Jon Schwarz at A Tiny Revolution gives a demonstration on how a U.S. president could make the Earth explode without the use of nuclear weapons: by employing a far more dangerous substance — the truth. Below is an excerpt from the post, in which a fictionalized Jimmy Carter gives a forthright answer to criticism of his book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid. It is, of course, and sadly, a fantasy:
It’s also important to understand why many in the third world, Muslim and not, feel so strongly about Palestine. Here in the U.S. people often ask exactly the question you just did about why it gets so much attention, when on an absolute scale it’s not close to something like Darfur. No one here ever gives an honest answer, which leads some well-meaning individuals to believe there really is a double-standard for Israel, perhaps due to anti-Semitism.
So let me give an honest answer, even though it’s one many people won’t like. It’s this—in Europe and the U.S., we look at the past few hundred years and see two great evils: fascism and communism. But for most places on earth, there have been three great evils: fascism, communism, and colonialism. The colonization of the world by Europe and the U.S. killed tens of millions, just as many people as fascism and communism. It was just as cruel. If you ever doubt this, read up on what Belgium did to the Congo, or the British to Tasmania.
And whether it’s fair or not, to people in the third world, Israel is a symbol of colonialism. That’s not going to change. And they see it just as the victims of fascism would see a fascist state, or the victims of communism would see a communist state.
I realize it’s very difficult for Americans to get their minds around all this, but we have to, both for our own sake and the sake of the world.