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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated
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To: Bridge Player who wrote (213022)7/22/2007 3:39:18 PM
From: Lane3  Read Replies (1) of 794220
 
I shudder to think that anyone might therefore label me as being "PC".

LOL. PCness is a function of the environment. What's PC on NBC is not the same as what's PC on Fox because the audiences have different politics. The right can be just as PC as the left--just the forbidden words are different.

but I think I actually prefer the "homicide" terminology

I understand that. It's more satisfying. It sounds nastier and it makes a gesture to the victims. But it's not very accurate.

"Suicide bomber" subsumes homicide. All suicide bombings are homicidal, at least in intent. Therefore, "homicide" is redundant.

Further, it fails to differentiate between a bombing like Oklahoma City, where the bomber took cover, and the shaheed bombings, where the bomber does not.

"Suicide bombers" puts the emphasis on the perpetrator.

I'm not sure that's a negative. Bear in mind that suicide bombing is a fairly new thing. It is an escalation in the techniques of terrorism. Previously we felt more safe from bombers because a remote bomb is more difficult to trigger and we figured no one would be crazy enough to carry the bomb so we weren't afraid of the people around us. Since this escalation in terror is driven by that particular craziness, it seems reasonable to name the act after the act of suicide. Typically when we name new things, we generally name them after the new feature. Suicide is the new feature. There's no disrespect to the victims in that. Any more than there is disrespect to the victims in Oklahoma City when we refer to it without the "homicide." Have you ever heard Oklahoma City called a "homicide bombing"? I doubt it. The homicide part of that is subsumed in the connotation of "bombing."

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