Picking on my blogrollThe Slacktivist
Picking on my blogroll
The Slacktivist asks "Why Are Mass Graves Worse Than Mass Killings?"
Once the war was over and I saw the mass graves and the true extent of Saddam's genocidal evil, my view was that Mr. Bush did not need to find any W.M.D.'s to justify the war for me.
Set aside Friedman's reckless stretching of the word "genocidal" here. Friedman writes for The New York Times -- doesn't he also read the paper? Why is he so startled at the existence of these mass graves? And why are the mass graves considered more newsworthy than the mass killings that produced all those bodies?
Mass killing on the same scale as the mass graves Friedman decries has a name: war. And war is a ritual we respect. We're good at it, it advances our interests. We get REALLY worked up over a single death but war, well… they should have respected our authori-tay. Our burial rituals, on the other hand require caskets, lots of wailing and gnashing of teeth and even more money. Plus, everyone is so much more noble when their dead. We hate to see all those noble people piled up in a heap (though spreading them across the landscape was no biggie, know what I'm sayin?
And MB over a "It's Still The Economy, Stupid" is just plain cynical about The Bureau of Labor Statistics' decision (orders?) to revise statistics all the way back to 1990 using Bush regime standards this coming June:
Fox News, June, 2004
Sean Hannity: So, Terry McAuliffe, what again are these charges you're making against our fearless leader's stewardship on economic issues?
Terry McAuliffe: Under George Bush's watch, this economy has lost 2.7 million jobs.
Hannity: 2.7 million? Who says?
McAuliffe: The Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Hannity: Really. Well, I'm looking at the website right now, and its says that George Bush has created 2.7 million jobs.
McAuliffe: Yes, but, but, but... that's only because last summer, he had the BLS change all the numbers.
Hannity: Yes, sure he did, Terry (winking to the camera.) By the way, Terry, have you seen my Pulitzer, er, Peabody?
um… Fox.
Well, the other, more honest broadcasters would surely take the opportunity to blast Fox for … hmm. FCC rulings.
Okay, MB. I'm downloading them stats from the BLS tonight. I may not understand them but SOMEone I know will.
Meanwhile, John Constantine writes there are no Christian terrorists, oh no, of course not (wink-wink). He actually visited the web site of Army of God to support his thesis, which showed more intestinal fortitude than I can muster after just having read some crap on the VDARE site this morning. I hope he washed his hands after seeing that site.
You want to see what he came up with, you have to follow the link to his site.
posted by Prometheus 6 at 6/5/2003 06:27:51 PM |
