The Logic Off Topic list

On Fri, 12 Oct 2001 GAmoore@... wrote:

> Denizen wrote :
> >Not inconsequential, but the US policy I see questioned more
> >frequently is that which allowed such disapproval in the Muslim world
> >to develop in the first place.  With as much as we've apparently done
> >to piss these people off, I think we'd have suffered the same fate
> >sooner or later, availability of Rancho Afghanistan Terrorism Camp or
> >not.
> 
> Its really pathetic what happened yesterday. This Saudi Prince comes 
> here, visits the WTC, and gives $10 million, and simply hands out a 
> leaflet saying the US needs to reconsider its biased view - and he is 
> humiliated by having his money returned. Then today on CNN, I heard 
> Winston Churchill III (grandson of the famous WWII leader) take a very 
> pro-Palestinian stand and say essentially the same thing as the Prince 
> said. 

I was looking for Prince Alwaleed bin Talal's email address to thank him
for the gesture and apologize for Giuliani's misplaced indignation.  I
probably wouldn't have sent him anything, but I was irritated enough to
put at least that much energy into it :)  I'd heard all sorts of terrible
things about Guiliani before the attack... how unfairly people have been
treated since he took office... his conservative agenda to "clean up" NYC
... which resulted in the closure of a legendary nightclub in Chelsea
I'd been wanting to check out just weeks before my first visit.
(Twilo: Where Sasha and John Digweed had residencies) But then I saw him
on TV at a press conference on 9-11 and he seemed like pretty a nice guy,
well-spoken and sensitive... even though I knew that away from the
ennobling context of crisis, he was probably still a self-righteous 
dick.  I suppose this ridiculous gesture of his, a spit in the face of
a powerful ally offering a generous gift and a sincere expression of
regret on behalf of his people, is just another sign that we're slowly
returning to normalcy, and my cue to start being irritated by his
foolishness again.  I can't understand why people refuse to accept the
possibility that these attacks could have a motive.  Ignoring that motive
can only perpetuate the problem.  It's a lot easier to tolerate stupidity
like this when it's coming from conservative political commentators where
it's harmless and expected... but to have prominent public officials in a
position to act on their pride-blinded whims is more than I can take...
without bitching about it :-)

-Denizen