In Pakistan, a coward’s attack highlights historic struggle
Malala Yousafzai
“PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A 14-year-old Pakistani activist who won international acclaim for speaking out for girls denied education under the Taliban was shot and seriously wounded Tuesday on her way home from school, authorities said.
The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack on ninth-grader Malala Yousafzai, who officials said was shot in the head by at least one gunman who approached a school bus in Mingora, a city in the scenic Swat valley in the country’s northwest….
Yousafzai became known in early 2009, when she wrote a diary about Taliban atrocities under a pen name for the BBC’s Urdu service. In 2011, the Pakistani government awarded her a 1 million rupee ($10,500) prize and a peace award for her bravery in raising her voice for children’s rights and girls’ education when few others in Pakistan dared to.”
What do you say about men so threatened by the mere words of a 14-year-old girl that their best and only response is to try to assassinate her? We can call them moral cretins and cowards, which they certainly are. But that doesn’t do much for young Malala, who at last report was still clinging to life. It also doesn’t do much to protect many others like her trapped in cultures that treat women as chattel, dominated by male authorities that fear education as a challenge to their own teetering authority.
It is some solace, I suppose, that their authority is indeed teetering. Like the lynchings that once marred the American South, such acts of violence against helpless victims are a sign of weakness, not strength, and in the long term they will be interpreted as such. Human cultures may be wildly diverse, but some things are true in all places and times, and grown, armed men attacking young children elicits admiration in very few. It is also important to remember that the circumstances that produced her attackers also produced Malala herself.
Like many outbursts of violence, this attack is an act of desperation, an act of vain, brutish protest against social changes that are coming too fast for many in Pakistan and elsewhere in the deep Islamic world, but much too slowly for Malala and others caught in her predicament.
The challenge for those of us outside that world is how to accelerate that process without putting lives in unnecessary danger. Tempting as it might be to some, it is not a problem that military power can set right. The changes that are necessary cannot be imposed at gunpoint any better than they can be prevented at gunpoint. They will come in time, but time that is measured not in months or even years but probably in decades.
The knowledge that in the meantime, heroines such as Malala remain vulnerable to such cowards does not make the wait any easier.
– Jay Bookman
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311 comments Add your comment
Harry Kuheim
October 9th, 2012
2:44 pm
As you read this Code Pink and other fools are in Afghanistan protesting the use of Drones, which are the most surgical weapons ever conceived, against the Taliban in Waziristan.
stevie ray
October 9th, 2012
2:44 pm
Debbie
Why we didnt give zionists north dakota insteadis beyond me. Quite clear this 60 yr experiment is a failure.
stands for decibels
October 9th, 2012
2:44 pm
Those same Indonesians who from about 1975 through 1999 slaughtered thousands of Christians in East Timor? Wonderful people.
The claim was that they couldn’t “govern themselves.”
And if we’re going go to that happy place where we start talking about who’s slaughtered thousands of people, I guess we could proceed with all the Muslim friends we made with our Freedom Bombs in Iraq.
Doggone/GA
October 9th, 2012
2:45 pm
“well as long as they are President Obama’s daughter’s……….”
It’s time for you to find a new hobby horse to ride…that one is old and worn out.
Brosephus™
October 9th, 2012
2:46 pm
but recent hotspots since say 1975 are almost all Muslim except for the IRA; East Timor, Mali, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, etc.
How easily one dismisses some hot spots to drive an ideological point…
Rwanda (Roman Catholic 56.5%, Protestant 26%, Adventist 11.1%, Muslim 4.6%)
Mexico (Roman Catholic 76.5%, Protestant 6.3% [Pentecostal 1.4%, Jehovah's Witnesses 1.1%, other 3.8%])
Towncrier
October 9th, 2012
2:47 pm
“TC @ 2.37, if you really want to play that game…”
It is NOT a game. Thank you for providing further evidence of my statement.
Joe Hussein Mama
October 9th, 2012
2:47 pm
SfD — “to say nothing of 237 million Indonesians.”
FWIW, when someone spouts off that ‘Mooslims are uncontrollable savages’ bullspit, I prefer to cite Turkey because not only is it partly in Europe, it also happens to be of our NATO allies. In fact, the Turks have the second largest standing military force in NATO — second only to the US.
Woodstock Mike
October 9th, 2012
2:47 pm
“Romney and Ryan will use contemptable acts like this to insist we stay indefinitely in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
I guess this person hasn’t been on planet Earth the last 4 years while Obama has placed more US soldiers in Afghanistan than were there when he came into office. So funny…
I’m not at all against Obama trying to stabilize the Middle East but let’s be real about the situation, Obama has sent thousands upon thousands of American soldiers to the Middle East.
AmericaShrugged
October 9th, 2012
2:48 pm
dog – Check out Qadar. It’s the Muslim tenet of predetermination, as opposed to the Christian tenet of free will. I worked on a ship with Muslims and if the boom was about to hit you in the back of the head and kill you the Muslims would not shout out a warning, believing your death to be the will of god. I say that’s a failed moral code common to Muslims, not the failed interpretation of a few extremists.
