outback to jungle

Musings on experiences of volunteering in Papua New Guinea with some gratuitous domestic social and public comment

Monday, November 06, 2006

"Dear Sir/Madam, You are wrong.

A criminal like Saddam Hussein is not hung by the passive voice or the anonymous "they" as you put it. He is hung by the State which is the democratically elected people of Iraq."

Retake the scene. Take 2
There we were ghoulishly watching when in come 5 million Iraqis each with a hangman's noose and a black bag.
Now you are just being silly. Of course the State is not like that. The State delegates authority to a hangman.
Retake the scene. Take 3.
There we were ghoulishly watching when in comes the hangman. He was wearing a dark suit and black tie.
Are you sure the State was not female?
Yes, I think you are right, it was a lady in dark slacks suit.
Now you are just playing with concepts. The State is genderless and amorphous.

News Bulletin
Saddam Hussein is not to be hung by the passive voice as was first reported. He is to be hung by the State which is a genderless and amorphous thing which otherwise defies description. But definitely no person will do the hanging. The State will do it instead.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home