June 26, 2005: Esalen Meets the War on Terror

I read my buddy Tim's (tomorrow, today... who knows?... hey, it's Australia) post on Andrew "Goody" Jaspan, the editor of the Melbourne Age, who evidently is displeased that freed Iraq hostage Douglas Wood might be seeking vengeance on the murdering thugs who kidnapped him. (Note to Jaspan: you'd make a lousy screenwriter.)

But (big admission here) as the blogger with perhaps the longest residency in California... easily the world's epicenter of sensitivity training... I have an offer to make Mr. Wood. Sir, I will introduce you to the California Guru of Your Choice to help you deal with your "anger problem." Or failing that I'll lend you my dog-eared paperback of Hannah Arendt's The Banality of Evil (if I can find it).

As for "Goody" Jaspan, as you seem to request, I will send you a halo. Don't worry. It's adjustable - even for moral pinheads like you.

(via Glenn)

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Andrew Jaspan is the editor of the Melbourne Age. He is not a young snot nose kid who just graduated from journalism school.
Idiots like him are members of the establishment and have relatively safe jobs. We must do our best to financially harm these MSM outlets. It is about the only effective way to get their attention.

Posted by: David Thomson at June 26, 2005 10:17 AM

"The issue really is largely, speaking as I understand it, he was treated well there. He says he was fed every day, and as such to turn around and use that kind of language I think is just insensitive."

huh. "objectively" pro-fascist? some folks seem literally pro-fascist.

Posted by: frendlydude2k at June 26, 2005 10:49 AM

For a minute there I thought I had clicked over to Iowahawk by mistake.

This meshes nicely with the post on political correctness, doesn't it. Is it possible, do you suppose, to develop a case of sympathic Stockholm Syndrome? What tickles me even more is that Wood's fellow hostage cum bounty hunter (calling Dog) is a Swede. What a world.

For non-Californians who may be puzzling at the Esalen reference, this is the quintessential California psychobabylon:

They come for the intellectual freedom to consider systems of thought and feeling that lie beyond the current constraints of mainstream academia. They come to discover ancient wisdom in the motion of the body, poetry in the pulsing of the blood. They come to rediscover the miracle of self-aware consciousness. At best, they come away inspired by the precision of a desire to learn and keep on learning through all of life, and beyond.

Posted by: Kyda Sylvester at June 26, 2005 11:06 AM

"They come here to suck on a bong until the last synapse gives up the ghost."

Posted by: Rick Ballard at June 26, 2005 11:31 AM

...they come to fatten and soften themselves for the Morloc cooking pot, so that they will be flavorful and nutritious when the Great Circle of Life takes the form of the top of a salt shaker....

Posted by: Buddy Larsen at June 26, 2005 11:35 AM

That's what they said about LSD in the '60's.

Posted by: Syl at June 26, 2005 11:46 AM

What?

Wow!! Lookat the colors on that butter... Say, have you ever really looked at your hand? I mean really, really closely. It's fant... What?

Posted by: Rick Ballard at June 26, 2005 11:57 AM

What, Buddy, you've been there?!

Posted by: Kyda Sylvester at June 26, 2005 12:19 PM

Rick: omigod, that is SOOO true! i wish EVERYONE could see that too!!

Posted by: ex-democrat at June 26, 2005 12:41 PM

Well, heh heh, I was doin' research....

Posted by: Buddy Larsen at June 26, 2005 12:48 PM

"The issue really is largely, speaking as I understand it, he was treated well there. He says he was fed every day, and as such to turn around and use that kind of language I think is just insensitive."
Sorry to re-post this,but what is Andrew "Sounds a bit French" Jaspan's view on Guantanamo? Was Woods not "tortured"? I realise that he didn't have his holy book desecrated,but I am presuming he didn't want to be there,it must have been a trifle disconcerting to be held by those threatening to murder you and who have a penchant for decapitation
He also does'nt seem to have a handle on the illegality of kidnapping.

Posted by: PeterUK at June 26, 2005 1:05 PM

"They come to discover ancient wisdom in the motion of the body"

Anybody who says that has never stepped on a rake,but if they have this will be familiar

"poetry in the pulsing of the blood".

and the sheer wonder of a bandage.