Jay
October 9th, 2012
2:49 pm
AmericaShrugged, tell that to the some 8,000 unarmed Bosnian Muslims murdered and buried in mass graves by the Christian Serbs.
jms
October 9th, 2012
2:50 pm
Despite our faults, I’m still glad I live here.
Brosephus™
October 9th, 2012
2:51 pm
“Their *perceived inactivity in the face of such evil invites all kinds of questions.”
Just because it does not meet your standard or definition of activity does not mean that something isn’t going on.
willie lynch
October 9th, 2012
2:51 pm
Brosephus™
October 9th, 2012
2:46 pm
And let’s not forget the US of A. The worlds leader in so-called illegal and legal psychotropic drug use. Something to be said for a majority Christian nation.
AmericaShrugged
October 9th, 2012
2:52 pm
Bro – Mexico? Must have missed that one. I’m talking about significant deaths resulting from religipous conflicts, Muslims against Christians in Timor, Catholics against protestants in Ireland, etc.
Mick
October 9th, 2012
2:52 pm
**Despite our faults, I’m still glad I live here**
Ain’t it the truth?
DebbieDoRight - Plantation Liberal (In Good Standing)
October 9th, 2012
2:53 pm
We “put up” with it because men are generally stronger than women and if so inclined, can beat women into submission. That plus blackmailing them via their children.
Men may be stronger, but women are smarter. There are countless stories of men poisoned by their wives, (the ones who cook their food and wash their clothes); slowly and methodically so it would look like an accident. And there are also many stories of slaves women who killed their newly born children (for the American slave, however, it was mostly their FEMALE children in order to prevent their daughters becoming what they’d became); so they could save their children from a life of forced bondage.
Also, there are a numerous historical passages of women committing mass suicides in order to escape tyranny. I read a book called, “A Woman In Berlin” that chronicled the life of a Germany woman who lived in Occupied Berlin (occupied by Russians); after WWII and how at first the women hid from the russians but if they were caught had committed suicide so as not to be brutally raped and tortured.
I myself would rather commit suicide then live to be brutalized, if I couldn’t figure out a way to KILL my captor. Unfortunately, my first thought would be of getting rid of him, THEN if that didn’t work, I’d go to option #2.
I never professed to being a good Catholic.
Towncrier
October 9th, 2012
2:53 pm
I have to hand it to Romney with these (stinging) comments:
“These are tough times, with real serious issues. So you have to scratch your head when the president spends the last week talking about Big Bird…I actually think we have to have a president who talks about saving the American people.”
Why the Obama campaign decided to make an issue of this is beyond my comprehension. Even liberals in the media are decrying the “strategy”:
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Journalism/2012/10/09/media-Backlash-Against-Big-Bird-Ad
Mick
October 9th, 2012
2:55 pm
brosephus
If alabama gets to play for the national championship in miami, nick satan should have an interesting homecoming…we don’t forget…
AmericaShrugged
October 9th, 2012
2:56 pm
Jay – Okay I’ll give you Bosnia and throw in Rwanda, although I had a lot of Serb friends and they have a history of hating Russians, than Croatians, than other Serbs. It’s some blend of religion/culture/nationality not just kill the infidel that doesn’t recognize Allah.
Towncrier
October 9th, 2012
2:56 pm
“Just because it does not meet your standard or definition of activity does not mean that something isn’t going on.”
Well, why don’t you point us all to the results of this supposed activity? I’d truly love to hear of them…
Doggone/GA
October 9th, 2012
2:56 pm
“dog – Check out Qadar”
why should I? I’m not Muslim.
Mick
October 9th, 2012
2:57 pm
towncrier
What “presidential” candidate was it again that brought up the point of firing big bird? Hmmm….real serious stuff, eh?
JamVet
October 9th, 2012
2:57 pm
Their inactivity in the face of such evil invites all kinds of questions.
Alas, they are just going down the exact same road that the historic Christians did the same for centuries on end. And trying to extract some revenge.
Demented religious nutjobs of all stripes have to be controlled just like we finally did in this country, because they will gladly kill in His name and heaven knows what else…
getalife
October 9th, 2012
2:58 pm
cnn just asked a tea party con pol if they cut funding for protecting our embassies.
The answer is yes, they did.
Towncrier
October 9th, 2012
2:59 pm
“What “presidential” candidate was it again that brought up the point of firing big bird? Hmmm….real serious stuff, eh?”
I don’t know about you, but I would rather them both talk about the 16T debt
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
October 9th, 2012
2:59 pm
breitbart
Too funny!
joe
October 9th, 2012
2:59 pm
great post bookman. the thing that i can’t wrap my head around is why more people, especially liberals, don’t take more time to defend the rights of people like malala. Instead, they choose to condemn christians, when it’s muslims like the shooter who need to be criticized.
the greatest influencers who could do the most good for people like malala are indeed muslims. they need to take the lead on correcting their own before outsiders can have a true influence.
Towncrier
October 9th, 2012
3:00 pm
“Alas, they are just going down the exact same road that the historic Christians did the same for centuries on end. And trying to extract some revenge.”
