Roman makes a great point...if the Jews are "Untermensch," and the Aryans are the "Master Race," how is it that the "Untermensch" has been able to keep the "Master Race" at the fringe of society? And why are the "Untermensch" are so good at creating plans and plots that leave "Aryans" in jail, discredited, bankrupt, and out of power?
Shouldn't the "Master Race" be genetically capable, due to superior breeding and bloodline, to whip a bunch of Jews in a courtroom? Or expose their nefarious conspiracies?
Zionism is less a conspiracy and more a question of how interest-group politics converge, especially in America. Some Jews do not believe in God, but nearly all believe in the Holocaust. That is a significant constituency.
You see, Jews and Bible-thumping Christians are almost incapable of seeing the world in any terms other than through the lens of the "Holy Land." That affects everything, from the occupation of Iraq to sponsoring more Holocaust propaganda.
It's not hard to understand, really. If you have the ultimate trump card that makes your side Good, the cowboys in the white hats, then the other side is Bad. And because "they" are Bad and "we" are Good, we cannot see any of our own badness.
Andrew Koppelman, writing in the Spring 2006 issue of Dissent, says:
"Portrayals of evil such as occur in Lolita are risky, but morally valuable, precisely because they help dispel the comfortable notion that evil is wholly other. That notion tends to beget the thought that what we are doing cannot possibly be evil, since we are the ones doing it."
Andrew Koppelman, "Reading Lolita at Guantamamo" Dissent 53:2 (Spring 2006), pp. 64-71. ISSN: 0012-3846.
When it wasn't fighting the War on Terrah, the Bush Administration tried to crack down hard on pornography--lots of stuff that really is offensive, and with far less literary value than Lolita. But the moral crusaders tend not to see any limitations in their plaintive mythologies, nor evil in their own ways.
"It is a tale that bears a striking resemblance to the worldview of the September 11 attackers."
Limitations in mythologies? The Holocaust is a sacred cow that cannot be touched in any case, and not even for Mr. Koppelman:
"Under some circumstances such narratives are accurate, preeminently during the Second World War, which still dominates the American imagination. (Even then, a more ambivalent view of our ally Stalin would have served us better.) But that narrative is a dangerous paradigm with which to approach the world, which is usually much more complicated."
A complicated world? Junior Bush, the Evangelicals, and the Neocons were unable to imagine that once Saddam "Hitler" Hussein was removed from power in Iraq that there would be any further problems whatever. The Good Guys always win and ride happily off into the sunset. Dangerous paradigms indeed.
Furthermore, the Lipstadtian notion that Holocaust debate is obscene surely cannot advance intellectual pluralism and democratic values. That's why the idea of open-debate is so important.
CODOH has noble-enough aims, nor is there anything inherently sinister about Revisionism.
It is not unreasonable for CODOH or anyone else to ask, "Why do Jews get their own propaganda month?" Well, maybe because their special interests are better organized than say the Chinese. Andrew already made this point at his blog. Does that make him anti-Semitic too?
Maybe this political move is an attempt for Junior Bush to keep his Evangelical and Neocon base together when saner voices are saying that the invasion of Iraq was a bad idea from the start and calling to get out now.
I doubt that the anti-War faction will ever be organized loudly enough to capture the Democratic party, or any major party, however. Some constituencies are just too strong to oppose effectively--or at least when volume equates with truth.
> PS. Please, make the "word verification" texts shorter.
ReplyDeleteIs there such an option? I think it cannot be controlled...
Roman makes a great point...if the Jews are "Untermensch," and the Aryans are the "Master Race," how is it that the "Untermensch" has been able to keep the "Master Race" at the fringe of society? And why are the "Untermensch" are so good at creating plans and plots that leave "Aryans" in jail, discredited, bankrupt, and out of power?
ReplyDeleteShouldn't the "Master Race" be genetically capable, due to superior breeding and bloodline, to whip a bunch of Jews in a courtroom? Or expose their nefarious conspiracies?
Zionism is less a conspiracy and more a question of how interest-group politics converge, especially in America. Some Jews do not believe in God, but nearly all believe in the Holocaust. That is a significant constituency.
ReplyDeleteYou see, Jews and Bible-thumping Christians are almost incapable of seeing the world in any terms other than through the lens of the "Holy Land." That affects everything, from the occupation of Iraq to sponsoring more Holocaust propaganda.
It's not hard to understand, really. If you have the ultimate trump card that makes your side Good, the cowboys in the white hats, then the other side is Bad. And because "they" are Bad and "we" are Good, we cannot see any of our own badness.
Andrew Koppelman, writing in the Spring 2006 issue of Dissent, says:
"Portrayals of evil such as occur in Lolita are risky, but morally valuable, precisely because they help dispel the comfortable notion that evil is wholly other. That notion tends to beget the thought that what we are doing cannot possibly be evil, since we are the ones doing it."
Andrew Koppelman, "Reading Lolita at Guantamamo" Dissent 53:2 (Spring 2006), pp. 64-71. ISSN: 0012-3846.
When it wasn't fighting the War on Terrah, the Bush Administration tried to crack down hard on pornography--lots of stuff that really is offensive, and with far less literary value than Lolita. But the moral crusaders tend not to see any limitations in their plaintive mythologies, nor evil in their own ways.
"It is a tale that bears a striking resemblance to the worldview of the September 11 attackers."
Limitations in mythologies? The Holocaust is a sacred cow that cannot be touched in any case, and not even for Mr. Koppelman:
"Under some circumstances such narratives are accurate, preeminently during the Second World War, which still dominates the American imagination. (Even then, a more ambivalent view of our ally Stalin would have served us better.) But that narrative is a dangerous paradigm with which to approach the world, which is usually much more complicated."
A complicated world? Junior Bush, the Evangelicals, and the Neocons were unable to imagine that once Saddam "Hitler" Hussein was removed from power in Iraq that there would be any further problems whatever. The Good Guys always win and ride happily off into the sunset. Dangerous paradigms indeed.
Furthermore, the Lipstadtian notion that Holocaust debate is obscene surely cannot advance intellectual pluralism and democratic values. That's why the idea of open-debate is so important.
CODOH has noble-enough aims, nor is there anything inherently sinister about Revisionism.
It is not unreasonable for CODOH or anyone else to ask, "Why do Jews get their own propaganda month?" Well, maybe because their special interests are better organized than say the Chinese. Andrew already made this point at his blog. Does that make him anti-Semitic too?
Flavor Country Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Maybe this political move is an attempt for Junior Bush to keep his Evangelical and Neocon base together when saner voices are saying that the invasion of Iraq was a bad idea from the start and calling to get out now.
I doubt that the anti-War faction will ever be organized loudly enough to capture the Democratic party, or any major party, however. Some constituencies are just too strong to oppose effectively--or at least when volume equates with truth.
Scott, you need to start your own blog ;-)
ReplyDeleteI'm just showing support for you guys.
ReplyDelete;-)