Friday, May 24, 2002
Tyrannophilia
Jay Nordlinger has (yet another) Impromptus column up. He complains (yes, again) about the Castro-worship of the American left. He's just another right-wing extremist who can't get over the end of the Cold War.
But, then, so am I.
The Left will upbraid those of us on the Right with hit-squads in El Salvador, apartheid in South Africa, or the crimes of the secret police of the Shah of Iran. And these are all terrible things. (Oddly, though, Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt never catch criticism for their support of Josef Stalin.)
But no-one on the Right ever put posters of Botha or Reza Pahlevi on his dorm-room wall.
We troglodytes are willing to practice Real-Politik (what other kind is there?) -- we use dictators; we do not fall in love with them.
Conservatives are realists. Realists (even the non-Christians) believe in the doctrine of Original Sin; the evidence for it is simply overwhelming.
Nordlingeresque aside: My own proof of the doctrine's truth is that all children are born lawyers.
Liberals are idealists; they (even the Christians) do not believe in Original Sin, but rather that human nature can be improved without limit.
So, dictatorships of the Right are frankly about power. Even if someone like Hitler claims a higher purpose -- the Thousand-Year Reich -- that goal will still reduce to power for the dictator and his cronies. And if you're willing to go along, they'll let you get along.
Dictatorships of the Left, though, claim always to have the good of humanity as their chief concern. Anyone who does not give the regime his whole-hearted support is obviously evil and must be punished.
This explains both the surpassing evil of left-wing dicatorships from 1789 on and the uncritical worship they so often receive. What is there, finally, not to admire about someone -- like Castro, or Lenin, or Pol Pot -- who is willing to dedicate not only his own life, but also the lives of everyone else, to the betterment of all humankind?
What indeed?
posted by vepxistqaosani 12:20 PM
Wednesday, May 22, 2002
Al Qaeda's next strike
Much has been made of the failure of imagination in our intelligence services, so I would like to lend them mine.
The 9-11 attacks were designed to destroy prominent American symbols and to take many American lives. What other targets are out there that meet both criteria?
Hollywood. The World Series. The Super Bowl. Disney World.
The Mouse is ubiquitous and unmistakably American. Once Memorial Day arrives, the park will be crowded with tens of thousand of people, mostly young.
I'm sure the Disney people are aware of this, but my brief experience working there some years ago (well, nearly 20) is enough to make me think that, given time and money, I could cause thousands of deaths.
Disney World is riddled with tunnels for employees to use (that's why you only see them when they're supposed to be seen). And the park is huge: 28000 acres (47 square miles), mostly of Florida scrub brush. All Al Qaeda has to do is put one man among the work force of 55,000.
Now, this is every bit as speculative as the various pre-9-11 reports; but I would be very concerned if I had any responsibility for security.
Or can someone tell me why an attack on a theme park could never happen?
posted by vepxistqaosani 11:15 PM