Okay…why don’t you substantiate and further explain what you are claiming here for all of us?
Welcome to the Occupation
October 9th, 2012
3:00 pm
Jay, nothing you say here is factually wrong or wrong as to the moral repugnance of these types of attacks. But as is typical of liberal commentators on these parts of the world, your discussion is completely lacking in context of the larger ideological struggles playing out in and around countries like Pakistan, a country that itself is the product of such ideological struggles and shifts in Western hegemonic influence.
At the same time as these tragedies are happening, our own government is sending drones into these very same places and others with results that are no less brutal than the one at issue here. And yet we’re told that the victims can all reliably be grouped as “militants”, a claim that is obviously implausible on its face. Why is a family’s destruction from a wayward, or even all too precise, drone attack any less the expression of the “weakness” of an ideology, as you say?
Doggone/GA
October 9th, 2012
3:00 pm
“Men may be stronger, but women are smarter”
It still comes down to strength in the end. In a society (not religions) where women cannot even step outside their homes without a male escort, there is a STRONG incentive to keep you man alive…so you and your children don’t STARVE…because other men in the outside will seek to harm you if you are caught without a man by your side.
It’s a close circle, and when you couple that with keeping women illterate so they can’t even read their own holy book and SEE that they are being duped…it’s a hard circle to break.
Wowonisha
October 9th, 2012
3:01 pm
“What do you say about men so threatened by the mere words of a 14-year-old girl that their best and only response is to try to assassinate her?”
Stinking, murderous third world animals comes to mind.
The irony is that Jay and the much of the media decry this kind of violence against women yet they’ll bend over backwards to provide PC cover for all things Muslim.
Mick
October 9th, 2012
3:01 pm
**the thing that i can’t wrap my head around is why more people, especially liberals**
Intended to be a totally bogus statement…
Joe Hussein Mama
October 9th, 2012
3:03 pm
Towncrier — “Well, why don’t you point us all to the results of this supposed activity? I’d truly love to hear of them…”
Here’s a good start for you; lots of footnotes to follow up on.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_movements_within_Islam
In fact, check out the first footnote; the one that says “Finally: Muslims Speak Out Against Jihad.” That seems to be the sort of thing you’re talking about.
Brosephus™
October 9th, 2012
3:03 pm
Mexico? Must have missed that one. I’m talking about significant deaths resulting from religipous conflicts, Muslims against Christians in Timor, Catholics against protestants in Ireland, etc.
That’s not what you stated before. You simply stated hotspots since 1975. Even if you want to go on religion, there’s Nigeria which is 50-50 Christian to Muslim. Your point is still off.
————————-
Well, why don’t you point us all to the results of this supposed activity? I’d truly love to hear of them…
The RESULTS of the activities are ongoing, much as it was in this country for Civil Rights (using Jay’s analogy). America didn’t go from the Civil War to Blacks voting without fear of lynching in a matter of 5-10 years, and you will not have the same thing within the Muslim community.
However, you do have places where women are asserting themselves more. Whether its a female driving a car in Saudi Arabia or women elsewhere refusing to cover their heads and/or bodies. As I said, things that may seem like nothing to you are no less than Rosa Parks sitting on a bus to Muslims. If you don’t understand things from their perspective, you’ll never see the small things that snowball into the larger things.
Fred ™
October 9th, 2012
3:04 pm
Doggone/GA
October 9th, 2012
2:45 pm
“well as long as they are President Obama’s daughter’s……….”
It’s time for you to find a new hobby horse to ride…that one is old and worn out.
+++++++++++++++++
Not to me it’s not. As a father to a young daughter I will not tolerate little girls being dragged through the mud so “fine republicans gentlemen” can attempt to score some sort of sick political points.
DebbieDoRight - Plantation Liberal (In Good Standing)
October 9th, 2012
3:04 pm
TC: I thought shows like “How I Met Your Mother” and “Two and a Half Men” were.
TC — you need Jesus!!
Stevie — Word! North Dakota could’ve use the population explosion if nothing else!
Joe Hussein Mama
October 9th, 2012
3:05 pm
joe — “Instead, they choose to condemn christians”
Disagreement =/= condemnation
Mary Elizabeth
October 9th, 2012
3:05 pm
“It also doesn’t do much to protect many others like her trapped in cultures that treat women as chattel, dominated by male authorities that fear education as a challenge to their own teetering authority.”
===================================================
At least calling truth for what it is helps to hasten how women are perceived in the Middle East, and calling cowards for who they are, also, helps in hastening perceptions toward that enlightenment.
Americans, too, need further enlightenment relative to how women are perceived even today within our own nation. See below.
http://maryelizabethsings.wordpress.com/2012/06/01/how-women-are-viewed-in-this-world-2012-2/
Towncrier
October 9th, 2012
3:06 pm
“Demented religious nutjobs of all stripes have to be controlled just like we finally did in this country, because they will gladly kill in His name and heaven knows what else…”
And in whose or what name did people like Stalin, Mao tse-Tung, Pol Pot and a host of other non-religious or atheist leaders kill in? Hmm? News flash for you JV: people kill innocent people because they are murderous and NOT because they are religious or non-religious.
