Oh Brave New Blog that has such colors in it
Yay for the quick-and-easy presto-change-o template changer! What a wonderful new way to squander my life away on the Internet. What do we all think of the Thrush's new clothes?
So, some random thoughts today, as I procrastinate this Saturday morning. The OBL tape. Oh, God. I admit, it did make me shiver. But I went to bed and woke up this morning and nothing has exploded and there are still happy children out on my street. So, we'll see. What frustrated me was the typical Bush & Kerry rhetoric. Bush: We will not be intimidated by the enemy. Kerry: We will hunt and kill the terrorists. Bang bang.
I, for one, am completely unfamiliar with this reference to the Israeli bombing of the towers in Lebanon. But BushKerry will not talk about any complex geopolitical issues, no no, all they know are the same knee-jerk statements from their campaign cache. Though I should sympathize--the communication faculties of a human being were not evolved to deal with such a global audience, and with such profound stakes. It must be an awesome weight for both the candidates to know that their words are being listened to by so many people with such capacity for violence. Under similar pressures, I would probably just issue a reflex-like statement as well.
The deal is, I think a public discussion of the kinds of topics bin Laden brought up--such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict--would appear as "yielding to the terrorists demands." As in, look, the terrorists wanted us to think about this, and we did. Therefore they will threaten us more to do other things. But if we continue to shut out the issues that we know are pertinent to our potential attackers, then how will progress ever be made? Note that I'm not talking about any specific change in Mideast policy, of taking sides with Israel or Palestine. It's just *talking* about this, instead of making up different reasons why the Arab world might be angry. Even liberals make up their own reasons--it is American wealth and greed and capitalism and our libertine lifestyle. And those factors probably exacerbate things, but we're really ignoring some of the core issues.
OK, that's a very unstructured, poorly thought-out rant and a good illustration of why I don't usually bring up politics. Plus I just rolled out of bed and the coffee is nowhere near kicking-in.
I have a friend back in Minneapolis who is an avid fan of the late Mr. Rogers. Mr. Rogers' wife, as well as the guy who played Mr. McFeely, will be at the Pitt Book Center today. I may get their autographs for her. Better than studying.
Ok, yes, back to doing real things with my life. Have a good weekend.
Comments
Your new, colorful template is beautiful, Karin. I, on the other hand, have gained quite a reputation for my austerity, and frankly, have not the fortitude for new directions, I'm afraid.
Politically avoidant as I am (unless I relegate my comments to a second- or third- tier device like allegory or bury it under so much criticalese--like I'm doing right now) I have to add to your (on the contrary) well-thought out rant that **we have already yeilded to the terrorists** by our incumbent and our opposition candidate speaking about it publicly.
Let me try to explain myself:
OBL, or indeed any Islamic leader, understands our culture to be media-dependent, and less-inclined, actually, to engage on issues from a (decidedly more committal) personal stance. They (and by extension, "we") usually let the pundits play with the hot potato until it is cooled down (or weighed down with rhetoric) enough for them to comment. But what OBL knows is that a carefully timed media bomb like this one would necessitate an immediate expectation for response from both candidates, known to be on the campaign trail, therefore engaged in public speaking, therefore putting it immediately in the realm of public debate, not simply **media** debate. Arafat has done this, Khomeini elected a President by doing it, Quaddafi did it, Hussein did it. My contention is this: until we acknowledge the (albeit dangerously fractious) leadership, whatever the stripe, currently in the Middle East, and engage them in direct communication, this volley of reflexive, ideologically charged rhetoric--rhetoric that we may, one day, have to answer for.
Happy Halloweeen
Posted by: John | Octubre 31, 2004 08:53 AM
Your new, colorful template is beautiful, Karin. I, on the other hand, have gained quite a reputation for my austerity, and frankly, have not the fortitude for new directions, I'm afraid.
Politically avoidant as I am (unless I relegate my comments to a second- or third- tier device like allegory or bury it under so much criticalese--like I'm doing right now) I have to add to your (on the contrary) well-thought out rant that **we have already yeilded to the terrorists** by our incumbent and our opposition candidate speaking about it publicly.
Let me try to explain myself:
OBL, or indeed any Islamic leader, understands our culture to be media-dependent, and less-inclined, actually, to engage on issues from a (decidedly more committal) personal stance. They (and by extension, "we") usually let the pundits play with the hot potato until it is cooled down (or weighed down with rhetoric) enough for them to comment. But what OBL knows is that a carefully timed media bomb like this one would necessitate an immediate expectation for response from both candidates, known to be on the campaign trail, therefore engaged in public speaking, therefore putting it immediately in the realm of public debate, not simply **media** debate. Arafat has done this, Khomeini elected a President by doing it, Quaddafi did it, Hussein did it. My contention is this: until we acknowledge the (albeit dangerously fractious) leadership, whatever the stripe, currently in the Middle East, and engage them in direct communication, this volley of reflexive, ideologically charged rhetoric--rhetoric that we may, one day, have to answer for.
Happy Halloween
Posted by: John | Octubre 31, 2004 08:53 AM