CommonPrejudice

Wingnut Logic

The extreme right's argument regarding terrorism, epitomized by the cliche driven, simplistic,and mendacious Michelle Maglalang (Malkin), can be essentially understood by the following analogy.

A patient is diagnosed with a life-threatening disease that needs surgery urgently. The doctor, with little forethought, cuts open the patient and removes whatever they can find. Then they rush through the closing procedure so as to be free to operate on someone who has a mild case of appendicitis, when surgery in this case was probably the worst alternative.

In the subsequent procedure, the doctor does such a poor job that now the new patient has a host of infections and related illnesses and is on deathbed. Meanwhile the original patient, whose disease could have been treated if extreme care had been used, is also knocking on death's door and the potential for the disease to spread has increased manifold.

But on the sixth year anniversary of the discovery of the original disease Malkin and her ilk proudly point out that the disease that rendered the first patient critical will never be forgotten. Oh, and for anyone who looks like they might be a carrier of the disease to be denounced to the health authorities. After all, a search for a cure would just be "justifying" the disease.

I guess the 'do no harm' thing doesn't apply when dealing in war. Do as much harm as you want - whether it means seeing hundreds of thousands die and millions more become refugees while at the same time creating a substantially higher risk of more attacks - as long as you do not forget about the original attack while inexpertly pointing out people who may be after you based solely on their appearance.

Yeah, that's the way to go about it.

[To learn about the absurdities of Maglalang's John Doe Movement see here and especially here. This is the psuedo-populist movement designed to protect the American populace from terrorist attacks by having good old American whites reporting every foreigner who looks suspicious and in the process keeping community swimming pools safe from Shari law. You know, the movement named after Frank Capra's movie about "contemporary realities: the ugly face of hate; the power of uniformed bigots in red, white, and blue shirts; the agony of disillusionment, and the wild dark passions of mobs."]

This is CNN

Somerby always does a bang-up job on picking out media narrative and noting come hell or high water they rarely change. But today he's got a beauty.

This is what he picked out from a CNN transcript, starring CNN reporter Kyra Phillips:

I have to tell you, I heard that quote. And I thought, “OK, General, would you stop being so PC and stop saying what everybody wants?” Of course everybody wants peace in Iraq. And I even sent him an e-mail this morning. We've been having correspondence. And I said, "Give me a break. Tell me what you really were saying."

And he said right here—he said, "I'm not going to lie. I talk about the setbacks as well. There have also been the sensational car-bomb attacks, the tragic loss of the combat outpost three days ago, and the challenges in Diyala province, which, understandably, have tended to overshadow the sense of slow progress on the ground in Baghdad, Anbar and some other locations."

He's a straight-shooter. You've just got to know what to ask him and how to pick at him.

Hilarious! According to Phillips, Petraeus had given an utterly “PC answer;” he had been “saying what everyone wants.” But so what? She swore that he was a straight-shooter anyhoo! “You just have to know what to ask him,” she said.

Yes, Petraeus is the straight-shooting guy who says what everyone wants. I've heard rumors that the 'journalists' at CNN are quite well compensated for their labours. Can you believe that?

See here for some indications of Petraeus' straight-shooting.

Something Good From Sports

As a sportsfan, once in awhile I realize it necessary to hear about a story that doesn't involve the slaying of innocent animals, the fixing of games by the mafia and a shameless official or the tainted accomplishments of steroid-using cheater. All the better if accompanied by a great photo. So here you go.

...It's going to happen in a couple of weeks. And here's what it is: On September 14, in Beijing, Steve Nash, Carmelo Anthony, Greg Oden, Bonzi Wells, Derek Fisher, Baron Davis, Chuck Hayes, and Leandro Barbosa (all BDA clients, except Davis and Fisher) will play in a charity game against Yao Ming and the Chinese National team.

It will be televised on China's CCTV, and the stadium is expected to be sold out. The hope is to raise in the neighborhood of a million dollars to be distributed to the charities of choice: Chi Heng, a privately funded non-profit that works with children with AIDS; the Special Olympics (with World Summer Games next month in Shanghai); and the China Youth Development Foundation.

See they are not all bad.