the medium (war) is the message

Hi Joy, I read your post and then came across this in CNN's coverage:

In his comments at the Pentagon, Bush insisted that those lost a year
ago on September 11 "did not die in vain. Their loss," he said, "has
moved a nation to action…. What happened to our nation on a September
day set in motion the first great struggle in a new century."

I find it interesting that he makes the subtle assertion that people
would have died in vain if we had not gone to war. The logic here
doesn't make sense to me, either- the attack triggered our nation to
respond to it, and if we hadn't been attacked, everyone would have died
in vain because we would not have responded? This may sound like nit
picking on his verbalization [we all know George Bush can't speak] but
doesn't it also imply a sense of "These people did not die in vain,
because finally, we had a reason for war…"?

-e.




joy garnett wrote:

>Sept 11th ?
>
>Much of the "difficulty" of today stems from the fact that in great part,
>this "memorial" is not what it appears to be. This memorial, sadly, is
>a sham. It is intended quite simply to leverage us toward the next war by
>pumping our emotions, by elaborately playing our fears. They've been
>priming us all year, and now they're playing us.
>
>That's what it's all about.
>
>Ashcroft's reinstatment of the "Code Orange High Terror Alert" is a case
>in point: New York City has been at a "code orange high terror alert" ALL
>YEAR LONG. Whenever Ashcroft's face appears on your tv screen and and stays
>there for a full day, you can bet money we're being fucked with.
>
>I've never seen mass manipulation played out so transparently before.
>+ If the reader will keep me company I shall be glad.
>-> post: [email protected]
>-> questions: [email protected]
>-> subscribe/unsubscribe: http://rhizome.org/preferences/subscribe.rhiz
>-> give: http://rhizome.org/support
>+
>Subscribers to Rhizome are subject to the terms set out in the
>Membership Agreement available online at http://rhizome.org/info/29.php
>

Eryk Salvaggio wrote:

> but doesn't it also imply a sense of "These people did
> not die in vain, because finally, we had a reason for
> war…"?

Bush (uh, his script writer) has justified war (any war *we* will wage) in one neat sentence, and at the expense of the intractable injustice of all that death. In a nutshell he's saying that War is the only thing that can give those deaths meaning. In reality, they already have a meaning, it's a grostesque meaning; he's offering us a substitute meaning that is far more simplistic, and therefore even more sinister imho, though it may sound superficially like a balm.

here are some lines from this morning'd Times Op-Ed that we don't need to read between:

"The terrible illumination of these events has also brought new clarity to America's role in the world. In great tragedy, we have also seen great opportunities. We must have the wisdom and courage to seize these opportunities.

"America's greatest opportunity is to create a balance of world power that favors human freedom. We will use our position of unparalleled strength and influence to build an atmosphere of international order and openness in which progress and liberty can flourish in many nations. A peaceful world of growing freedom serves American long-term interests,[…]"

from Securing Freedom's Triumph
By GEORGE W. BUSH
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/11/opinion/11BUSH.html

On Wed, 11 Sep 2002, Eryk Salvaggio wrote:

> I find it interesting that he makes the subtle assertion that people
> would have died in vain if we had not gone to war. The logic here
> doesn't make sense to me, either- the attack triggered our nation to
> respond to it, and if we hadn't been attacked, everyone would have died
> in vain because we would not have responded? This may sound like nit
> picking on his verbalization [we all know George Bush can't speak] but
> doesn't it also imply a sense of "These people did not die in vain,
> because finally, we had a reason for war…"?

The people, the people. Oh Eryk–so nice of you to be concerned about
the people, judge the people–but never look at yourself.

http://www.storybytes.com/images/a-dali/fullsize/enigma-of-hitler.jpg

So hidden. Tsk.

`, . ` `k a r e i' ? ' D42

The Gettysburg is maltreated. Which is why I should admit my summer
vacation is over. Maybe I will.

Monkey Gone to Heaven.


>From: Eryk Salvaggio <[email protected]>
>Reply-To: Eryk Salvaggio <[email protected]>
>To: joy garnett <[email protected]>, [email protected]
>Subject: Re: RHIZOME_RAW: the medium (war) is the message
>Date: Wed, 11 Sep 2002 13:47:19 -0400
>
>
>Hi Joy, I read your post and then came across this in CNN's coverage:
>
>In his comments at the Pentagon, Bush insisted that those lost a year ago
>on September 11 "did not die in vain. Their loss," he said, "has moved a
>nation to action…. What happened to our nation on a September day set in
>motion the first great struggle in a new century."
>
>I find it interesting that he makes the subtle assertion that people would
>have died in vain if we had not gone to war. The logic here doesn't make
>sense to me, either- the attack triggered our nation to respond to it, and
>if we hadn't been attacked, everyone would have died in vain because we
>would not have responded? This may sound like nit picking on his
>verbalization [we all know George Bush can't speak] but doesn't it also
>imply a sense of "These people did not die in vain, because finally, we had
>a reason for war…"?
>
>-e.
>
>
>
>
>joy garnett wrote:
>
>>Sept 11th ?
>>
>>Much of the "difficulty" of today stems from the fact that in great part,
>>this "memorial" is not what it appears to be. This memorial, sadly, is
>>a sham. It is intended quite simply to leverage us toward the next war by
>>pumping our emotions, by elaborately playing our fears. They've been
>>priming us all year, and now they're playing us.
>>
>>That's what it's all about.
>>
>>Ashcroft's reinstatment of the "Code Orange High Terror Alert" is a case
>>in point: New York City has been at a "code orange high terror alert" ALL
>>YEAR LONG. Whenever Ashcroft's face appears on your tv screen and and
>>stays
>>there for a full day, you can bet money we're being fucked with.
>>
>>I've never seen mass manipulation played out so transparently before.
>>+ If the reader will keep me company I shall be glad.
>>-> post: [email protected]
>>-> questions: [email protected]
>>-> subscribe/unsubscribe: http://rhizome.org/preferences/subscribe.rhiz
>>-> give: http://rhizome.org/support
>>+
>>Subscribers to Rhizome are subject to the terms set out in the
>>Membership Agreement available online at http://rhizome.org/info/29.php
>>
>
>
>
>+ If the reader will keep me company I shall be glad.
>-> post: [email protected]
>-> questions: [email protected]
>-> subscribe/unsubscribe: http://rhizome.org/preferences/subscribe.rhiz
>-> give: http://rhizome.org/support
>+
>Subscribers to Rhizome are subject to the terms set out in the
>Membership Agreement available online at http://rhizome.org/info/29.php




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