27 April 2006

Terrorism in Puerto Rico

I believe it was local (out)house of (non)representatives (vice)president José Aponte who accused the invertebrate governor Aníbal Acevedo of using "psychological terrorism" to achieve political aims.

Aside from the ease with which the accusation could have been hurled in the other direction, let's look at this statement.

First, a definition: terrorism n. a psychological strategy of war for gaining political ends by deliberately creating a well-founded climate of fear among the civilian popuation.

Yes, I selected a definition that gibes well with this post. It favors Aponte, so I went with it. After all, I am a Jenius and he is nothing but a Fool; I can easily afford to be kind to My utter inferiors.

First of all, is Aponte right in calling the governor's actions and non-actions "psychological terrorism"? Yes, he is. (Surprised you, huh?) Look at the definition again and notice the key points:

---gaining political ends by...
---deliberately creating...
---a well-founded climate of fear...
---among the civilian population.

Seems pretty clear-cut to me. So yes, the Jellyfish in La Fortaleza is engaging in psychological terrorism. But as I implied above, so is the outhouse's grand high poopyhead. In the pot-calling-the-kettle-fashion, Aponte lashes out at Acevedo with an accusation that sticks to him like stink on...you know.

It is no secret that Aponte has led the resistance to Acevedo's proposals, publicly proclaiming these as political actions almost daily since January of 2005. So he is definitely guilty of seeking to gain political ends. And his actions, much as he would like to now pretend otherwise, have been just as or even more deliberate than the jellyfish's. (Acevedo inherited a collapsing system; he's mainly the wrong guy in the wrong place and the wrong time.) (And no, there is no "right" guy or gal in Puerto Rico at this point. That's part of the problem.)

As pointed out before, the climate of fear is pretty much genetic in Us, so calling it a climate is like calling diabetes a windstorm. And notice, all ye civilians, how remarkably serene The Fools act, not because of image, but because they know full well this is nothing--nothing--but a noisy game.

Psychological terrorism only works when the populace falls for the sound and fury of The Fools prancing about in spastic monkey screechings. Let Me finally quote The Bard here: "...it is a tale, Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing."

The Jenius Has Spoken.

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