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<title>Blogcritics: Comments on The Butchering of an American</title>
<link>http://blogcritics.org/</link>
<description>A sinister cabal of superior bloggers on music, books, film, popular culture, politics, and technology - updated continuously.</description>
<language>en</language>
<copyright>Copyright 2005 by the authors</copyright>
<lastBuildDate>Fri, 18 Jun 2004 16:02:46 EDT</lastBuildDate>
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<title>Comment by David</title>
<link>http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/05/13/115626.php#comment-69982</link>
<description>MacDiva I think that you are mistaken me for another one of the David&#039;s on here. I have only written a few things on here since a few days ago.</description>
<guid isPermaLink="false">69982@blogcritics.org</guid>
<pubDate>Fri, 18 Jun 2004 16:02:46 EDT</pubDate>
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<title>Comment by Mac Diva</title>
<link>http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/05/13/115626.php#comment-69977</link>
<description>Natalie, it ain&#039;t you.  &#039;David&#039; is like that on every thread.  Invite him for a cup of coffee, and he would threaten to scald you with it.  The beheadings are horrible and will backfire on the people doing them.  But, the topic doesn&#039;t matter for David.</description>
<guid isPermaLink="false">69977@blogcritics.org</guid>
<pubDate>Fri, 18 Jun 2004 15:55:41 EDT</pubDate>
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<title>Comment by Natalie Davis</title>
<link>http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/05/13/115626.php#comment-69976</link>
<description>Actually, I was not trying to create conflict. I was giving my honest reaction to your statement, &quot;I say that we put a bullet in Saddams head ( by accident of course )and then plug a bomb in the asses of the rest.&quot; Trust me, what scares me is you.

&quot;Shut the fuck up,&quot; as if. I have the right to say what I will. And I shall.</description>
<guid isPermaLink="false">69976@blogcritics.org</guid>
<pubDate>Fri, 18 Jun 2004 15:50:50 EDT</pubDate>
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<title>Comment by Mac Diva</title>
<link>http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/05/13/115626.php#comment-69975</link>
<description>At least one of the new Davids is sounding more and more like &lt;b&gt;Roger Ely&lt;/b&gt; -- all aggression and abuse.  Perhaps he is crazy in his own right.  But, with &#039;John-Z&#039; just having left, one wonders.</description>
<guid isPermaLink="false">69975@blogcritics.org</guid>
<pubDate>Fri, 18 Jun 2004 15:50:41 EDT</pubDate>
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<title>Comment by David</title>
<link>http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/05/13/115626.php#comment-69972</link>
<description>The above was a quote from the terrorist. Shut the fuck up and quit trying to create conflict.

As far as you being afraid you shouldn&#039;t go so many months without looking in the mirror. I think that&#039;s what scared you. </description>
<guid isPermaLink="false">69972@blogcritics.org</guid>
<pubDate>Fri, 18 Jun 2004 15:41:17 EDT</pubDate>
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<title>Comment by Natalie Davis</title>
<link>http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/05/13/115626.php#comment-69968</link>
<description>David, you make me afraid, just like Berg&#039;s and Johnson&#039;s killers.</description>
<guid isPermaLink="false">69968@blogcritics.org</guid>
<pubDate>Fri, 18 Jun 2004 15:30:18 EDT</pubDate>
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<title>Comment by David</title>
<link>http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/05/13/115626.php#comment-69964</link>
<description>Paul Johnson was just beheaded because in the words of the AlQaeda terrorist:
&quot;He worked on Apache Helicopters that killed Muslims and made them better and easier to kill Muslims&quot;.</description>
<guid isPermaLink="false">69964@blogcritics.org</guid>
<pubDate>Fri, 18 Jun 2004 15:13:20 EDT</pubDate>
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<title>Comment by David</title>
<link>http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/05/13/115626.php#comment-69943</link>
<description>RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - The Arab satellite network Al-Arabiya reported Friday that American hostage Paul Johnson had been beheaded. It did not immediately provide details and the report could not be independently confirmed.

