We're going to fucking moral ourselves to death. Probably just as well.

"When I hear the word morality, I have to leave the room."
Krzysztof Kieslowki, Polish film director

"When I hear the word morality, I have to leave the room."
Krzysztof Kieslowski, Polish film director

Deir Yassin, the King David Hotel, Shabra and Shatila? Profoundly moral.

Not just moral. Profound, too.

Goldberg's predecessor at the Atlantic, Michael Kelly, on war opponents:

"Theirs is not the position of profound morality but one that stands in profound opposition to morality."

The Atlantic is big on the profound.

Of course, Goldberg, as a former prison guard for the IDF, is uniquely qualified to talk about the profundity of profound morality.

I wonder if Kelly's wife and kids took heart in that his profound morality got his ass killed.

Were such an attack to come, it would come without imminent threat, without having been signaled by movements of conventional arms, without advance warning of any kind.

which means evidentiary rules have to be stricter, because lies are more powerful when they're hard to verify.

Atlantic Monthly had a profound subscription system too. I had to jump through goddammed hoops to stop it.

AND THAT'S why they call it fun. (and ya just gotta do it too, rules)

When I hear the word morality, I reach for my revolver!

Gaah. Screwed up the emphasis. Still, you get the idea.

Dear Roger Cohen,

Yes, "neocon" has come to mean that. What's your point?

Thanks for the citation, Nell.

Dear Roger Cohen,

Yes, "neocon" has come to mean that. What's your point?

Thanks for the citation, Nell.

1-202-225-0100--say IMPEACH.

The two comments are not actually comparable, Jonathan.

The first comment is from a fat-arsed fool sitting comfortably in an office somewhere bloviating about how other people should go out to die while his arse gets fatter, his office gets comfier and his bloviating gets more preposterous.

The second is coming from a fool who was actually putting his relatively skinny arse on the line, along with those of his chums, in pursuit of a realisable political goal (which was attained when the US military fled from Saudi Arabia).

Very different kinds of fools.

Well, it's obvious that our morality is Good and their morality is Evil. That's no small distinction, you see.

As noted by Ted above (from Novak's Vatican speech):

In brief, some persons argue today (as I do) that, under the original Catholic doctrine of justum bellum, a limited and carefully conducted war to bring about a change of regime in Iraq is, as a last resort, morally obligatory.

a) There's nothing in original Augustinian doctrine (which was cribbed from Cicero, btw) which addresses this issue, probably because St. Augustine wasn't an utter moron; he knew there was no such thing as a "limited and carefully conducted war."
b) To accept such blather as in any way valid, one must first conclude that the U.S. is the shepherd of the world's people.
c) One must also ignore that regime change is contra the U.N. Charter, the U.N. being the actual duly constituted authority in such matters.
d) The invasion was not a last resort but a first option.
e) The "some people argue" bit is both sophomoric and precious sophism.

in a previous century, burning heretics to death in public was a moral obligation

our current pope was, while still a cardinal, head of the inquisition's successor office - although they don't burn heretics these days, they still make lists of banned books - the most famous of these being the writings of jesuit priest and psychotherapist anthony de mello

the article on him at wikipedia quotes cardinal ratzinger

'But already in certain passages in [de Mello's] early works and to a greater degree in his later publications, one notices a progressive distancing from the essential contents of the Christian faith. ... With the present Notification, in order to protect the good of the Christian faithful, this Congregation declares that the above-mentioned positions are incompatible with the Catholic faith and can cause grave harm.'

good news, though - they backtracked and now you can still get de mello's books at catholic (and other) bookstores, although you should be aware that

'The books of Father Anthony de Mello were written in a multi-religious context to help the followers of other religions, agnostics and atheists in their spiritual search, and they were not intended by the author as manuals of instruction of the Catholic faithful in Christian doctrine or dogma.'

may the creative forces of the universe have mercy on our souls, if any

in a previous century, burning heretics to death in public was a moral obligation

our current pope was, while still a cardinal, head of the inquisition's successor office - although they don't burn heretics these days, they still make lists of banned books - the most famous of these being the writings of jesuit priest and psychotherapist anthony de mello

the article on him at wikipedia quotes cardinal ratzinger

'But already in certain passages in [de Mello's] early works and to a greater degree in his later publications, one notices a progressive distancing from the essential contents of the Christian faith. ... With the present Notification, in order to protect the good of the Christian faithful, this Congregation declares that the above-mentioned positions are incompatible with the Catholic faith and can cause grave harm.'

good news, though - they backtracked and now you can still get de mello's books at catholic (and other) bookstores, although you should be aware that

'The books of Father Anthony de Mello were written in a multi-religious context to help the followers of other religions, agnostics and atheists in their spiritual search, and they were not intended by the author as manuals of instruction of the Catholic faithful in Christian doctrine or dogma.'

may the creative forces of the universe have mercy on our souls, if any