[Newspoetry] W: "Good vs. Evil"

[Joe Futrelle]

Washington, D.C. (Associated Poets):

George W. Bush today described America's new war against terrorism as
"good vs. evil".

This statement has left many baffled because of its extreme
complexity, linking multiple concepts together with the maddeningly
sophisticated concept of opposition.

"Versus", a kind of word called a "preposition" by Latin scholars who
have known about it for centuries, describes how two ideas, people, or
other things can oppose or "contradict" one another.

As if that's not heady enough, Bush's formulation employs a vast array
of other concepts -- two in all, that have been the subject of heated
theological and intellectual debate since time immemorial.  This has
prompted a number of scholars to pore over Bush's statement, working
long into the night to apply every bit of their extensive
book-learning to deciphering the wondrous, enigmatic and brief
treatise.

"Someday years from now, we may know what Bush means," said Olaf
Nilssohn, a classics professor at Oxford who was drawn to the
statement because of its learned use of Latin, "but until then we must
simply acknowledge that this is a man of immense stature, whose
knowledge reaches deeply into virtually every area of the human
intellectual enterprise.  It is clear from this statement alone that
he will take his place in history alongside Russell, Heidegger,
Descartes and Aristotle as one of the men who have forever changed the
way we understand ourselves and the world around us."

"Until we can come to grips with this unimaginably new and different
epistemological framework, we should place our trust wholly in
Mr. Bush like the blind fools he has shown us all to be," Nilssohn
added.

--
Joe Futrelle
editor-without-portfolio
Newspoetry daught calm