Comments on: Dear Lulu: People Live Here

by: The Mahablog » Al Qaeda’s Useful Idiots

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 00:28:58 +0000

[…] I was in lower Manhattan on 9/11. I saw the towers collapse. I know what terrorism can do. Yet I am not such a coward that I would compromise so much as a comma of the Bill of Rights for the promise of safety. […]

by: The Mahablog » Fighting Them There …

Tue, 19 Jun 2007 15:05:03 +0000

[…] Remarkably, Little Lulu — she who waxes hysterical over every phony “plot” the Bush Administration announces — has been silent on this one. Word may have come down from on high to downplay suicide bombers. This worries me. […]

by: erinyes

Thu, 07 Jun 2007 23:57:14 +0000

Oh, seattle….
Pike Place Market, Pioneer Square on Halloween night, Salty’s on Alki, Wild Ginger, Elliot Bay Book Store on a winter’s day. Working at 50 ft in Puget Sound at the mouth of the Dwamish river after a winter storm. Riding the ferry while sipping hot coffee.Spring time at the Japanese Gardens, I LOVE Seattle……….

I thought the next target would be either Las Vegas or Disney world. Now I know better.The GWOT is the BIGGEST hose job in history…….

by: r@d@r

Thu, 07 Jun 2007 20:39:09 +0000

i just wanted to chime in here because we in seattle have been living under the cloud of a great deal of speculation, some of it warrantless and some maybe not, that “we’re next” - after all, what greater symbol of globally-impactful capitalism run amok than seattle, home of bill gates, boeing, starbucks, and several major military bases? hell, if i were a terrorist, I’D hit seattle. not only the US, but the whole pacific rim economy would be royally screwed if they took us out.

for about a week after 9/11, whenever i was walking downtown in the financial district from my bus stop to my job on Pill Hill, every time a jet flew over - which was every few minutes, since there’s airlanes to Sea-Tac Airport directly over downtown - you could see the entire street full of people collectively flinch. it’s really something to see - like a piece of f?!ed up avant garde choreography.

and then we collectively (more or less) sucked it up, because (a) we weren’t new york and (b) as sir mix-a-lot says, “seattle wuzn’ bullsh****n’.” so on behalf of my city i give a hearty fist in the air to the brave, no-bullsh** folks of NYC.

by: Jack of Hearts

Thu, 07 Jun 2007 15:13:42 +0000

Thanks very much for a terrific piece. I’m also a New Yorker, and I work 3 blocks from the Hole in the Ground. I can’t let fear of some boogeymen scare me into hiding under my bed, and I sure as hell won’t let it make me vote for those corrupt Republican scumbags. If Michelle Squalkin wants to learn who the real terror-mongers are, she should look in a mirror. Then she should STFU.

by: It was the best of blogging, it was the worst of blogging « virgotext

Thu, 07 Jun 2007 13:01:42 +0000

[…] of blogging, it was the worst of blogging June 7, 2007 Posted by virgotex in Politics, News. trackback Mahablog levels a scornful blast of sanity at Malkin and the other tools gibbering about MayorBloomberg’s recent dismissive statement on terrorism in NYC. […]

by: maha

Thu, 07 Jun 2007 12:18:57 +0000

Devil: Lots of people have noticed that the further one goes from New York City, the more hysterical people are about terrorism. I think that’s because New Yorkers had to face the reality of it, and work through their fear, or else leave New York. Hysteria is an indulgence New Yorkers can’t afford.

It’s also the case that the further one goes from New York, the more the hysteria smells like prurience. Some people (Lulu) act as if they want to be terrorized. They seem to think there is some virtue in being afraid. Maybe they welcome the fear because it justifies their bigotries.

New Yorkers can’t indulge in that stuff without making themselves sick. If New Yorkers were to be as afraid of terrorism as Michelle wants us to be, we’d all be dropping dead from heart attacks now.

I remember right after 9/11 reading that gun sales went through the roof. People outside New York were buying guns to protect themselves from terrorists. I thought that was odd. Guns aren’t going to save you from poison gas or anthrax or subway bombs. At some point guns are about as effective as a rabbit’s foot, and serve about the same purpose — something to cling to to make you feel safer, even though it doesn’t.

At some point you have to reconcile yourself to the fact that what’s gonna be is what’s gonna be. You can seek increased safety collectively through law enforcement and security measures, but as an individual you walk out your own door and take your chances.

by: Devil's Advocate

Thu, 07 Jun 2007 10:46:06 +0000

Excellent post, Maha. I, too, am a New Yorker, and I lived through 9/11. I was a block away from the towers when the second plane hit. I saw people jumping out of windows. It was the worst day of my life.

It happened on a Tuesday. On Wednesday, Manhattan was deserted. On Thursday, people were going back to work. It took a while for New Yorkers to be back to their noisy selves, but they did. And Bloomberg is right: get a life. One cannot live in fear. If it happens again, and I am in the wrong place at the wrong time, so be it.

by: Dale

Thu, 07 Jun 2007 09:44:27 +0000

At least we know that the rest of the country understands our needs and is ready to help us out. The folks who sit safely in their living rooms watching a little picture on a television are ready to send another semi-truck full of stuffed animals at a moment’s notice.

by: Eric

Thu, 07 Jun 2007 05:57:16 +0000

First, well said, Maha.

I think that much too much attention is given to right-wing propagandists like Talkin’ Michelle Malkin. First, her vblog outlet is called “HotAir”. (How many jokes does that conjure up?) Next, two of her vblog posts are of her (badly) imitating a slam poet, and (even worse) a cheerleader.

Bottom line- she’s an unintentionally hilarious joke who deserves to be marginalized into oblivion, which won’t take much effort on our parts since she does such a splendid job in that department.

I’m not necessarily saying we should ignore her. I’m just saying to consider the source, and to stand back and get good, healthy bellylaughs at her feebile attempts at journalism/opining/whatever she tries to conjure up. Bellylaughs are all her missives are good for.