Jay
October 9th, 2012
3:06 pm
Wowonisha, I’m just guessing here, but I’d bet that you subscribe to the theory that guns don’t kill people, people kill people. Am I right?
If so, how do you rationalize a belief that people don’t kill people, religions do? In this case, if Islam attacked this 14-year-old girl, then Christianity, not Eric Rudolph, murdered Robert Sanderson.
Boris Badnoff
October 9th, 2012
3:07 pm
Everyone is upset when anyone who is innocent is a victim of violence. Quit trying to milk this for partisan politics. No one but the terrorists are happy about it. Only caveat lynchings weren’t limited to the South.
Welcome to the Occupation
October 9th, 2012
3:07 pm
Wowonisha: “Stinking, murderous third world animals comes to mind.”
We ARE part of the “third world”, Wowonisha, in case you hadn’t noticed. So you might do well to drop the cultural chauvinism.
Towncrier
October 9th, 2012
3:08 pm
“As I said, things that may seem like nothing to you are no less than Rosa Parks sitting on a bus to Muslims. If you don’t understand things from their perspective, you’ll never see the small things that snowball into the larger things.”
I truly hope you are right. I guess time will tell – if the radical Muslims don’t somehow involve us all in WWIII before then.
Jm
October 9th, 2012
3:09 pm
Bro
I have no idea who that is
But we’re talking about a shooting in Pakistan, not the US (if you’re referring to a US shooting)
getalife
October 9th, 2012
3:10 pm
Women are leading leading governments because men screwed them up.
Get use to it.
DebbieDoRight - Plantation Liberal (In Good Standing)
October 9th, 2012
3:11 pm
Alas, they are just going down the exact same road that the historic Christians did the same for centuries on end.
WWII comes to mind. I was shocked when I learned, while watching PBS (Uh oh, better not bring up PBS – it’s on the right’s hit list); that catholic priests in Germany actually blessed Hitler’s troops before they went into battle!! I was horrified! It made me feel………….ridiculous for even entering into a Cathedral and worshipping.
Towncrier
October 9th, 2012
3:16 pm
“In this case, if Islam attacked this 14-year-old girl, then Christianity, not Eric Rudolph, murdered Robert Sanderson.”
There is a qualitative difference between the New Testament and the Koran – the “rule book” for both religions (one, for instance, can finds numerous commands to harm or kill “infidels” in the latter but none in the former). So this comparison is not entirely sound. But I will stipulate that many “believers” of any religion do whatever they want to do with little or no regard for the “rule book” that serves as the basis for the professed faith.
getalife
October 9th, 2012
3:18 pm
Although religion got people to act better , it did breed wars and discrimination.
Change is crawling like a snail but moving forward.
More Americans are deciding for no religion.
Jay
October 9th, 2012
3:18 pm
I note your eviction of the Old Testament from the Christian Bible, Towncrier.
I’m curious though: Which version of the Bible do you use personally? Does it too contain the Old Testament? Is it not the same God speaking in both?
DebbieDoRight - Plantation Liberal (In Good Standing)
October 9th, 2012
3:19 pm
TC — If a person from Mars were to pick up the Old Testament and read it; they’d think that Christians and/or Jews were nothing more than low tolerance killing machines.
There’s more murder and mayhem in the Old Testament than in any Die Hard or DOOM movie.
JamVet
October 9th, 2012
3:20 pm
Killing the non-profit PBS enhances the Party of Stupid’s anti-intellectual, anti-science and anti-environment position. The tiny amount of money allowed to counter their zillions of dollars has nothing to do with it.
The corporate stooges in the GOP don’t want American citizens, especially American children, to be highly informed and passionate about this country. Thus they loathe Frontline, Nova, American Experience, Nature, American Masters, independent journalism and amazingly documentaries, great performances and dramatic masterpieces of all kinds
And Austin City Limits!
The slick guys on snake -oil lined Madison Avenue certainly don’t want ANY competition. Especially the kind that puts out more excellent programming in a week than they do in a year.
So they use their nitwit McCarthyite proxies in the Republican Party to wage war on the “competition. Not insignificantly because public broadcasting and collective ownership makes them look like the filth purveyors they are. And the HUGE money for keeping people uninformed, culturally illiterate, dumbed down, happy dolts is simply too great to create an equally high quality product.
So go ahead, cons enjoy your Wheel of Fortune and Trump trash TV…
Thulsa Doom
October 9th, 2012
3:20 pm
moonbat betty
October 9th, 2012
1:51 pm
“Baumgartner’s skydive aborted due to winds.”
“What a wimp!”
A wimp indeed. I once skydived from 150,000 feet with no oxygen, wearing only my speedos, and I landed in the middle of a hurricane and then swam through 100 foot waves and man eating sharks as I righted and towed capsized ships and saved maidens in distress all the way back to shore.
