Dack is back,

October 1, 2001 9:29 AM

Dack is back, but not in the blogging sense. Many here at MeFi thought he'd bring his blog back after it ceased in May. His front page is now a collection of links urging peaceful resolution of the Current Situation. Refresh a few times to see a variety of quotes.
posted by msacheson (9 comments total)

Well done and surprising - a wide reference range and a wise but very peppy feel to it. I wish it well. Although I do not love golf, just this once I just gotta quote msacheson, from the thread he linked:

Thanks, Dack. Fairways and greens, buddy. Greens to include sufficient dollars and bottles of Tanqueray, of course.
posted by MiguelCardoso at 9:46 AM on October 1, 2001

*Sigh*

The first few days after the attack I was worried about revenge myself. The nation has counted to ten though and it is no longer about revenge, it's about preventing this from happening again.

I hate war as much as the next guy but if Dack or anybody else can think of a peaceful solution that will work, I'd like to hear it.

He can quote John Lennon all he wants but that's not going to prevent another WTC type attack on U.S. soil.
posted by bondcliff at 9:48 AM on October 1, 2001

"A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government."
— Edward Abbey

Isn't that what Timothy Mcveigh said?

"The use of military force against terrorist acts in the past has only resulted in more terrorist acts."
— Howard Zinn

I am afraid that this will probably hold true. See below

"Revenge does not long remain unrevenged."
— German Proverb

All that being said, it leaves one wondering what to do.

To strike for the sake of striking back, revenge, will only spur future acts against us for sure. Not to strike back in some way I feel will also spur future acts.

Even catching/killing/"bringing to justice" Osama bin Laden will not have, in my opinion, a long lasting effect at stopping terrorism. On the contrary, I think it will cause more acts against us by devotees to the man.

One place to start is Afghanistan. That country really needs a good updating. Too many things wrong there on many fronts.
posted by a3matrix at 10:32 AM on October 1, 2001

All round the world, bondcliff, the U.S. is being praised for actually thinking and working out what has to be done. It's a measure of anti-Americanism that you had so many bloody impartial observers predicting the U.S. would carpet-bomb Afghanistan immediately.
This has not happened, because I think your administration knows what they're up against and don't want to repeat previous knee-jerk aspirin-annihilating mistakes.
Dack's website, which quotes from the right and the left and is genuinely devoted to peace, is a superb illustration of this Jeffersonian patience and resolve.
Every one of us must do our bit. I can see you are doing yours. We may be midgets but, all together, we can be a plague on the the simplistic, warmongering houses we all deplore.
How can any of us - individual or government - prevent another WTC-type attack? We can't. But websites like this, specially at a time like this and so thoroughly sourced in American wisdom, do matter a lot. They keep us together; they make us feel proud to be peaceful.
I'm sure even John Lennon, more than once, prevented, with the sole strength of his songs, some sort of violent action from being done. And, even if he didn't, at least he tried.
If we really tried to make peace - check out the Martin Luther King quotation; it was new to me - at least we can die, at some terrorist's hands, knowing we were definitely not guilty of what killed us.
I know this sounds corny but there you are. Dack, me, or you don't have to come up with a peaceful solution. We can't.
But, from this day on, there's a new website where we can all feel we wished we could.
How could anyone disagree?
posted by MiguelCardoso at 10:36 AM on October 1, 2001

All round the world, bondcliff, the U.S. is being praised for actually thinking and working out what has to be done. It's a measure of anti-Americanism that you had so many bloody impartial observers predicting the U.S. would carpet-bomb Afghanistan immediately.
This has not happened, because I think your administration knows what they're up against and don't want to repeat previous knee-jerk aspirin-annihilating mistakes.
Dack's website, which quotes from the right and the left and is genuinely devoted to peace, is a superb illustration of this Jeffersonian patience and resolve.
Every one of us must do our bit. I can see you are doing yours. We may be midgets but, all together, we can be a plague on the the simplistic, warmongering houses we all deplore.
How can any of us - individual or government - prevent another WTC-type attack? We can't. But websites like this, specially at a time like this and so thoroughly sourced in American wisdom, do matter a lot. They keep us together; they make us feel proud to be peaceful.
I'm sure even John Lennon, more than once, prevented, with the sole strength of his songs, some sort of violent action from being done. And, even if he didn't, at least he tried.
If we really tried to make peace - check out the Martin Luther King quotation; it was new to me - at least we can die, at some terrorist's hands, knowing we were definitely not guilty of what killed us.
I know this sounds corny but there you are. Dack, me, or you don't have to come up with a peaceful solution. We can't.
But, from this day on, there's a new website where we can all feel we wished we could.
How could anyone disagree?
posted by MiguelCardoso at 10:36 AM on October 1, 2001

Though I don't necessarily condone the tone of the writer(s), this post had me laughing out loud.


Imagine - using the teaching methods of Zen Buddhism to create empathy among peace activists for those who advocate military retaliation.
posted by willconsult4food at 10:40 AM on October 1, 2001

with the sole strength of his songs, aaron. Songs. You know, like "War Is Over" or "Imagine". I meant songs. That's why I specified so pretensiously "sole strength".

But, anyway, Lennon was a pacifist, a peacenik even: give him his due.(Don't tell me you're one of those dewy-eyed nutters who preferred Paul, because that I couldn't take.)

A lot of people gave money to the IRA because they believed Ireland should be Irish - and were disgusted by the murderous violence they unwittingly sponsored.

There's shaky ground there, I'll admit. But be fair, Aaron. Saying Lennon "supported terrorism" is just not true. Perhaps "naively sympathetic towards Irish terrorists" would have made your point better.
Hey, I wish I could remember the name of a song of his about giving Ireland back to the Irish, "The Luck of the Irish" or something, but it's easier to just pour another Bushmills.

P.S. You'd be amazed how effective that 60's peace and love stuff was with us old hippies ;)
posted by MiguelCardoso at 7:49 PM on October 1, 2001

Willconsult4food, your What to do if you happen upon a peace rally link nearly killed me.


Seriously, I think I back sucked some phlem up into my brain...heh....wheee.....
posted by dong_resin at 9:55 PM on October 1, 2001