Clearly the Disclaimer is affecting us all. Here is a rather mean-spirited letter I wrote to Michael Coren, a national columnist for the Sun newspapers. The subject of his column?-- the moral obligation of the West to drop nuclear bombs on Iran IMMEDIATELY. Only a handful of strategic strikes, of course, but it was necessary (he said) to prevent something that was going to surely be worse than the Nazis-- Iran having nuclear energy.
Hi Michael--
Read your latest column with a good laugh. Nuke Iran, indeed. The utterly lazy generalization that you open the article with (something along the lines of "everyone who knows anything at all about anything knows this is true") typifies your style. No facts, no grasp of the historical complexity of ideas, no substantiation for your claims beyond "common sense".
And comparing the Nazis favourably to the current government in Iran? Please. Way to trivialize the Holocaust.
The scariest thing about your writing isn't just how bad it is--the scariest thing is that there are people out there who read it and assume that you actually have a clue what you're talking about.
Sincerely,
XXX
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
21 comments:
Dude, Michael Coren is seriously fucked, I used to read his shit, along with Ann Coulter's, just to get my ire up. But in a sense it's important that we hear from them if only because their view represents/influences a significant portion of the population. Lazy, fearful, hate-mongering and full of negativity; this is the bread and butter of the Sun and many of it's readers. It's kind of a call to arms to those of us who are reasonable, humane, intellegent and hopeful to remain vigilant and to keep fighting fascists in sheeps clothing.
I have a friend who feels much the same way. In fact, his belief is that the current state of the world and especially the situation in the Middle East and Central Asia is directly connected with the end of WWII, and that the West should have gone to war with the Soviet Union immediately after defeating the Axis! Instead, we had a long build-up of arms in various countries during the Cold War, and here we are today... While there is a grain of truth there, it's hard to wholeheartedly agree with going to war in order to prevent war!
Hindsight is always 20/20
yeah... the treaty of Versailles, at the end of WW I, actually CREATED the nation of kuwait-- the US and Britain simply declared, there is now a kuwait, and it's here, and we're sending in our armies to patrol it and keep it safe. and then, 75 years later, you have the Gulf War.
the treaty of versailles also bent over backwards blaming and punishing Germany for WW I. and then, presto, a few years later, a very angry and humiliated Germany starts WW II.
sigh... will we ever learn? can we?
I think that the extreme views of Micheal Coren are balanced by the equally extreme views of Eric Margolis in the Sun.
Not so Lion. It is real. The push for Armeggedon is being led by people like this, and yet there are those, like myself that do not believe it is inevitable. Mayan calanders and Nostradamis predict the end of time is nigh but a roll of dice can always change history. Without the eeire luck and the extreme diabolical genius of Hitler there would not have been a Hollocost, and perhaps not even a second world war. In professing what he does Coren rolls the dice for Satan and the forces of evil(to extend the metephor). To rally back against such tripe is extremely rational and necessary, to dismiss it as unreal is irresponsible and opens the door to future acts of mass inhumanity.
yep. rage against the dying of light and what not.
and i've read eric margolis a few times. i find him to be fairly balanced, but that may be b/c i'm a "lefty" myself (though i hate such terms and feel that they're just a lazy journalistic convenience that trivializes important ideas).
as for ann coulter... i just don't get that at all. i'm always shocked by her rage.
a few weeks back, she called a group of 9/11 widows who oppose the war "harpies", suggested their husbands were about to divorce them anyway, and that they should pose in playboy before their 15 mins of fame were up.
my question for that (and coren) is... how does this kind of writing help to make the world a better place?
my verification word is "ylovb".
I think the push for armeggedon is being aided by the "convert or die" Islasmists as well as the extreme journalists. (That was the Taliban`s ultimatum to the west via video yesterday). fair is fair.
I absolutely agree with Smoky that:
"Responding or even thinking about what these dudes are saying is a waste of energy. It's endless. And not real."
But more importantly, don't buy and read that lousy newspaper! It's like the enquirer. It is obviously meant for people who want to be provoked:
"I used to read his shit, along with Ann Coulter's, just to get my ire up"
"as for ann coulter... i'm always shocked by her rage."
