Eric Greitens, one of the four Republicans running for Missouri
Governor, has issued an ‘ISIS Hunting Permit’ as part of his campaign.
Greitens’ campaign started selling bumper stickers with the words “ISIS
HUNTING PERMIT 2016” on Tuesday. The sticker says it expires when “we
defeat this evil.”
The mock hunting permits are being sold for a $10 donation. For $100,
donors can get stickers signed by a former Navy SEAL who claims he
killed Osama bin Laden.
Via
Gateway Pundit, whose readers do not find this campaign stunt inappropriate.
This reminds me far too much of the 'Jap Hunting Permits' issued during WWII. The enemy, whoever they may be, is never as evil as we want to think they are. This is dehumanizing, and in that respect, no different than the kind of hatred that terrorist groups use as justification for their actions.
ReplyDeleteShame on us as a culture when this sort of thing is condoned, not condemned.
"no different than the kind of hatred that terrorist groups use as justification for their actions."
ReplyDeleteWell, not exactly. The terrorist groups actually kill people, where this is just a stupid gimmick in really bad taste. Condemning a stupid gimmick like this is treating a symptom. I wonder what would happen if we would condemn the things that cause orgs ISIS? Or do we only condemn it if the other side's guy is doing it?
Hatred is hatred; this is as much a cause as it is a symptom. ISIS and other groups use this exact sort of 'us vs. them' mentality to recruit for their cause; you can't fight evil with more evil.
DeleteIn the words of the late, lamented Sir Terry Pratchett, who said this far better than I ever could...
“It was so much easier to blame it on Them. It was bleakly depressing to think that They were Us. If it was Them, then nothing was anyone's fault. If it was Us, what did that make Me? After all, I'm one of Us. I must be. I've certainly never thought of myself as one of Them. No one ever thinks of themselves as one of Them. We're always one of Us. It's Them that do the bad things.”
Seems to be the NRA version of reality: killing someone will actually help, because, y'know, bad guy.
DeleteThere has never been an instance where killing someone did not have repercussions, but, if you think in simple black&white, this kind of thought can't happen. Of, course, it doesn't help that "our side" set up these terrorists, and "our side" is now being caught in the aftermath of that "Our side" got away with it in 1492 and later, but only by sheer force of arms, and we are all paying for this now. But we go out and do it again.