DH: So we shouldn't speak the truth because it might be offensive? We shouldn't say that our own government's actions have killed millions over the last few decades alone? That our own misery at the moment has been experienced many times over in Vietnam, Iraq, and the Occupied Territories? Can't you make these points without defending the WTC bombing itself?
mbs: No, you can't, if you're blind to the relevance of this "truth" to circumstances that are presently driving people to profound anguish.
DH: I've been an emotional basket case for the last week, overwhelmed by shock and grief, yet I also know that this happened in large part because of the way our government acts in the world. Can't we simultaneously hold two or three or four thoughts in our head and feelings in our hearts that don't harmonize neatly with each other?
mbs: Your head can hold a multitude of thoughts, but you only get to offer them to others one at a time. In politics, timing is everything. You have the timing of Lawrence Welk at a reggae festival.
>In a situation like this, it is inevitable that
>prudence is defined, at least for a while,
>as giving those in authority the benefit of
>the doubt.
And they have such a sterling record, don't they? I don't quite get why you think they're dangerously wrong about fiscal policy, but when thousands-to-millions of lives are at stake, they get a free pass. At least for a while. Doug
mbs: I didn't give them the free pass, and you can't take it away. Circumstances provide it to them, albeit temporarily. They could prove to be dangerously wrong about military policy, but they haven't announced one yet.
Another of my old saws, but I forget the source (it was one of the old SDS'ers): "Revolution is a rare event, not a moral decision." Stop confusing moral decisions with political practice.