I posted on David Warren's recent repulsive effluence here. I see today Jules Crittenden at the Boston Herald has weighed in with an ideal suggestion for Warren.
Offer yourself up. Sgt. Keith Maupin has been missing for two years. Israel wants three of itssoldiers back. In exchange for you, maybe Al Qaeda will tell Maupin’s parents what they did with him. Maybe Hamas and Hezbollah will produce the Israelis. Maybe not, it doesn’t matter. Because this really isn’t about any innocent’s life or death. It’s about your big chance at martyrdom. So put up, or shut up. Unless you are just another conventional coward.
What I ponder is whatever possessed Real Clear Politics to run such a misgudied offering. Frankly, it detracts from the high regard I generally have for that site. Simply because one is aligned with a site doesn't mean their every word is fit for print. I'd have elected to not be associated with such simple-minded prose were I them.
This is a case of a very good columnist writing a very bad column. I have no difficulty finding room in my Christian heart to overlook David Warren's error. He has been an excellent soldier in this fight. I have no doubt that had it been me with the knife to my neck I would have pretended to convert in order to save a life I love just as I have no doubt I would have condemned these Muslim fanatics at the first opportunity.
At the same time I am troubled that Centanni and Wiig have not condemned their tormentors- who are our enemies. Making excuses for this kind of outrageous conduct is itself dismissive of their humanity. It is racist.
Posted by: Terry Gain | Saturday, September 02, 2006 at 09:57 PM
Your quickness to pile on David Warren is sadly a little window through which your readers can see the true nature of your craven and essentially rudderless soul. Mr. Warren is a most astute observer of the human condition. He could not be more right in his assessment of this event and how it demonstrates why the west is losing the war. We have sold our soul to the demands of the moment not noticing that such attitude condemns us to forever repeating our failures. We need one foot in eternity as well as one foot in time. Eternity is lost to those that fail to properly ground themselves in the paradigms there available. Without having discovered that there is something greater than our little selves we are mere solipsists or worse, nihilists who can never tap into the courage that is the bulwark of those that look to a greater purpose beyond the mere individual. Truth, beauty, love, understanding, and yes, liberty and duty are such paradigms and life is drawn to them inexorably and selfless sacrifice in service of these makes them incrementally more attractive to those who follow us.
Finally, dear sir, you need to pile on Mark Steyn, also linked to from RCP, because he makes the same case as "brother" Warren.
Posted by: John Hinds | Sunday, September 03, 2006 at 03:58 PM
John Hinds:
I was disgusted with Warren's rant and I agree, he should jump right in there and offer himself up. Centanni and Wiig spent two weeks not knowing from one minute to the next if they would live or die, they should have to put with this crap from someone who risk nothing.
BTW, I read Steyn's article. I am a fan in fact, but I disagree with him here. For one thing I do not think there is a comparison between being held hostage by a bunch of crazy people and deliberately running propaganda for the enemy. It is apples and oranges, two different things. And while I respect Steyn's wit it is quite true that it is easy for him to judge, he is not the one with the gun to his head.
Posted by: Terrye | Sunday, September 03, 2006 at 05:06 PM