Prejudice and Idiocy: Pt. 3

theblasmo · Sat, 15 Sep 2001 20:35:50 -0700

Even when I disagree with Michael Moore and Noam
Chomsky, and admittedly, when I do, it's because I
disagree with their interpretation of the facts, I am
happy that they bothered to use facts in the first
place. Moore and Chomsky correctly point out that to
believe that America had nothing to do with these actions
is to be blind to American foreign policy, which has
helped train people like Bin Laden and the Shah, and
left groups such as the Palestinians out in the cold.
There is absolutely no justification for the attacks on
Tuesday. Even many of our so-called enemies have spoken
out against the attacks, showing that even if they
agreed with the beliefs of these attackers, that this
was going much too far. However, all of this has been
undercut by an American media that is so full of itself,
so convinced that what it is doing is for the good
of the nation, that facts, credibility, and
integrity are all being thrown out the window in favor of
attempts at Pulitzer prizes and who can make the best
musical collage video. Patriotism is the first refuge of
the scoundrel, it is said, and what many of these
networks have done in the name of patriotism reeks of the
same sort of jingoistic tirades made against the
United States by such places as Iraq. 
To those who
have lost loved ones or who are waiting for word, my
heart goes out to you. You are the victims in all of
this. Unfortunately, their deaths may eventually be
used to justify changes in this country -- changes to
immigration policies, civil rights, and our own attitudes
towards other countries. Right now, as banner headlines
flash across TV screens and microphones are pushed into
families' faces, as nifty computer graphics are desgined to
give Matrix-like views of the crashes and the
aftermath, we are being slowly prepared for what the
American military will do next. Far from restraint, as
many members of the mainstream press have been happy
to report, I feel President Bush has launched into a
calmer state of armed rhetoric, meaning that instead of
screaming his slogans, he is calmly delivering them. In a
sense, he is setting us up for the deaths of civilians
in our retaliations -- deaths that the government
will justify by saying that they were part of a "host"
country, one that sheltered terrorists, and therefore,
could be attacked. The deaths of civilians to put
forward a cause; it sounds too familiar. 
For Falwell,
Robertson, Limbaugh, and the rest of the jingoistic media,
this is looking like a victory for closed-mindedness
and prejudice. For the Left and people like Moore and
Chomsky, this may be the beginning of a time or reverses,
where open criticism of the American government, no
matter how factually backed up it may be, will be seen
as treason. If this happens, then we all become
victims of the attacks, since America will have changed
for the worse, something that indicates that the
terrorist techniques used have been effective: we will have
begun to act against ourselves. Now is a time for
mouring and relief --relief that people we know such as
Kristin and Andy are alright, and that, for the moment at
least, the attacks seem to be over. However, what will
remain under attack for a very long time will be our
sensibilities, which will face overwhelming assault by the media
and its spokespeople, who have all the proper cards
in their hands, and who seem to care less about the
person with the microphone stuck in their face, and more
about the person doing the sticking. Let's hope we
survive. 
David Murphy

PS: In all of this, I
hope we haven't forgotten the quizbowl related
tragedies that occured right before the attacks: my friend
Dan's loss of his baby and the death of an Emory Univ.
player. My thanks to all those who have responded to
Dan's grief, and to those members of the Emory team, my
thoughts are with you. Take care, everyone.