Who's Your Daddy, Now? (Why Berg Got Whacked)

Vanity ^ | 12 May 2004 | .cnI redruM

[.cnI redruM]

The Roman Emperor Domitian ruled with an iron hand. He beat down all opposition and brutalized his enemies with an 'aw shucks' grin on his face. His trademark slogan was 'Oderint dum metuent' which can be loosely translated to 'Let them hate me as long as they fear me.'

He made this statement after his son Titus put Jerusalem to the torch and a very large number of its inhabitants to the gladius. It was Domitian's way of saying that he practised terrorism for the simple reason that it worked.

It worked in the 1st Century AD and it works like a charm today. When Al Quaida told it's fixers to shorten Nicholas Berg by a head, they claimed anger as their motive. This propaganda belies the realpolitik behind this act of primevil butchery.

Al Quaida butchered Berg for the same reason that pimps slap their hookers. There were a few Americans out there that just didn't seem obsequious enough over the prison abuse scandal and it was time for Al Quaida to administer discipline.

The thugs who shot Berg wanted Edward Kennedy, John F. Kerry and every member of the appeasement establishment to see what they were capable of and take another shot of cowardice. They need to make sure Rep Murtha loadly decries the unwinnability of Iraq from the top of the towers (the one's still standing at least). This is their way of running a campaign add on behalf of Mr. Kerry.

Yes, they tell America to come home. It's time to allow our national testicles to retract back up into the abdominal cavity of out body politic. Just retreat back across the ocean because we lack the spirit to handle the likes of Al Quaida.

Terrorism, for the likes of Al Quaida, is a very straightforward form of campaign speech. it tells Howard Dean and those of his despicable ilk, the extent to which they will allow America to operate. It's the Arab method of sending a message or as Nate Dawg would say "Time to regulate."

The terrorists are no more angry at us after Abu Ghraib than they were before. The beheading of Nichalos Berg was a chess move to them. A diplomatic communique. The cowards among us heard it loud and clear.

Al Quaida has succeeded well at Mau-Mauing a gathering of weak and effeminate flak-catchers. The incident asks us all a simple and contemptuous question. "Who's your Daddy?"

[.cnI redruM]

Why Berg got assassinated, IMHO.

[George Smiley]

at Mau-Mauing a gathering of weak and effeminate flak-catcher.

The reference is to Tom Wolfe's "Radical Chic and Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers" which is a marvelous exposition on the idiotic posturing of cosmopolitan liberals and government bureaucrats which frequently took place in the late Sixties.

One of the two best Wolfe books ever written.

The other is "The Painted Word", an essay on how most modern art is, essentially, a scam.

[Jaxter]

I think Ann Coulter said it best:

"If the Democrats aren't on Al Qaida's payroll they're getting gypped."

[SunStar]

An interesting analysis. It will be interesting to see who Americans will choose as their "Daddy" in November.

[SedVictaCatoni]

Titus was the elder brother of Domitian, not his son.

[Conspiracy Guy]

Fairly accurate assessment.

[GOP_1900AD]

And you know others who reside in the camp of the anti Western assemblage are watching our behavior keenly. What we decide to do (or God forbid, not do) now will haunt us in all corners of the world.

[cvq3842]

Sad, but true.

[.cnI redruM]

Thank you, I stand corrected. Now that I think on it, Vespasian was their father...

[nina0113]

Nitpicking a tad, but Domitian was Titus' younger brother. Titus' father was most commonly known as the Emperor Vespasian (full name Titus Flavius Vespasianus). He's the one who built the Coliseum.

[CJ Wolf]

except that his head was cut off instead of "shot"

[Glenn]

Titus was the elder brother of Domitian, not his son.

I'm ever-amazed at the knowledge of Freepers.

[the Real fifi]

Well, if that is true--and I don't think so--I think they did it because Zarqawi is a desperate psychopathic AQ with strong ties to Iran and both he and his paymasters are in trouble--they miscalculated. I think this barbaric act just pulled out the rug from the liberal brayers on the Hill and in the press. The public outrage at Zarqawi and the Dems is so thick you can cut it with even AQ'a dull knife.

[stainlessbanner]

The terrorists are no more angry at us after Abu Ghraib than they were before

They would have found another reason to self-justify their terror acts.

[.cnI redruM]

Yes, point well taken as per post #9. Sometimes those who make pretentious historical references feed upon crow for their lunches if they miss a fact or two.

[akorahil]

Wasn't he also responsible for the phrase "pecunia non olet"- Money has no smell?

[Conspiracy Guy]

Lost me there. Please turn the light on for me.

[Agnes Heep]

He made this statement after his son Titus put Jerusalem to the torch and a very large number of its inhabitants to the gladius.

"He" would have been Vespasian, not Domitian, who was Titus's younger brother. By all accounts, Vespasian ruled moderately and well, with fiscal discipline and personal self-control. Titus, during his brief reign, was evidently beloved by all. Domitian, however, was a different story.