# If you disagree with someone, call them a terrorist **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 25, 2003, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-disagree-with-someone-call-them-a-terrorist/163997 "2003-03-25T10:56:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2003, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-disagree-with-someone-call-them-a-terrorist/163997/1 "2003-03-25T10:56:58Z")
The word “terrorist” seems to be creeping into the media and certain [legislatures](http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/104851067375062.xml) to denote anything that makes people feel uncomfortable. The tokenization of this word is rather disturbing to me. Terrorism, while always ghastly, comes in varying degrees of horror. There are individual terrorists, there are tightly politically controlled terrorists, there are global terrorists, there are anarchic terrorists. And, nasty though it seems, some terrorists are worse than others. But the word seems to have lost any nuance. Indeed in many cases it has become a brush with which to tar not only the real perpetrators of terrorism, but anyway with whom one disagrees. It’s like McCarthy and his splattergun of “Communist! Communist!”. And the worst example I’ve seen of this habit so far is [this fucking travesty](http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/29889.html): > [@](#): > > Displeased by a piece on him in the New Yorker by veteran journalist Seymour Hersh, Perle moderately told CNN: “Look, Sy Hersh is the closest thing American journalism has to a terrorist, frankly.” What kind of newspeak is this? Can someone please tell me how this frankly scary individual Perle has become so influential in the US administration? I know he’s a big mouth at [Project for the New American Century](http://www.newamericancentury.org). Is that why? How much influcence does a fucksock like this actually have over the Prez? ---
**Author:** ![Kal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Kal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kal)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2003, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-disagree-with-someone-call-them-a-terrorist/163997/2 "2003-03-25T11:25:17Z")
**jjimm** : He couldn’t call him a Communist because it’s too old hat. Un-American, while still pretty popular, has a somewhat retro feel. Terrorist is still nice and shiny , it’s so New Millenium. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2003, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-disagree-with-someone-call-them-a-terrorist/163997/3 "2003-03-25T11:30:06Z")
It pretty old where we live 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Kal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Kal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kal)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2003, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-disagree-with-someone-call-them-a-terrorist/163997/4 "2003-03-25T11:33:08Z")
Feckin’ Communist. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2003, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-disagree-with-someone-call-them-a-terrorist/163997/5 "2003-03-25T11:34:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kal \* > \*\*Feckin’ Communist. \*\* Anyone who calls me a commie is a terrorist. ---
**Author:** ![Kal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Kal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kal)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2003, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-disagree-with-someone-call-them-a-terrorist/163997/6 "2003-03-25T11:38:47Z")
I was calling **yojimbo** a Commie. It would be more correct to call him Un-American though, what with him being Irish and everything. ---
**Author:** ![Earthworm\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f07891/32.png) [@Earthworm\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthworm_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2003, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-disagree-with-someone-call-them-a-terrorist/163997/7 "2003-03-25T12:26:29Z")
If you can’t call some one a terrorist, then the terrorists will have won. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2003, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-disagree-with-someone-call-them-a-terrorist/163997/8 "2003-03-25T14:08:56Z")
**Kal** the starnge thing is some people would take what you said to me as an insult 😉 As for that prick Perle he’s on Newsnight almost every second night and turms up on lots of other news progs on UK TV. Hell he was even spouting his bile about the UN on Primetime on Irish RTE the other night. If he’s not that important he sure gives the impression he is. > **[Iraq war architect in Global Crossing conflict of interest](https://www.theregister.com/2003/03/24/iraq_war_architect_in_global/)** > > Perle paid to persuade... ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2003, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-disagree-with-someone-call-them-a-terrorist/163997/9 "2003-03-25T14:33:16Z")
Only a terrorist would start a thread like this. ---
**Author:** ![december](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@december](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/december)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2003, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-disagree-with-someone-call-them-a-terrorist/163997/10 "2003-03-25T14:37:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jjimm \* > \*\* Can someone please tell me how this frankly scary individual Perle has become so influential… \*\* I agree with you, **jjimm** that it’s inappropriate to call Hersh a terrorist. Even if Hersh were a bad journalist (he’s a very good one IMHO), he wouldn’t be a terrorist. However, I think your calling Perle “frankly scary” is a step in the same direction… ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2003, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-disagree-with-someone-call-them-a-terrorist/163997/11 "2003-03-25T15:11:08Z")
december, when a private businessman has the ability to advise the government for his own gain, thats scary. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2003, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-disagree-with-someone-call-them-a-terrorist/163997/12 "2003-03-25T15:16:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TwistofFate \* > \*\*december, when a private businessman has the ability to advise the government for his own gain, thats scary. \*\* Actually, that’s lobbying ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Lao](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@Dr.Lao](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Lao)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2003, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-disagree-with-someone-call-them-a-terrorist/163997/13 "2003-03-25T15:22:52Z")
Lobbyists aren’t appointed by Secretary Rumsfeld. Mr. Perle is. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2003, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-disagree-with-someone-call-them-a-terrorist/163997/14 "2003-03-25T15:49:59Z")
By whatever mechanism he chooses to influence the current adminstration, he does appear to have the president’s ear. And someone with that much influence and [these views](http://politics.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,9115,918810,00.html), I do find scary. ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2003, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-disagree-with-someone-call-them-a-terrorist/163997/15 "2003-03-25T16:09:48Z")
let me revise: december, when a private businessman, appointed to a position by a member of government has the ability to advise the government for his own financial gain, thats scary. ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2003, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-disagree-with-someone-call-them-a-terrorist/163997/16 "2003-03-25T16:22:21Z")
Why can’t we just go back to calling people “roundheads”? I swear, there’s all sorts of old terms we could use just lying around, gathering dust. ---
**Author:** ![december](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@december](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/december)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2003, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-disagree-with-someone-call-them-a-terrorist/163997/17 "2003-03-25T16:34:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TwistofFate \* > \*\*december, when a private businessman, appointed to a position by a member of government has the ability to advise the government for his own financial gain, thats scary. \*\* It seems like Catch-22. Most of us want the government to have access to advice from knowledgable private individuals. But, their field of expertise is normally the field in which they work. So their advice has the potential to provide for their own financial gain. Note that the same sort of potential conflict could arise whether the advisor was a businessman, a union leader, an artist, a doctor, etc. You call it “scary.” I call it “unavoidable.” ---
**Author:** ![tiny\_ham](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@tiny\_ham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiny_ham)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2003, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-disagree-with-someone-call-them-a-terrorist/163997/18 "2003-03-25T16:39:10Z")
Look over there - A bunch of Nazis kickin’ dirt. ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2003, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-disagree-with-someone-call-them-a-terrorist/163997/19 "2003-03-25T16:46:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by december \* > \*\*It seems like Catch-22. Most of us want the government to have access to advice from knowledgable private individuals. But, their field of expertise is normally the field in which they work. So their advice has the potential to provide for their own financial gain. > > Note that the same sort of potential conflict could arise whether the advisor was a businessman, a union leader, an artist, a doctor, etc. You call it “scary.” I call it “unavoidable.” \*\* Its perfectly avoidable. don’t appoint people to advisory roles who are more likely to advise impartially and unfairly for their own personal gain. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2003, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-disagree-with-someone-call-them-a-terrorist/163997/20 "2003-03-25T19:25:46Z")
Chuck: I think the restaurant is over on Fourth street. Buck: You terrorist! It’s on Third! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-disagree-with-someone-call-them-a-terrorist/163997.md?page=2)