May 17, 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”?


Written by David at May 17, 2004 03:16 AM | TrackBack

Comments

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!)

Posted by: Derek at May 17, 2004 03:24 PM

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.)

Posted by: AshRyan at May 17, 2004 04:31 PM

"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!

Posted by: Charles T. at May 18, 2004 05:01 PM

Hey! You removed the comma!

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

Posted by: AshRyan at May 19, 2004 11:28 AM

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

Posted by: David at May 19, 2004 05:35 PM
Post a comment









Remember personal info?


select text and click this button to format it as a quoteclick to make your selection of code formatted to be viewedafter decoding your code you can use this code to put it in a format different than the text around itclick to make your selection boldclick to make your selection italicclick to add a link