Apparently the name “Infinite Justice” as an operation name and the use of the word “crusade” by our President are now deemed un-PC. WTF?
Looking in my dictionary:
crusade - (1) any of the military expeditions which Christians undertook from the 11th to 13th centuries to recover the Holy Land from the Muslims (2) vigorous, concerted action for some cause or idea, or against some abuse.
Is it not probable that Mr. Bush was using definition #2?
And as far as “Infinite Justice” goes, it’s fitting. We’re seeking to eradicate terrorism - for as long as possible. Is Operation Overlord ok? How about The Jerusalem Project? I find that one to be insulting.
PC may be one of the reasons we’re in this mess. As a nation, we try to bend over for everyone’s beliefs no matter what they are. In the meantime, terrorists attack embassies, the USS Cole, etc. We vow “justice” against the evil-doers, but three days later it’s not even on the news.
The time has come to throw PC out. We cannot worry about such silly things when the very fabric of American Freedom is under attack. If I upset your sensabilities, too bad. Others have upset much more than that with the American people. Your sensabilities, finally, are not our primary concern.
“May Allah damn the infidels with their special exits for the ‘differently abled’ and their ‘African-American’ this and ‘Native American’ that! We must smite them, I say! Smite them all!”
Look, avoiding a big red flag word like “crusade” at a time when we’re trying to enlist the aid of a number of Arab and Muslim nations in our fight against terrorism is just good sense, m’kay? If a humongous hurricane devastated the East Coast, and the Japanese announced they were going to send us aid under a plan called “Operation Divine Wind”–which in Japanese is “Kamikaze”–we would probably be a little put out.
And “Infinite Justice” is arguably blasphemous to not only Muslims but to Christians and Jews the world over. Only God can render Infinite Justice. To a godless heathen like me it mostly just sounds overblown and silly–what, are we going to right every wrong in the world? Punish Osama bin Laden with eternal torment in the Ninth Circle of Alcatraz?–but again, why piss off a billion people (not to mention another two billion Christians, including the folks back home) whom we very much want and need the cooperation of right now?
Yes, you’re absolutely right. We should take this operation aimed at terrorists who happen to be Muslim and name it after a war against all Muslims, based on the fact that there’s an esoteric second meaning that we can cite. Never mind how it’s going to affect the willingness of Arabic governments to help us; we’re America, dammit!, and we’ll do whatever we want.
Dipshit.
Your analysis of political correctness as the cause of the attacks is one of the most asinine things I’ve ever read. Do you have any substantive thought behind that, or are you just spewing pretty rhetoric?
Definition #2 is certainly not “esoteric.” It’s probably the more commonly accepted definition in this day and age for the word crusade.
Fuckdrop.
The mission isn’t named “crusade.” It was a word used in a speech by President Bush, under definition #2 (as he quite obviously was not referring to “The Crusades.”).
Nor did I say that PC caused the attacks. I merely was making a point that our desire to always protect everyone’s sensibilities hurts us in a time like this.
Am I the only one sick of the term “PC?” Can we finally admit that this phrase has been so over- and mis-used that it no longer has any valid meaning? Can we find a new catchy acronym to abuse?
Gazoo wrote:
Jesus, would you look at definition number one for a second? Can you not see how that may not be the smartest phrase to use, especially since we’re trying to make a point of how we’re not going to war on Islam? I’m sure Saudi Arabia is jumping at the chance to joing a crusade against another Islamic country.
Oh, and: "Definition #2 is certainly not “esoteric.” It’s probably the more commonly accepted definition in this day and age for the word crusade. "
Cite?
As for Infinite Justice, I think the main objection to this name is that it sounds like it was conceived by a twelve years old. So at least we know out President is activly involved in the planning of the operation.
I agree with the OP that these decisions (particularly the second) reflect PC gone amok. The idea that a group can feel insulted by the fact that some hyperbolic jive slogan contradicts some theoretical aspect of their theology is rediculous.
Nonetheless, I do agree that as a practical matter, it might not be wise to get delicate political matters tied up in matters of political correctness. So I would say that this is a reflection of PC, rather than a manifestation of it. (IOW, its a shame that matters have come to this point with PC, but once they have, now might not be the time to make a stand about it).
Well, maybe sense #2 is not exactly esoteric. And I’m sure President Bush didn’t mean to imply he was going to launch a Christian Holy War to rescue the Holy Land from the foul Paynim. But it’s a heavily loaded word to a population of people who a) are already feeling jumpy about the whole thing and b) we really don’t want to piss off right now. I mean, Bush also offended some Canadians by not mentioning them by name in the speech (even after they let us dump all our for-all-anyone-knew-at-the-time-anthrax-laden international flights all over them). But the Canadians are staunch, and will likely stick with us despite the odd rhetorical miscue. And if Bush managed to piss off, say, the Irish (“Operation Potato Famine”), it wouldn’t really matter much, strategically speaking. But the last thing we need right now is to torque off the Arabs, over something that’s totally meaningless–no doubt, we’ll be needing to piss them off over all sorts of vital and urgent matters any day now. (“Yes, we really do want to hunt down and kill all the terrorists. And yes, we really do need your cooperation. And no, that doesn’t mean we’re going to attack Israel.”)
