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Violence, senseless and sensible

By Michael J. Smith on Wednesday January 12, 2011 12:18 AM

Frere IOZ, who has a good ear, noticed this splendid new entry for the catechism of cliche:

One of the verbal tics that's most in evidence now is the catechismal insertion of the adjective senseless before the word violence. What kind of violence was it, Mister President? Senseless violence.
The notion of "senseless" violence obviously presupposes that there might be a sensible violence. Perhaps the tragedy of young Cousin Fester, shown above, is that he was denied an opportunity to participate in the latter. Apparently he tried to enlist in the armed forces -- to fill a pair of those boots on the ground we hear so much about -- but was turned down because of some drug thing.

Drugs? In the military? Oh noes, as IOZ might say.

Dunno what it's like now, but back in the day, dope was the only thing that got most ordinary people through the military. (Of course the people destined to become colonels and generals were another matter; what they had to worry about was being shot in the back by their own troops. Presumably rear-echelon jobs were to them what dope was to the grunts.)

Quite apart from the preposterous dope hypocrisy, it seems an awful shame and waste that Jared didn't have his opportunity to kick ass in Afghanistan. Schizophrenic, schvitzophrenic -- these are the boys we need.

If Jared had become a soldier boy, by this time he would have collected several medals, and then been unofficially dispatched by one of his fellow-grunts, on a lonely hill somewhere in Waziristan, while the rest of the platoon just happened to be looking in another direction. His country and his family would be proud of him, and the kind soul who gave him his long-sought quietus would never say a word about it.

Comments (10)

Senseless Violence: shooting a congresscritter from the machine that spreads violence across the planet

Sensible Violence: Drone shooting a hell fire missile at a wedding party and killing dozens in Pakistan because "actionable intelligence" indicates some ghost from Al Queda is attending.

See? It's easy.

Emma:

Awww, Cousin Fester :[

senecal:

Enough already! Liberals are hypocritical, opportunist and bad thinkers. Who knew?

Drugs? Really? He'd have to be doing cocaine Scarface-style to get rejected by the army. I mean, shit, just look at him. That's special forces material!

As yet another exhibit of the depravity that plagues this society marketplace, dig the fact that this asshole is fucking smiling. Motherfucker just killed a 9 year-old...

Walter Wit Man:

Yes! I was thinking about this very thing yesterday. It's interesting how the DOD was willing to engage in this leak so early. Makes me wonder if he was kicked out of school before he tried to join the military and if the military was aware of his psychiatric history. Do they even screen for this at all?

Is it possible he would have been cleared to serve but for the drugs? How many other mentally ill soldiers managed to not self-medicate and were therefore accepted in the military?

tarzie:

Enough already! Liberals are hypocritical, opportunist and bad thinkers. Who knew?

I second that. Let it domminate THEIR news cycle.

This seems to have brought out the douche in everyone, right, lib, left.

Anonymous:

nerf stalinists respond

http://peoplesworld.org/cpusa-condemns-arizona-shootings-incitement/

"the Republican Party, ... fomented laws and policies that logically lead to violence.. .
All their condolences ring hollow because of their callous inflammatory rhetoric and romanticization of guns and "Second Amendment remedies...Arizona is burning. It is Ground Zero for this extreme far-right, and their corporate, multi-billionaire sponsors."

the republicans ???

i caper at the partisan didactic
tom foolery of it all

op:

a close examination
of this bent spirit's recent time line
suggests pima community college
http://www.pima.edu
operated as a major
institutional accelerator
for his hell bound " mad spiral "

Brandon:

Actually, it was Uncle Fester. But your comparison is more apt than mine. When I fiurst saw Loughner's mugshot, I thought he looked like Curly.

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