While surfing the net earlier today, I came across this extreamly appalling letter writen by someone who is obviously on the side of the terrorists. Here it is, word for word, exactly how the original writer wrote it:


"can you Yanks not take a joke!!!!
or even take time to appreciate the effort these great men went to to entertain the world!!! these people lost their lives for the sake of news!!!
i would remind everyone to take a 6 minute silence in honour of Bin Ladens brave men."


IS THIS SICK OR WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

[ September 23, 2001: Message edited by: jgoo ]

It seems there are many out there that feel that way. Here is one by a noted Author and journalist.


Where is the acknowledgment that this was not a "cowardly" attack on "civilization" or "liberty" or "humanity" or "the free world," but an attack on the world's self-proclaimed superpower, undertaken as a consequence of specific American alliances and actions? How many citizens are aware of the ongoing American bombing of Iraq? And if the word "cowardly" is to be used, it might be more aptly applied to those who kill from beyond the range of retaliation, high in the sky, than to those willing to die themselves in order to kill others. In the matter of courage (a morally neutral virtue): Whatever may be said of the perpetrators of Sept. 11's slaughter, they were not cowards.

- -Susan Sontag, New Yorker

there will always be people who try to show their "individuality" through such screwed-up thinking. usually they don't even believe in their own thoughts. it's just a way of getting attention.

lb,

I think it's worth pointing out that the quotation you gave was only an "excerpt" from Susan Sontag's complete piece, which can be found here...
http://www.newyorker.com/THE_TALK_OF_THE_TOWN/CONTENT/?talk_wtc

To me, the complete piece comes across as a rather unsympathetic damnation of the American government and the media. When read apart from the article, the extracted quote you posted might imply that she is actually in support of the terrorists' actions, which, in this instance, I honestly don't feel is the case. (If it is meant in this way then, naturally, I too am appalled.)

In this time of strong emotion I believe it's in everyone's interest to be careful of taking people's words - especially those of published and credited writers - out of context.

Dave

Dave

MSN printed an article titled " Comments from the left and the Right". This article contained the comments of Susan Sontag that I posted in its entirety. I did not see the entire article, nor would I desire to.

Anyone that makes the comment that these were brave men, and American military pilots are cowards, IMO, is anti-American. She herself proclaims that she is an elite intellectual and a radical liberal. This article confirms the claim.

Susan Sontag claims to write articles from an American point of view, but if you study her life she is not a typical American.

Here's another appalling thing: there are fake pictures making the rounds. One in particular is of a man standing in the tower of the WTC, and a plane flying right into the building below him. When I first saw this photo, it upset me. Then later, a friend of mine told me it was one of the fakes circulating around the internet.

I cannot believe people would do things like that and call it a joke.

Well lb, I guess this perhaps where we're going to have to agree to differ, as one person's view of the written word will always differ from the next.

Suffice to say, I should stress that I don't agree with what she's said, nor do I like the way she's said it. It seems to me that she's simply written the piece for the sake of being controversial and has failed to make any great political statement. If she *is* an anti-American, I can't think that she'll last long in New York, or indeed, America...

Dave

Dave

I really don't think we are in disagreement. I said in a post on the banned thread that there isn't a right or a left now only a center, and most Americans are there together.

That didn't include radicals, right or left. Now is not the time for radicals from either side to make insensitive statements.

As for as Susan Sontag not lasting long, she went to North Vietnam in the sixties, and blasted the U.S. there and got by with it. The disgusting thing is she is still revered, idolized, and honored.
lb

[ September 26, 2001: Message edited by: lb ]

I even heard the other day that our own media is hesitant, or discouraged, or prevented from displaying the American flag! This is absolutely idiotic if true. Can anyone shed any light on this? As in most of our previous wars, if the enemy wins, there would be no free press/speech whatsoever. Some call this the "Bernard Shaw" syndrome, or something like that. They (American media) need to start appreciating all the freedoms that they, and all Americans, enjoy. These freedoms have come at the expense of many lives, starting with the Revolutionary War. These wars are no place to show off some kind of pointy-headed neutrality.

Here's the reaction of my former newspaper employer (as retold in the San Francisco Chronicle, 9/17/01) (no word on the permissability of flying flags):

CAPITALISM MARCHES ON: On Tuesday, when the Civic Center was evacuated in case of a terrorist attack, managers at the nearby Daily Journal Corp. got a memo from headquarters in L.A.: "Although today's incidents were horrific and have impacted us all, please be reminded the DJC is on a regular work schedule. Should any of your staff have elected to not come in today the time off may be applied to their accrued vacation time."

The memo also said that those without accrued vacation time would have their pay docked instead, and that telecommuting is not an option.

After watching big buildings fall, telecommuting is looking better and better. You have to ask why so many companies resist it.