The world is flat, and I can prove it. Except that I can’t
show you the proof I have because it’s very sensitive
material. I have to hide it for security, or else Russia or the
Middle East or Mexico might find the information and try to push us
off the edge.
I’ll just keep this and the new weapon of mass destruction
for safekeeping. You can trust me, really.
As a hijab-(head-scarf)-wearing, Quran-reading person of Arab
descent, I should probably state the obvious here ““ those
first paragraphs were a spoof of a trend wherein those with
information attempt to insult our collective intelligence.
I have little patience for being treated as stupid. But
recently, I have noticed more and more excuses for things in the
media that I could only swallow if I were uninterested or, well,
dumb.
Most recently is the defense of Spc. Sabrina Harman, an Army
reservist on trial for prisoner abuse in Abu Ghraib. She is the one
tied to the picture of the man standing on the box, crucifixion
style, with a bag over his head. He was allegedly told that he
would be electrocuted if he fell off.
Her recent defense says that it was simply a joke between her
and the prisoner. Then she goes even further to claim that the joke
was a spoof on the horrible acts that she and the prisoner saw and
disagreed with.
Her lawyer Frank Spinner sure can spin a provocative fairytale.
Sorry if I’m a little too jaded for that one.
But he’s not the only oral taleteller in the Abu Ghraib
abuse cases.
There is also Pfc. Lynndie R. England, one of the soldiers now
famous for the many pictures of Abu Ghraib, such as her pointing at
a man’s genitals, or her giving a thumbs-up behind a pyramid
of naked bodies, among other gruesome things I’d rather not
recollect. England is settling for a more traditional twist ““
the good-old mental defense.
According to an old-school psychologist, she was deprived of
oxygen at birth and had difficulty learning to read and speak.
Thus, her mental capacities were not equal to the other soldiers
also on trial.
But she was apparently of fit enough mind to be enlisted into
the military. If she had known this about herself, she
shouldn’t have put herself in such a difficult position.
Another insult to our intelligence: the idea that high-ranking
officials in such a rigorously structured institution such as the
military would not have previously known ““ or sanctioned!
““ these scandals.
But the abuse scandals are not the only bad justifications we
are forced to swallow. There is the Patriot Act, which claims to
only target those who are guilty.
It’s academic sister, the 2003 International Studies in
Higher Education Act, just wanted to know what is being taught in
colleges about the Middle East. And maybe advocate, through the
threat of funding, a more “correct” rendering of the
knowledge being disseminated.
There is a 24-foot concrete “security fence” built
far ahead of its legally sanctioned borders in Israel.
There was the Minutemen Project, and now the Border Watch, which
claim their fight has nothing to do with race.
Our dear “governator” will really repay the $2
billion he conned ““ er, borrowed ““ from the state
education system.
Look, I have no patience for bogus justifications, as if I
cannot unwrap the manipulation of the truth.
A girl in a past communication studies class of mine said
it’s the government’s job to hide information from us
for safety reasons. I balk at such a claim (which adds further
insult to injury).
To suggest that in a democracy an elitist structure should
withhold information for our best interest is worrisome. I give the
public more credit. We are for the most part as intelligent as
those at the top with their own political interests to push.
To hear reasoning like this on a college campus worries me, but
it does not prove that the public has no mind. It only shows that
we have become too apathetic to use our minds, since they have been
insulted by others for such a long while.
And they will continue to be insulted as long as we accept and
regurgitate such bad stories as the ones mentioned above, as well
as many others not cited.
We must hold informational sources to a higher standard ““
even an impossible standard.
Then, even if they do not reach the goal, there will at least be
improvement. They ““ politicians, attorneys, military men and
yes, even the media ““ will gain validity.
Now, excuse me, I have to go preach on Bruin Walk that the world
is flat.
To request a copy of the map, e-mail Hashem at
nhashem@media.ucla.edu