David: [Hitler & Stalin] probably were more like Dick Cheneys endorsing rendition and torture than Jefferey Dahmers putting dogs' heads on sticks.
Cro-Magnon slaughtering Neanderthal, Nebuchadrezzar II, any of the neo-Assyrian emperors, Timur "the lame," Attila the Hun, Caligula, characters in Procopius' Secret History ... making a list, making a list ... no end in sight to blame.
Why not highlight our hated icons? Why not pack up all our own selfishness, our own thoughtlessness, our own indifference to the suffering of others, our own rage and violence -- stow it all away in a suitcase of the world's crimes and call it "Bush"? Or call it "Hitler/Stalin"?
Unlike Auden's old masters who ... never forgotThat even the dreadful martyrdom must run its course
Anyhow in a corner, some untidy spotWhere the dogs go on with their doggy life and the torturer's horse
Scratches its innocent behind on a tree. ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
