June 30, 2002

REPEAT IT ENOUGH, IT'LL BE

REPEAT IT ENOUGH, IT'LL BE TRUE I GUESS

Arab News repeats the "Sharon-Oz" interview hoax as fact. This website pretty much debunked that canard, which is actually related to one of Israel's great journalistic mysteries, back in May.

Posted by BruceR at 09:54 AM

AT LEAST I HAVE THAT

AT LEAST I HAVE THAT MUCH CONTROL

Add Windtalkers to that list of movies (headed, most recently, by A Beautiful Mind, U-571 and The Patriot) to the list of Hollywood products I will never view, nor tolerate being viewed in my presence. It's my money and my time, and I won't waste either on paying even as prodigious a talent as John Woo to lie to me.

Lying about history is evidence of a culture that hates itself. No more, no less. (Link from Joanne Jacobs).

Posted by BruceR at 02:17 AM

WESTERN CHAUVINISM TAKEN A LITTLE

WESTERN CHAUVINISM TAKEN A LITTLE TOO FAR

No one who has read anything about the conduct of the Crusades, or the motivations of the Crusaders, can seriously think they were defensive wars. Still, it doesn't stop that ludicrous argument from cropping up now and again, or Glenn Reynolds giving it his imprimatur.

Howard Owens' argument that captivates Glenn? That they were a defensive response to the Muslim conquest of Andalusia... 350 years before... no, really. Read the linked piece yourself. And that Pope Urban called for the conquest of Palestine because it would help get the Muslims out of Spain... no, really.

You know, we all have laughed at those who claim American acts in Iraq, Afghanistan, etc. in the last few years, cannot possibly be seen as "root causes" justifying terrorist atrocities against the West. That means though, if we're talking atrocities our culture and our values are inextricably linked to, well then we have to dismiss the "root cause" argument even when it serves us too, you know.

Posted by BruceR at 12:42 AM

I'M WITH MARSHALL ON THIS ONE

Gotta go with Jonah Micah on the Bush speech. It would have been entirely just to demand of Arafat that he allow the honest election he promised the Palestinians for 1999, before any further negotiation. It would also have been fair to say Arafat must go before any further negotiations, and leave it at that. But to split the difference and say Arafat must go, in an election Arafat calls, is both naively unrealistic (no fair vote could ever result from such a demand) and smacks heavily of colonialism. Peres, in an apparently unguarded moment, was right... it can only increase Palestinian despair and Muslim anger, not douse it, and without any countervailing U.S. gain to show for it, unless giving the Israelis a little more room to maneuver counts, I guess. (Sullivan has it right, too, but he doesn't push his convictions to their logical conclusion... I agree if Arafat did happen to win victory in a fair election that would be an acceptable outcome, too, in that it would at least clarify the Palestinian position... so why then call for his removal as well as new elections and risk being seen as a meddling imperialist for your troubles?)

UPDATE: As usual, Daddy Warblogs says it better than I could:

Shrubya [Bush] basically said one of two things: either "I am ignorant of the real situation in the Middle East and am indulging in a colossal act of wishful thinking by trusting to the will of the Palestinian people" or "I am quite frankly f*cked off with the whole situation and won't even bother to talk to the Palestinians until they elect someone I and the Israeli government find acceptable." The former is massively stupid, the latter is an expression of a desire to 'disengage' from the situation and let it run its own course. Neither of them is anything like what one could call 'a plan.'

Even without that succinct analysis (more succinct than the Den Beste term paper taking the contrary position anyway), Daddy's post would be memorable for his asking, only semi-jokingly:

Should we all just go home and cut our own heads off in despair?

You first, Big Daddy... I just bought a new hat, and I'd hate to see it go to waste.

Posted by BruceR at 12:29 AM