There’s a lot of good stuff in Pat Morrison’s op-ed on the overuse of the word "terrorism." Like this:
From the White House to the soccer pitch, "terrorist" has "cooties" and "your mother wears combat boots" flat beat as the top playground potty-mouth slur for the 21st century.
Who’s surprised? The Bush administration has been scattering the word like ticker tape on a Manhattan parade. Old McDonald left the farm for the NSA, and now it’s here a terrorist, there a terrorist, everywhere a terrorist.
I couldn’t agree more about the politically driven cheapening of the word. But he also makes a good point about environmental activism:
Osama bin Laden has said that he fears mockery more than death. If eco-protesters want to do some real damage, they should give up arson and take up ridicule. Don’t torch those SUVs; put a cardboard cutout of Bin Laden in the passenger seat of an H2, and one of Dubya in the driver’s seat beside him, then alert the media.
Hm … sounds like something I’ve heard before …
(Some other good stuff on eco-terrorism from Renee Downing and Randy Serraglio.)
