Posted on 07/28/2006 7:43:35 PM PDT by parousia
Vocabulary of Untruth Words take on new meanings as Israel fights to survive.
A “ceasefire” Hezbollah gives back kidnapped Israelis stops launching missiles;
“Civilians” in Lebanon have munitions in their basements and wish to draw fire; in Israel they are in bunkers to avoid it. Israel uses precision weapons to avoid hitting them; Hezbollah sends random missiles into Israel.
“Collateral damage” refers mostly to casualties among Hezbollah’s human shields; never used to describe civilian deaths inside Israel.
“Cycle of Violence” Caused by those who are attacked, but are not supposed to win.
“Deliberate” the accuracy of Israeli bombs hitting their targets; never refers to Hezbollah rockets meant to destroy anything.
“Disproportionate” means that the Hezbollah aggressors whose primitive rockets can’t kill very many Israeli civilians are losing, while the Israelis’ sophisticated response is deadly against the combatants themselves.
“excessive,” Hezbollah is losing.
“Innocent” Lebanese who aid the stockpiling of rockets or live next to those who do. Rarely refers to Israelis under attack.
“militants” of Hezbollah don’t wear uniforms
“Multinational force,” “third-world mercenaries who sympathize with Hezbollah.”
“Peacekeepers” keep no peace, but side with the less Western of the belligerents.
“Shocked” is used, first, by diplomats who really are not; and, second, only evoked against the response of Israel, never the attack of Hezbollah.
“United Nations Action” refers to an action that Russia or China would not veto.
What explains this distortion of language? A lot.
The need for Middle Eastern oil. Take that away, and the war would receive the same scant attention as bloodletting in central Africa.
The fear of Islamic terrorism. If the Middle East were Buddhist, the world would care about Lebanon as little as about occupied Tibet.
Anti-Semitism? If Russia or France were shelled by neighbors, Putin and Chirac would be threatening nuclear retaliation.
(Excerpt) Read more at article.nationalreview.com ...
Because (and it's an imperfect analogy, but so are all analogies) Israel is the closest thing to a nation of Conservatives there is.
This is exactly it. And the USA is hated for the same reason.
NEIGHBORHOOD BULLY
By Bob Dylan
(well worth the 99 cents at iTunes)
Well, the neighborhood bully, he's just one man,
His enemies say he's on their land.
They got him outnumbered about a million to one,
He got no place to escape to, no place to run.
He's the neighborhood bully.
The neighborhood bully just lives to survive,
He's criticized and condemned for being alive.
He's not supposed to fight back, he's supposed to have thick skin,
He's supposed to lay down and die when his door is kicked in.
He's the neighborhood bully.
The neighborhood bully been driven out of every land,
He's wandered the earth an exiled man.
Seen his family scattered, his people hounded and torn,
He's always on trial for just being born.
He's the neighborhood bully.
Well, he knocked out a lynch mob, he was criticized,
Old women condemned him, said he should apologize.
Then he destroyed a bomb factory, nobody was glad.
The bombs were meant for him.
He was supposed to feel bad.
He's the neighborhood bully.
Well, the chances are against it and the odds are slim
That he'll live by the rules that the world makes for him,
'Cause there's a noose at his neck and a gun at his back
And a license to kill him is given out to every maniac.
He's the neighborhood bully.
He got no allies to really speak of.
What he gets he must pay for, he don't get it out of love.
He buys obsolete weapons and he won't be denied
But no one sends flesh and blood to fight by his side.
He's the neighborhood bully.
Well, he's surrounded by pacifists who all want peace,
They pray for it nightly that the bloodshed must cease.
Now, they wouldn't hurt a fly.
To hurt one they would weep.
They lay and they wait for this bully to fall asleep.
He's the neighborhood bully.
Every empire that's enslaved him is gone,
Egypt and Rome, even the great Babylon.
He's made a garden of paradise in the desert sand,
In bed with nobody, under no one's command.
He's the neighborhood bully.
Now his holiest books have been trampled upon,
No contract he signed was worth what it was written on.
He took the crumbs of the world and he turned it into wealth,
Took sickness and disease and he turned it into health.
He's the neighborhood bully.
What's anybody indebted to him for?
Nothin', they say.
He just likes to cause war.
Pride and prejudice and superstition indeed,
They wait for this bully like a dog waits to feed.
He's the neighborhood bully.
What has he done to wear so many scars?
Does he change the course of rivers?
Does he pollute the moon and stars?
Neighborhood bully, standing on the hill,
Running out the clock, time standing still,
Neighborhood bully.
Hansen is great. I've been saying pretty much the same thing for a long time, but it takes someone with some talent to put it into print.
What do you call 2 toddlers and some duct tape??
Nailed it ping
muslim body armor!!
oops you already pinged it.
The War of the Words
"Make them like tumbleweed, O my God, like chaff before the wind. As fire consumes the forest or a flame sets the mountains ablaze, so pursue them with Your tempest and terrify them with Your storm. Cover their faces with shame so that men will seek Your name, O YHVH."
"May they ever be ashamed and dismayed; may they perish in disgrace. Let them know that You, whose name is YHVH--that You alone are the Most High over all the earth."
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.