March 31, 2004

WHEELY INSENSITIVE

Der Spiegel’s interview with new Hamas leader Abdul Aziz Rantisi begins awkwardly:

You are following in the footsteps of murdered Sheikh Ahmed Yassin at a critical time ...

(Via Erik at Wax Tadpole)

Posted by Tim Blair at March 31, 2004 03:25 AM
Comments

It figures they would begin with a mis-step, putting their foot in their mouth.

But, at least they stood up to be counted, even if they got off on the wrong foot, and can be expected to toe the line.

Please stop me...

Posted by: Parker at March 31, 2004 at 06:21 AM

So I'm guessing Mr. Rantisi has some long, skinny feet. Or is he wearing rollerblades?

Posted by: Ken Summers at March 31, 2004 at 06:40 AM

We can only hope he follows in Yassin's "footsteps."

Posted by: Barbara Skolaut at March 31, 2004 at 07:35 AM

"murdered"? i wonder if they use same term for israelis blown up by sheik's followers.

Posted by: niels at March 31, 2004 at 09:25 AM

Sorry - I didn't realize Yassin wasn't murdered.

Posted by: Peter at March 31, 2004 at 10:52 AM

No, those were murders too. They were all murders, on both sides. Neither side in this disgusting, degrading conflict is innocent. Those that claim one side is moral superiority are simply partisan agitators and nothing less than accomplices to barbarism.

Posted by: Miranda Divide at March 31, 2004 at 10:57 AM

And those who stand atop their moral high ground and poopoo everyone are Useless Idiots. Even Lenin sneers at you!

Posted by: Sortelli at March 31, 2004 at 11:32 AM

Touche', Miranda! Both sides are guilty of murder, and anyone who supports either side is dragging down civilization.

How many people do you think that you just slammed? I estimate better than half the population of this planet. Congratulations!

Still, you have a point here, that war and the related violence is not necessarily a good thing. But it's an overly simplistic view, categorizes everyone as barbarians, and gains us nothing, other than giving the excuse you stand aloof and hold your nose like an elitist.

War exists, whether we like it or not. We have to deal with it, like any problem. So don't hold the Israeli-Palestinian "problem" at arms' length and whine about the smell -- clean it up, and improve the place a bit.

And that's what the IDF is doing, I am glad to say.

Posted by: JeffS at March 31, 2004 at 11:43 AM

Hmmmm......

Excuse me, Miranda, I said that you were holding your nose like an elitist. That's wrong, and I need to correct myself. What I should have said was:

"You are an elitist, looking for excuses to stand aloof and hold your nose."

As Sortelli put it, a "Useless Idiot".

Posted by: JeffS at March 31, 2004 at 11:48 AM

Miranda, there is most certainly a difference.

Palestinians kill the innocent. Israelis kill the guilty. If you can't understand that, you are beyond help.

In fact, there were 200,000 supporters of Palestinian murderers attending Yassin's funeral. Personally, I would have launched some major ordnance into the crowd since they are supporters, and the fact that the Israelis didn't speaks volumes.

Posted by: Ken Summers at March 31, 2004 at 12:31 PM

Hey, guys, keep in mind you're talking to our resident Blogparrot.

Posted by: Andrea Harris at March 31, 2004 at 01:28 PM

I had a neighbor with a parrot. It was an annoying creature, whistling and making all sorts of noises, and put out an incredible amount of crap.

So I can see why Miranda is the resident Blogparrot.

Posted by: JeffS at March 31, 2004 at 02:32 PM

It is essential in life to make a distinction between two evils and to choose the lesser of the two.

If you refuse to make such a distinction is the luxury of a lazy mind or someone who knows they will never have any influence and therefore never be responsible. People who live in he real world particularly prime ministers and such cannot say "I just wont do anything then I wont be guilty of anything" Obviously that would be terrible strategy.

For example shooting people may be a bad thing even criminals but if the criminal is an immediate threat to other people it may be the lesser evil. Similarly assassinations are a bad thing but if you are assassinating someone where it is impossible to bring him to trial and he was an immediate threat to order or plan the killing of your citizens it has a pretty good case for being the lesser evil.

Posted by: scottie at March 31, 2004 at 04:16 PM

If the IDF are such evil buggers, why didn't they shoot that poor splodydope kid last week they caught in the check point with the expanding underwear?

Obviously, their evil training wasn't up to standard.

You just can't get good help these days!

Posted by: Razor at March 31, 2004 at 04:36 PM

Funny, that's what Hamas said after the kid was rescued by the IDF. :-)

Posted by: JeffS at March 31, 2004 at 04:41 PM

So when Osama is found, Miranda is against lethal force being used should he refuse to surrender?

Curiouser and curiouser.

Posted by: Quentin George at March 31, 2004 at 06:54 PM

Lethal force should only be applied to blogheads. Rawk!

Posted by: Sortelli at March 31, 2004 at 07:11 PM

"No, those were murders too. They were all murders, on both sides. Neither side in this disgusting, degrading conflict is innocent. Those that claim one side is moral superiority are simply partisan agitators and nothing less than accomplices to barbarism."

Moral equivalence, like suicide, is the coward's way out.

Posted by: The Sanity Inspector at April 1, 2004 at 02:18 AM

My favorite faux pas about this incident occurred during an interview of the NYT's Tom Freidman by Don Imus last week. Talking about the assassination of Yassin, Freidman said "the wheels have come off of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process," which led to much giggling by Imus and Chuck McCord. McCord followed that with "at least you didn't say the wheels were BLOWN off the peace process."

Posted by: mailman at April 1, 2004 at 02:27 AM

This reminds me of the paralyzed cartoonist Callahan. The title of his autobiography is "He Won't Make It Far on Foot" in reference to one of his classics -- several cowboys on horseback standing over an overturned wheelchair in the dessert with wheel tracks leading to the wheelchair and crawl marks leading away from the wheelchair. Very un-PC stuff. Another Callahan favorite is the insane asylum with a sign on the door that reads "Do Not Disturb . . . Any Further."

Posted by: Tibor at April 1, 2004 at 03:37 AM