Sunday, April 16, 2006

Mark Steyn on Iran

I haven't quoted Steyn lately, and my readers are worse off for it. Of course, my readers could also use search engines to find Steyn's columns any time they like!

Here's what he recently wrote on Iran, and I do love his analogies:

You know what's great fun to do if you're on, say, a flight from Chicago to New York and you're getting a little bored? Why not play being President Ahmadinejad? Stand up and yell in a loud voice, "I've got a bomb!" Next thing you know the air marshal will be telling people, "It's OK, folks. Nothing to worry about. He hasn't got a bomb." And then the second marshal would say, "And even if he did have a bomb it's highly unlikely he'd ever use it." And then you threaten to kill the two Jews in row 12 and the stewardess says, "Relax, everyone. That's just a harmless rhetorical flourish." And then a group of passengers in rows 4 to 7 point out, "Yes, but it's entirely reasonable of him to have a bomb given the threatening behavior of the marshals and the cabin crew."

That's how it goes with the Iranians.


You can see how I feel about this situation.

7 comments:

  1. Anonymous9:30 AM

    Put your money where you mouth is then.

    ReplyDelete
  2. What are you recommending, that I board a flight from Chicago to New York?

    Anonymous coward.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous11:04 AM

    I am a coward.

    But so are you...

    You are not too old to serve.

    You could join or re-join the military.

    ReplyDelete
  4. The "chickenhawk" argument doesn't fly. It's a weak argument. Please see my post from last September on the topic:
    http://rightontheleftcoast.blogspot.com/2005/09/chickenhawks.html

    ReplyDelete
  5. By the way, anonymous, do you *know* how old I am? Do you *know* the age limit to get (back) into the military? Or are you just quacking?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous6:52 PM

    How do I know how old you are? That's easy.

    http://www.blogger.com/profile/6524303

    As for knowing the age requirements, I get hassled by the recruiters all the time over the phone. I ask questions sometimes. All of that information is public knowledge anyway.

    Am I quacking? Probably, but I feel serious as a heart attack. I wish you were.

    ReplyDelete
  7. If what you say is true, then you know about my status as far as my availability for military service. But I don't think you give recruiters the time of day.

    So again, the chickenhawk argument doesn't fly, for the reasons put forth in the post I mentioned previously.

    You've never been President, so you can't criticize him, right? See how shallow that argument is, anonymous?

    And I'm quite serious.

    ReplyDelete