Posted by: PeterUK at June 26, 2005 1:12 PM

PeterUK,

I realise that he didn't have his holy book desecrated

I believe Woods was beaten back in May. The funniest thing, though, was in the comments. Apparently McGeough (LLL Ozzie reporter) was complaining about the US standing by during Red on Red Iraqi violence. I mean, like, blowing up women and children, that's just fine insurgent self expression, but we've got to intervene whenever Iraqi's retaliate? Jeez, some of these folks are so unbelievably crazy that we need a whole new vocabulary to describe them. Somewhere in the Universe there must be a species with adequate words.

Posted by: chuck at June 26, 2005 1:18 PM

Peter, you know good and well there are two different English languages--the defined-words version, and the "wheeee!" version.

Posted by: Buddy Larsen at June 26, 2005 1:19 PM

The best to learn all those pulsing poetries and ancient wisdoms of the body is to stick your head up your behind and take a loooong look around.

Posted by: Buddy Larsen at June 26, 2005 1:23 PM

And, of course, once you've gained this "insight" (gag), you get to act like a "Butthead".

Posted by: Buddy Larsen at June 26, 2005 1:27 PM

Here's Blair's link here so the full lunacy can be contemplated.

Posted by: chuck at June 26, 2005 1:38 PM

Buddy
Not for nothing did nature put our heads as far as possible fom our behinds,keeps the brain away from the plumbing,the worg Gag is entirely appropriate here.
In this case,never been there,never done that and the T shirt is at the laundry.

Posted by: PeterUK at June 26, 2005 1:40 PM

Mr Ballard,
I know it is past the deadline but I went to a concert yesterday and whilst this is a happy piece of synchronicity,may I claim Jaspan as my cretin of the week? It is with mixed emotions that I read he is English!!!!! http://www.hwt.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,15708883%5E25717,00.html
But what a superb specimen.

Posted by: PeterUK at June 26, 2005 1:49 PM

Peter:

Ahh but the boys in Camp 4 at the Gulag Gitmo only get to play soccer or volleyball nine hours a day.

No doubt the a**holes that held the Aussie were not that accomadating. And unlike the Nazi guards at Gitmo they did not read Harry Potter to their captives.

people are such idiots.

What the hell business is it of thig guy's how the man feels?

I hear the journalist also found the fact that the Ausse said God Bless America when he was rescued to be shall we say declasse.

One man is using profanity and the other wants revenge. I would probably be doing both.

Posted by: Terrye at June 26, 2005 1:52 PM

the worg Gag... learning Klingon?

Posted by: chuck at June 26, 2005 2:01 PM

The article Tim Blair cites is so absurd that it is hard to think that it isn't something from the Onion.

As an old friend used to say, "The inmates are running the asylum."

I think it goes beyond anti-war,anti-american,appeasement,one worldism, etc. It is just plain STUPID.
And how any publication can print it is beyond my understanding.

Posted by: TedM at June 26, 2005 2:07 PM

"Worg-gag" is Klingon-Uranus for "It's dark in here!".

Posted by: Buddy Larsen at June 26, 2005 2:10 PM

Mr UK,

There you go again. Such scant regard for the rules of play make me question the advisability of remaining constant to my hope for the Hanoverian restoration.

Jaspan holds no office and is therefore disqualified from nomination within the category of Cretin of the Week. Perhaps a second category of Journo Jerk of the Week is warranted. If so, I would need to review this weeks excreta from the NYT and WaPo. I have no stomach for such an undertaking on suc a pleasant Sunday.

Posted by: Rick Ballard at June 26, 2005 2:10 PM

Now, Peter, you men know that your brains are seldom far away from the plumbing.

Posted by: Kyda Sylvester at June 26, 2005 2:21 PM

Hmmm... just wondering what the legal implications might be...

We have folks in Europe apparently donating funds to support salafist and baathist murderers.

If on considers the other hand, so to speak...]

Like I said, just wondering.

Posted by: Knucklehead at June 26, 2005 2:31 PM

Terrye,
Jaspan belongs to that class of people who simply must have an opinion on everything.To have simply said "Fair Dinkum,Good on ya Sport" would have not earned him any brownie points with his fellow reverse speakers http://www.darkecho.com/skepticalbeliever/reverse.html
Jaspan would probably prefered Wood to have called them "Bastards" whilst they decapitated him,just not celebrating the diversity of the culture of others.
Essentially, people are not a reality to the Jaspanians of this world,people are simply an artifact to be used

Posted by: PeterUK at June 26, 2005 2:33 PM

From another link at Tim Blair's, here's an entertaining as hell interview with someone who could teach Goody Jaspan a few things.

