I have a sense of the
>senselessness of arguments as a way of reaching people. (You need the
>arguments in reserve, because _after_ you have convinced people that you
>are right, _then_ they are going to want to know the arguments for what
>is now their position, which they will have arrived at on quite other
>grounds than argments and reasons.)
Agreed, as you know.
>
>And I have one fairly certain bit of knowledge about the future:
>whatever military, diplomatic, or economic action the U.S. takes is
>going to seriously fuck up people somewhere
Likewise.
. What I don't know, and what
>I think no one knows yet, is whether they are going to get away with
>whatever it is they are aiming at.
If they have anything definite in mind.
>Probably. I'm working, as indicated above, on the premise that he is
>going to get away with it -- that is, that he is going to win even if
>the U.S. succeeds in killing him or whatever.
Hasn't he already? My coworker's friens cancelled a trip out here, atre the fare, because she is afaraid of flying.
>
>Justin, you put a lot more emphasis on getting the bad guys than I ever
>have, and here it's not my marxism operating but almost a family
>tradition. All of my family are very happy that the police are fairly
>certain that they know who murdered my sister-in-law -- particularly one
>niece who was all too acutely aware of the statistics on who the killer
>is apt to be; none of us, including my brother and my nieces, are
>awfully concerned with the fact that there will never be any basis for
>arresting him. He probably won't kill anyone else, and putting him in
>jail would not bring Lois back. Vengeance is good on the spot, but after
>about five minutes it's a bore.
Well, apart from the fact that bin Laden or whoever did this WILL kill
again, and maybe already has, there's the consideration that being serious
about getting the perpetrator is a political sine qua non. As for vengeage,
we can discuss the distinction between vewangeange and retribution another
time. I _am_ a retributivist. i don't thgink all bad guys are worth
punishing, but I think all mass murderers are.
>
>However desirable justice may be -- it's not going to happen. Arguing
>about what would be the just solution is to drift off into never-never
>land.
>
Can't agree with that. Lose sight of justice, and we might as well switch over to the other side. If justice doesn't matter, why shouldn't I seek what would benefit me, make the great renunciation, and sign up for the war effort?
jks
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