Low-Flying Plane Frightens New Yorkers
Dear DOD and White House staffers…need photos of Air Force One with Statue of Liberty background? Ever heard of PHOTOSHOP?!?!?!?!? We’re surrounded by, and managed by…idiots.
Are Terrorists Human?
Ali Soufan’s editorial in the NY Times today brings about another question in the whole “torture” debate for me. Soufan poses midway through that”…it is in our national security interest to regain our position as the world’s foremost defenders of human rights…”
First, we don’t need to REGAIN anything. Name another country that has done more for human rights than the U.S. There’s been no slippage in ranking, Mr. Soufan. No other country even comes close to matching the financial and human resources outlay of the United States when it comes to defending the rights of humanity as a whole.
Second, I would strongly suggest that “human rights” belong to the innocent, not to those who would perpetrate evil. In assigning such rights to the most heinous of our species, you deny the truth to those who deserve it. A man hell-bent on destroying thousands of lives, who dreams of increasing that number tenfold and thereby securing a place in history and heaven does not deserve to be afforded the same human rights as a child in Darfur.
As the human race, we MUST assign certain labels to the basest of our humanity. We must point to one end of the spectrum and say “good” while pointing simultaneously to the other end, saying “evil.” Assigning the same rights to both ends of the spectrum is morally unconscionable, Mr. Soufan.
The Ease of Critique
“In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very litle yet enjoy a position overthose who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment.”
Who spoke that little pearl? You’ll have to read on…
The other night, I was watching Sports Center, and one of the commentators was criticizing a certain professional baseball player for watching the 3rd strike which just happened to end the game with runners in scoring position…yada yada yada. How easy it is for someone sitting behind a desk in Connecticut to be a critic. My question to him is…have you ever stood at the plate and had a 95 mile an hour slider thrown at you? I doubt it…cause if you have, you’d keep your damn mouth shut.
The constant criticism of the former administration’s tactics in garnering information from terrorists is much like that guy on Sports Center. As our guru at the beginning of the post said, there is no risk in criticism. I would add to that…there is nothing but profit in claiming the moral high ground long after an event has passed.
Hindsight is much more than 20/20. It’s looking through high-powered binoculars with laser surgered eyes and focusing with massive amounts of information, debate, polls and crazy multi-billionaires to support you. How easy it is to make clear-eyed judgment on someone who was looking out from the fog of war; the smoky haze of death and destruction; and the bitter, angry tears of a nation.
I despair when those who have not been forced into decisions criticize those who were. I despair when a man or a woman with nothing to lose can pass judgment on a man with everything to lose. I despair when we look back, and yet forget the reasons why a decision was made. If I have to spell out the reasons why…you have forgotten.
“We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face is that, in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is more meaningful than our criticism designating it so.”
A wise man, that Anton Ego.