Posted by: Kyda Sylvester at June 26, 2005 2:35 PM

Terrye,

the boys in Camp 4 at the Gulag Gitmo only get to play soccer or volleyball nine hours a day.

Talk about torture! That just ain't cricket.

Posted by: Knucklehead at June 26, 2005 2:36 PM

I can type, I can, really.

Posted by: Knucklehead at June 26, 2005 2:37 PM

Kyda,

It is our minds that are never far from the plumbing and it is not our own plumbing our minds are never far from. Very different thing.

Posted by: Knucklehead at June 26, 2005 2:38 PM

Chuck,
The onomatopoeic word Gag means that sensation one gets just prior to throwing up, As in "The thought of Michael Moore in his underwear, looking like 500 pounds of condemned veal, makes me gag".

Posted by: PeterUK at June 26, 2005 2:42 PM

Mr Ballard,
I am quite willing to stand by the rules,but Jaspan is such a magnificent specimen of cretin we cannot let this go unmarked.

Posted by: PeterUK at June 26, 2005 2:45 PM

Ha! brain/mind, potato/potatoe--we women know which organ does the thinking. That's why, although it may not be evident to the casual male observer, women in fact rule the world.

Posted by: Kyda Sylvester at June 26, 2005 2:46 PM

TedM,

The target audience of the Melbourne Age is far to the left. How could they possibly determine just how stupid Jaspan truly is? It is quite possible that Jaspan is much more intelligent than the vast majority of his readers and is considered by them to be the intellectual light of Australia.

If one reads a bit of Katrina Vanderdrivel at the Nation one might be left wondering if "stupid" within the context of the left can have any meaning at all. Within that particular subset perhaps "normal" is the more appropriate comparative term of intelligence.

Posted by: Rick Ballard at June 26, 2005 2:51 PM

Team America covered all the angles on plumbing and distances--but do NOT read it in script form--it's exremely xxx rude (but really funny in the film, I hate to admit).

Posted by: Buddy Larsen at June 26, 2005 2:54 PM

Katinkle Vanderdribble?

Posted by: Buddy Larsen at June 26, 2005 2:56 PM

Kyda,
It doesn't do all the thinking,it just grabs the controls every so often.

Posted by: PeterUK at June 26, 2005 3:04 PM

"The thought of Michael Moore in his underwear, looking like 500 pounds of condemned veal, makes me gag".

God, Peter, don't do that. I used to like veal.

Re, people as objects. More like invisible and disposable servants who magically provide their needs. I was thinking about this while reading this bit over at powerline:

In a post-performance conversation with 3 prominent DFL activists, they all agreed that 1) America had it coming 2) much of the rest of the world cheered the attacks and that was not a bad thing; 3) the attack was purely a "criminal" matter that required the issuing of indictments, but surely not a war, and finally and most horrifically, a direct quote, "At least we got rid of Barbara Olson."

These folks feel immortal. They are not citizens of the US, rather denizens of some priviledged sphere from which they can observe and comment on the poor mortals toiling below. Like the petulant Greek Gods in some cheap Hollywood film from the 50's.

Posted by: chuck at June 26, 2005 3:05 PM

Then the brain takes over again and we go to the pub.

Posted by: PeterUK at June 26, 2005 3:05 PM

It doesn't do all the thinking,it just grabs the controls every so often.

It is sort of every guy's personal Kamikazi pilot.

Posted by: chuck at June 26, 2005 3:08 PM

Chuck,
Just that sometimes when you get control again,you have a wife, two kids, a day job and a mortgage,you have sold the Porsche and drive around in a pickup truck.
These things should come with a health warning.

Posted by: PeterUK at June 26, 2005 3:23 PM

Yes, that's exactly what I mean.

Posted by: Kyda Sylvester at June 26, 2005 3:25 PM

I am forced to conclude that in the world of Mr. Jaspan slavery is A-OK as long as the slaves are fed 3 times a day and beaten only on occasion. Perhaps this explains why Mr. Jaspan and his fellow travelers remain silent on the subject of modern day slavery: they accept the practice, but they know that one should not really admit it in public.

Posted by: Katherine at June 26, 2005 3:34 PM

Exactly, Peter,

Mother Nature knows that some things are too important to be left to rational thought, so She has build in a few convenient overrides and infiltrated Her moles; they take control at the most inconvenient moments, but I have faith that there is a larger purpose. We are just a means to an end.

Posted by: chuck at June 26, 2005 3:38 PM

Katherine,
They have domestic staff.

