Ghost, you make a valid point on whether some of the detainees come in non violent and turn that way. I do not know. The number, if any is probably small, as like our own prisons here in the US, we're not out there actually looking for innocent people to incarcerate. (Hence, the release of around 500 detainees).
My take on this is I see terrorists as the cold blooded killers that they are. They remind me of the terminators of the film with the same name. They can't be reasoned with, and the only thing they truly understand is overwhelming force. Separating them from non violents is at best risky.
I would have to go back and look, but I assume it was an official at Gitmo NYT was interviewing. Obviously, The Times thought them a credible source, lest they would not take the time for the interview. Either way, I will take the word of one of our guys before the detainees.
Once again, we will have to differ on Gitmo. I see it as a necessary component to the war on terror to lower risk, and with the release of at least some of the non violent detainees, I think we're being as fair as we can. I do appreciate your thoughts though, and your points are well taken.
Goodnight and Good Sales
A Bush-mocking parody of a popular kids' book catches fire.
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President Bush's approval rating is mired in the high 20s, and his presidency is nearing its end—making this an ideal moment for a requiem for the Bush presidency, albeit an unconventional, and slightly controversial one. "Goodnight Bush," an unauthorized parody of Margaret Wise Brown's classic children's story "Goodnight Moon," has become an unexpected best seller since its release in May.
In the alternate universe of "Goodnight Bush," written by writer and producer Erich Origen and artist-writer-activist Gan Golan (they met while working for a dotcom around the 2000 election), a young George W. Bush sits in his bed, saying goodbye to various low points of his presidency. It's a darkly humorous book that wears its liberal bent on its sleeve—and leaves no controversy untouched, including the satire-resistant subject of 9/11. In a recent interview with NPR, the two writers were asked about sensitivity in depicting the Twin Towers as toy blocks with a toy plane toppling them over. NPR reported the next day that they'd received "quite a few" responses criticizing the interview and the parody. One listener wrote in saying the book was "out of line."
For more than 60 years, children have oft been lulled to sleep in the closing lines of Brown's tome: "Goodnight stars. Goodnight air. Goodnight noises everywhere." In "Goodnight Bush," that's been replaced with a more partisan, "Goodnight earth? Goodnight heir? Goodnight failures everywhere." Innocuous farewells such as, "Goodnight nobody. Goodnight mush," has been swapped for "Goodnight allies. Goodnight Abu Ghraib 'Cheese!'" And who can forget about the "quiet old lady whispering 'hush"? In "Goodnight Bush," it's a "quiet Dick Cheney whispering 'hush'" to the child version of Bush, who's dressed in a flight suit. Perhaps even more captivating than the text are the images—a close replication of the original illustrations, but with every detail substituted by something from the Bush era. (HarperCollins, publisher of "Goodnight Moon," declined comment on the parody).
Authors Origen and Golan spoke with NEWSWEEK's Brian No about their popular riff on a 61-year-old classic, whether they went too far criticizing the Bush administration, and if they've heard anything from the White House. Excerpts:
NEWSWEEK: How did you guys come up with the idea for "Goodnight Bush"? What were you trying to accomplish with this book?
Erich Origen: Well we were just inspired by what a great job Bush was doing, and we wanted to capture his legacy and the glory of it. [Chuckle.] No, we felt that we were responding to a need to have a truth-and-reconciliation moment. The cultural response to Bush has either been to make fun of the absurdity or soberly assess the tragedy. Of course, it's both absurd and tragic, and we felt we needed something that captured both of those things.
Did you guys read "Goodnight Moon" when you were young?
Gan Golan: It wasn't something that was read to me as a child. I really came across it when I was older, reading it to other children. When we started working on it, we began to study it in great detail, and that's when we understood "Goodnight Moon" wasn't just a simple children's book. It was this incredibly complex, finely structured work of art and literature.
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