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
April 07, 2008
Shocking!
Here's still more about Samantha Power, from a 2002 New York Times story:
"Our view of American power was born" in Bosnia, said Ms. Power, author of ''A Problem From Hell,'' about American responses to genocide in the last century that has prompted new debates about the moral responsibilities that go with American power.She came to Bosnia in 1993, joining the swarms of freelance reporters drawn to the unfolding war.
The story there was shocking -- a widening arc of atrocities against victims targeted not for what they had done, but for who they were -- all taking place on a continent where genocide was never supposed to happen again. But more shocking for this 23-year-old, one year out of Yale University, was that the American government seemed unwilling to stop it.
Perhaps Samantha Power would have been less shocked by US inaction in the face of genocide if she'd known the US had recently carried out genocide in Guatemala.
Of course, it's not surprising her Yale education hadn't covered this, given the genocide was largely supervised by two Yale graduates, Thomas Enders and George H.W. Bush. That's not the kind of thing colleges like to put in the required curriculum.
—Jonathan Schwarz
Posted at April 7, 2008 05:06 PMPoint about colleges is that they're supposed to be places where you can form YOUR OWN Goddamn opinion about things. Mock the ignorant, not the college.
Broken link on Enders page: http://www.acwl.ch/e/about/staff_froessler_e.aspx
Posted by: StO at April 7, 2008 08:42 PMThis one too...
http://www.wacgfw.org/newsletter/jan2001/
Posted by: StO at April 7, 2008 08:48 PMJon Schwarz: YOUR link worked well for me and gave a hell of an edumacation. THANX!!!
Posted by: Mike Meyer at April 7, 2008 09:09 PMAnd is that what colleges really do? Maybe in Singapore?
I've been reading the links for a few hours now... it's hard to keep all the Central American massacres we denied straight.
Posted by: StO at April 7, 2008 09:31 PMWas the Yugoslavian situation quite as simple? Didn't the Croatians, and even when they had the capacity, Moslem "Bosnians" also engage in massacres? didn't the U.S. and Europe basically facilitate, behind the scenes, the breakup of Yugoslavia after Tito? If so-what exactly did she expect the U.S., which helped forment the situation, to do?
Posted by: Brian at April 7, 2008 10:05 PMA great post Jonathan, I agree with Mike, very educational.
Posted by: Rob Payne at April 7, 2008 10:47 PMStO,
Well, it's what you make of it. In any country, anywhere, anytime. If you doubt what the prof says, always head for the library.
Posted by: En Ming Hee at April 7, 2008 10:55 PMI majored in math, but spent most of my time in the library anyway. Obviously our gracious host made the most of Yale, but it does turn out Kagans, Bushes, Enders, Kerrys, etc. as a matter of course. These folks liked what their professors said... a lot.
Then again, if it did help produce people whose own goddamn opinions were different, we probably wouldn't hear about them anyway. Even if he doesn't produce a list of "good Yalies," though, he's got the right to knock his own alma mater.
I must admit I share in SteveB's fantasy about his database, too.
Posted by: StO at April 7, 2008 11:49 PMAfter watching Power on Democracy Now, I came to the conclusion that she was, hmmmmm, what's the word for it? Oh yes! A monster.
And yes, Hillary's a monster too. Power was right to call her such, but not for the right reasons.
And, to be clear, Obama is one more American monster. But, apparently you can't be president without being a monster, so that's unsurprising.
Surprisingly, it appears that McCain is Jesus, Ghandhi, and King combined.
Posted by: Rojo at April 8, 2008 05:21 AMSamantha Power would probably be shocked to discover that the US wasn't in all that big a hurry to stop genocide in Nazi Germany, either, and would happily have let Adolph eliminate every last Jew on the continent, and Britain, too, if the Japanese hadn't made a minor strategic miscalculation.
And we won't mention the Phillipines, or the American aborigines, either, as that might really upset her.
Posted by: Mike at April 8, 2008 07:27 AMActually, if the college happens to hire Tony Blair to teach religion to undergraduates, it's OK to mock the college, too.
I gave that place $100k of my parent's money in the early nineties. With interest, that probably covers Tony's bar tab at Mory's for six months. I want my money back; send the tool to Den Haag.
Posted by: Aaron Datesman at April 8, 2008 10:18 PMBrian is correct on every single point he mentions.The causes and effects of the break-up of Yugoslavia was and continues to be one of the most misrepresented events in recent history.
The end result,however,was exactly as intended for the purposes of the US-preserving the NATO alliance despite the disintegration of the Soviet bloc,establishing the precedent for interference in the affairs of sovereign states (like Iraq,for instance),and the creation a permanent military presence in the outer sphere of empire(also like Iraq).
The 'brilliant' Powers was one of the useful idiots who helped sell the justification for 'humanitarian' intervention in the Balkans.
"Point about colleges is that they're supposed to be places where you can form YOUR OWN Goddamn opinion about things. Mock the ignorant, not the college."
So says En Ming Hee. With one glaring omission.
In order to form YOUR OWN opinion you must first be given a full factual landscape.
Excuse-mongering for old Eli, eh? And in that subtle, fake-intellectual Eli way, too!
I have formed MY OWN OPINION about Yale and its apologists -- they serve Empire, and they are not the least embarrassed about it. In fact they gloat with the most reprehensible indirect criticisms of those who naysay about Yale.
Posted by: Micah Pyre at April 10, 2008 03:24 PM
