...more recent posts
Sunday, Sep 30, 2001
September 29, 2001
Badger Wrasslin'
I' flying to Buenos Aires via Miami on Monday/Tuesday. Yes, it's a long flight. I'm going to visit a national park near Bahia Blanca to help a prof do some research on the carnivores of the pampas.
Remember those old Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom shows? "While I sit in the safety of the Land Rover, let's watch as my assistant Jim wrestles with an angry badger." I'll be the "assistant Jim."
Actually, they don't have badgers. The study covers five different mammal species, including a weasel-like critter called the grison. It's bi-color coat reminds me of a badger, hence the title of this journal entry.
As a short-hand, I've been referring to the expedition as badger wrasslin'. But I have to check that once I arrive in Bahia Blanca. These guys are scientists, and don't want to hear my badger silliness. In fact, they might be inclined to say "Badgers? We don't need no stinkin' badgers!"
September 28, 2001
More Words
Every story seems to reach the stage at which the story is no longer about the story. The main topic moves away from the actual event to the fluff around the event. The WTC attack seems to be headed in that direction. Tonight on Fox, Bill O'Reilly was harping about how CNN was afraid to use the word "terrorist." The implication wasn't clear. Are they soft on terrorism? Are they un-American? Are they money grubbing bastards who pander to foreigners? Simultaneously CNN aired Greta Van Susteren's show, The Point, with the sub-banner of "Tracking the Terrorists."
Date: Fri, 28 Sep 2001 19:57:49 -0700
To: oreilly@foxnews.com
Subject: "terrorist"
O'Reilly,
Precisely at the moment you were harping about CNN not using the word "terrorist", Greta's show focused on "Tracking the Terrorists." Don't be stupid.
-Mark
You Say You Want a Revolution
The Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz spoke of "ending states". Emphasis added. The standard list of bad guys is Syria, Iraq, the Taliban, and sometimes Libya, Iran and Sudan. That's a lot of regimes.
There has been a battle within the cabinet about this and related topics. This battle often leaks into the media. I'm not sure "leak" is really the right word. "Planted" is more to the point. By gaging reaction of the press and public to various statements of position, the administration better understands the mood of the country.
Today's national mood reading: Ending "states" is too ambitious at the moment, but the singular form of the word "regime" is acceptable to the American public. Taliban is bad. Northern Alliance is good.
My friend Jennifer said to me ...
It is apparent the W likes catchy jingoisms. I assume that he does this to connect to the "people". The "people" do this sort of simplistic word use all of the time. (I have learned this by observing my Republican relatives.) It makes for clean and simple sound bites. I do not think that it really sets or determines policy as much as you think. I think it is just his communication style.
I fear that oversimplification not only defines the communication, it also defines the policies. This is where the French may have something over Americans. The French national spirit embraces irony. How could a people who built the Maginot Line live with themselves without having access to irony?
Americans don't like irony mixed in with serious topics. So we ignore that the "good" Northern Alliance is not much better than the "bad" Taliban. We ignore that we just paid off Pakistan to switch sides in the Afghan civil war. We ignore that we trained and armed Osama and his cohorts. We ignore that part of Osama's beef is that he didn't get to participate on the Saudi side in the ass-whupping we gave to Iraq.
These and other details add too much complexity, when what's needed is a good slogan. It seems that we want to treat every problem like Alexander treated the Gordian knot, cutting through all the complexities with a simple solution.
I hate the smell of quicksand in the morning.
Attention
I keep reflecting on the American attention span.
CNN Headline News: Around the World in 30 Minutes
September 27, 2001
Bill O'Reilly
The O'Reilly Factor on the Fox News network is billed as fair and balanced, unbiased, and based on reason. I watch Bill O'Reilly because he makes me think. I used to admire him, as someone who thought differently than me, but who thought well. I'm having trouble with the admiration these days.
On a recent program, Bill asked the probing question, "Is Dissent Treason?" Oh, that's got fair and balanced written all over it.
Bill gave a commentary in which he reasoned that those who seek to "understand" the attackers and their supporters are giving comfort to terrorists. "There's nothing to understand here."
So I wrote Bill a little note. By the way, Bill's slogan is "Powerful Confrontation" and he asks for pithy letters, so I suppose I should cut to the point.
Date: Wed, 26 Sep 2001 18:20:55 -0700
To: oreilly@foxnews.com
Subject: neo-luddite
O'Reilly,
"Understanding" the threat is sympathy for the enemy and is near-treason? I never suspected that you would preach in favor of ignorance. Failure to understand the enemy will lead to failure against the enemy. Don't be stupid.
-Mark
----------
I watched the tail end of the Factor, and my email didn't make the cut. Too wordy, I guess.
September 27, 2001
Ben Stein
So there's this one thing I can't get out of my mind. Dubya called for a crusade.
Am I over-reacting to Dubya's gargantuan malapropism? I went to a Jesuit high school whose mascot is the Crusaders, so I'm painfully aware of the meaning of the word crusade. But some people don't know the derivation. I received a forwarded email on the subject, allegedly written by an expert. An excerpt is below.
by Bernard Lewis
President Bush's use of the term "crusade" in calling for a powerful joint
effort against terrorism was unfortunate, but excusable. In Western usage,
this word has long since lost its original meaning of "a war for the
cross," and many are probably unaware that this is the derivation of the
name. At present, "crusade" almost always means simply a vigorous campaign
for a good cause. This cause may be political or military, though this is
rare; more commonly, it is social, moral or environmental. In modern
Western usage it is rarely if ever religious.
Mr. Lewis is professor emeritus of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton
University. His most recent book is "A Middle East Mosaic: Fragments of
Life, Letters and History" (Random House, 2000).
I decided I should ask an expert, Ben Stein.
