Friday, December 09, 2005
Harold Pinter's Nobel Prize Speech
Harold Pinter delivered his acceptance speech (Nobel Prize for Literature) by videoconference. The entire text of the speech is here. It's masterfully written, passionate and extremely condemning of the United States. Those of you proud of US policy will be angry... others will be moved, and sad when reading this. Maybe he needs to be nominated for the Peace Prize next.
Excerpt:
"I know that President Bush has many extremely competent speech writers but I would like to volunteer for the job myself. I propose the following short address which he can make on television to the nation. I see him grave, hair carefully combed, serious, winning, sincere, often beguiling, sometimes employing a wry smile, curiously attractive, a man's man.
'God is good. God is great. God is good. My God is good. Bin Laden's God is bad. His is a bad God. Saddam's God was bad, except he didn't have one. He was a barbarian. We are not barbarians. We don't chop people's heads off. We believe in freedom. So does God. I am not a barbarian. I am the democratically elected leader of a freedom-loving democracy. We are a compassionate society. We give compassionate electrocution and compassionate lethal injection. We are a great nation. I am not a dictator. He is. I am not a barbarian. He is. And he is. They all are. I possess moral authority. You see this fist? This is my moral authority. And don't you forget it.'"
Link
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A mighty fine speech and thanks for the link.
I cant help thinking what a surprise we all have had, since the collapse of Russia and communism and the ‘reds under the bed’ mentality we thought maybe peace might be given a chance.
But I think what has filled this vacuum is more deadly, a change in the fabric of society that arises from fear,prompting ill conceived responses that takes us back a 100 years.
A policy change by the most powerful to renounce any responsibility to uphold human rights and restrict civil liberties in society.
The neologism of the USA, as an expression of its new world doctrine that sees the only way foreword is to take unilateral action to protect itself with flagrant disregard for any other nation. It has the “moral right” to do so, as it is powerful enough to do just that. THis is not an expression of a moral fight for liberty but a fearful and irrational response to that ill defined perceived threat.
I cant help thinking what a surprise we all have had, since the collapse of Russia and communism and the ‘reds under the bed’ mentality we thought maybe peace might be given a chance.
But I think what has filled this vacuum is more deadly, a change in the fabric of society that arises from fear,prompting ill conceived responses that takes us back a 100 years.
A policy change by the most powerful to renounce any responsibility to uphold human rights and restrict civil liberties in society.
The neologism of the USA, as an expression of its new world doctrine that sees the only way foreword is to take unilateral action to protect itself with flagrant disregard for any other nation. It has the “moral right” to do so, as it is powerful enough to do just that. THis is not an expression of a moral fight for liberty but a fearful and irrational response to that ill defined perceived threat.
i just got around to reading the full speech now. wow. it packs quite a punch.
thanks for the link :)
thanks for the link :)
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