I copied and pasted the above from MSN. I say that we put a bullet in Saddams head ( by accident of course )and then plug a bomb in the asses of the rest. Next get the Americans out of that fucking shithole

</description>
<guid isPermaLink="false">69943@blogcritics.org</guid>
<pubDate>Fri, 18 Jun 2004 13:57:32 EDT</pubDate>
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<title>Comment by Bunches</title>
<link>http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/05/13/115626.php#comment-64194</link>
<description>I disagree on the point that Nick Berg&#039;s murderers will not see justice. 

They have done an excellent job of making Nick Berg a martyr for Nick Berg&#039;s cause.  His cause was to give up all worldly posssesions to help some more unfortunate people, despite their hostility.  Their ill treatment of justice and of an innocent with such helpful intensions reveals the failure of their religion, and will cause even more determination to rid them and those like them from this world.

Because of Nick Berg&#039;s love and willingness to help others, there are even more children hearing of this story than 9.11 and asking, &quot;What can I do to rid the world of terrorism.&quot;

In the end, these murderers (just like the prison guards who humiliated Iraqis prisoners) will be dealt justice and they will find themselves saying &quot;God is great...&quot; To Nick Berg&#039;s God.

-Bunch</description>
<guid isPermaLink="false">64194@blogcritics.org</guid>
<pubDate>Sat, 15 May 2004 11:18:32 EDT</pubDate>
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<title>Comment by RJ Elliott</title>
<link>http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/05/13/115626.php#comment-64100</link>
<description>James:

What about Egypt? Or Kuwait? Or Qatar? Or Oman? Or Yemen? Or Turkey? Or Libya?

A few dictatorial governments offering sound-bytes isn&#039;t good enough. Until we change the cultural mindset of these people, we still have a lot of work to do...</description>
<guid isPermaLink="false">64100@blogcritics.org</guid>
<pubDate>Fri, 14 May 2004 17:52:50 EDT</pubDate>
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<title>Comment by James Golden</title>
<link>http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/05/13/115626.php#comment-64067</link>
<description>I will say that I was happy that at least Jordan, Saudi Arabia and UAE all expressed outrage at his killing.  As meaningless of a gesture as it was, it&#039;s a start on the road to decency (at least appearance-wise).</description>
<guid isPermaLink="false">64067@blogcritics.org</guid>
<pubDate>Fri, 14 May 2004 14:42:46 EDT</pubDate>
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<title>Comment by JR</title>
<link>http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/05/13/115626.php#comment-64045</link>
<description>&lt;i&gt;Our prisoner-abusers will be tried and punished. Their murderers will likely live long lives as &quot;heroes&quot; to their ilk.&lt;/i&gt;

I&#039;m guessing not.  Assuming they&#039;re not caught or killed in further criminal acts, these people will probably take to arguing amongst themselves.  Since these folks like to resolve conflict by violence, they won&#039;t hesitate to kill each other.  One way or another, I doubt these creeps will live long lives.</description>
<guid isPermaLink="false">64045@blogcritics.org</guid>
<pubDate>Fri, 14 May 2004 10:51:47 EDT</pubDate>
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<title>Comment by RJ Elliott</title>
<link>http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/05/13/115626.php#comment-64012</link>
<description>Sean Hannity played the audio on his show. It was ghastly. I almost had to pull over.

To those who haven&#039;t heard it, it wasn&#039;t anything like the guillotine: WHACK-Thump. It was sickeningly slow. Unimaginably terrifying. And these monsters were chanting &quot;God is Great&quot; while doing it...

What sickens me most, perhaps, isn&#039;t the horrific death of an innocent American civilian, or even the thought that millions in the Muslim World celebrated it. No, what sickens me the most is that these bastards will likely get away with it. Finding them in a chaotic Iraq will be like finding a needle in a haystack.

Our prisoner-abusers will be tried and punished. Their murderers will likely live long lives as &quot;heroes&quot; to their ilk.

