Thursday

snapshots

Remember "where were you", my post two days ago about how the question itself has taken on a life of its own?

Check out this document: http://www.scribd.com/doc/282415/Awesome-Military-photos-of-the-Twin-Towers

I quote the last page of it for those who have gotten burned when clicking links from here:

Yep, some people just want to forget. I think it's "high time" these memories were re awakened. How about you? Ron Burch, August 8, 2007


These amazingly familiar images of destruction have little to offer my imagination. I'm far more interested in this slideshow as an example of what actually affects my life, which is the mindset of those millions of true believers who dependably react to shock in predictable ways. Like the guy who wrote this and hasn't spent enough time doing fancy book-learnin' to construct any kind of coherent argument, or even to use the language (I will give you, yes, you, ten bucks if it's not the only one he speaks) correctly.

What interests and terrifies me is what this man's mind looks like. How can he think anyone's goal is to forget something? Take me for example, a person who complains about the repetitious parading of the same images, an endless exhibition that never becomes a discussion about what it means and what ought to be done about it? No, I'm not trying to forget anything, I'm just frightened by the monolith of resistance to do anything but worship every decision the military makes to go git 'em, regardless of who they are. So where has he been getting his information from?

Ok, now for a little us and them from my side of the street. People like me are sick of people like him sticking his flagpole in a national disaster like it's something to be proud of. He thinks somebody's winning something, or maybe losing it, if they don't pay heed when HE SAYS SO. How can one explain the appalling subhuman leap that equates this man's satisfaction with rubbing "their" face in 9/11?

My only theory: the world of a paranoiac is full of "thems." In the case of nine eleven, the first "them" was the people who had done this awful thing. The second wave of "them" was the unpatriotic ones whose reactions didn't match up with their own. So is the country full of paranoid people who are suffering from an inability to conceptualize what other people might be thinking? It can't all be that simple, but it's still a decent guess.

Aside from this theory, my astonishment and incomprehension is complete.

I can't abide being wheedled by someone who has nothing to say. Ron Burch can't read and write and yet he's preaching at me, just like a bumper sticker arrests the attention of anyone literate and unfortunate enough to look at it. This kind of oversimple tagging and branding serves to shred mental fabric, to stunt potential growth, and to therefore subdue and prevent mature, thoughtful discussions about anything. Ron Burch is what makes stupid happen. Way to go, dickhead.

Now I'm going to go think about something other than September eleventh. If it's all right with Ron Burch, intellectual midget.

4 Comments:

At Friday, September 14, 2007, Blogger Ian said...

"Awesome"!

 
At Friday, September 14, 2007, Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Me too, man"!

 
At Saturday, September 15, 2007, Anonymous Anonymous said...

As is expected, these are very amazing pictures. But what is the question Burch is asking and more importantly, what is the answer he wants to hear?
My answer is......... who cares!
What people should really take from these pictures, especially those that show Manhattan in a cloud of dust is....just how vulnerable millions of people in any major USA city are to being being taken off the planet, very quickly.
Imagine for a moment, if there were canisters of lethal gases on those two planes?
To this point folks (to use a Bush term) I think we in North America (especially the USA) should reconsider our foreign policies and how we treat, manipulate and interfere with other countries. We must not continue to piss others off!
That is what these pictures tell me Mr. Burtch!

 
At Saturday, September 15, 2007, Anonymous Anonymous said...

A story in three parts:

Originally, I thought Anonymous was hiding safely behind a hay bale, warning the cityfolk of the dangers of urban living.

Then, I quit being a complete asshole.

Now, I'm thankful for any cultural criticism we can round up around here.

 

Post a Comment

<< Home