Comments on economics, mystery fiction, drama, and art.

Monday, July 18, 2016

Rudy Giuliani:  "You know who you are, and we're coming to get you."

What does this even mean?  Apparently, "you" are radical Islamic terrorists.  But what about the "...we're coming to  get you..." part?  How does he propose to identify who is (and who is not) on his hit list?  How are we going to "...com[e] to get..." them?  Are we going to bomb?  Then how do we avoid killing, and maiming, people who are our friends?  And if we kill and maim our friends, how long will they continue to be our friends?  Are we going to send US military personnel into...where, exactly?  Iraq?  Syria?  Washington Heights?  With what mission, exactly?  Without, again killing people who only want to live in peace? 

This is cheap rhetoric.  It is designed, not to solve a problem, but to rouse a beast.  The problem with cheap rhetoric, though, is that all too often, the price we pay for it is obscenely high.