Brosephus™
October 9th, 2012
3:21 pm
jm: Bro
I have no idea who that is
You’re kidding right???
http://www.odmp.org/officer/20596-border-patrol-agent-brian-a-terry
Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was shot and killed near Rio Rico, Arizona, while attempting to apprehend a group of armed subjects. The suspects had been preying on illegal immigrants with the intent to rob them.
Agent Terry and several other agents were attempting to arrest the group when shots were exchanged between the suspects and agents. Agent Terry was struck in the pelvis by a round fired by a suspect armed with an AK-47.
IF you want to go more recently, then ask kayaker about Nicholas Ivie when he shows up. He tried to make his shooting death political as well.
http://www.odmp.org/officer/21409-border-patrol-agent-nicholas-j-ivie
Border Patrol Agent Nicholas Ivie was accidentally shot and killed in a case of mistaken identity when he and another pair of agents checked on a ground sensor that had been set off near Bisbee, Arizona, at approximately 1:30 am.
The agents encountered each other in an area of extremely rocky terrain. Because of the darkness and obstructions, they were unable to identify each other as agents. They exchanged gunfire during the encounter and Agent Ivie was killed while one of the other agents was wounded.
Agent Ivie had served with the U.S. Border Patrol for four years and was assigned to the Brian A. Terry Border Patrol Station. He is survived by his wife and children.
You say you’re talking about a shooting in Pakistan, but it doesn’t matter WHERE the shooting happens if you’re talking about making something political that is NOT political in nature. If you’re gonna call out one incident, then be consistent and call them all out, lest ye choose to be known as hypocriticus maximus around here.
Outrageous
October 9th, 2012
3:21 pm
Obama and his team let our Libya Ambassador be killed, no security
The first since 1979
Obama disaster
stands for decibels
October 9th, 2012
3:22 pm
But JV, the annual subsidy for PBS is like a buck thirty five per citizen. WE CAN’T AFFORRRRD IT!
skipper
October 9th, 2012
3:24 pm
Good Lord, some of the folks on this blog would defend Sandusky…………history is full of examples of ALL KINDS of religions, idealogies, etc. starting all kinds of wars. Whatever phase is on at the time, it has to be dealt with. Muslim fundamentalism (honor killings, stonings, etc.) is happening now…..the crusades, inquisition, holocaust, etc. had to be dealt with in THEIR TIMES….they were. Now, however, right now these radical pack-rats are the biggest threat. In England, for one, they have not tried to assimilate or anything else..just spout off and cause trouble. AGAIN WE ARE LOOKING AT THE present problem, NOT THE PAST…..all kinds of problems have been dealt with in history. But as of now, the Muslim extremists are totin’ the flag. It ain’t the girl-scouts doing the suicide bombings, honor-killings, etc.
getalife
October 9th, 2012
3:24 pm
If you look at the timeline of world history, there were wars before Christ and wars after death.
One think consistent in history are wars.
I think there will always be conflict in some part of the world but since we are “broke” it does not make since adding two trillion to defense and we should give our troops a rest for a while.
Jm
October 9th, 2012
3:26 pm
Bro
Is that the F&F thing?
Didn’t follow it that closely
I think security threats, mass shootings, police quality or failures etc in the US are fair game for discussion
A shooting abroad by crackpots, sad to see it politicized
But that’s par for the course (yes generally on both sides)
getalife
October 9th, 2012
3:26 pm
“Obama and his team let our Libya Ambassador be killed, no security”
gop congress cut their funding.
JamVet
October 9th, 2012
3:28 pm
Okay…why don’t you substantiate and further explain what you are claiming here for all of us?
OK, but who is this “all of us” you are speaking for?
Just so if I ever address “all of them”, I’ll clear it with you first, OK?
Stand on your own two feet. Use pronouns properly. Such as I, me, myself and mine.
Or don’t.
Yeah, you’re right, my bad, crier.
Torquemada was a figment of some atheist’s imagination and Christians like him have NOT slaughtered hundreds of millions of non-Christians in the name of God throughout the history of mankind.
Jesus H. Christ…
Jay
October 9th, 2012
3:29 pm
“A wimp indeed. I once skydived from 150,000 feet with no oxygen, wearing only my speedos, and I landed in the middle of a hurricane and then swam through 100 foot waves and man eating sharks as I righted and towed capsized ships and saved maidens in distress all the way back to shore.”
And then Fred lowered his shoulder and ran through you like you were an Al Groh defense.
josef
October 9th, 2012
3:29 pm
JAY
“Like the lynchings that once marred the American South, such acts of violence against helpless victims are a sign of weakness, not strength,”
This is a true statement. But why are you giving that example? Our President yesterday asked us to reflect on the Indian thingie…why not that? Isn’t it time we confront more of our demons that just racist violence in the South against Blacks? Broaden your perspective. Look at the banning of French language education when children were beaten for speaking French in school. We have more than just this one in our closets and it’s long since past time we confronted it.
But, as you’ve said before when I bring this up, it’s not something people round ‘cheer, or anywhere else in the Good Ole USA for that matter, really care about.
