Tell Me Lies, tell me sweet little lies
Oh no no, you can't disguise
--Tell Me Lies, Fleetwood Mac
You can put lipstick on a pig,
but it's still a pig
___________________
Oh no no, you can't disguise
--Tell Me Lies, Fleetwood Mac
You can put lipstick on a pig,
but it's still a pig
___________________
The recent murders in Norway are insane, but they are also acts of criminality in its purest sense.
The murders were premeditated and also fit the definition of terrorism as the shooter wanted to reach a target beyond his immediate victims. Shooter Anders Breivik believed he was at war, and even labelled his murder victims as unfortunate collateral damage in his war scenario. His attorney says Mr. Breivik is nuts.
The cows have come home to roost (thank you, Latka) when Mr. Breivik states that he thinks he is "in a war", for he resembles no one so much as the entity known as the United States in his belief. You can call terrorism "war", but that doesn't make it so:
"This whole case has indicated that he's insane," Lippestad told reporters in Oslo, saying Breivik believes he is leading an anti-Muslim revolution to overturn Western governments and that the victims from his downtown Oslo bombing and Utoya Island shooting rampage were casualties of war.
"He says he is sorry that he had to do this, but it was necessary to start a revolution in the Western world," Lippestad said. "He believes he is in a war" (Suspect in Norway attacks 'believes he is in a war,' lawyer says).
Since the opening salvo of the Phony War on Terror (PWOT ©) we at RangerAgainstWar have said that terrorism or the reaction to terrorism is not equated to warfare. TERRORISM ≠ WAR.
Terrorism, whether on the idyllic Norwegian island of Utoeya or the World Trade Center is simply an act of craven criminality. Terrorism is not warfare, yet we have a right-wing crazy in Norway who believes that it IS warfare; we call him INSANE, while the entire foreign and military policy of the U.S. government is based upon Mr. Breivik's logic.
George W. Bush's presidency was predicated upon his being a "wartime president", with Obama gladly following in his footsteps. Why is Breivik insane, while GWB or Obama are considered steady as rocks?
If a lie is told often enough and loudly enough, somebody is bound to believe the message. A bad German said that when promoting a bad war.
The inescapable conclusion of your essay is that the foreign and military policy of the U.S. government is composed of acts of criminality in its purest sense.
ReplyDeleteael,
ReplyDeleteyour analysis of my words are clear and concise.
jim
AKA, OK when we do it, not OK when someone else does it.
ReplyDeleteHey, jim, I don't think I've ever seen your thoughts on who should be sitting in the Oval Office. A lot on who isn't doing so good, anybody out there who catches your eye?
bb
"AKA, OK when we do it, not OK when someone else does it."
ReplyDeleteYou hit it on the head, Basil, we're 'murica, dammit, we're the good guys, and if we kill your kids en masse, if we level your buildings like dominoes, if we invade your country and ruin your way of life...well, by god, we had a damn good reason fer it, too!
Too bad we don't hold ourselves to the same level of expectations that we hold the world too.
bb,
ReplyDeleteI stay away from politics usually.
I even wonder if we need an oval office.
The word triumvriate comes to mind.
I've written a really long piece on how i'd modify the system and Lisa has had it for about 6 months. If you are really interested in my thoughts then you better sweet talk her.
I have no luck in that arena.
The Oval Off. will continue to be a sham as long as we keep electing shallow pols.
But we are shallow people.
jim
I think the guy who said it was Austrian, but maybe I'm wrong.
ReplyDeleteWhy exactly is this post entitled "SS Division Nordland"? Just wondering . . .
"Believes he is in a war" . . . pretty much supports my case, thanks.
seydlitz,
ReplyDeleteIt's called what it's called b/c i am the obergruppenfuhrer.
Actually i /we try to title our essays so people googling other topics fall into our web of intrigue and masterly writing. It's a Ranger literary ambush.
OK AUSTRIAN works just as well.
jim
jim -
ReplyDeleteThis guy Breivik is, or thinks he is, a reborn 'Berserker' from the old Viking legends. Oslo may want to put some massive doses of Vitamin D or maybe Lithium in the city drinking water to curtail further outbreaks of the bearshirts.
By the way the right wing was not his only enabler in America - it appears his favorite TV show was a crime drama about a serial killer in Miami televised by a subsidiary of CBS. Weren't they supposed to be part of the liberal media? Churchill and Putin appear to be his heroes also, go figure. And he looks strangely like a twin or doppelganger of Julian Assange. Hmmm, I wonder what else they have in common?
mike,
ReplyDeleteI bet the tv show is DEXTER and i've done essays on these at Ranger AW. It's my contention that Dexter represents GWB. He's a serial killer , but he's our serial killer.
The Dexter series is a good mystery READ as there's a lot of psychology there, but the concept is disturbing. This is that a serial killer can be a lovable ,handsome and somehow heroic. It's all about by-passing the legal system since the targets are themselves killers. So the logic is that they are fair game for another serial killer. It's all law of the jungle stuff.
jim
jim - "It's all about by-passing the legal system since the targets are themselves killers. So the logic is that they are fair game for another serial killer."
ReplyDeleteYes, and that was probably Breivik's logic. These teenagers on the island were in the Worker Youth League, therefore budding Union folk, and therefore criminals, and therefore.......
This very unique point of view.Nice of me coming here,i was learn a lot from here.
ReplyDeletenew sunglasses
wholesale replica sunglasses
designer sunglasses for women
buy ray ban sunglasses