Wednesday, August 8, 2007

Hillary, Hiroshima, and Hubris

Justifying mass murder

By Justin Raimondo

"The anniversary of the U.S. bombing of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is, perhaps, a good time to note that arguments rationalizing and even valorizing the use of nuclear weapons, once considered beyond the pale, are now back in fashion. Here we have yet more evidence of the Bizarro Effect, which, ever since 9/11, has stood everything – especially our traditional concept of morality – on its head, not only repealing the laws of logic and common sense but also ensconcing evil in the place of good.

Why, just the other day, U.S. presidential aspirant and sometime antiwar candidate Barack Obama was asked by a reporter if he would authorize the use of nuclear weapons against al-Qaeda. Instead of looking at the man as if he were more than half-crazy and pointedly asking to see his press credentials, Obama ruled out the possibility… or, maybe not. I'll leave it to my readers to make the call.....

There is a sinister campaign afoot to make the use of nuclear weapons, albeit miniaturized "bunker-busters," acceptable, and this, too, is part of the spreading Bizarro Effect: in a world ruled by moral inversion, the unthinkable is now being openly talked about and justified. In a further sign that the Bizarro Effect has taken over the national consciousness, Hillary refusing to rule out the possible mass killing of hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis and/or Afghans is now considered a move toward the "center," while Obama's initial moral revulsion (quickly overcome) is considered a "radical" deviation from the norm.

Ah, but don't forget: in the Bizarro World universe we slipped into after 9/11, the "norm" is the bizarre."

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