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Feb. 1st, 2003 11:53 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rivkaIt hurts me to see people whose first reaction to this is to look around for someone to hate.
I'm not talking about people who are afraid that it might have been terrorism. For the most part, I think those folks just don't know enough about the plausibility of shooting down a fast-moving spacecraft at 200,000 feet. I'm talking about the people who are already spinning fantasies about the evil their enemies will make of this: Bush will use this as an excuse for war! The media is certain to play up terrorism speculation to increase ratings! And - I'm not kidding, I really saw this as someone's initial reaction on LJ - only the evil racists in Congress, who can't bear the idea of non-whites in space, will prevent the space program from being utterly shut down!
Yes, we know that you think Republicans are the worst people in the world. Yes, it's terrible to think that some Republicans' first reaction to this tragedy would not be to mourn the victims or praise their courage, but to look for a way to blame people they despise. Look at the motes in those Republican eyes! Maybe you should offer to help them take it out.
I'm not talking about people who are afraid that it might have been terrorism. For the most part, I think those folks just don't know enough about the plausibility of shooting down a fast-moving spacecraft at 200,000 feet. I'm talking about the people who are already spinning fantasies about the evil their enemies will make of this: Bush will use this as an excuse for war! The media is certain to play up terrorism speculation to increase ratings! And - I'm not kidding, I really saw this as someone's initial reaction on LJ - only the evil racists in Congress, who can't bear the idea of non-whites in space, will prevent the space program from being utterly shut down!
Yes, we know that you think Republicans are the worst people in the world. Yes, it's terrible to think that some Republicans' first reaction to this tragedy would not be to mourn the victims or praise their courage, but to look for a way to blame people they despise. Look at the motes in those Republican eyes! Maybe you should offer to help them take it out.
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Date: 2003-02-01 09:12 am (UTC)I had a similar feeling of irritation this morning at my doctor's office. The nurses hadn't had the news on; when I told them about Columbia, one of them announced "Well, Man wasn't meant to be flying around in space anyway."
I know that irrational reaction to tragedy isn't unusual. But some of those reactions seem to reveal core beliefs that are unsettling to me.