Brosephus™
October 9th, 2012
3:31 pm
TC @ 3:08
I can’t say whether I’m right or wrong. Only the passage of time will show that. When history is happening, it is sometimes hard to see because of the nature of small, un-connected events playing out. Only in hindsight can the big picture be seen once everything is connected. With the interconnected economies of the global community, I think there is a diminished incentive for WWIII, but that doesn’t mean it can’t or won’t happen if provoked.
Brosephus™
October 9th, 2012
3:32 pm
josef
Shall I dust off the red feather???
getalife
October 9th, 2012
3:33 pm
“And then Fred lowered his shoulder and ran through you like you were an Al Groh defense”
I think that was doomy and Al Groh got fired.
josef
October 9th, 2012
3:34 pm
Okay, that ranh-ranh out of the way, as to the topic at hand. Things of this nature will continue so long as these cretins’ fellow citizens/countrymen and co-religionists quake in fear and dare not confront the barbarism The outside world will not be able to do it. Their neighbors down the street can and must. But they need to know that we are on their side and they won’t know that if we keep lumping them all together and painting them with the same broad brush.
stands for decibels
October 9th, 2012
3:34 pm
Our President yesterday asked us to reflect on the Indian thingie…why not that?
hmm. Josef, did you happen to see this?
Columbus Day for the Conquered: Guess Which Candidate Gives a Damn About Indian Country?:
When you search for “Native American” on Mitt Romney’s campaign website, you get exactly nothing. If you search “Indian,” you get a few hits, but only in reference to the Indian Affairs Committee one Romney-supporting member of Congress or other is on.
When you search for “Native American” on President Barack Obama’s campaign website, you get an entire section for Native Americans for Obama. It even lists Obama’s accomplishments for Native Americans, including direct assistance to Indian Country through $3 billion from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 or, you know, the stimulus. That renovated schools, roads, and health facilities, all of which brought jobs to tribal areas. This is not to mention things like the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, which was made permanent by Obamacare.
In other words, to put it succinctly on this Columbus Day 2012, where we must acknowledge the conquered in the wake of the Europeans’ arrival on these shores, Barack Obama gives a [good gosh-darn] about Indians. For Mitt Romney, they are merely part of the 47% he has written off.
JKL2
October 9th, 2012
3:34 pm
I’m sure it was an accident. Those peaceful Muslims would never hurt anyone on purpose.
I can’t wait until we become a liberal utopia like Pakistan.
Jay
October 9th, 2012
3:34 pm
Is one a better example than the other Josef?
Not that I can see.
too little time
October 9th, 2012
3:35 pm
“I have been told by people who have lived in places like Turkey that Arabs are characteristically two-faced.
Your source’s credibility is undercut by the fact that Turks are NOT Arabs in the first place and in fact would be insulted to be called such. And vice versa, I’m sure.
Jay, Town crierf neither stated nor implied that the the person living in Turkey was an Arab. He merely said that someone in Turkey commented on the Arabs… and later the topic included Pakistan.
I, living in the US, can make a statement about Arabs, too, without the U.S. being an Arab country. YOU, Jay, misread the Town crier’s meaning. Try a little harder next time.
To be clear, I have talked to and read MANY instances of Muslims on the Arabian peninsula who consider themselves superior to Muslims in other parts of the world. I don’t doubt what Town crier has stated.
On the topic, though, is a tougher problem. How do we affect the plight of women in countries whee they are oppressed…. without the use of force? I don’t think we can. The Taliban could care less about U.S. aid. The Taliban is perfectly happy to cut the noses off of their women and hold them as slaves in their compounds. Even though they live in abject poverty, they could care less about our money. They want power and control of their tribal regions. So unlike the economic pressure that we put Iran to force change in that country, economic pressure will not work in Afghanistan or Pakistan. Do we just abandon women in those countries to live their lives in misery? Do we spend billions/trillions to try (not necessarily succeed) to affect change in those countries?
The day will come… sooner rather than later… when we no longer need Middle East oil. When that happens, lives for women in those countries will get measurably harsher. Do we abandon them because it is none of our business?
Brosephus™
October 9th, 2012
3:35 pm
Barack Obama gives a [good gosh-darn] about Indians.
You had to use a whole bottle of Formula 409 to clean that up, huh?
stands for decibels
October 9th, 2012
3:36 pm
and yes, I’m totally straying off topic, but just because I can:
8 Facts That Prove Our Govt. Is Not Going Broke
and I’m gonna skip straight to Fact #8:
8. Won’t our kids be forced to shoulder the debt we leave behind?
Yes, this is a real tearjerker. Who among us wants to pawn off our debts onto our kids? A sad thought, if were true. But it’s not. Government debt, unlike our mortgages, is rarely repaid in full. Instead they roll over. The cost to taxpayers is the interest we pay on the outstanding debt and the refinancing of it. With the global economy at stall speed there is no danger in the foreseeable future of rising interest rates.
What about in 30 years when our darlings are at the helm? The answer depends on the economy, not on debt. If we borrow cheaply now to put our people back to work, if we invest fully in funding higher education, and if we build up our crumbling infrastructure and tend to the environment, then we’ll leave behind a prosperous economy. Debt will shrink over time as the economy grows. And more revenues will come in as our people go back to work.
