Did anyone else hear the NPR segment on Saturday afternoon 1/10/04 on a "satirical book" titled 'Where's Saddam?'
(Please mail me if that link doesn't lead you to the program. And here's an Amazon link to the book Where's Saddam?)
I listened to the segment and I found it odd and disturbing.
Now I haven't read the 'satirical book' in question so I don't know to what degree the show reflects the actual tone of the book. And maybe I misheard the story. I'd be happy to admit that I misunderstood.
But the tone appeared to me to make light of the whole search for this monster of a human being. It's as if someone did a 'satirical book' --- "Hey lighten up, man -- don't be so serious. Chill." --- on 'Where's Pol Pot?' or 'Where's Hitler?' or 'Where's Stalin?'
One may disagree with Bush on the war --- or any number of other things as I do, in fact -- but I cannot see how anyone can make light of -- what might actually be the best historical defense of the war --- the removal from power of a wicked, evil monster. Perhaps --it might be argued -- the job could have been done cheaper and better. Perhaps so. But at least it was done and that anyone can make light of tracking down that creep in any way strikes me as rather strange, unseemly, smarmy.
Or am I out in left (or right) field on this one?
And btw, I don't mean to sound tentative; the very fact that I am blogging on this means that I found the show bizarre. But I leave out the possibility that I simply misheard. I hope I misheard.
I didn't hear it. I almost never listen to NPR any more. Fresh Air sometimes (grinding my teeth the while) and nothing else. I can't stand NPR - really, really hate it. So dumb, so giggly, so cozy, so repetitive and formulaic, so vacuous. I listen to Radio 4 on the computer instead - and grind my teeth with jealousy. They have such brilliant stuff, and we don't.
Posted by: Ophelia Benson | Jan 10, 2004 at 06:53 PM
I absolutely think you and everybody else who is making such a big deal about "catching the evil dictator" are over the top. This country has put up with and indeed supported brutal dictators of the worst kind for a century; in Nicaragua Chile presently in Laos. We were happy with Hussein while he was waging war with Iran. Our foreign policy is really Isreal's by proxy.Saddam Hussein had zero to do with 911. It is just an excuse to carry out Isreal's dirty work, but this view I'm sure you'll think is "anti-semitic" Will Ashcroft and Wolfy come after me?
Posted by: Jack Tindall | Jan 11, 2004 at 06:34 AM
Thank goodness for people like Jack Tindall. They save conservatives like myself so much time.
Instead of arguing with reasonable antiwar people, we can simply note that this is what their allies look like. Not even a twitch of empathy for Saddam's victims, just a quick outburst of venom against his real enemy and then right on to denunciation of the Jewwwwws.
Still doubt that NPR could have meant this segment the way it sounded? People like Jack are their core constituency - of course they meant it.
Posted by: Joe | Jan 11, 2004 at 02:21 PM
Nah. NPR's core constituency is people who think it's good enough, or at least adequate. The problem with NPR is not that it's too lefty, it's that it's too dopy.
Also, conservatives have some pretty dodgy allies too - but then I would say that, not being one.
Posted by: Ophelia Benson | Jan 11, 2004 at 04:06 PM
My on-going ptoblem with NPR is that it is just too conventional and also too long-winded.
As to the conventional, they do their best but -- this being Seattle -- our local station removed the one guy (Neal Conan) who I thought was reasonably unpredictable and hard-headed and they replaced him with (for a while ) the BBC!!
As to long-winded, I don't mind a long-winded article in the New Yorker because I can just skip ahead to an interesting ad on the next page. But -- and this is why internet radio in the car will be so great -- I cannot skip ahead or (remember, I am in Seattle) skip to another radio station with even the remotest semblance of news.
Posted by: David Sucher | Jan 11, 2004 at 04:16 PM
Jack Tindall: if you're going to ascribe all US foreign policy to the evil machinations of Israel, you might at least learn how to spell "Israel." Know your enemy ;-)
Posted by: Michelle Dulak | Jan 11, 2004 at 10:06 PM
Re: Tindall -
We propped up Nicaraguan and Cambodian dictators because Israel was co-opting our foreign policy? Odd.
I especially like how he has "anti-semitism" in quotation marks.
Posted by: shmaryahu rabinovich | Jan 12, 2004 at 04:17 AM
Yeah. Seattle is a really pathetic radio city.
And yeah about NPR's being conventional. That's one of my objections too. But it combines its conventionality with dopiness - it's a sort of conventional-dopy. Or it's dopy because it's so conventional - that's what it is. It takes the conventional view that anything the least bit challenging or difficult is pretentious or 'too' intellectual or 'too' serious so it just doesn't talk about that sort of thing. Sad.
Posted by: Ophelia Benson | Jan 12, 2004 at 10:56 AM