You can tell a lot about a person based on what they find funny.
And, while most of the American media (thought certainly not the Italian one) has forgotten the Sgrena incident, it is still alive and well in the right-wing blogosphere, where it is a source of much mirth:
http://www.crankyneocon.com/crankyneocon/2005/03/sgrena_the_musi.html
http://beautifulatrocities.com/archives/2005/03/the_little_tota.html
I don’t know what’s more hilarious; that an unarmed journalist from a US-allied country was fired upon by American troops, or that an Italian Secret Service agent was killed.
Naturally, the US Army has been entirely candid and open about this issue by refusing to let anybody look at the car that Sgrena was being driven in (thanks to MoxieGrrrl for bringing this to my attention).
Apparently their biggest issue is that Sgrena is a Communist. What does that have to do with the situation at all? Are Italians more shootable than other people? When Ann Coulter was hit in the face by a pie, the conservative media howled for weeks. Now, they’re openly pining for Sgrena to be murdered.
The fact, of course, is that their jingoistic mindset has reached the point where it embraces and encourages the death of those who disagree with them. I honestly don’t think this is as far as they’ll go, and I don’t think this blatant disregard for human life is only directed against those on the far left. If you asked the people at Powerline, Little Green Footballs, Cranky Neocon etc. whether we should put everyone who disagrees with President Bush in prison or to death, they would agree. I dare you; post that idea on their comment boards, and for every rational response you’ll get 10 people who say ‘HELL YEAH!!!’
On another note, why do so many (mostly male) armchair neocons adopt such ultra-buff, militaristic imagery and rhetoric for their blogs and other writings? I always assumed it was because of the shame they felt for sending other people to fight and die for their political ideals, but I might be wrong.
10 comments:
As a reply to the comment on my site, Thnk you for the comment about the site layout. What would you suggest I change? The word "Terrible" is rather vague. Is it the colors? What?
Second, I was raised a navy brat from age 10-18, joined the Navy as a Cryptologic Technician, got out in October of 2002 as a first class and am currently doing network security work on the Navy and Marine Corps.
Third, if you had read any of the "about me" information directly below the "about me" link you would have known this.
Fourth, please lay off the labels. All it does is bury you in hate.
**Honestly, let me know what's wrong with the layout. I've been playing with it for well over six months, doing this and that and am always accepting of constructive criticism.
And this is why the left is accused of being humorless. Obviously the concept of sarcasm hasn't occurred to you. Just like leftists like to have their laughs over Bush and the gang (sometimes crossing those very lines of decency you hinted at), conservatives like to joke around about what some would call the "loony left".
No one thinks that the death of Sgrena's bodyguard is funny. But what could be ridiculed fairly was the fact that she was a Communist and expressed enthusiastic support for her captors after her release. Communism is an ideology that resulted in the deaths of 100 million and the enslavement of half a continent - a woman who adheres to such an ideology today surely doesn't deserve death, but she does deserve some of the barbs coming her way.
I'm sure you'd find the "Hell Yeah" response on many message board, but they are made in jest, as a way of showing amused contempt at some of the leftist crazies who dominate some, not ALL, aspects of the anti-war movement. Just as the left is entitled to their (sometimes atrocious) sense of humor, so is the right. So call these jokes tasteless, but don't make any moral pronouncements based on them. If tasteless humor were a crime, a lot of our favorite sources of comic relief (*cough* Jon Stewart *cough* Bill Maher *cough* The Onion *cough*) would be in jail right now.
About the militaristic imagery, I think pro-war bloggers feel proud of the military might of this nation and know that it is a great thing for ourselves and the world. We don't feel guilty that the greatest democracy in the world has the greatest military in the world. Since I know you only through the blogosphere, I should say I'm a petite female who has never held a gun in her life, and if I ever used that type of imagery and rhetoric, it would be my way of showing solidarity with our troops and honoring the American ideal.
Tell you what, don't piss on my blog and I'll not "clutter" yours.
Please, do not be childish about this.
- There are jokes and there are jokes. I really do not think any of the sites I quoted were at all sarcastic in their message, even if they used obviously exaggerated methods.
- Sgrena has reason to praise her captors. They didn't shoot at her. In her case, they were quite humane compared to the US army.
- Communism caused the death of 100 million people? I assume you mean that under the rule of Chinese, Russian, North korean, and Cambodian Communists, 100 million people died unnatural deaths.
Well, laying aside the fact that under no definition of the term were/are those countries 'communist', it also begs the question: if all communists, forever, must apologize and feel guilty for all those who died in communist countries, why do capitalists bear no responsibility for what happens in free-market nations? In the same period from the Soviet collectivization to the end of the Cultural Revolution, 100 million people starved to death in capitalist, democratic India, and Milton Friedman has never expressed a shred of remorse.
- You can say that rightists who call for mass slaughter of their opponents are made in jest, but I think the Sgrena case disproves this. Remember: they want her to be killed, and they're not shy about saying it. You can claim it's all sarcasm, but I don't believe it.
- Military might does not make a nation great. Ancient Sparta has a strong military. North Korea has a strong military. Nazi germany had a strong military. What makes our nation great is its democratic institutions and our committment to free expression. Alas, Bush's recklessness in using our military power has given the lie to our oft-repeated claims of military superiority. Look, it's taking us over 2 years and $200 billion dollars to subdue a country we spent the last decade bombing into oblivion. That's hardly how a superpower is supposed to act. My brother is in the military, and few things make him madder than some right-wing pundit in a three-piece suit talk glibly about war and combat when they're completely removed from the concept. It's incredibly sad.
Picture this: I've filled my blog with articles about urban poverty, street culture, hip-hop music, tutoring for underpriviledged children, victims of gang violence, etc. Then put a little note at the top where I said: "No, i've never been to the inner city. But I have tremendous respect for those who have." You'd probably feel like I was a bit of a fraud.
I've never met you either. But I'm sure we'd have something in common.
- You might not believe me, but sites like Little Green Footballs, Power Line, and Cranky Neocon want to ridicule the Left, not annihilate it. The people who enjoy those sites see a great deal of the left as naive and ignorant, and want to have a few laughs at their expense. That might lead to some tasteless humor, but it is meant to amuse the crowd rather than be a reflection of their actual desires. Perhaps certain adherents of the left should stop being so damn paranoid about the "real intentions" of right-wing blogs - maybe then they'd be taken a bit more seriously.
- "Praise her captors"??? These are the guys responsible for bombing police stations, restaurants, hotels, etc. They murder women for daring to take part in their newly democratic nation. They deserve no praise, only bullets to their chests.
- 100 million died as a direct result of different governments that called themselves Communist, whether through collectivization, forced famine, the Gulags, the "Cultural Revolution", military invasions, abuses by the secret police, etc., etc., etc. Anyone that can adhere to such an ideology today, writing for its newspapers, echoing its slogans, should be reacted to with revulsion.
- I never wrote that military might per se was great. The last I checked, the U.S. isn't Sparta, Nazi Germany, or North Korea. There are no 50-year drafts, gas chambers, or starving masses. Instead, there are the long-standing ideals of democracy and freedom that you rightly praise. These "hawks" of whom you speak are proud of the military might of America,because it preserves the ideals that make this a great nation.
What could we possibly have in common? I mean, c'mon...
You've convinced me. I think I'll go run an American roadblock now.
Is lame sarcasm all the Right has?
That, and the Executive, Legislative, and much of the Judicial branches of government.
And here i thought they were opressed.
Soldier 1 to Soldier 2...Here comes a car at high speed and it won't stop, what should we do?
Soldier 2 to Soldier 1...Its that Communist Italian Journalist...Fire!!
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