I followed Doc's link to the London Times this morning. And I read John le Carré
's “The United States Has Gone Mad”. And for the sake of clarity, I tend to steer away from political punditry here at the Digital Tavern. There's more than enough blogging in that vein here, here and elsewhere. And frankly I don't have much to say about le Carré's opinion, except that it makes for a fun read. What interests me most is that it's the ideal type of piece that throws both the right and the left into a blogging fervor. Case in point, Sullivan thinks le Carré''s paranoid, Hawkin's claims it's diarrhea, Sean Kirby turns the gun around and calls le Carré the one who has gone mad and Lileks rants (and rants, and rants) the content is merely recycled fatuity.
So allow me to approach this article a bit differently and mix in a little music (lyrics) from another famous British gentlemen. In that way I hope my post will be less serious and more entertaining rather than painful and prolonged pontificating.
That's right, pontificate I will not. Today it's a merely ping-pong of quotes. Here's how it goes: I quote a bit of le Carré's Op-Ed piece, then I quote a lyrics from Roger Waters'1991 release “
Amused to Death” Waters and his Amused To Death concept “album” was inspired in part by the Gulf War and in part by Neil Postman's
Amusing Ourselves to Death…. So if you don't want to listen to Waters, nor read The London Times, then scroll down for my interplay of quotes.
[…] The religious cant that will send American troops into battle is perhaps the most sickening aspect of this surreal war-to-be. Bush has an arm-lock on God. And God has very particular political opinions. God appointed America to save the world in any way that suits America. God appointed Israel to be the nexus of America's Middle Eastern policy, and anyone who wants to mess with that idea is a) anti-Semitic, b) anti-American, c) with the enemy, and d) a terrorist […]
What God wants God gets
God wants goodness
God wants light
God wants mayhem
God wants a clean fight
God wants peace
God wants war
God wants famine
God wants chain stores
What God wants God gets
God wants sedition
God wants sex
God wants freedom
God wants semtex
What God wants God gets
God wants voodoo
God wants shrines
God wants law
God wants organized crime
God wants crusade
God wants jihad
God wants good
God wants bad
[…] To be a member of the team you must also believe in Absolute Good and Absolute Evil, and Bush, with a lot of help from his friends, family and God, is there to tell us which is which. What Bush won't tell us is the truth about why we're going to war. What is at stake is not an Axis of Evil [~] but oil, money and people's lives. Saddam's misfortune is to sit on the second biggest oilfield in the world. Bush wants it, and who helps him get it will receive a piece of the cake. And who doesn't, won't. […]
Can't you see
It all makes perfect sense
Expressed in dollars and cents
Pounds shillings and pence
Can't you see
It all makes perfect sense
Little black soul departs in perfect focus
Prime time fodder for the News at Nine
Darling is the child warm in the bed tonight?
[…]“But will we win, Daddy?”
“Of course, child. It will all be over while you're still in bed.”
“Why?”
“Because otherwise Mr Bush's voters will get terribly impatient and may decide not to vote for him.”
“But will people be killed, Daddy?”
“Nobody you know, darling. Just foreign people.”
“Can I watch it on television?” […]
The war has started on the ground
Just love those laser guided bombs
They're really great
For righting wrongs
You hit the target
And win the game
From bars 3,000 miles away
3,000 miles away
We play the game
With the bravery of being out of range
We zap and maim
With the bravery of being out of range
We strafe the train
With the bravery of being out of range
We gain terrain
With the bravery of being out of range
With the bravery of being out of range
We play the game
With the bravery of being out of range
Now. Wasn't that fun?
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