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
June 21, 2007
Like Goebbels, But Without The Personal Charm
Via Glenn Greenwald, here's Norman Podhoretz explaining what will happen if we bomb the hell out of Iran:
Well, if we were to bomb the Iranians as I hope and pray we will...It's entirely possible that many countries, particularly in the Middle East -- the Sunni countries like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, who are very worried about Iranian influence and power -- would at least secretly applaud us. And I think it's possible that other countries in Europe, for example, and elsewhere, would be relieved...
As I've said before regarding Charles Krauthammer, it would be easier not to compare these guys to Nazi propagandists if everything they said wasn't straight out of Nazi propaganda:
The future of Europe hangs on our success in the East. We are ready to defend it...There are many serious voices in Europe that have already realized this. Others still resist. That cannot influence us. If danger faced them alone, we could view their reluctance as literary nonsense of no significance. But the danger faces us all, and we must all do our share. Those who today do not understand that will thank us tomorrow on bended knees that we courageously and firmly took on the task.
Posted at June 21, 2007 11:32 AM | TrackBack
So, you have read Goebbels' essay from the January 21, 1939 Voelkischer Beobachter: "Was will eigentlich Amerika?" ("What does America really want?")
Brilliant, ja?
Hochachtungsvoll, for the The American Goebbels Fan Klub
I found more interesting similarities. From Goebbels’ speech:
“When I jump over the past to look ahead, I do it intentionally. The time is short! There is no time for fruitless debates. We must act, immediately, thoroughly, and decisively, as has always been the National Socialist way.”
What Rice said:
Rice acknowledged that "there will always be some uncertainty" in determining how close Iraq may be to obtaining a nuclear weapon but said, "We don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud."
"The one thing he has determined is we simply cannot afford to do nothing," she added.
What Cheney said:
"We're at the point where we think time is not on our side,"
http://archives.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/09/08/iraq.debate/
There just never seems to be enough time.
Power is power.
Posted by: hedgehog at June 22, 2007 12:41 AMWhen Herr Goebbels says,
"We own the Earth und Space"
WE HEIL
Right in Herr Goebbels face
What a moment in American history, where we search the writings of Nazis to find parallels
with those of our own "leadership." The "time is short" meme is a page lifted from a Futurist
manifesto, and also flies in the face of the old
National Review idea of "don't let them immanentize the eschaton." Although I know the neocon push for blood is less about eschatology (unlike their benighted faux-Christian supporters, all 5 of them) than about a "window of opportunity," which they see as imminently closing and which, they fear, may be a unique moment in American political history.
Not that Hillary or that actor or whoever wouldn't
also gleefully follow the neocon plan. It's just that America may be too broke in a few years to
be an effective rotweiler.
Jonathan, you are the new Billmon.
Posted by: Oarwell at June 22, 2007 11:29 AMWhat a moment in American history, where we search the writings of Nazis to find parallels
with those of our own "leadership." The "time is short" meme is a page lifted from a Futurist
manifesto, and also flies in the face of the old
National Review idea of "don't let them immanentize the eschaton." Although I know the neocon push for blood is less about eschatology (unlike their benighted faux-Christian supporters, all 5 of them) than about a "window of opportunity," which they see as imminently closing and which, they fear, may be a unique moment in American political history.
Not that Hillary or that actor or whoever wouldn't
also gleefully follow the neocon plan. It's just that America may be too broke in a few years to
be an effective rotweiler.
Jonathan, you are the new Billmon.
Posted by: Oarwell at June 22, 2007 11:29 AMApologies for the doppelganger.
Posted by: Oarwell at June 22, 2007 11:31 AM"Jonathan, you are the new Billmon."
Needs a touch more bitterness, some self-loathing and occasional lashing out at his own fan club. I do miss Billmon, despite all that. A prickly sort of genius.
Jon is brilliant without the quirks listed above.
Posted by: Donald Johnson at June 22, 2007 02:03 PMI also miss Jeanne at Body and Soul, but that's enough of the sad "where have the great bloggers of last year gone?" routine
Posted by: Donald Johnson at June 22, 2007 02:05 PM
