The Less Said The Better Mended
There is a saying, The less said the better mended. That kind of simple wisdom seems lost on contemporary America. Do you think that if we made less of a big deal out of the tenth anniversary of 9/11 that terrorists might also? By turning it into such a gigantic event, were announcing to the world that were deeply wounded and scared; and wounded, scared people invite bullying. If the purpose of terrorism is to demoralize people and instill fear, the terrorists who attacked us succeeded beyond their wildest hopes. All any wannabe Jihadist has to do is yell Boo to turn us into a bunch of hysterical ninnies.
By all means memorialize 9/11, but do so in a quiet, dignified way. Dont saturate the airwaves with endless, over-sentimentalized retrospectives and ceremonies. That kind of overkill cheapens the event and turns genuine grief into mere spectacle. Just for once can we not go over the top? Make it solemn and proud, modest and brief. Make it worthy of the kind of people we imagine ourselves to be, the kind of people we should be.
Most importantly, dont use it as a pretext to justify more pointless, self-destructive wars.
But there is a sinister aspect to all of this as well. Look at New York Citys security preparations:
There are radiation detection boats in the waters, cameras that have been placed all over lower and Midtown Manhattan and there are cops with guns and tanks and all kinds of weapons, because in New York a terror attack could come from anywhere, and anyone.
Theres no shortage of people who are willing to give up their lives for the cause, NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly said.
[ ]
For openers, he has his own navy.
We actually have the ability to have a small submarine, not manned, to check the part of the boats that are submerged, Kelly said.
We have a new boat on order. We envision a situation where we may have to get to an island or across water quickly, so were able to transport our heavy weapons officers rapidly.
Kelly also has his own army 1,000 anti-terror cops with tanks and weapons, carved out of the NYPD after 9/11.
None of which, one should add, would prevent a random psychopath with a legally obtained assault rifle from walking into a restaurant and opening fire, which happened in my neck of the woods just over a week ago.
Would a terrorist be so stupid as to march into the teeth of such defenses, or would they attack some soft underbelly, like Omaha or Bismark or some equally sedate and unsuspecting place? All of this hyper-security is largely ineffective, and like so much else in America it is primarily designed for show, for effect. In this case, to make us feel safe.
One need hardly point out that turning our police departments into full-fledged armies is dangerous beyond words. Its far more dangerous than vague terrorist threats from abroad which, in the long run, will have proven to be ephemeral. But when Islamic terrorism is a caption in history books (which, of course, few will read), some new existential menace will have emerged from the self-interested minds of our military, police, and political establishment. It might be the Chinese. It might be the Russians. If someone like Rick Perry manages to bumble into the White House, it might be liberals. Regardless, the mechanisms of full repression will have become an established, immovable fact, something weve been conditioned to accept, like torture and warrantless wire-tapping have become now.
*snip*
There is a saying, The less said the better mended. That kind of simple wisdom seems lost on contemporary America. Do you think that if we made less of a big deal out of the tenth anniversary of 9/11 that terrorists might also? By turning it into such a gigantic event, were announcing to the world that were deeply wounded and scared; and wounded, scared people invite bullying. If the purpose of terrorism is to demoralize people and instill fear, the terrorists who attacked us succeeded beyond their wildest hopes. All any wannabe Jihadist has to do is yell Boo to turn us into a bunch of hysterical ninnies.
By all means memorialize 9/11, but do so in a quiet, dignified way. Dont saturate the airwaves with endless, over-sentimentalized retrospectives and ceremonies. That kind of overkill cheapens the event and turns genuine grief into mere spectacle. Just for once can we not go over the top? Make it solemn and proud, modest and brief. Make it worthy of the kind of people we imagine ourselves to be, the kind of people we should be.
Most importantly, dont use it as a pretext to justify more pointless, self-destructive wars.
But there is a sinister aspect to all of this as well. Look at New York Citys security preparations:
There are radiation detection boats in the waters, cameras that have been placed all over lower and Midtown Manhattan and there are cops with guns and tanks and all kinds of weapons, because in New York a terror attack could come from anywhere, and anyone.
Theres no shortage of people who are willing to give up their lives for the cause, NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly said.
[ ]
For openers, he has his own navy.
We actually have the ability to have a small submarine, not manned, to check the part of the boats that are submerged, Kelly said.
We have a new boat on order. We envision a situation where we may have to get to an island or across water quickly, so were able to transport our heavy weapons officers rapidly.
Kelly also has his own army 1,000 anti-terror cops with tanks and weapons, carved out of the NYPD after 9/11.
Would a terrorist be so stupid as to march into the teeth of such defenses, or would they attack some soft underbelly, like Omaha or Bismark or some equally sedate and unsuspecting place? All of this hyper-security is largely ineffective, and like so much else in America it is primarily designed for show, for effect. In this case, to make us feel safe.
One need hardly point out that turning our police departments into full-fledged armies is dangerous beyond words. Its far more dangerous than vague terrorist threats from abroad which, in the long run, will have proven to be ephemeral. But when Islamic terrorism is a caption in history books (which, of course, few will read), some new existential menace will have emerged from the self-interested minds of our military, police, and political establishment. It might be the Chinese. It might be the Russians. If someone like Rick Perry manages to bumble into the White House, it might be liberals. Regardless, the mechanisms of full repression will have become an established, immovable fact, something weve been conditioned to accept, like torture and warrantless wire-tapping have become now.
*snip*
