aaaaaaaaaaaaa
I'm not sure. I may have used that title before. But, as Martha Stewart would say, it's sooooooooo appropriate.
I just have one appalling item to post today. As you can all probably tell, the first thing I read is the NYT. I'm not trying to inform anyone of anything subtle, because anyone can read the tTimes, I just note the things that come together to horrify me and make me throw the paper down in disgust (except that I read it electronically, and there's only so swiftly you can close a window to make it seem like disgust...)
Anyway, here's today's whopper. It's an editorial from the Times. Not even an Op Ed piece... And I'm going to print the whole thing, 'cos I don't ever want to lose the content of this one...
Holding the Pentagon Accountable: For Religious Bigotry
The first reports sounded like an over-the-top satire of the Bush Pentagon: the deputy secretary of defense for intelligence - the ranking general charged with the hunt for Osama bin Laden - was parading in uniform to Christian pulpits, preaching that God had put George Bush in the White House and that Islamic terrorists will only be defeated "if we come at them in the name of Jesus." But now a Pentagon inquiry has concluded that Lt. Gen. William Boykin did indeed preach his grossly offensive gospel at 23 churches, pronouncing Satan the mastermind of the terrorists because "he wants to destroy us as a Christian army."
It was stunning last fall, after the general's lapse into brimstone bigotry became public, when Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, far from disturbed, praised General Boykin for an "outstanding record" and kept him at the highly sensitive intelligence post during the inquiry. Now it is simply mind-boggling that Pentagon reports suggest the general may survive with only a reprimand for having failed to clear his remarks in advance.
General Boykin has to be removed from his current job. He has become a national embarrassment, not to mention a walking contradiction of President Bush's own policy statement that the fight against terror is bias-free and not a crusade against Islam. (General Boykin preached of a 1993 fight against a Muslim warlord in Somalia: "I knew that my God was bigger than his. I knew that my God was a real God, and his was an idol.")
The sense of offense among Islamic Americans is already deep. Removal of the preacher-general should be a no-brainer, however much the president's campaign generals might fear offending the Christian right voting bloc.
I just have one appalling item to post today. As you can all probably tell, the first thing I read is the NYT. I'm not trying to inform anyone of anything subtle, because anyone can read the tTimes, I just note the things that come together to horrify me and make me throw the paper down in disgust (except that I read it electronically, and there's only so swiftly you can close a window to make it seem like disgust...)
Anyway, here's today's whopper. It's an editorial from the Times. Not even an Op Ed piece... And I'm going to print the whole thing, 'cos I don't ever want to lose the content of this one...
Holding the Pentagon Accountable: For Religious Bigotry
The first reports sounded like an over-the-top satire of the Bush Pentagon: the deputy secretary of defense for intelligence - the ranking general charged with the hunt for Osama bin Laden - was parading in uniform to Christian pulpits, preaching that God had put George Bush in the White House and that Islamic terrorists will only be defeated "if we come at them in the name of Jesus." But now a Pentagon inquiry has concluded that Lt. Gen. William Boykin did indeed preach his grossly offensive gospel at 23 churches, pronouncing Satan the mastermind of the terrorists because "he wants to destroy us as a Christian army."
It was stunning last fall, after the general's lapse into brimstone bigotry became public, when Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, far from disturbed, praised General Boykin for an "outstanding record" and kept him at the highly sensitive intelligence post during the inquiry. Now it is simply mind-boggling that Pentagon reports suggest the general may survive with only a reprimand for having failed to clear his remarks in advance.
General Boykin has to be removed from his current job. He has become a national embarrassment, not to mention a walking contradiction of President Bush's own policy statement that the fight against terror is bias-free and not a crusade against Islam. (General Boykin preached of a 1993 fight against a Muslim warlord in Somalia: "I knew that my God was bigger than his. I knew that my God was a real God, and his was an idol.")
The sense of offense among Islamic Americans is already deep. Removal of the preacher-general should be a no-brainer, however much the president's campaign generals might fear offending the Christian right voting bloc.
posted by xiki at 11:27 AM
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