Posted by: PeterUK at June 26, 2005 3:39 PM

...they accept the practice, but they know that one should not really admit it in public.

Oh, Katherine, you are far too generous. I don't think they really care.

Posted by: chuck at June 26, 2005 3:40 PM

Chuck
As opposed to an end for a means.

Posted by: PeterUK at June 26, 2005 3:41 PM

Like the petulant Greek Gods in some cheap Hollywood film from the 50's.

Or Star Trek episode 33.

Posted by: Kyda Sylvester at June 26, 2005 3:45 PM

OT:

This past week Dana Milbank's name has been in various blogs a LOT so I've run into this more than usual. Which leads me to say...

Dana Milbank is female.

(I've seen her on tv.)

Hope that clears up the gender problem many (including me) have with that name.

Posted by: Syl at June 26, 2005 4:03 PM

Wow, does she look butch. If she were a man I might say deep metroconfused.

Posted by: Rick Ballard at June 26, 2005 4:09 PM

Rick, a wereman perhaps?

Posted by: chuck at June 26, 2005 4:17 PM

“They have domestic staff”

Whom they treat as slaves?

Posted by: Katherine at June 26, 2005 4:19 PM

I think she looks like a petulant Greek worg-gag.

Posted by: Buddy Larsen at June 26, 2005 4:20 PM

Chuck,

There definitely is a female Dana who has been getting some screen time but I can't remember her last name. I think she's been on Fox.

Posted by: Rick Ballard at June 26, 2005 4:21 PM

Katherine,

As far as Jaspan is concerned, we're all in training to become "domestic staff". We just need a little re-ed and, of course, history must end.

I sure hope Mr. Wood gets to show Jaspan his new cricket bat. Even if only for a few minutes.

Posted by: Rick Ballard at June 26, 2005 4:26 PM

Rick,

Here's the picture of Dana with a bit more information. Definitely a wereDude.

Posted by: chuck at June 26, 2005 4:26 PM

Yeah, Milbank, though he might better be classified as "girlyman" (or, better, the en vogue "hybridman"), is definitely a man. Perhaps Syl saw "her" in drag (a man's gotta explore his feminine side). Or maybe there's a whole other Dana Milbank out there--now there's a thought.

Posted by: Kyda Sylvester at June 26, 2005 4:28 PM

Is this her, Rick?

Posted by: Buddy Larsen at June 26, 2005 4:30 PM

Katherine,
Many of the third world girls employed as nannies etc are so poorly paid that they are the next best thing to slaves.Some domestic help,even in Europe, are actually slaves because they are illegals and either accept the working conditions or get deported.
Many of those smuggled in end up working in sweat shops,one group of chinese IIRC were drowned working for a gang boss on a mussel bed, in Britain!

Posted by: PeterUK at June 26, 2005 4:33 PM

Peter,

I always thought that I am not rich enough to be a leftist.

Posted by: Katherine at June 26, 2005 5:25 PM

Katherine
Isn't it all part of the strange inversion that has occurred,terrorists are victims,victims are insensitive,villains are heroes,heroes are villains,the socialists are multi-millionaires,progressives are reactionaries and conservatives are revolutionaries.
It's good that this site has its own team of psychiatrists.

Posted by: PeterUK at June 26, 2005 6:05 PM

Oh well. :)

I thought I saw 'her' on C-SPAN a couple weeks ago. At least the blurb advertised Dana Milbank as being the 'moderator' on some booktv thing. Guess there was a last minute change.

My bad.

My really bad.

My really really bad.

LOL

Posted by: Syl at June 26, 2005 6:07 PM

ot, but hilarious, no?: http://iraqwarwrong.blogspot.com/2005/06/ribbon-2.html#comments

Posted by: ex-democrat at June 26, 2005 6:31 PM

Peter,

Your own excellent Mr. Orwell predicted this trend long time ago.

Posted by: Katherine at June 26, 2005 6:32 PM

Katherine,
What surprises me is that some enterprising presenter hasn't changed their name to Itsa Quagmire,
"And now we hand you over from the studios to Itsa Quagmire in Iraq".

But it isn't simply "Newspeak" it is a belief system,whilst some may be faking it for social reasonss,some actually believe all this tosh.The Prime Ministers wife a QC said she could "Understand the despair that drove people to become suicide bombers". Sorry, but she can't, there is nothing in her life that would give her that experience.The same woman expects freebies wherever she goes.

