Vigilante justice

[joanna bujes]

At 01:51 PM 11/09/2001 -0500, you wrote:
>From: Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com>
>Subject: forget trials - just shoot 'em!
>
>Los Angeles Times - November 9, 2001
>
>COMMENTARY
>How a Powerful Image Can Shape a War
>
>By JAMES ZUMWALT, James Zumwalt is a retired Marine lieutenant colonel who
>served in the Vietnam and Persian Gulf wars
>
>The re is tremendous potential in a photograph to inflame emotions.
>The images of Sept. 11 of planes crashing into the World Trade
>Center, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania were of sufficient
>emotion to cause few of us to object to the ensuing executive order
>that Osama bin Laden be taken "dead or alive." The option of killing
>Bin Laden and denying him a fair trial causes me no concern. Extreme
>problems dictate extreme solutions.

Doug, I am puzzled why you posted this. Since the bombing began, well, 
actually, since the media bombing began, I have been overwhelmed by the 
model of vigilante justice that is being offered the american public. Or 
should I overstate the obvious and say the "model of racist vigilante 
justice." Anyway, there's this overwhelming sense of "we're going to get us 
some n-words...doesn't matter if they're the wrong n-words...we'll 
eventually get the right ones, and in the meantime, we'll teach them all 
some respect." All this seems to get by without comment.

Joanna B