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"All life is 6-5 against" - Damon Runyon
Tuesday, June 15, 2004

CNN.com - Videotape purports to show kidnapped American - Jun 15, 2004

This is going to sound horribly callous, but there's an easy way to deal with these circumstances.

We have to not give a shit.

It's an impossible thought, I know. I know this because I do give a shit. These kidnappings and executions are bullshit, and no one individual should have to suffer for the perceived wrongs of their government.

But if we don't give a shit, and don't overreact and plaster the news video all over TV, and circulate the execution on the Internet, and talk about it constantly and call these guys cowards in public, then they don't get the attention they desire.

We're not releasing al-Qaeda prisoners because they kill (or want to kill) one man. We're not divesting ourselves of our interests in the Arabic world because we don't want one American to be executed.

Going over there, whether representing a business, a peace/charity group, or a government as a white man is dangerous. Kidnapping is an inherent risk.

Why we don't treat these kidnappers the same way we treat the dude who takes his pants off and streaks across the stadium turf at the Super Bowl - taking the camera off of him and pretending for the public as if it's not happening - is beyond me.

We can't win this one. Why bring attention to what's going on at all?

Maybe it's not so much that it is getting coverage, but how it's getting covered. It's insane that we publicize their demands. It's ridiculous that we show the pictures. It's absolutely fucking atrocious that we could have access to the Berg or Pearl videos.

Shouldn't it be enough to report what's happened in basic terms, and then when there's resolution, report on it again? Don't let fucking Hannity and Colmes spend a half hour prosletyzing about the circumstance. Don't send five dozen reporters to knock on his parents' door and interview his tearful wife and kids. If we humanize this, we lose.

I'm probably being an asshole here to some extent. I know the rest of the world gets CNN. I know that al-Jazeera probably shows the Arab world the US reaction, both official and unofficial, to this ridiculousness. I can just see the smug motherfuckers who did this knowing that whatever does or doesn't happen with this situation in the end, they've brought attention to their cause, have provoked outrage and sadness in the Western world, and have accomplished basically everything they realistically could have hoped to with their actions.

And we continue to provide them this satisfaction. That's why I'm frustrated.


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