greenpass: Things that drive me nuts

August 02, 2004

Things that drive me nuts

At risk of being called a journo-scold again (the poor site's only three days old and already Campaign Desk calls me names!), I'd just like to say that it drives me absolutely insane when people take the "They hate us because they're evil" line at face value. And I don't know why, but it ESPECIALLY pisses me off when it's NPR.

Of course it's the same thing we've heard again and again and again since Sept. 11th, but instead of dulling the pain it's made it more and more galvanizing, to the point which when I hear someone say "they're evil" I have to jump up and hit something or break something (or more benignly, go for a run while swearing under my breath.)

It was just a news report on the 5 o'clock NPR news, recounting a he-said he-said exchange between Bush and Kerry.

Reporter: Yesterday Kerry said:
Kerry: It's crazy to go to war against the terrorists - I believe that terrorists want to hurt the US because they are frustrated and angry at the state of their lives and at what they perceive the US to be. Going to war against them will only confirm their worst prejudices and will breed more terrorists that hate us.
Reporter: But then Bush responded:
Bush: I believe that terrorists are evil because they want to hurt the US.
Reporter: So yeah, they both said something, and they disagreed, so they sort of cancel each other out. This is Joe Flatfoot for NPR News.

I know I posted yesterday about how some people have inherently different ways of looking at the world, the constructivist vs. bestial political man, blah blah blah.

But.

I don't know about you, but I can't hear that line from Bush without asking, nay, screaming, "WHY???" It's a circular argument that's being made - terrorists are evil because they want to hurt the US. But why do they want to hurt the US? Easy - because they're evil.

Journalists that equate this level of argument with a nuanced and thoughtful view are condemning the American people to a long, slow decline of their freedoms and liberties as a result of being treated like prize fools. If we can't rely on journalists to call politicians on embarassingly shoddy logic like this, the minority party has signed a comfortable agreement not to attack the majority, and (as the Democratic National Convention showed me) normal people will never be able to get near enough to ask for themselves, then who can we rely on?

Now where are my sneakers -- I'm sure swearing under my breath for 45 minutes will help my laryngitis.

UPDATE: I've been asked what I would have liked the journalist to say instead. Something along the lines of "President Bush did not specify the specific geo-political factors he believes are the causes of terrorism." I don't know, just anything to make it clear that the arguments are not commensurate. One side is putting forward reasons that are grounded in the real world, and the other side is talking stuff that makes John in Revelations sound coherent.

Posted at 06:00 PM | Permalink

Comments

REEEEE-KOH-LA!

"President Bush did not specify the specific geo-political factors he believes are the causes of terrorism."

Duh, the causes of terrorism aren't geopolitical, they're, um, evilness!

And Frenchie appeasement.

Get thee some Ricola!

Posted by: T: Central | August 02, 2004 at 07:24 PM

I would say it's not quite a circular argument, it is really a circular definition. I don't see any "argument" involved.

The definition of a terrorist is an evil person who wants to hurt us. So, Bush hasn't made an argument, he has just told us the definition of terrorist.

So how does one get labeled a terrorist rather than a freedom figher? Simple. George Bush says so. And if you're not with him, your against him!

Posted by: sjb | August 03, 2004 at 11:31 AM

Oh sib...how did we ever end up with politicians who say things like this? I'm willing to bet cold hard cash that either one of us could do a better job than this popinjay of a president.

And you're right - I'm being too generous by calling the whole thing an "argument". The only "argument" in there is when he says "they hate us because they're evil".

terrorist, n. "a person who wants to hurt the united states."
person who wants to hurt the united states, n. (plus adjectival phrase), "terrorist."

Posted by: Zoe | August 03, 2004 at 11:49 AM

OK, so a pirate walks into a bar. The bartender notices that stuffed in the pirate's pants is a steering wheel, so he asks the pirate, "You know there's a steering wheel in your pants, right?"

To which the pirate replies: "I know, and it's driving me nuts!"

Posted by: praktike | August 03, 2004 at 12:24 PM

I'm embarassed to say that you actually made me laugh, praktike. That is a truly terrible joke.

Posted by: Zoe | August 03, 2004 at 12:55 PM

I've got a terrible pirate joke for every blogpost.

You have been warned.

Posted by: praktike | August 03, 2004 at 01:22 PM