it does take nearly six years and gods know how many scandals for them to get the message. Hopefully that's what we're seeing right now.
Killers that are calm, fair skinned foreigners in India are not likely disaffected Muslims.
I have no idea who is behind the terrorist attacks, but I know many people from the Middle East who do not fit the stereotypical look, so who knows.
An Palestinian coworker of mine (years ago) had thinning light brown hair and green eyes and an indecipherable accent. He was raised in a refugee camp and then eventually completed college in Minnesota..and the Minnesota accent was pronounced. My old Persian boss had dark hair, but the fairest skin I'd ever seen and blue eyes, if I hadn't known his background I would have guessed Irish or Scottish.
I imagine that no matter what the terrorsit's background is, some of the guys were picked because they would not be instantly seen as suspicious. It's the same reason that young women are being recruited more, they don't fit the m.o.
I was wondering, too, when or if someone would mention this. It's not just Iraq, but our entire foreign policy.
Glenn writes, "More generally, discussions of our own role in spawning anti-American sentiment around the world is still more or less off limits in mainstream discourse, ludicrously demonized as "Blame America First" pathology from anti-American fringes on the radical Left and the isolationist Right."
Very true, and I'm surprised you brought that up. If it's not the first time, I missed it.
Know what else is ludicrously demonized (or ludicrously ignored) in the mainstream discourse and not discussed by "serious" and "respected" bloggers? Operation Mockingbird! Perhaps the time will come, but it may be too late.
I see some folks here are peddling the old lie that the Afghanistan war was "good and proper".
Let us see now. If we take the highly unlikely official story of the events of September 11, 2001 we will conclude that some men (mostly from Saudi Arabia) attacked two buildings and killed 3,000 innocent people who were minding their own business. These men died in the attack, but we could seek out any others that were part of the plan and charge them with conspiracy. (or whatever the proper legal term is)
We elected not to prove a god damn thing, only make accusations that bin laden did it. He claimed that he was glad it happened but did not do it. We demanded that the Taliban (suitably demonized in advance as if we knew what was coming) hand over a national hero, former CIA asset, former military asset of the USA, and a man who claim innocence. (To this day we have not proved what happened in a courtroom, nor will we ever try.)
When asked for some proof --- any fig leaf --- by the Taliban, we invaded and killed countless innocent men, women, and children. Americans on the left, in the center, and on the right hailed that action as "good and proper" in a frenzy of revenge.
If the collective punishment of the people of Afghanistan for a crime that has never been properly proven is "good and proper" then there is no morality left in America. None. If collective punishment of civilian women and children is what Americans call "heroic", then perhaps Mona was justified in demanding that babies be sacrificed to the gods of science to give us everlasting life.
Bush was given the green light to invade Iraq when the country cheered his killing Afghani women and children.
There has never been a "good war" and there never will be one.
Perhaps I'm misunderstanding your earlier comment, and in any event, this is not the sort of thing that one pridefully trademarks, but you do realize that the U.S. appropriated, if you will, "9-11" from the cultural zeitgeist of Chile? The reign of terror that began on 9-11 (1973) in Chile with the overthrow and death of Allende (with - quelle surprise! - American support) has a significant resonance for that country and its people that long predates the terror attacks in the U.S.
Or perhaps perchance
A giant race
Of evil atomic spiders
Really now
Send in the clowns
And Laz-ee Boy
Conspiracy buffs
Their theories
Like Jiffy pop
Are the real tastey fluff
The best and the lightest
Of all avaiable junk food stuffs..
Much of the initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out to be wrong. Is there anything wrong with that?
The accountability imposed by another country for the CIA's kidnapping and torture reveals much about our own.
Fox News' morning show plays to type, talking about whether Muslims in the Army should face "special debriefings"
The survivor and author is upset about comparisons some on the right are making to genocide
Once seen as a lunatic fringe, reactionary anti-women groups are courting respectability
Salon headlines in your mailbox