And, if sense #2 of the word “crusade” isn’t exactly “esoteric”, neither is sense #1. Or at any rate, it shouldn’t be to anyone with a decent education in history. It was a gaffe, that’s all. He should avoid doing that in the future.
As far as I’m concerned, it has nothing to do with PC.
The point about the use of the word ‘Crusade’ is that it has unfortunate (for Muslims) imagery attached…the whole ‘Onward Christian Soldiers, marching as to war…’ thang. Not overly reassuring, to them, that the West’s response will be specific rather than against Islam.
Also, it translates badly. Last interpretation I heard was by an Egyptian paper: “President Bush promises Infidel invasion”…kind of feeds into the hands of extremists in an already volatile situation. IMHO.
And it’s unnecessary. And it doesn’t reassure our moderate Muslim friends, or their people. And…well, we’re not trying to calm over-educated people. Manipulation, propaganda, whatever you choose to call it, of the masses is made even easier when words like that are bandied about. It helps the enemy.
Well, I seldom hear anybody saying they’re going on a “crusade” about something. At least in my social circle, if someone says “crusade” 90% of the time they’re talking about something that happened in the Middle Ages. Guess that’s what comes from hanging out with people who read books instead of engaging in witless hyperbole. So in my experience, definition #1 is the most common.
We were the ones that were attacked. We are the ones digging tons and tons of wreckage out. Why the fuck are we the ones apologizing? 1 friend, and 1 relative, and a high school acquaintance are gone. Why the hell should Bush apologize for using the word “crusade” and why is the name of the operation something we even care about? Because we worry too much about bullshit PC.
The US has been a subject of serious attacks before, and our desire to seek “justice” as opposed to retribution has hurt us. The longer this goes on now, the longer I worry that it will end up with a guy or two in some sort of court as opposed to the groups and nations that caused this shit having to explain to their God what went on.
Well, maybe you should put down Harry Potter, as a search on google using the term “we’re on a crusade” produced over 90 hits. Some examples: http://www.springdaleschools.org/kelly/
Miller is right, PC is a phrase meaning ‘something I want to say bothers other people, but damn it, I’m an asshole and I want to say anyway, even if there are more accurate and less offensive terms.’
Yes, crusade has 2 meanings. Yes, the second meaning is possibly more common. But the first meaning is so closely related to something we don’t want to convey, that its a fucking stupid word to use.
Think about it. We want to indicate that we are going to launch an attack on this country, with great determination. Some people think that we are launching an attack against all Muslims because they believe differently. We vehemently protest these claims.
It is fucking stupid to turn around and use a word that has the meaning, ‘an attack against all Muslims because they believe differently’, even if it has another meaning. The context is going to drown that out.
Oh no! Not courts! Not justice! Not, god help us, due process of law! It would be the end of the fucking world if somebody didn’t get blowed up real good, huh?
Using the word “crusade” casts the entire conflict as “Christians v. Moslems” instead of “Reasonable, Decent People Everywhere v. Bugshit Psycho Terrorists.” Since Bush has been explicitly trying to avoid this sort of image, using that word is a bit of a gaffe.
Moslems don’t like the word. This includes not only the Islamic nations we are trying to woo as allies, but also several million American Moslems, who are as much victims of this attack as you or me. But of course, this reason is “PC,” which means “anyone who is offended for any reason, except me.”
If we keep repeating this, are you actually going to read any of it, or are we wasting our time? Of course, this is the guy who puts quotes around justice, so my expectations aren’t terribly high.
I find many of Bush’s comments since the tragedies to contain thinly-veiled references to his religious views. I mean the Crusades line combined with the bit about “God is not neutral between the two” speaking of good and evil. In a presidential adress to the nation and it’s leaders the man made a direct reference to the intervention of a god that distinguishes between good and evil with us on the side of good. Combined with his frequent quoting of the bible the message becomes clear:
Bush is a religious man who believes God will be on his side in the great war against terrorism (read evil:read Satan). If that is how he feels fine, I believe many christians feel the same way. But he is the leader of a nation which has as one of its main principals the separation of church and state. So at no time should his comments on official matters be used to express his view on which religion he believes to be true.
This holds true at any time. In a situation like this where a large chunk of the world (heavily armed and well dug in) could potentially be led to believe America is engaging in a holy war with them, extreme care should be taken.
This situation has the potential to really go bad. Bush shouldn’t be so careless. Even if he does believe in Armageddeon, parting seas, people made from ribs, resurrections and the like, I don’t want to hear about it anytime, never mind in a discussion of war. Jeesh.
That said, I do think he will wield the big stick somethin’ awful. Punishment’s a comin’ for some folks, and it aint gonna be pretty. I’ll finish with my favorite quote from W. It was from when he was a governor in Texas. A canadian had gotten the death penalty for murder and didn’t tell anyone he was canadian until he was about to be killed. Canada made a big fuss, and someone asked Bush what the message he was sending to Canadians was. He replied:
“If your a Canadian, and you come to Texas, don’t kill anybody”
They executed him. Great quote. The man certainly doesn’t mind punishing people. Let’s hope he doesn’t fuck everything up. I kinda like life without nuclear and chemical blasts. Nevermind having to dodge the occaisional tower dropping across the street. . .