A Letter to the Terrorists, From London

*claps*

I do actually want to go to the pub, but i'm still waiting on hearing from a few ppl.

But we stand UNITED! cos we are the United Kingdom

A Beer sounds good right now in honor of our brothers & sisters across the pond *raises my mug* and a hearty fark you to the cowards who don't understand either of our societies or individual resolve.

The most annoying thing about terrorism is that it offers leverage for corrupt governments to gain more power. It spreads a sense of knee-jerk defensive nationalism and unity,and it shakes the bee hive into an angry swarm (where workers were previously going about their business making honey and raising their young).

How does that help "the cause?"

Too cynical.People are hurting.

This certainly didn't happen in Spain after the horrific Madrid bombing, and I can't see it happen here in the UK. Londoners are pulling together to support each other not a government, country or a 'politcal' cause.

on the way home tonight I am going to get me some Mead and drink some in to the UK and it's people. We in the US are with you!

Didja get to hear/read the statements from London's Mayor? He came close to one-upping Bush's "I can hear you" speach at the Towers site. Great words at the right time, kudos Mayor Ken Livingstone.

And Willow: You all are standing together because you have class, loyalty to each other, and respect and love for your land. Unlike the buttpipes out there who see this horrible event as an opportunity to spout their way, waaaaay tired anti-west, anti-capitalism, and anti-war diatribes...

Trying to score political points right now is just plain wrong.

For BOTH sides.

Yes!

Insight is worth a thousand condolences.

~Ulrika~

I dunno if the BOTH was meant for me, if so..it's cool. Just know I would have busted a right leaning poster for using this situation as a soapbox just as I do/did the left leaning ones. But, no right leaning posters (that I've seen, yet) have shown the lack of class to spew their rhetoric on threads dedicated to the London bombings...If they do, I'll snap at them just as vigorously.

I was going to reply that the worst thing about this was that innocent people have been murdered. The reaction to it (and I'll admit reactions can be too extreme, as for recent reaction in recent cases, that's a whole 'nother issue) is far down on the badness list. BUT, if you are using "annoying" in a more limited context as opposed to meaning general badness, then fair enough.

Fair enough.

I don't understand "general badness."

Innocent people being murdered is definitely an unfortunate thing, but when the event is used to gain leverage by people in power to further their own agendas, many more innocent people can be adversely affected in the future than those in the inciting incident.



Grieving is an important process after any loss. One of the ways to overcome that sense of loss is to try to get back what we feel is owed. The progression I've noticed in the past is usually to start by stealing away the validity of those (who have caused us loss) to exist. Branding them as the "other" (usually beginning by calling them cowards, homosexuals, or other processes of demonization) allows us to feel that we are on the moral high ground and helps us pull ourselves out of our grief and get a better view of our real or perceived losses. All of this seems very natural and I have no problem with people calling anyone else a bunch of cowards or queers because that's just anger speaking-- it's just what people need to tell themselves so they can heal (for example, people who pilot a plane into a building to be rewarded in heaven with a hundred virgin brides are probably neither cowards nor homosexuals but they were and still are often referred to as such).

The "cynical" (realistic) aspect is that people will still feel loss after the grieving has subsided. The same power players who have an agenda before the loss will still have their agendas after the loss and said loss gives them new leverage to push that agenda. Even if Britain doesn't push any new agendas forth, that doesn't mean their good buddies who "feel their loss" won't use the tragedy as another justification for their PAST and FUTURE agendas (whether they be war-like, legal, political, or religious). I'm sure at the least that those political figures who mourn the best will be rewarded with a future place in the hearts of their constituents. Human beings are not so complex. I doubt being from another country makes a huge difference. The difference will be in the scale (and thusly, the manner) of the opportunistic responses.

This leads me back to my conclusion- Terrorism like this doesn't make any sense. It only makes the terrorists' enemies stronger.

I didn't mean to offend you, but what I said is valid. I can afford to be blunt because I have no one to mourn and feel no loss. If the timing isn't suitable to your tastes, then oops (nurturance and tranquility are some of my lowest scores on personality profiles, so it goes). Just don't be outraged later when the opportunists have their time or I'll tell you, "I told ya so."

I asked the Magic 8-Ball: "Will Bush try something?"

Answer: "Without a doubt."

Came close? Bush's speech was such an abyssmal piece of oratory that I cried for our nation again when I heard it. Divorced from the emotional energy of the tragedy which had just occurred, the speech is so utterly laughable that it might have been written by a 7 year old child attending a summer learning conference on speech-writing. I've heard better oration at the Thanksgiving table, even after that special time of total inebriation which traditionally accompanies the inevitable Lions defeat.

Quite frankly, Bush's speech failed on so many levels. It didn't unite the community, it divided it based upon religious grounds ("...America today is on bended knee in prayer..." and "God bless America" while appealing to the retaliatory jingoist faction ("The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon.". It was a crude speech which appealed to very primal emotions in people who had been shaken by tragedy. It was a piece of shoddy oration which exploited the tragedy to shore up its own rhetorical inadequacies.

By contrast, Mr Livingstone's response was exquisitely written. No offense meant to you, Xtopherxaos. You piqued my ire with your comments about Bush's speech. I don't consider his speech to be well-written in any sense of the word. It may very well have appealed to you. But I am a heartless beast unswayed by emotion and from a purely rhetorical point of view, I thought it was an abominable speech.

You might like this article, Ardith:
http://www.factcheck.org/article334.html

And I agree; I've (mostly) liked what has been said in the light of this tragic event.

The only thing that gets my back up is the fact (yes, fact) that we are going to see politicians all over this issue.

Like Terry Schiavo before, human lives should never a frivilous political gain make.

The reason we are going to see politicians all over this issue is because it is their JOB to be all over issues like these.

For all the British players, we're behind you all the way. I loved that little piece this thread pointed to. It says it all.

coco

There's a big difference between doing one's job and just being an emotional vulture, Coco. I'm just waiting for you-know-who to do that.

I'd probably make a poor polician, purely because I have morals.

Nah, you just haven't figured out your price range yet

Insert lobbyist here.

now, i understand that the people of London are hurting and are not the same entity as their government, but this stood out to me in the Letter to Terrorists:



umm.. not quite. they have troops in Iraq as well. their military is just as bloody-handed as ours in America. the troops themselves may just be following orders and all that, but that doesn't excuse the fact that innocents are dying in Iraq as well as London, America and many other places around the world.

you may also find this interesting:

Blair planned Iraq war from start (from May 1st)

it's a sad world our governments have forced us to live in. can i just download myself into SL now and be done with it? i'd rather deal with griefers anyday compared to the violence that human nature cultivates when in the hands of Colgate-smiling, power-hungry leaders and blood-lusting "terrorists".

Gotta love product placement.

i'm guessing you're talking about the "Colgate-smiling" part? or both that and SL?

either way.. "Colgate-smiling" is better than "toothpaste whitened smiling", no? lol..

and if SL is included in that.. i'm serious. if i could just live in SL someday instead of dealing with RL politics and violence.. well, call me crazy (some do.. heheh), but it sounds better to me!