Tuesday, February 26, 2008
More looking-glass world, this time from North Korea
The New York Philharmonic played in Pyongyang. AP informs its readers that North Korea is an "isolated nuclear power that considers the U.S. its mortal enemy." Considers? I don't know about you, but a country which labels another one part of an "axis of evil" and implicitly threatens to attack it with nuclear weapons surely must be an actual "mortal enemy."
But the "looking-glass quote" in the article comes from U.S. diplomat William Perry:
"You cannot demonize people when you're sitting there listening to their music. You don't go to war with people unless you demonize them first."Gee, I just can't imagine the U.S. demonizing anyone, unless it's Saddam Hussein. Or Slobodan Milosevic. Or Fidel Castro. Or Hugo Chavez. Or Mohammar Khaddafi. Or Kim Jung-Il. Or whoever else is this week's "next Hitler."
As for listening to the music of one's "enemies," I remind Mr. Perry that it was the U.S. which refused to allow a 77-year-old Cuban musician from even entering the country to receive an award, much less play music.
