You may only read this site if you've purchased Our Kampf from Amazon or Powell's or me
• • •
"Mike and Jon, Jon and Mike—I've known them both for years, and, clearly, one of them is very funny. As for the other: truly one of the great hangers-on of our time."—Steve Bodow, head writer, The Daily Show
•
"Who can really judge what's funny? If humor is a subjective medium, then can there be something that is really and truly hilarious? Me. This book."—Daniel Handler, author, Adverbs, and personal representative of Lemony Snicket
•
"The good news: I thought Our Kampf was consistently hilarious. The bad news: I’m the guy who wrote Monkeybone."—Sam Hamm, screenwriter, Batman, Batman Returns, and Homecoming

May 10, 2005

Our Old Friend "Justification"

I've finally read the famous Downing Street memo from July, 2002. This sentence in particular made me laugh with horror:

Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD.

YES!!!! As I've said before, I can't get enough of the way this specific terminology—"justification"—appears again and again in government planning documents.

You want to invade Cuba? Great! But we need to come up with some justification, since the real reasons won't fly. What if we bomb ourselves and blame it on Castro? That would work!

You've decided to remove Saddam through military action? Okay! But first we need to find some way to justify the invasion, since if people knew our actual motivation they'd hang us upside down from a lamppost!

I'd guess every invasion of every country ever launched was preceded by a high level "justification" conversation.

Saddam, invading Iran is a great idea! They've got so much luscious oil! But we need some kind of justification. Hey, how about that attempted assassination of Tariq Aziz? That would do it!

First comes the decision to kill other people. Then comes the frantic search for the justification. Just don't forget, no matter how many countries you invade, to talk constantly about your fervent desire for peace.


Posted at May 10, 2005 06:38 PM | TrackBack
Comments

I remember even Madonna needed someone to "Justify (Her) Love"...if it works for Madonna, why not Bush?

Posted by: En Ming Hee at May 11, 2005 06:55 AM

And here I was thinking that "justify" means to line up the ends of your words so that they're even with the margins.

Posted by: Ted at May 11, 2005 10:36 AM