More is the pity.

Post #81,611 by mmoffitt 2/14/03 2:08:12 AM Reply	More is the pity. I actually heard that drivel on NPR today. They were interviewing a Harvard professor of International Studies and he made the same point: "Saddam is a bad man and we must take him out.... Our threats are 1) Al Qaeda 2) North Korea and 3) Iraq..." North Korea, however, "needs to be addressed with diplomacy because you can't address each threat in the same manner." But he NEVER said exactly how Iraq was a threat to us! Moreover, the interviewer never asked him to justify his claim that Iraq was a threat of any kind, let alone the third greatest threat to the US. Unlike what I expected, callers-in were obviously screened (I tried, but failed to get through, which tells me the volume was heavy) and NO DISSENTING VOICES were heard during the entirety of the show. I cannot believe in NPR's audience that it occurred to no one to ask, "If Saddam Hussein is a bad enough guy(tm) to start a war over now, why was he 'the leading force for democracy in the region' when he was GASSING PEOPLE WITH OUR HELP? Why didn't Rumsfeld KILL HIM when he had the chance (photo op w/Saddam shaking his hand)?" If our university professors are vomitting this out, what is the next herd going to be like?
Post #81,699 by Brandioch 2/14/03 2:41:55 PM Reply	Propaganda. Emotion is NOT logic. Okay, suppose you were dragged into court on a multiple murder charge. You're facing the death penalty. But then the people you were charged with killing turned up alive. Well, you certain assaulted them. But then it turns out that they weren't assaulted. Well, you certainly kidnapped them. No, they had decided to take a vaction out of state. Well, you certainly threatened them and caused them to leave the state. No, you had not had any previous contact with them before. Well, when you were crossing the road to the court house, you were JAY WALKING! And you are sentenced to DEATH for your crimes. I know, but that's how propaganda works. Claim the WORST and claim EVERYTHING. You want to trigger the EMOTIONS in the audience. Then, even if the claims are later disproven, the EMOTIONS will still be there. Then the EMOTIONS can be used to "justify" the actions taken because "everyone KNOWS it is True". Which is why those pushing for the war keep pulling out lies and falsified evidence. Just look at Marlowe's continual posting of a picture of dead kids and claiming that not killing Iraqi kids means that you support the killing of those other kids. No logic. Pure emotion. "Don't you care about the CHILDREN?" Or Boxley's rants about people saying that the rockets are "firecrackers". Despite no one ever saying that they are. This isn't about logic, this is about emotions. Keep claiming anything and everything until you find the one item that will be accepted EMOTIONALLY and not LOGICALLY by a person.
Post #81,704 by mmoffitt 2/14/03 2:52:41 PM Reply	I keep hearing this old Russian. In Soviet Russia, an old friend of my dad's who had done time in a gulag said, "Eugene, I want to believe that America is better. I want to believe that freedom as defined by the West is better than what we have. But as I look closely at your country, how can I come to such a conclusion?" I'm glad Kiril is not alive today to witness this.
Post #81,717 by boxley 2/14/03 4:13:39 PM Reply	Had some people from Poland make their first US visit xmas 1999. After 2 days the translation was, this is worse than we ever had it under the communists. They thought we were a HUGE police state. Explaining that gated communities was requested by the owners was hard to get thru until I took them to the ghetto where the windows and doors on the houses were heavily barred, then they sorta got it. thanx, bill will work for cash and other incentives [link\|http://home.tampabay.rr.com/boxley/resume/Resume.html\|skill set] questions, help? [link\|mailto:pappas@catholic.org\|email pappas at catholic.org]
Post #81,736 by Brandioch 2/14/03 6:04:21 PM Reply	Our SYSTEM is "better". In that we can VOTE to regain any rights we lose. All we have to do is educate a MAJORITY of the population on WHY their Freedom is important and how to VOTE to protect it.
Post #81,737 by admin 2/14/03 6:12:56 PM Reply	There's a Russian jew who works here... She and her family left Moscow when the skinheads started mobbing. The only thing she misses about Russia is the snow and the ability to cross-country ski from her back yard. She has one crazy uncle who might still be in Moscow. He swore up and down that everything was fine, why leave? They haven't heard from him in a while... Regards, -scott anderson "Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson..."

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