FURTHER THOUGHTS ON THE "EXPERTS" PARENTI TURNS TO.
My last post was rushed and not well-developed. While I do believe the linked articles by the respective "experts" Parenti chose to single out speak for themselves, it doesn't hurt to emphasize the dubious authority and questionable-at-best objectivity of these two gentlemen at slightly greater length. First, let us look at this gem by Mr. Lituchy:
Barry Lituchy on Yankee Imperialist "Bloodsuckers"
First, note the source--our good friends at "Srpska Mreza", the 'Serbian Network'. There's nothing like an avowedly nationalist website when looking for solid, objective academic writing. Most "experts" publish in boring academic journals and other outlets--give Mr. Lituchy credit for thinking outside the box.
Secondly, the title of this article is, shall we say, not without passion. Which is not necessarily a problem--I don't mind heated rhetoric and bias-on-the-sleeve polemics. However, the tone of this article is not so much impassioned as it is hysterical. The differently-colored passages of text only serve to emphasize the nearly unhinged tone Lituchy takes. Calling the death of Ron Brown and others in that famous plane crash "payback time" is barely rational, especially given that the crash was, after all, an accident. Who was dishing out this "payback"? God?
Lituchy throws hyperbolic, unsubstantiated vitriol in a nonstop barrage; there is very little else to this article. Typical is this quote:
"U.S. foreign policy always amounts to one thing: the rape of the world for the benefit of the tiny elites at the top of U.S. capitalist system."
Anyone capable of writing such crassly simplistic drivel has no business presenting themselves as an authoritative expert on, well, anything. This is simply not how rational, intelligent people--even impassioned ones--communicate. Lituchy fancies himself a radical who sees through the dominate discourse; like all such self-appointed elects, he speaks without restraint or shame. The faith-based always do, don't they?
As for Gregory Elich, he is another True Believer of the "The West Destroyed Yugoslavia" school of thought. The aricle I posted is also available from that online library of Balkan revisionism, Jared Israel's "Emperor's Clothes". Like most revisionist pieces, this article relies on fractured chronology as well as considering NATO/US/Western actions without the context of prior or qualifying events.
It's a closed loop, indeed.
1 comment:
"Which is not necessarily a problem--I don't mind heated rhetoric and bias-on-the-sleeve polemics. However, the tone of this article is not so much impassioned as it is hysterical"
Personally, I tend to shy away when people use extreme emotional hyperbolic language; because it tends to completely whitewash their argument.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not some robotic; passionless person; I can certainly understand and appreciate emotional writing; especially on a topic like atrocities and war.
The best writers on the war in Bosnia did a remarkable job of combining emotional, heart tugging narrative; with absolutely solid documentation and facts.
The last is the key word: facts. Unfortunately, this seems to be an obsolete point for the writers that Mr. Parenti has cited.
I guess my point is, I don't really mind over the top rhetoric; as long as it is based on solid ground.
The knee-jerk reactionary prose; based on conspiracy theories & a virulent anti-whatever bias that Parenti apparently feels is good objective opinion; is not.
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