I hope you can see the contradiction here:
"it's important that we hear from them if only because their view represents/influences a SIGNIFICANT PORTION OF THE POPULATION. Lazy, FEARFUL, hate-mongering and full of negativity; this is the BREAD AND BUTTER of the Sun and many of it's READERS."
"It's kind of a call to arms to those of us who are reasonable, humane, INTELLIGENT AND HOPEFUL to remain vigilant and to keep fighting fascists in sheeps clothing."
This is obvious to me that they are trying to get people mad.
"a few weeks back, she called a group of 9/11 widows who oppose the war "harpies", suggested their husbands were about to divorce them anyway, and that they should pose in playboy before their 15 mins of fame were up."
Isn't that obvious that most intelligent hopefil readers would get mad at that? The majority of the people in the world are NOT "Lazy, fearful, hate-mongering and full of negativity"! A bit fearful maybe, but generally most people I meet are kind, sensitive, motivated, loving, and full of hope. They would mostly respond to this writing with disgust and resistance. Luckily most of them have "the common sense" not to buy (fund) the crappy-Sun newspaper, let alone take it seriously.
Excellent points Dave. FYI, I have never purchased a copy of the Sun except the one that I was quoted in as saying "fat people are more into comfort and joy," that was a proud moment for me. I do happen upon it quite often at lunch when I'm doing floors, and being someone who loves editorials and letters to the editor be they fascist, bleeding-heart or balanced would always turn to that page first. You are probably right that most people who read this stuff, especially by the writers we are dissing, don't take it too seriously. They know the writers are trying to be provocative etc. But the less intelligent and compasionate among us (aka the red-necks), and there are millions of them in this country, and millions more to the south, like to use this blather as fuel for their bigotry and that's what gets me steamed. Also the popularity of a figure like Coulter points to a public appetite for far right points of view, and in a sense justifies the actions of the war mongering Republican government, who she is a strong supporter of. And so I say: vive la Resistance!
The best thing about the Sun is the sunshine girls and boys. It is a borderline tabloid newspaper.
alas, they got rid of the sunshine boys. at least out here in the prairies they did.
and under the "most people are hopeful and filled with love and therefore just ignore this stuff and don't take it seriously" files, the latest ratings show that bill o'reilly is getting 2.2 million viewers a day-- the #1 news talk show in america.
There are 6 billion people in the world, and who the heck is Bill O'reilly?
I get both papers daily. As much as I find some Sun stories laughable, I also find free Press reporters wishy-washy. (except for the arts column of course ;)
LOL- my verification is "ahrag"
Sigh...
this is my THIRD try responding. Once foiled by the cat on my last word, twice by lack of server connection....
ok, briefly (very briefly): We have to speak up. Ignoring ugly words like Coren's and Coulter's plays right into their exaggerated and misguided notions of importance. Dave is right. People are good. We shouldn't have to put up with such ugly and violent talk (or actions). So let's jump in to the war of words and pictures and put these people on the fringe where they belong. Otherwise the current narrative that imagines a clash of civilizations threatens to destroy our common humanity.
Dramatic, I know. But at the very least we should take this stuff as seriously as those we oppose.
ps: wowdq
all ideals are dangerous since they denigrate and stigmatize what is actual. They are poisons which however, as occasional medicaments, are indespensible.
It is impossible to affect the illusions that appear in the news. Stressing about them is indeed wasteful. It's impossible to affect them through any type of action. So it's best just to observe, then dismiss them.
And get back to work preparing mind body and soul for the future.
"It's impossible to affect them through any type of action. So it's best just to observe, then dismiss them."
it's a good thing that jesus, ghandi, martin luther king and nellie mcclung (to name but a few) didn't believe that.
I don't think "it is impossible to affect the illusions that appear in the news". You can always make counter illusions. And every action has a meaning somwhere, somehow, no matter how mundane.
Still, I agree "stressing about them is... wasteful".
I don't think Jesus, Ghandi,or Martin Luther King would write letters to the Sun. They might just use their own media to counter it.
The specifics are irrelevant.
Just act.
The specifics are irrelevant?
That sound like it's going back to Courtnagism? What do you mean? Can I just "act" like a nice person, and that's enough?
no, I mean, who cares whether we choose to write to the sun, or present our points of view through our own media- the point is that talking back is worthwhile, and not an exercise in futility.
Post a Comment