Nadine, re <Arafat thinks that any man who honors his given word must be soft in the head.>
We all have a public and private life and selected thoughts are presented as our identity. To a greater or lesser extent, these lives are parallel [like a parallel universe in another dimension]. Some are benign, such as simply physical modesty, but others, such as the German cannibal's desires or a paedophile's, are concealed from the public, of course, but that world is important to them.
Then there is the desire for personal gain and the advantages of deception in achieving personal aims. Hence the US Office of Disinformation which is giving us false information and deceiving us constantly, even to the extent of them pretending they were disbanded. Hence the spying on Kofi Annan and everyone else, including the spies themselves, to catch double and triple and quadruple agents.
Arafat isn't alone in deception. People fit on a continuous scale of dishonesty from fanatical realist to total fantastist, both of whom will be found in captivity wearing a white jacket and being given medication to make them "normal" or at least placid.
I had a boss once who I am sure felt uncomfortable simply saying how things are. He always had to be seeking an angle, presenting a best appearance, gaining an advantage, manipulating a situation. He was a nice enough guy. I felt a bit sorry for him really because life was obviously difficult enough that he needed to do that, or thought he did.
I suppose Arafat is in the same bag. In fact, I'd say everyone in the Moslem world is like that, to give a wild generalization. They can't possibly seriously believe their mystical mantras of jihad and supernaturalism. They are in good company. I'd put all Christians in the same bag, though they are more crazy than Moslems [believing that Mary got pregnant without any help [snicker], that there are a father, son and holy ghost [three for the price of one], and that burning witches at the stake will drive out an axis of evil.
I think the devil must be just a missing apostrophe from french, d'evil so half the Christian religion comes in the form of a mistake in understanding the French [plus ca change]. You know the saying, "the devil is in the details". D'evil est dans les details. The devil is lurking in apostrophe's. Each time people see an apostrophe, they should check it for evil and cross themselves, just in case [which will give them bonus absolution so isn't a waste of time anyway - God will see them]. An incidental benefit would be people's use of apostrophe's would improve.
Look at King George II seeking divine guidance on who to pre-emptively attack next and where their WMDs are hidden. Rember that "We have the best idol" General. Don't forget the bible-clutching Clinton whose main interest at church, I'd guess, was fondling the young ladies in the vestibule and inducing the gullible Christians to vote for him. I'd like to see what he got up to in the confessional box. He got votes and sex - a great incentive to be religious. King George II gets votes and wars [he's turned on by something more violent than Bill's thrills].
Arafat is in good company. He's just a bit further along the scale towards the fantastist realm. The COW seems to be similarly disingenuous - remember the Niger export of nuclear bombs to Saddam. The USA needn't worry about loss of credibility over the various recent disclosures of falsehood; USA credibility remains at about the same level as previously.
Just the facts,
Mqurice |