As a quiz show host/contestant, Ben displays an encyclopedic knowledge of western civilization. And he was a speechwriter in the Nixon Whitehouse. Yeah, that's it, I'll ask Ben!
--------------
Date: Thu, 27 Sep 2001 20:17:29 -0700
To: BenStein@aol.com
Subject: Presidential Question
Hey Ben,
Love the show. Gotta question.
As much as I'm appalled by the WTC attack, I'm also appalled by Bush's use of the word "crusade". Some people think I'm over-reacting to a nit. In your experience as a quiz show host, and as a member of Nixon's staff, is this a little boo-boo, or is this a display of a profound ignorance of a major chapter of world history? If it's the latter, I'm very afraid.
-Mark
--------------
From: BenStein@aol.com
Date: Fri, 28 Sep 2001 01:19:13 EDT
Subject: Re: Presidential Question
X-Mailer: AOL 3.0 16-bit for Windows sub 38
I would be more worried that we are so confused that we even worry about
words right now.
--------------
While searching for Ben on the web, I came across some very worthwhile columns which comment on the WTC attacks.
September 25, 2001
Sparring
I've been having a running debate with a buddy in Spokane. (There, I got the OneLap travel theme into a piece.) He's Jewish, I'm a recovering Catholic. He's a Bostonian, I'm ex-Texan. We both claim to be independent, but I lean more to the left than him, and I have much more of a "Question Authority" bent. We bring different perspectives to the table, and hash out our thoughts. This friendly sparring helps bring some clarity to my thoughts about recent events. I highly recommend the exercise.
Here's a recent email I sent to him ...
In response to my criticism of Bush, you asked me if Gore could do a better job. Here's a better question, how did we get to a point where the choice is two guys like Dubya and Gore? To deal with the problems of the new world order part II, I'd take Dole or McCain in a heartbeat over any of the presidents of the last 40 years. Those two men have intelligence, integrity, the ability to communicate, and have conquered personal hardships few could imagine, a rare combination in recent presidencies.
-Mark
September 25, 2001
Letter to Feinstein
In the tradition of Lazlo Toth, I like to send letters to public officials from time to time. I realize that the addressed official never sees my letter, and even the staff member may never get past the subject line before sending a form letter reply. But it can be cathartic.
Here's a letter I just emailed to Senator Feinstein ...
Hi Diane,
These are tough times, so hang in there. I have a favor to ask. Can you use your influence to get Bush to tone down the "With God on Our Side" rhetoric?
First he calls for a "crusade against terrorism." I fear that the dear man must have slept right through that chapter of world history if he thought "crusade" was the right word.
By the time of his address to the joint session, he had dropped the offending word, but still had to embellish his speech with references to God and Allah. Oh, that's good, let's have the erudite Mr. Bush lecture the world on Islam. Then, to top it all, the administration picked the phrase "Infinite Justice". Very smooth, indeed. Can we just leave God and religion out of this issue? Trying to work God into the cause plays _directly_ into the hand of the ememy.
Do you have a PR person you could loan to the administration for the duration? Perhaps you have a secular humanist, Buddhist or Muslim on your PR staff who could help the administration produce prose that doesn't harm America's cause.
thank you,
-Mark
September 25, 2001
Mass Murder
Americans are discussing germ warfare these days. Some are afraid that their food or water will be poisoned. Some scoff at the possibility of such an attack.
I was searching my memory for precedents, and thought I had heard about Andrew Jackson using germ warfare during the Indian Relocation of the 1830's (aka Trail of Tears), in the form of blankets infested with small pox. During a web search, I found no references to Jackson using that particular weapon against Native Americans, but there is plenty of evidence of genocide by other means. Some apologists will say that Jackson was a man of his times, and thought he was saving the Indians from certain extermination by relocating them. The fact that Jackson kept human body parts as souvenirs undermines any image of benevolence.
While we struggle to understand why some people support bin Laden, Milosevic, et al, we might want to reflect upon why this nation heaps so much honor on Jackson, a man with the blood of thousands on his hands. How can we hope to understand other nations when we can't even make sense of our own story?
September 24, 2001
Finger Pointing
Seeing Jerry Springer on television in other countries distresses me. Is this the impression of America we want to give the rest of the world? But perhaps it does represent the truth about America. Our national attention span has become shorter and shorter, and demands more and more stimulation. The national media bounces from scandal to scandal -- O.J., Monica Lewinsky, Robert Blake, Gary Condit -- as if each new scandal is the most important thing on the planet. This national attention deficit disorder, predicted by Orwell in 1984 and Bradbury in Farenheit 451, allows revisionist historians free reign.
A colleague forwarded an article from the Boston Globe which discussed blame that should be assigned to the Clinton administration for their lack of adequate response to previous attacks. That sort of finger pointing just gets my ire going. If there is blame to be assigned, the target for that blame must be much larger than Mr. Bill. Below is a letter to the local weekly inspired by that Boston Globe article.
-----
I'm hearing talk about Clinton being soft on terrorism, and therefore this mess is his fault. But where were the Republicans during the Clinton administration? Weren't they were busy attempting the overthrow of a duly-elected president? The congressional Republicans, in particular, were
obsessive voyeurs fascinated by semen stains. And the whole damn country shared the fascination with this scandal, transfixed by trivialities. Perhaps this tragedy will help us understand that issues of life and death, pain and deprivation, truth and beauty are the rightful subjects of national fascination.
September 22, 2001
Nesting
In between travels, I've been doing a bit of nesting. Some of this behavior I can blame on Jim Louis' influence. After spending a couple of days helping on his renovation in New Orleans, I came back home and started doing stuff to my house with renewed energy.
Of course, nesting takes on many forms. Some people put up curtains, while other people rent very large power tools.