That&#039;s what sickens me the most.</description>
<guid isPermaLink="false">64012@blogcritics.org</guid>
<pubDate>Thu, 13 May 2004 23:34:06 EDT</pubDate>
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<title>Comment by sheri</title>
<link>http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/05/13/115626.php#comment-63994</link>
<description>Thank You for putting into words the pain and anger I feel about the beheading of Nick Berg. I am not going to forget.</description>
<guid isPermaLink="false">63994@blogcritics.org</guid>
<pubDate>Thu, 13 May 2004 20:22:29 EDT</pubDate>
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<title>Comment by Temple A. Stark</title>
<link>http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/05/13/115626.php#comment-63965</link>
<description>Thank you for collecting the extra information about Nick Berg I had not seen or heard .</description>
<guid isPermaLink="false">63965@blogcritics.org</guid>
<pubDate>Thu, 13 May 2004 17:44:42 EDT</pubDate>
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<title>Comment by James Golden</title>
<link>http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/05/13/115626.php#comment-63905</link>
<description>The best revenge is success.  Think about it.</description>
<guid isPermaLink="false">63905@blogcritics.org</guid>
<pubDate>Thu, 13 May 2004 15:11:44 EDT</pubDate>
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<title>Comment by kuros</title>
<link>http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/05/13/115626.php#comment-63889</link>
<description>I am sorry Nicholas Berg. I am watching your death, and I am mourning for you like I was your friend. I feel like your friend. I think that you were trying to befriend the world, and that you, through your brief and unexpectedly ended life, have prevailed. 

I wish peace and healing for the Berg family. What has happened is an outrage, and ultimately, can never be apologized for. Losing a child must be the worst pain there is. But to have the entire world focused on it and politicians using it as a bargaining chip leaves us to wonder, &quot;where is God?&quot; What kind of God allows this to happen? In the world we live in, how do we expect to go on? 

It is a sick kind of &quot;Keeping up with the Joneses.&quot; I will see your prison abuse, and I will raise you one beheading. Poker face. Yeah, I know. It is horrible, because war is horrible, and bloody in its scope, the sheer volume of human rage, not to mention bloodshed. 

But let it be known, loud and clear. There is no such thing as revenge. The word and deed exist and the idea of sweet retribution is appealing but never satisfying when actually carried out. Avenging angels/ devils/ infidels/ insurgents are never satisfied. They are always left wanting, or bitter, disappointed. Our egos are bigger than our stomachs, which can only consume so much blood and bile before it is regurgitated onto ourselves. 

What do you do in times like these? Where do we go? What is going to happen now? It isn&#039;t a game, and since there are no ways to play, how do you stop? Does this mean everyone has to die? What is hideous, unavoidable, tragic - is the widespread coverage of it all, the way the information flashes forward in ominous RealPlayer detail to all points on the map. But perhaps, this is our saving grace. Because the pictures are gory, they are mounting day by day, the death toll is rising with a bullet, there is no escape. If you are not commenting on it, you are not here.

What would God say? I ask my God to help us. He shrugs his shoulders and says nothing. My God is kind of lazy that way. My God takes three hour martini lunches and calls it a day far sooner than He should. He likes me to work shit out on my own. He is cool though. 

I am terribly sad for all the dead, injured, abused, Iraqi and American, military and civilian, hero or madman, everybody - because there is no reason anymore for this escalating violence. It isn&#039;t &quot;Spy vs. Spy.&quot; It is human life. People, with mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, hometowns like Philadelphia or Baghdad. 

My heart goes out for all the suffering in the world. I wish to breathe it all into my lungs, let it run all the way through my respiratory and circulatory system, and exhale pure love and ever loving compassion. 

Margaret Cho</description>
<guid isPermaLink="false">63889@blogcritics.org</guid>
<pubDate>Thu, 13 May 2004 14:34:11 EDT</pubDate>
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<title>Comment by boomcrashbaby</title>
<link>http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/05/13/115626.php#comment-63852</link>
<description>&lt;i&gt;I&#039;m a ventriloquist this week performing at the Salinas County Fair&lt;/i&gt;

Well, my daughter and I will have to stop by, see your show and say hello, or as she eloquently puts it &quot;hehwoo&quot;</description>
<guid isPermaLink="false">63852@blogcritics.org</guid>
<pubDate>Thu, 13 May 2004 12:23:34 EDT</pubDate>
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