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Sat. Jun 29, 2002

QuoteLog, 6/29

QuoteLog, 6/29 – "Because there are three trends converging in the Middle East today. The first is this vicious Israeli-Palestinian war. The second is a population explosion in the Arab world, where virtually every Arab country has a population bubble of under-15-year-olds, who are marching toward a future where they will find a shortage of good jobs and a surplus of frustration. The third is an explosion of Arab satellite TV stations, the Internet and other private media. Basically what’s happening is that this Arab media explosion is taking images of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and beaming them to this population explosion, nurturing a rage against Israel, America and Jews in a whole new Arab generation. Of that new generation there are going to be 10 who will go to dad one day and say, ’Dad, there is a Pakistani gentleman at the door selling a suitcase nuclear bomb. He wants a check for $100,000, and I would like to personally deliver the suitcase to Tel Aviv.’ And dad is going to write the check."

Thomas Friedman, NY Times

"Power does not make you Nazi-like; if it did, America would be a Fourth Reich already and again, it’s not. No, what makes you Nazi-like is the worship of power, particularly the power to murder, especially when you don’t have it. You don’t have to commit genocide to be a Nazi; you just have to want to commit genocide. Does anyone doubt that if given the chance, there would be countless Arab groups or governments who would leap at the opportunity to wipe out all of the Jews? One need only take their word for it. Ultimately, though, by claiming that Israel is the villain in this passion play, it becomes possible to hide the truth in plain sight. When I downplayed the threat of a possible Nazi regime in America, I heard countless people saying I was akin to the Germans who ’closed their drapes’ as the Jews were rounded up. Obviously, this is as stupid as it is offensive. But there are people closing their drapes today. They’re the ones who see and hear about the things going on in the Middle East every day, but continue to hide behind silly libels against America and phrases like ’Israeli oppression.’ "

Jonah Goldberg, National Review

"Those who invested in and placed faith in Global Crossing, Enron, Tyco or WorldCom have been cheated and fooled by individuals whose selfishness seems so outsized, so huge, that it seems less human and flawed than weird and puzzling. Did they think they would get away with accounting scams forever? Did they think they’d never get caught? Do they think they’re operating in the end times and they better grab what they can now and go hide? What were they thinking? We should study who these men are-they are still all men, and still being turned in by women-and try to learn how they rationalized their actions, how they excused their decisions or ignored the consequences, how they thought about the people they were cheating. I mention this because I’ve been wondering if we are witnessing the emergence of a new pathology: White Collar Big Money Psychopath."

Peggy Noonan, Opinion Journal

"The states of the Confederacy remain the heartland of the distinct brand of American conservatism that combines Christian, market and America-first fundamentalism to a unique degree, reinforced in the South by a legacy of barely submerged racism. The rise of American conservatism has closely followed the rise in the economic fortunes of the Confederacy, together with its belief in a take-no-prisoners form of capitalism. The new Right thinkers provided the intellectual cover, providing populist slogans calling for ’freedom’, accusing all forms of government of being ’coercive’ and deriding the social contract as a cause of ’dependency’. It didn’t take long before Wall Street joined in, insisting that the companies should serve the interests of their owners first and foremost – the doctrine of maximising ’shareholder value’ – and that regulation inhibited ’enterprise’. Bit by bit, the edifice of Roosevelt’s New Deal and Johnson’s Great Society programme have been dismantled to make ’America great’ again [...] Great wealth and opportunity have been the privilege of the few. As the scandals unfold, ordinary Americans are left naturally concerned about the integrity of their pensions and the viability of their insurance companies. The structures that support ordinary peoples’ lives – free health care, quality education, guarantees of reasonable living standards in old age, sickness or unemployment, housing for the disadvantaged – that Europeans take for granted are conspicuous by their absence. Mainstream America has been told that its threadbare and neglected social contract is the price it must pay for opportunity, liberty and wealth creation. The political reaction could be fierce if the Democrats have the nous, courage and leadership to express citizens’ concerns."

Will Hutton, The Observer