Racism, at least, would have been a kind of excuse, evidence of a critically planned process. It's almost comforting: Even the most saintly among us has harbored or inspired some racial resentment. Racism is a universal form of bullshit—a lower-social-order attitude, but at least an indicator of some ordered thinking.
Click the image of Staff Sergeant Robert Bales to continue reading at Gawker.
I think you mean ＤＥＨＵＭＡＮＩＺＥ ＹＯＵＲＳＥＬＦ ＡＮＤ ＦＡＣＥ ＴＯ ＢＬＯＯＤＳＨＥＤ
ReplyDeleteRelatedly, here's Carlin on shell shock and euphemism: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeGKuTZtkpg (Please ignore whoever threw a bunch of shitty images on top of the audio; just open it in a background tab or something and listen.)
ReplyDeleteWasn't Paul Fussell's comments on the distortion of the term "Shell Shock" a bit from George Carlin's Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics album?
ReplyDeleteNope. Carlin's album was released a year after the book. It's far likelier that he lifted the observation from Fussell.
ReplyDeleteFussell's not a no-name. His previous war book, The Great War and Modern Memory was an instant classic and received just about every award, distinction or plaudit you can imagine. It's pretty much the text on the subject. So when he turned his eye to a war in which he actually served, in combat, the book was pretty well-noticed.