(no subject)

[pearwaldorf]

It is always interesting to see what goes on in Pioneer Square. The day of the attacks there was a group of youngish individuals in a circle talking. One of them had a posterboard strapped to his back urging a peaceful and rational approach to everybody's first knee-jerk impulse. On Friday night, I saw the remnants of a vigil, where the makeshift shrine by the fountain was lit up like an altar. When I was coming home from work today, there was some sort of Christian rally thing. Most of what I heard was pretty basic, ask God to comfort the families of the victims, the survivors, etc. But apparently, from one dispassionate observer, he said earlier there were rather... hostile sentiments expressed. It appalls me the way people have been so incredibly self-centered in not considering what will happen to the people of Afganistan if and when we start bombing the snot out of their country. (Tangent: It also appalls me how petty and self-centered Americans are as to what happened here as well. The store I work at closed for ten minutes to light candles in rememberance and people bitched because they couldn't get their shopping done. Selfish gits, all of them.) There was a letter forwarded to Moby (cf update 9/14/01 "A Letter" at his site) that compares the Taliban to the Nazis and the people of Afghanistan to the Jews. What sense does it make to bomb the Jews for the actions of the Nazis? The Taliban are the only people with any method of transportation, and they are probably the hell out of Dodge. So the Afghani people are going to suffer doubly, for what has happened already, and what will happen in the future. I ask of you, is this righteous retribution? Is this justice?