Blizzard of words. posted by twoleftfeet at 1:49 AM on November 24, 2008
Our country needs the catharsis, and the example, provided by the guilty being punished.
Whether in government or on Wall Street, all we see is the guilty being rearded with commutations, higher offices, or bail outs. It's no wonder then, that as a people we've become cynical and jaded.
I'm glad I'm not alone in the sentiments expressed in the article and thread. I hope those words get plastered in big bright red letters over our era as a warning to future generations, and that the War on Terror becomes the term for punishing this administration.
"Never again" indeed. posted by saysthis at 3:52 AM on November 24, 2008
Our country needs the catharsis, and the example, provided by the guilty being punished.
Our country gets the illusion of catharsis from their own outrage. We tend to live so much of our lives vicariously through media that we sometimes mistake outrage for action. And we love to be outraged, and show others how outraged we are, to the point that the spectacle of spittle and red faces has little to do with the import of the actual event.
If we perceive, via media saturation, that enough people are shocked, SHOCKED by what has happened, we are satisfied that some kind of justice has been served. Even if we know it's not true, something in us is satisfied that the matter is closed as soon as it drops back in the media cycle. posted by louche mustachio at 3:54 AM on November 24, 2008 [14 favorites]
We tend to live so much of our lives vicariously through media that we sometimes mistake outrage for action.
I just favorited that so hard my passion bone broke. posted by rokusan at 4:31 AM on November 24, 2008
That is why big shots keep attorneys on retainer and can outlast the media/ public outrage/victim at no extra cost to them. posted by Bitter soylent at 4:57 AM on November 24, 2008
If we perceive, via media saturation, that enough people are shocked, SHOCKED by what has happened, we are satisfied that some kind of justice has been served.
Who is this "we" you are talking about? I'm not aware of anybody who feels justice has been served. posted by DU at 7:08 AM on November 24, 2008
If we have learned anything this past decade it is that "the people," that vaunted repository of public good—"the people always find out"—the people are willing and able to live with quite a lot.
If this is a lesson learned in the past decade, it must have first been a lesson forgot:
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posted by homunculus at 1:38 AM on November 24, 2008