Politics.

[icebluenothing]

Not something I post about often, if at all, usually, but ....

I'm a little startled at how many people on my friends list are so elated at the capture of Saddam Hussein. I mean, especially since so many of them are the same people who will be highly irritated if Bush rides to re-election on the strength of this particular little victory. Saddam Imprisoned is an even better photo-op than Bush Delivering Turkey, kids.

The first post I read about it didn't mention just who exactly we'd captured, and I have to admit I was stupidly hopeful for a moment. For a brief moment, I thought we'd laid hands on Osama bin Laden. And then I remembered we are at war with Eastasia; we have always been at war with Eastasia.

Comments

[chiaspod.livejournal.com]

Ooh, relativism is SO sexy on you, K.

As for the "we are at war with Eastasia" comment ... broaden your news sources. The Coalition forces haven't stopped seeking in Afghanistan; it's just that most media outlets have apparently decided that Afghanistan is no longer sexy enough to sell. One of the benefits of my job is I have access to the AP news feed - and I've not noticed a dearth of news coming across; it just doesn't get printed. :)

[rocza.livejournal.com]

Oh, you know as well as I do that it's not moral relativism. I simply hold a pretty firm line on when and where I think it's appropriate to become involved with the politics of another nation. Was Saddam a monster? Certainly; only a moral relativist would try to argue otherwise. But just because someone is a monster doesn't justify invasion and overthrow of a government.

As for the Eastasia bit - I've long stopped worrying about what mainstream American news outlets decide to publish. You're not the only one with global access to news sources, after all. However, I don't much care what the media feels we should be paying attention to, but I certainly pay attention to what the government focuses its attentions on. Slight of hands are interesting to watch, but that doesn't mean I need to follow them. Iraq has been pushed to the forefront of attention, and I don't believe that's solely because the media chooses to focus on it.