Posted by: PeterUK at June 26, 2005 6:51 PM

Perhaps Dana Milbank was trapped with the woman on C-Span in some weird life-entity transfer much like Capt. Kirk in Star Trek episode 79

Posted by: Kyda Sylvester at June 26, 2005 7:11 PM

Peter,

I have difficulty in believing that the number of people who truly believe the crap they spew can be very large. I keep scratching my head when I read others here posting of concerns about a slide into violence. As far as I have been able to tell, the overwhelming majority of these wankers could have their picture next to the definition of poseur and it would fit perfectly.

There is absolutely no penalty for being an outright liar/prefabricator/sensationalist or seditionist at this time. I've noted several commenters here who seem a bit dispirited at the moment and I believe that the fact that there is no penalty whatsoever for telling outrageous lies and making outrageous fabrications, allegations and assertions may be the cause of it. Perhaps I have been able to maintain my equanimity because I see nothing new in the current situation. The jabbering jackasses are a bit noisier than usual but they are no greater liars today than they were five years ago.

To those feeling a bit discouraged I would say that calling a spade a spade does offer some satisfaction. Those that can be reasoned with among the liars are few and far between and trying to cheer them up by being kind only encourages additional deceit.

Cross the aisle only when necessary to gain a better grip on a neck.

Posted by: Rick Ballard at June 26, 2005 7:21 PM

Peter,

I suspect that there are very few leftists who recognize honest propaganda for propaganda. For the rest it is a belief system as you say, critically important for their feeling of self worth. Like most of the trolls who drop here, they are not interested in honest debate of issues, but only sticking it to the Neanderthal “conservatives”, whatever this label means these days feeling all superior about it.

It is a great pity that Cherie who cry crocodile tears over suicide bombers, has no emotion to spare to, say, all the women mutilated, raped and killed for “dishonoring” their Muslim families, or murdered babies of the Enemies of People in North Korea, or all the others real victims out there whose suffering cannot be attributed directly to the doings of the Great Satan and her Little Helpers.

Indirectly, as we know, it is All Our Fault.

Posted by: Katherine at June 26, 2005 7:37 PM

rick - see, e.g. the recent congressional visitors to Gitmo. that those who make promiscuous allegations are not then punished somehow when their falsity is finally shown, has bothered me for a very long time.

Posted by: ex-democrat at June 26, 2005 7:38 PM

Rick,

I disagree. I think they truly do believe it because it defines their own sense of self worth. I know number of individuals (including some in my own family, alas) who retain the belief that Communism was a superior political and economical system and that life was actually better under Communist rule, despite all the evidence of their own eyes, including their own personal situation. To acknowledge the reality would be to deny lifelong commitment to a particular worldview and consequently to realize that they served – even indirectly – an evil cause. For most people it would be too difficult to bear, so they invent excuses, twist the facts and in general create their own reality that they find psychologically comfortable.

Posted by: Katherine at June 26, 2005 7:50 PM

Ex, the profigate rhetoric DOES come back to them--but, well, if ya feel no shame, and your constituency is egging you on for more, then where's the restraint gonna come from? I agree with Lileks that most people would also feel better if the skies parted, an angel descended, and smote them with a terrible flaming sword.

Posted by: Buddy Larsen at June 26, 2005 7:53 PM

Katherine

I know number of individuals (including some in my own family, alas) who retain the belief that Communism was a superior political and economical system and that life was actually better under Communist rule, despite all the evidence of their own eyes, including their own personal situation...

Ah, Katherine, when I hear you talking like this my thoughts turn again to crawl spaces and fine wines...

;-)

But seriously, aren't we really talking here about more and more pathological levels of cognitive dissonance?

Jamie Irons

Posted by: Jamie Irons at June 26, 2005 8:05 PM

Whilst there is obviously a mixture of viewpoints, I do know that one has to be careful with ones friends if there are not to be constant nasty little brushfires breaking out all the time.These are honestly held beliefs one has to contend with.I have learned not to let conversations get out of hand by slipping the odd fact in here and there.
With those who are not friends,the jugular is my main target,drive off their cattle, burn down their ranch and sell their childre to a good school.

Posted by: PeterUK at June 26, 2005 8:24 PM

Katherine & Jamie,

I don't disagree that such people as Katherine describes exist and I certainly agree that cognitive dissonance has reached pathological levels with some of them but do both of you believe that such conditions account for the majority of the people lying as regularly as they are breathing? Even assuming that what you are suggesting is true for the majority of the liars - isn't not calling them on their lies simply reinforcing a pathological condition?

