I watched the film Good Night and Good Luck the other night, and, well, it’s very obvious why a film about that ridiculous monster McCarthy had to be made now. This came to my mind as I read a post over at LocoMote which, honestly, I misread the first time I saw it. But I have noticed that people are still being polite to the legions of morons who think the Iraq Invasion was a sane, reasonable action.
Why are they being polite? Why are people still being apologetic for their honesty? Why is this even a concern?
There have ALWAYS been idiots who support unjust, ridiculous wars. The world is full of idiotic sheep, and I’m frankly tired of being apologetic of pointing it out when it comes to things like wars. I think we who do not have our heads in our back ends ought to have not only the right but the guts to say to these idiots, something like this:
“No, no no no, you see, you’re a bleeding idiot, and this war is illegal, unjustified, ridiculous, and a contributor to everything bad in the world. There are more terrorists now. There is more suffering in Iraq now. There will be more suffering worldwide now. A small cadre has profited from this, but for the majority of humanity, in America and in Iraq alike, no good has or will come of it. And worse, you’ve been hoodwinked into thinking this has (a) anything to do with 9-11, (b) anything to do with global terrorism, (c) anything to do with American national security, and (d) any sensible explanation.”
Sorry, but I’m just so damned dog-tired of people apologizing for the fact that they’re against the way the Bush Administration has raped this situation in the most callous, stupid fashion possible. It’s fine to care about people who’ve been hoodwinked by Bush — it’s important to do so, because goodness knows the government they elected sure doesn’t care about them — but there is no reason in the world to point out that lots of people are in favour of Bush’s choice to monger war when one criticizes the Iraq Fiasco.
Can you tell I watched Good Night and Good Luck last night? Jyllands-Posten be damned, the form of self-censorship that bothers me most is the way it seems so many decent, sane, reasonable people are pussyfooting around the fact that in Iraq America did an evil, unforgivable thing. People are being polite about this? POLITE? Sorry, but there’s a time when politeness is unforgivable. When someone is being attacked, attempts at polite commentary and discussion with the aggressor are neither sensible or sane. And no, I’m not advocating Leftist Vigilante Action, a la V for Vendetta; I’m saying it’s time to stop being stupid. Dogs only know not to crap in the house if you rub their noses in it. (Or so I’ve been told; I’ve never house-trained a dog.) And the arguments in favour of Iraq suggest a comparabled level of mental development.
So don’t be polite in those discussions. The time is long past. Plenty of nice, decent people in other countries made stupid, horrid mistakes in the past by supporting monsters and their monstrous sidekicks. Don’t let your fellows bring that shame on your house, America. The time to take the gloves off is long past. The time of politeness regarding this subject is over.
Hey Gord,
Sorry if my politeness bothered you. You have to understand that I stand distinct opposition in this matter to all of my family, and probably most everyone who reads my blog these days. I haven’t been updating much, so didn’t think too many people were still reading from Korea. Thanks for reading. ^^
I moved to Japan in June of last year…been here a while now. I’m starting to miss Korea. Strangely, I’ve just started watching LOST for the first time…downloaded all of season one and I’ve gotten into it a lot.
That reminded me of all the controversy surrounding it in Korea (I’m sure you remember), so Korea’s been on my mind. I heard that Korea’s whooping ass (is that a spam word) in baseball too – good on ’em. I’m kinda glad I’m not there to hear about it non-stop though. :P
Yeah, the kids in my classes have been alright in not bringing it up ALL the time, but I have had to pretend to be impressed. Not that it wouldn’t be impressive, their winning all these games, IF I were interested in baseball. It’s just I’ve never much cared about any sport at all, so these achievements seem to me about as interesting as, say, major advances in cosmology would be to your average Joe (or Chul Su).
As for your politeness, I understand the necessity of being careful on such topics with family. I think I am just tired of all the civility. I’m coming to think that civility may not always be a virtue, and that in certain public situations, a social civility in the face of concrete horror can actually be an unforgivable fault.
By the way, I’m actually playing catchup with all my blogs, and moved yours to my Asiana section, which I read less often. I’m also culling all the sections of my Bloglines subs, because it’s just impossible to keep up with everything, and being subbed, I feel I really ought to try. Perhaps what I need is a second subscription list for things I don’t feel really obligated to keep up with. That, or four more hours in the day.
Locomote,
I’m reading your blog too, though I don’t comment much. I agree with Gord that on many issues too many people are trying to be PC but what can you do.
Gord, about once every 60 days or so I cull RSS feeds. I think I’m currently at around 130 though at one point I was down to 85 and that includes 6 or 7 of my own feeds. It’s hard to trim but worth it in the end.
Any news on your suggested Korean blogger get together?
One thing we can do is to state openly that being “polite” can sometimes mean being uncivilized, and then be strategically impolite. :)
Yeah, it’s this difficult job cutting feeds. It’s kind of like throwing away clothes you haven’t worn in over a year, but which you like and wish you could fit into. Agonizing.
No news yet. Waiting to see if any more feedback comes in. I may try contacting people on more famous blogs to see if something big can be arranged, though too big might not be cool. Then again, VERY big might be quite fascinating… as long as the whole horde of hostile commentarians who hang out at Marmot’s don’t show up, armed and ready for a go.