Ignoring the whole point
Kuro5hin is covering the whole 60 minutes 'Forged Memos' fiasco. I'm not american, so I kinda missed it... but there's a lot of in depth discussion about typesetting in the 1970s and whether these particular memos are valid.
It makes me think of Orwell's 1984. Orwell's strength was deconstructing politcal language - he saw it as having a kind of social engineering effect. I can't remember the exact quote, but I'll try: "the purpose of political language is to make murder respectable and to give the appearance of solidity to pure wind". (The whole 'War on Terror' rhetoric, about the state of perpetual war, certainly reminds me of 1984... and it serves a very important legal function. Its designed to return us to a 19th Cenutry 'State of War', in which all acts of force are prima facie considered to be self defensive in nature... but I digress)
What you have here is Joe Public, right and left, focusing on the minuate of detail in the 'memos' - trying to prove them wrong and, by extension, the whole report as wrong. I don't care whether the memos are true or not, what I find interesting is the sheer amount of effort poured of these small details. It seems like a distraction from the real issues of the American election - but the 'real issues' aren't discussed by either party in the election. Its all about service records and who could best fight the war against terrorism. Its all surface. How about we hear about your strategies on how to fight the war on terrorism?
This is true of the Australian election too. Both sides are throwing around tax cuts and spending but none of them are discussing anything beyond the present. Its the perpetual satisfaction of now. I'm interested in the long term. I think the next 50 years are going to be pretty decivisive for the overall future of the planet. Don't get me wrong, I think we HAVE a future - its just what kind of future we're going to have isn't being discussed. Currently, Australia is a pretty rich nation - its just my uninformed opinion, my gut feeling, suggests that that richness is going to dissappear.
Anyways, I'm ranting because I'm meant to be working on a Litigation essay on Legal and Logical Relevance and how its been framed by the Austrlaian Courts. OOOOO> YEEEES!
It makes me think of Orwell's 1984. Orwell's strength was deconstructing politcal language - he saw it as having a kind of social engineering effect. I can't remember the exact quote, but I'll try: "the purpose of political language is to make murder respectable and to give the appearance of solidity to pure wind". (The whole 'War on Terror' rhetoric, about the state of perpetual war, certainly reminds me of 1984... and it serves a very important legal function. Its designed to return us to a 19th Cenutry 'State of War', in which all acts of force are prima facie considered to be self defensive in nature... but I digress)
What you have here is Joe Public, right and left, focusing on the minuate of detail in the 'memos' - trying to prove them wrong and, by extension, the whole report as wrong. I don't care whether the memos are true or not, what I find interesting is the sheer amount of effort poured of these small details. It seems like a distraction from the real issues of the American election - but the 'real issues' aren't discussed by either party in the election. Its all about service records and who could best fight the war against terrorism. Its all surface. How about we hear about your strategies on how to fight the war on terrorism?
This is true of the Australian election too. Both sides are throwing around tax cuts and spending but none of them are discussing anything beyond the present. Its the perpetual satisfaction of now. I'm interested in the long term. I think the next 50 years are going to be pretty decivisive for the overall future of the planet. Don't get me wrong, I think we HAVE a future - its just what kind of future we're going to have isn't being discussed. Currently, Australia is a pretty rich nation - its just my uninformed opinion, my gut feeling, suggests that that richness is going to dissappear.
Anyways, I'm ranting because I'm meant to be working on a Litigation essay on Legal and Logical Relevance and how its been framed by the Austrlaian Courts. OOOOO> YEEEES!
posted by stu willis at
11:02 pm
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