17th May, 2004

Name Change

I have decided to rename my blog to "Truth, Justice, and the American way." Why? To borrow from a certain novelist, it has to be said: the world is perishing from an orgy of irrationality, injustice, and Anti-Americanism.
While the title was inspired by Superman’s character, the change was motivated by the media treatment of the "prisoner abuse” scandal. When American papers publish fake "atrocity" photos and delight in American deaths, the world is desperate need of intellectual heroes who can fight evil ideas with the same dedication, invulnerability, and moral certainty as Superman fought bad guys.

This is from Ayn Rand’s 1967 essay “The Wreckage of the Consensus”:

A country at war often resorts to smearing its enemy by spreading atrocity stories–a practice which a free, civilized country need not and should not resort to. A civilized country, with a free press, can let the facts speak for themselves. But what is the moral-intellectual state of a country that spreads smears and atrocity stories about itself…?

(Thanks to HBL for the story and quote.)
P.S.: Is the second comma needed in "Truth, Justice, and the American Way"?

Posted by: David

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Some people will say you don’t need the comma, especially in a title. But I think it looks better with it.

(New reader; thanks for the link!)

By: Derek UNITED STATES on May 17th, 2004
at 3:24 am

I like the new name. Nice work.

(The second comma is optional. This is always the case when you are listing things–you may include a comma between the last two items, but you don’t have to because the word “and” supposedly serves the same function. Personally, I prefer to include it, and in this case I think it serves to help emphasize each individual item by creating a slight pause between each when read.)

By: AshRyan UNITED STATES on May 17th, 2004
at 4:31 am

“the world is desperate need of intellectual heroes who can fight evil ideas with the same dedication, invulnerability, and moral certainty as Superman fought bad guys”

Sounds to me like we need . . . Rational Man!

By: Charles T. UNITED STATES on May 18th, 2004
at 5:01 am

Actually, it wasn’t there in the first place. I decided to add it - just haven’t gotten around it it yet :-)

By: David UNITED STATES on May 19th, 2004
at 5:35 am

Hey! You removed the comma!

I guess I should have just told you it’s mandatory. ;)

By: AshRyan UNITED STATES on May 19th, 2004
at 11:28 am

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