Posted by: Rick Ballard at June 26, 2005 8:27 PM

You're still nicer, Peter--they want to drive off your children, burn up your cattle, and sell your ranch to a good government.

Posted by: Buddy Larsen at June 26, 2005 8:29 PM

Rick,

Katherine was talking about family (among others) and I was thinking about friends.

With both these groups it's often, at best, awkward -- and all too often it is impossible -- to confront the "faulty cognitions."

Just tonight I was invited to a poetry reading at Cody's Bookstore in Berkeley (with a party afterward) of some old friends from the eighties and nineties; I opted not to go, because I knew I would just be made angry by the careless, Bush-hating conversations, and I preferred to keep my friends, even if at a distance.

Jamie Irons

Posted by: Jamie Irons at June 26, 2005 8:34 PM

Put another way:

We have a set of liars X.

What percentage are lying as a means of dealing with pathological cognitive dissonance?

What percentage are poseurs lying to advance a cause they could not even explain?

What percentage are lying for other reasons?

My split would be 10-80-10.

Posted by: Rick Ballard at June 26, 2005 8:35 PM

I forgot - by lying I am not talking about an interpretation of accepted facts - a POV. I'm talking about the type of outright idiocy that Jaspan is practicing where the comparative is oranges and steamrollers.

Posted by: Rick Ballard at June 26, 2005 8:40 PM

I've noticed something odd over the past few years--the three big Labradors whose pet I am do not like people who do not like GWB, and do like people who do like GWB. This is so odd.

Posted by: Buddy Larsen at June 26, 2005 8:54 PM

As far as I know, the dogs do not keep up with politics and have no particular views on the subject--so there is something else going on.

Posted by: Buddy Larsen at June 26, 2005 8:57 PM

I'd like to add a fourth category if I may. Those who are woefully ignorant of the seriousness of the trials that we face, or of the dangers that confront their very existence. Other that BDS, just a view that its still the 60's, 70's and if everyone would just give 'peace a chance' all would be well. In other words nothing changed on 9/11, it is still 9/10.

Posted by: Luther McLeod at June 26, 2005 9:20 PM

Buddy--

The three cats who own me are the same way-- I used to think it had something to do with their sensing that the Bushes have cats, but maybe there's something else at work. (The cats don't like pro-PETA people, either).

Posted by: Connecticut Yankee at June 26, 2005 9:26 PM

Connecticut Yankee--it's really pretty creepy when you think about it. Puts one in mind of something deeper that we've yet acknowledged. I would say something like a millennial sorting-out, but the implications are far more than my sanity can tolerate. :-) But in fact critters do sense and respond to a vibe of some kind, and if it's not from the Book of Revelations then it's probably a result of little hostility "tells" in body language.

Posted by: Buddy Larsen at June 26, 2005 9:43 PM

Rick,

Is it possible that the largest number are poseurs lying to advance a cause they could not even explain as a means of dealing with pathological cognitive dissonance? :-)

It seems incomprehensible, but in today’s modern world with all the information available for anybody who is interested, there are people who are willing to kill their fellow citizens for the greater glory of their god. And I am not talking about the ignorant suicide bombers from the poisonous environment of West Bank, but our own homeboys from Lodi, CA. So I conclude that psychological conditions that can lead Americans to terrorist training camp in Pakistan allow others to remain faithful adherents of the Gospel of Chomsky.

Posted by: Katherine at June 26, 2005 11:26 PM

This would seem to be a good epilogue for this thread.Mr Wood witnessed his fellow captives being murdered,Via LGF.http://www.washingtontimes.com/upi/20050627-041243-4862r.htm

Posted by: PeterUK at June 27, 2005 3:39 PM

Roger, perhaps the reason you can't find your copy of Arendt's The Banality of Evil is because there's no such book. As most people know, Arendt used that phrase in Eichmann in Jerusalem.

If you're going to pretend you've read something, at least get the title right; it's more convincing that way.

Posted by: Herb at June 27, 2005 10:18 PM

Thanks, Herb, for your generously offered correction. You are even (sort of ) correct. The full title is "Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil".

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0140187650/002-9795210-9900812?v=glance

Posted by: Roger at June 27, 2005 10:42 PM

Heh...way to go, Roger. Herb could've been helpful, but he had to go for superior--and got made "inferior". Ha ha ha.

Posted by: Buddy Larsen at June 28, 2005 5:22 PM

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