However, if we become obsessed with debt and deficits, and slash to the bone the programs that develop future prosperity, we’ll leave behind a faltering economy and an even bigger environmental mess.
Debt hysteria is like a pandemic that quickly cripples logical thinking. Once infected, Very Important People with Very Impressive Degrees sound like fools.
Let’s hope there’s a cure…and soon.
getalife
October 9th, 2012
3:36 pm
jk,
Pakistan is liberal?
UNCLE SAMANTHA
October 9th, 2012
3:36 pm
everyone relax
all we need to do is keep giving foreign aid to pakistan
then everything will be ok
stands for decibels
October 9th, 2012
3:37 pm
You had to use a whole bottle of Formula 409 to clean that up, huh?
You should see my Costco bills.
GT
October 9th, 2012
3:38 pm
They hide Bin Laden, shoot women, and have nukes. I think we crank the helicopter up and have a couple of night tours over the main roads in Pakistan, maybe let off a few rounds of missiles, to let them know we are there and come on home. Then announce we killed someone they are hiding and we won’t tell who he is. They couldn’t find Bin Laden less than a mile from their military school, so presumably they would have not known we had shot or not shot Bin Laden if we hadn’t told them. Now they are either going to tell us we have not kill someone, or tell us all are accounted for or going to tell the world we kill someone we have not. It would be interesting how little or more they know.
josef
October 9th, 2012
3:38 pm
BROSEPHUS
Obummer
October 9th, 2012
3:41 pm
Bo: he’s what’s for dinner
skipper
October 9th, 2012
3:41 pm
Too Little,
Good job.You described them as the snot-rag turds they are……………there is a difference between prejudice of perception and true dislike because a group of folks just “ain’t worth a $h*t……
Brosephus™
October 9th, 2012
3:41 pm
dB
I don’t have many bookmarks on my android, but that is one of the first sites I did put on my list. It is still a daily read thanks to you.
josef
Thought so.
skipper
October 9th, 2012
3:42 pm
p.s. Jay,
I still like your Friday music choices…………..
josef
October 9th, 2012
3:42 pm
JAY
Of course not the way YOU see it…you’re trapped into the black-white dichotomy as the begin all and end all of racism in our country. It is a limited perspective and an approach that does little to look at the matter from the commonalities of the nature of such horrors when they raise their ugly heads. It allows a free pass for way too many. It’s white and black America’s own version of the Get Out of Leviticus Free Card…
Joe Hussein Mama
October 9th, 2012
3:43 pm
too little time — “Jay, Town crierf neither stated nor implied that the the person living in Turkey was an Arab. He merely said that someone in Turkey commented on the Arabs”
If the speaker wasn’t himself an Arab, then why would it matter that he was in Turkey?
“I, living in the US, can make a statement about Arabs, too, without the U.S. being an Arab country.”
And in such a case, why would anyone want give your statement any credence?
“YOU, Jay, misread the Town crier’s meaning. Try a little harder next time.”
FWIW, I don’t think you’ve clarified it at all, despite your effort.
Jm
October 9th, 2012
3:45 pm
Does Deal go to the RGA meetings, talk with Christie, Walker, Daniels, kasich, Scott etc and think: ah these idiots, I have nothing to learn from them
Because the GA economic performance that is so much worse than theirs would seem to indicate Deal doesn’t have a clue, and worse, isn’t trying to get one
That Black Guy
October 9th, 2012
3:47 pm
larry
October 9th, 2012
2:07 pm
mitt thinks we should dictate change and is dead wrong as usual
Its the Bush doctrine. Its what you get when your foreign policy ” experts” are from that failed adminstration.
LinkReport this comment.Class of ‘98
October 9th, 2012
2:08 pm
What’s wrong, Jay? This column isn’t about some poll that shows Obama with an insurmountable lead, which is what you write about 99% of the time lately.
____________________________________________________________________
WTF is wrong with you people?
Re-read Jay’s post. It had NOTHING to do with Obama, Bush, Romney, Libs, Cons or American politics!
This is a tragic story about a courageous young lady who dared speak out about the treatment she and others face in HER country.
I don’t think Jay posted this as a platform for a bunch of jackholes to fling UNRELATED partisaned poo.
Grow the F’k up.
******************************************************
Jay, do you know if the US has offered any assistance in her medical care? Has a fund been set up to help with the cost of her treatment?
Thulsa Doom
October 9th, 2012
3:49 pm
“And then Fred lowered his shoulder and ran through you like you were an Al Groh defense.”
Nice one Jay. Except that I’m like the Alabama defense. And you know about God’s 11th commandment.
“Thou shalt not run the football on the Alabama defense”.
moonbat betty
October 9th, 2012
3:49 pm
Thulsa Doom @ 3:20:
Shoot, that ain’t nutin’.
Kam would do that with one armed tied behind his back!
too little time
October 9th, 2012
3:50 pm
Joe, the point wasn’t that I or someone in Turkey might have a bogus opinion about Arabs.
