Who are the good guys and who are the bad guys? Bill Bonner has some unsettling answers. From Bonner at bonnerandpartners.com:
Nothing much to report from the markets…
So we gird our loins, put on our armor, and go into battle.
We’re anticipating a fight.
Power Corrupts
Has Israel become a “bad guy”? we asked yesterday. Iran, the U.S… Who’s bad and who’s good?
Our guess yesterday was that power really does corrupt. And when you have too much of it – a near monopoly on power – you give yourself permission to do things you otherwise wouldn’t do. Because you know you can get away with it.
What prompted this line of thought may have been the news… or indigestion. As for the news, here is Jeremy Scahill, editor of The Intercept:
Israel has once again conducted a premeditated, full-scale massacre in broad daylight, in front of the cameras of the world. Once again, it took place in Gaza.
On May 14, Israeli snipers and other forces gunned down more than 60 Palestinians, and wounded thousands of others, including civilians, journalists, and paramedics.
Among those killed by Israeli forces was an 8-month-old infant. Her name was Laila al-Ghandour. They also killed at least seven other children and a man in a wheelchair, and that man had lost his legs after they had to be amputated following an earlier Israeli attack.
“Bad Guy” Theory
Here at the Diary, we try to connect the dots. There are the bare “facts,” which are squirrelly enough. And there are the ideas, myths, and delusions surrounding them.
These latter dots, like ball bearings on a sidewalk, are the ones that cause the broken bones.
People think they know, for example, not only what happened, but why it happened. They think they can look into black hearts and see corrupted souls – even from thousands of miles away.
They think they know who the real bad guys are. In the case at hand…
The Palestinians were fiends from Hell, said one Diary reader:
When faced with a screaming horde of fanatics who want to exterminate your existence, do what it takes. Be glad that Mexico is not dominated by Islamists.
They had blood dripping from their hands, said another:
A significant number of Palestinians killed were unquestionably identified by independent sources as terrorists.
They were mass murderers, said a third:
They intend to kill indiscriminately and create a fifth column within Israel to destroy it.
In other words, “Bad Guy” Theory says they all deserved to die. They – not the Israeli gunmen who shot them down – were the evil ones.
To continue reading: Introducing “Bad Guy” Theory
