December 20, 2002
From the desk of Jane Galt:Useful Idiots
The American Mind has this completely idiotic quote from some well meaning fool in the heartland:
I don't think we respond to the horrors of Sept. 11 with more violence. [T]hen Osama Bin Laden has already won.
Why, yes, of course. Once we've blown him up, killed his followers, destroyed his terror network, put the fear of God into any countries that might consider harboring or assisting his merry band of murderers, wiped him and his buddies clean off the face of the planet. . . why, Osama will have gotten exactly what he wanted. And to think we almost walked right into that diabolically clever trap! Posted by Jane Galt at December 20, 2002 04:22 PM | TrackBack | Technorati inbound links
And to think I almost fell for the idea ...
Well, I know better now. The next time a terrorist kills thousands of people, I won't respond for fear that he'll "win".
Heinlein pretty well answered this in Starship Trooper.
Posted by: Gene 6-Pack on December 20, 2002 05:51 PMToo bad this guy learned all his tactics from Star Wars. ...Anger leads to hate, hate leads to the Dark Side etc.
Posted by: E. Nough on December 20, 2002 06:26 PMAs Christopher Hitchens said: "They want to be martyrs for their faith. We'll be happy to help them out."
Posted by: Frank C on December 20, 2002 07:13 PMFunny thing about Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, etc. is that the underlying message is to pursue peace, but fight to maintain order when necessary. Amazingly, many people who guide themselves by such thinking never master the second half of that philosophy.
Posted by: anony-mouse on December 21, 2002 02:00 PMNo they haven't forgotten it Mouse, its just that it is *their* order that they'll fight to perserve, not anyone elses.
Posted by: Nick M. (Arrogant Rants) on December 22, 2002 01:51 PMThe study of came theory needs to land somewhere in this mix...Well, in someone's mix.
Posted by: Jonathon on December 23, 2002 12:01 AMUm... read for context please. The quote is about the death penalty; it has nothing to do with Bin Laden, other than as an amazingly stupid invocation of Our Sacred Dead.
"Thirty-eight states now have it. It begs the question: Why not Wisconsin?"
John Huebscher, executive director of the Wisconsin Catholic Conference, responded to Lasee's question by saying the threat of terrorism is no reason to establish the death penalty.
"I don't think we respond to the horrors of Sept. 11 with more violence," Huebscher said. If a death penalty becomes new law, he said, "then Osama Bin Laden has already won."
Now Leonard-- If we read the quote FOR CONTEXT, then the terrorists will have won. I liked the quote so much better BEFORE you had to go and put it in context! You're like-- a big grinch.
Since I posted on the quote, let me remind everyone that what the quote strates is the banality employed by people to advance their agenda. Everything used to be "for the children." Now it's do "blank" or "the ists will have one." Little thought is used. Instead, the speaker relies solely on emotion.
Posted by: Sean Hackbarth on December 24, 2002 12:45 PM> Everything used to be "for the children." Now it's do "blank" or "the ists will have one." Little thought is used. Instead, the speaker relies solely on emotion.
I don't think that it's actually an appeal to emotion. The usage is more like that of a magic spell in that the expectation is that the listener will be unable to do anything except comply and that all opponents will be revealed as knaves.
Interestingly enough, it's often used by folks who clearly don't believe in magic.
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