The point is that one does not have to be an Arab to have opinions about Arabs. One can certainly shoot down Towncrier’s Turk or my own opinion about Arabs, but you cannot simply dismiss all opinions about Arabs that do not originate in an Arabian country.
stands for decibels
October 9th, 2012
3:50 pm
It is still a daily read thanks to you.
Bros, I don’t always read cheezy, badly-formatted blogspot pages maintained by potty-mouthed, left-wing linguistics professors.
But when I do, I read… Rude Pundit.
Stay thirsty, my friends.
That Black Guy
October 9th, 2012
3:51 pm
Towncrier
October 9th, 2012
2:00 pm
“I’ve always had a funny feeling about Pakistan, from Bush claiming they were our ally to keeping Bin Laden safe and hid for 6 years.”
I have been told by people who have lived in places like Turkey that Arabs are characteristically two-faced.
_________________________________________________________________________
During my 18 months in Sinop, Turkey, I found the Turks I encountered were warm, friendly, and open people.
josef
October 9th, 2012
3:51 pm
SFD
Wonder if the U-ne-ga Chief Romney knows that the Communist Kenyan appointed a Mormon as head of the BIA?
Joe Hussein Mama
October 9th, 2012
3:52 pm
Doom — “Except that I’m like the Alabama defense.”
Needs a tutor to get through Remedial English and doesn’t have a degree?
Towncrier
October 9th, 2012
3:52 pm
“I note your eviction of the Old Testament from the Christian Bible, Towncrier. I’m curious though: Which version of the Bible do you use personally? Does it too contain the Old Testament? Is it not the same God speaking in both?”
I use the NIV and NASB primarily. Yes, both of these translations contain the Old Testament. YOU used the word “Christian” in the post to which I was responding. The NT represents an entirely new covenant, as detailed by Paul in the book of Romans and elsewhere. There is no theocracy established by the NT and none of the commands of the OT are literally binding. There is no need to go to Jerusalem several times a year to participate in religious feasts, no need to sacrifice animals for the atonement of sins, no need to circumcise male infants on the eighth day, no need to need to tithe 10% of your earnings, no need to stone people for crimes like adultery and murder and so on.
As to the passages in the OT that command violence towards Jews (as in stoning) or gentiles, these are always for a specific reason and against a specific person or people at a specific time. They are not open-ended commands. The genocide commanded against the foreigners occurs, it appears, after a considerable period of time (as when God tells Abraham He is not going to bring his offspring into the “promised land” for hundreds of years since the sin of the people living there was “not yet complete”). And, even then, it appears that if the Canaanites had been willing to repent, the slaughter would never had happened (judging by the fact that a prostitute did and was spared – even though the command was to leave no one alive). The book of Jonah is another good example of God wanting people to live rather than die (as in declared in Ezekiel 18). But no where is the violence commanded against foreigners because they weren’t Jews but because they were acting wickedly. That is the ostensible reason for the Flood and for the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
It is indeed the same God. The same God who will, the Bible teaches, send people to Hell and (I believe after a time of punishment) annihilate them. The bottom line is this: neither God or we (to a much less extent) can put up or live with people who act really badly – even if they are family members or once close friends – if they don’t wish to change their ways. The God presented in the Koran (Allah) is not at all like the God presented in the Bible. Yahweh if primarily interested in people being good and righteous like him. Allah is primarily interested in people being Muslim in faith.
Brosephus™
October 9th, 2012
3:52 pm
WTF is wrong with you people?
TBG
Welcome to the bleachers. The view is definitely different sitting up here.
getalife
October 9th, 2012
3:53 pm
Pale face treated the Indian, AA, Latino, Muslim and women like crap.
Pale face will be the minority one day so guess what will happen?
Do you believe in karma?
stands for decibels
October 9th, 2012
3:53 pm
Wonder if the U-ne-ga Chief Romney knows that the Communist Kenyan appointed a Mormon as head of the BIA?
it was news to me, so…
/drive-by
josef
October 9th, 2012
3:55 pm
Arabs are fine people. Their culture has given the world a lot and did pull Christian Europe kicking and screaming out of the Dark Ages, and then entered one of their own. Anybody who doubts what the Arabs can do given the freedom need only look no further than the contributions of the Lebanese and Syrian Americans to our common science,medicine, art, music, stage and drama…every facet of our greater society.
moonbat betty
October 9th, 2012
3:59 pm
“Pale face treated the Indian, AA, Latino, Muslim and women like crap.
Pale face will be the minority one day so guess what will happen?”
What?
josef
October 9th, 2012
3:59 pm
getalife
Just being EOI, but paleface will be the plurality, not the minority. The divisions amongst the others are just as strong as any ever were…that’s why I stay on my soapbox about moving beyond the black-white. If we don’t, as we do become more highly diverse, we are headed straight for Balkanization if we don’t start preparing for it now.
DebbieDoRight - Plantation Liberal (In Good Standing)
October 9th, 2012
3:59 pm
Jam: So they use their nitwit McCarthyite proxies in the Republican Party to wage war on the “competition. Not insignificantly because public broadcasting and collective ownership makes them look like the filth purveyors they are
Yep — you got that right. Money, not quality, matters above all else dontya know….