The mysteries of the Bush administration are endless...
seems like the idea of America has "disappeared"
Istanbul-born U of London prof Arshin Adib-Moghaddam characterizes US treatment of its prisoners as a product of US culture:
‘I am arguing that Abu Ghraib could not have happened without a particular racist current in the United States, that the individuals who committed the atrocities against the detainees were not isolated, and that they were part of a larger constellation with its own signifying ideational attitudes toward Muslims and Arabs.’
Adib-Moghaddam goes on to assert that that Abu Ghraib was a consequence of a new kind of ‘anarchic liberalism’, which brings to mind the GNB series in which Evan Robinson discussed violent media imagery:
‘The real issue of the torture at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere in Iraq is [what it reveals] about contemporary U.S. culture. I am not referring here to the repeated calls for war by leading U.S. neoconservatives and their functionaries in the media. I am talking about the rather more subtle ways that are employed to habituate us to violence, to make it appear normal to be brutal: the computer games that stimulate war and destruction, the CNN footage of yet another “laser guided bomb” or “surgical strike” that hit the living room of innocent civilians in Afghanistan or Iraq, the staged violence celebrated in highly successful talk shows such as Jerry Springer, and the beheadings of hostages in the name of God by al-Qaeda affiliated groups for that matter (the video clips of which are readily available on the Internet).
'What formerly was outlawed as sadomasochism and extreme pornography is now being normalized and disseminated to the public through the World Wide Web, chat rooms, and other effective communication channels. This rather new development in human relations implies that the power to exercise and display subjugation, which since the ancient world had been the prerogative of the ruler or a defined social institution, suddenly is dispersed to the general public, including the child abuser, sadomasochist, and rapist.’
‘Abu Ghraib and Insaniyat [humaneness]’ http://www.monthlyreview.org/120...b-
moghaddam.htm
Given that George is barely able to negotiate email, I'm sure he just accidentally hit the 'delete' button....... did a couple of "heh, heh, heh"'s and then ran off to Mummy.......... sucking his thumb. Good Georgie Porgie. There now, settle down and have a nap.
how many gut punches can our collective psyche survive. my big worry is that we are way past the shock and outrage and falling into the boiled toad scenario.
Don't look now.
But we were boiled toads 50 years ago.
Lost the records, huh? How convenient ...
Yes ... "mysteriously lost" (love the Guardian's dry humor).
The Memory Hole is fully operational, Comrades. Doubleplusgood! In other news, the Rebato-ration is up to $600 this month.
no! no! you don't understand! the dog really ate my homework! really!
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