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
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"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
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"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
December 26, 2006
If I've Learned Anything In Life, It's That Humans Always Respond Positively To Being Humiliated
Great news! We've humiliated Iran:
The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Saturday to restrict Iran's trade in sensitive nuclear materials and to freeze the assets of 22 Iranian officials and institutions linked to the country's most controversial nuclear programs...the Bush administration -- which favored tougher measures -- said it was still pleased with the final version, saying that it furthers Iran's growing international isolation.U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns called the vote "humiliating" for Iran.
And according to Bob Woodward's State of Denial, the invasion of Iraq has served to humiliate "radical Islam":
“Why did you support the Iraq war?†Gerson asked [Kissinger].“Because Afghanistan wasn’t enough,†Kissinger answered. In the conflict with radical Islam, he said, they want to humiliate us. “And we need to humiliate them.â€ÂÂ
Yes, we're definitely going to win by humiliating large sectors of mankindâ€â€Âbecause as we know, the best way to get humans to do what you want is to humiliate them:
"What America is tasting now is something insignificant compared to what we have tasted for scores of years. [The Islamic world] has been tasting this humiliation and this degradation for eighty years."
The only thing missing so far with Iran is kidnapping them off the street and giving them international top secret enemas. But I'm sure that's just an oversight that will be corrected quite soon.
Posted at December 26, 2006 10:00 AM | TrackBackIn an editorial on about.com discussing the ineffectiveness of the UN and sanctions and the likely responses of the US and Israel, "albaniach" had posted the following comment, which I think deserves a wider hearing:
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Just to put this all into perspective,
Countries attacked or invaded by Iran since WW2:
Zero
Countries attacked or invaded or by Israel since WW2:
Syria
Egypt
Jordan
Palestine
Iraq
Lebanon
Countries Attacked by US supported terrorists or Invaded by the USA:
Vietnam
Cambodia
Afghanistan
Iraq
Nicaragua
Colombia
Chile
Argentina
Grenada
Panama
Laos
El Salvador
Honduras
A reasonable person might suggest a better start on the problem might be made by flattening Washington and Tel Aviv.
How did the commenter overlook Cuba?
Countries attacked or invaded by Iran since WW2:
Zero
We-ell, they did send an incursion into Afghanistan in the late 80s to murder Russian officials and their families, with the assistance of American intelligence. Guess the Iran-Iraq war doesn't count given it was Saddam who started that (and the US armed both sides). And they did blow up Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie - oh, wait, my bad, we decided to blame that on the Libyans, didn't we. That was a few months after their air attack on the USS Vincennes tho' - maybe we can count that.
Posted by: RobW at December 26, 2006 06:45 PMYou have to admit: Showing the Iraqis pictures of their menfolk forced into naked human pyramids and simulated masturbation helped to quiet down the insurgency.
Posted by: Lloyd at December 26, 2006 09:33 PMThat was a few months after their air attack on the USS Vincennes tho' - maybe we can count that.
Is that a joke?
Posted by: Ed Marshall at December 27, 2006 11:40 AMBut we're the good guys!
Posted by: blondie at December 27, 2006 12:09 PMIs that a joke?
It friggin' better be.
Posted by: RobW at December 27, 2006 07:42 PM
