The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
    jollyroger's picture

    Deconstruction-leave it to a linguist to do it right

    By jollyroger on Sun, 09/11/2011 - 5:14pm |

    Noam Chomsky shows (yet again) why he is our premier public intellectual nonpareil:

     

    "It is also worth thinking about the name given to the bin Laden operation: Operation Geronimo. The imperial mentality is so profound that few seem able to perceive that the White House is glorifying bin Laden by calling him “Geronimo” -- the Apache Indian chief who led the courageous resistance to the invaders of Apache lands.

    The casual choice of the name is reminiscent of the ease with which we name our murder weapons after victims of our crimes: Apache, Blackhawk… We might react differently if the Luftwaffe had called its fighter planes “Jew” and “Gypsy.”

     

    On the occasion of yet another (if amplified by the decadal resound) outpouring of self-pity mixed with self congratulation, Chomsky examines 9/11 and our catastrophic response to it in characteristically lucid fashion.

    Bottom line: Until politicians stop competing for office based upon their mindless adherence to the doctrine that we are special--specially special, indeed exceptionally special--this country will continue to be a running sore upon the ass of the world.

    (h/t Wendy Davis)

    Comments

    I don't agree that there is an immediately given take-away, like a fish sandwich at a drive-thru, because Chomsky pointed out the package used to deliver the sandwich. But he does do a good job of explaining why the process pissed off so many people.


    by moat on Sun, 09/11/2011 - 6:43pm

    Well, I'm not sure I quite have my arms around your point, but. parenthetically, ever since Gregory Bateson died, I always figured it was between Me, Noam, and Ray Kurzweil (Yes, I have an inflated estimate of my own intellect-so sue me...) and I'm thinkin I can outlast Noam but maybe not Ray...That said, I thought the bit about the Luftwaffe was a real gem.


    by jollyroger on Sun, 09/11/2011 - 7:18pm

    If you dig Gregory (and I do), then it is enough to say that the enemy of your enemy may not be your friend.

    Maybe it would be helpful to regard the German air force component you refer to as a precursor of a certain kind. Like those unintended consequences neo-cons (Hitchens, Rumsfeld, and Clinton, etc.) trouble themselves with. In other words, it is not the case that using a powerful tool is a guarantee of a result. There is a misplaced sense of confidence in the use of tools that is influencing outcomes.

    Any attempt to reflect upon rhetoric requires a reality, a location outside the cave. That is what should be worked upon. The rest is dross.


    by moat on Sun, 09/11/2011 - 7:32pm

    Ahh, the cave, the wall, the shadows...

    by jollyroger on Sun, 09/11/2011 - 10:13pm

    Whatever the motive was, it could hardly have been security. As in the case of the “supreme international crime” in Iraq, the bin Laden assassination is another illustration of the important fact that security is often not a high priority for state action, contrary to received doctrine.


    by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 09/11/2011 - 8:07pm

    Security is a bug, not a feature

    by jollyroger on Sun, 09/11/2011 - 10:15pm

    I dunno.  I like Chomsky but I am not convinced that calling the operation Geronimo traces back any further than to shouting Geronimo when parachuting from airplanes or when charging into a light-brigade scenario.  It was a common trope when playing cowboys and indians as a child.  Cowboy movies and television programs were as common then as CSI programs are now.  With the disappearance of hostile American Indians from from popular culture, how many of today's military can even connect Geronimo with Apache.  

    Sure the linguistic roots of the words are in the conquest of native peoples but the use of them militarily and in sports usually signifies a respect for specific individuals and tribes as well as their warrior cultures.   Not at all the same thing as the Luftwaffe using Jew or Gypsy.

     


    by EmmaZahn on Sun, 09/11/2011 - 8:30pm

    I think the analogy goes to the choppers

    by jollyroger on Sun, 09/11/2011 - 10:11pm

    Good point, Emma. Maybe not PC but a good point.

    In my 1940s-50s white, middle-class, segregated southern childhood, Geronimo was one of the heros.


    by Red Planet on Sun, 09/11/2011 - 10:20pm