PunDippety Specifics

23 March, 2006. 674 words.

I’ve been challenged to point out exactly why it’s self-evident why I inducted georgia10 into the PunDip Hall of Fame yesterday. Today I’m thinking maybe I was a little too harsh on her — she’s a youthful idealist, after all, and apparently has no understanding yet of how the life-crushing machinery of the cold, cruel world actually works. Maybe I shouldn’t squash her Utopian dreams so soon in life. But then I remember she’s studying to become a lawyer, perhaps one of the greatest threats to the American Way of Life that there is (see The Center for Constitutional Rights), and I strengthen my resolve.

Here are some PunDippy examples from Shame:

“I’m ashamed that millions of my fellow Americans are so scared and so desperate for leadership that they believe the President’s bullshit.”

Awaiting citation to back up the claim that millions of Americans are “scared” and “desperate for leadership.” That’s what we in the business call “trying to make readers think what you want them to think,” or, if you will, “making things up.” Though it’s not clear in this case exactly what she’s trying to make us think. Plus, as a law student, you would think georgia10 would be able to recognize “the President’s bullshit” as the finely-crafted politicking it is.

“I’m ashamed of this President, this megalomaniac hellbent on leaving his assprint on the map of the Middle East, no matter how much destruction is wrought and no matter how much blood flows in the streets of lands that never threatened us.”

No evidence presented to support a diagnoses of megalomania. No evidence presented to support the president’s off-the-record assly motivations. But I can let those slide. The most obvious flaw in that quote is that Saddam quite frequently threatened us and everyone around him: Saddam Hussein: In His Own Words. But more than that georgia10 is implying here that the world was a fine, happy, hand-holdingly peaceful place before we invaded Iraq.

‘I’m ashamed that the word “massacre” is even uttered in connection with our actions in Iraq. I’m ashamed it’s not just one massacre that is alleged, but two. I’m ashamed it’s gotten to the point that I can’t even tell this little voice inside of me to shut up, that little voice that says maybe, just maybe it could be true.’

There’s actually been more than two alleged “massacres,” and most were found to be false or exagerated, according to Knight-Ridder (Iraqi police report details civilians’ deaths at hands of U.S. troops). And of course it may be true. Humans are a notoriously aggressive species. What does that have to do with Bush’s press conference?

“But that voice of plausibility is the consequence of those black hoods. It’s the consequence of those leashes, those snarling dogs. It’s the consequence of those detainees chained to bedframes. Of naked pyramids. Of forced sex acts. Of beatings and blood-streaked floors.”

Ohhhh, the angst! I assume this is a reference to U.S. “torture,” which I’ve written about before. Not mentioned by georgia10: Nick Berg, Daniel Pearl, Paul Marshall Johnson, Jr., Eugene Armstrong, Jack Hensley, Kim Sun-il, Kenneth Bigley, and Shosei Koda. And let’s not forget Jill Carroll. One can’t help but wonder about the motivations behind highlighting the treatment of enemy detainees while ignoring the treatment of coalition (civilian) detainees.

“True Americans-coast to coast, young and old-now bow their heads silently in collective shame for a nation that has lost its way.”

Now she takes it upon herself to speak for the “True Americans.” Surely I don’t have to point out the problem there, do I?

That’s enough for now. I won’t even go into the drama infused throughout her writing (“shame” indeed). The point is that georgia10’s commentary should be seen for what it is: Entertainment for like-minded readers on an ad-revenue-driven site. Investigative journalism? Thought-provoking commentary? Reasoned arguments? Scholarly debate? Um, not so much.

P.S. On the bright side, the qualities I dislike in her political commentary should serve her quite well in legal popularity contests (aka. jury trials).

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