laughing in the face of tragedy

[barbara100 at jps.net]

I was watching my local news last night about the Osama tape just released.
They took the video and the debate into a local barber shop and had some old
dudes in there watch it.  They were really pissed. They couldn't get over
how Osama and the gang were carrying on and laughing at America's tragedy.
They said straight up they were mad and wanted revenge.  And for a moment I
was with the old men. It's cold to laugh at other people's misery.  But then
it hit me, like a cold hard slap  in the face, that we do the same thing. I
remembered suddenly A. Roy's essay/speech on the radio the other night, the
part where she was talking about Donald Rumsfeld in a press conference, and
how the whole place was busting up when old Donald said, "We're not running
out of targets. Afghanistan is."  I don't remember seeing it, and God
forgive me if I laughed too, but I asked myself last night, What's the
difference between Osama and his goons laughing at us and Donald and his
laughing at them?  The only honest answer I could come up with is  Not a
goddamned thing!



DONALD RUMSFELD: Well, for one thing we're finding that some of the targets
we hit need to be rehit. Second, we're not running out of targets.
Afghanistan is. (Laughing) And I would add that they are emerging as we
continue. That is to say that if you figure out a set piece before the fact,
select categories of targets, make judgments as to which day or what period
you're going to hit them, and you do that, and then you say that coming up
now, and tomorrow, and whenever, that we will be gathering additional
intelligence from the ground and through various intelligence assets that
will enable us to seize targets of opportunity, that means you have to wait
until they emerge. Now, that's the way it is.

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