Earlier today, I was gearing up to write a post. As I gathered my thoughts, I stopped and reconsidered. Apalling as the story was, what could I contribute? What good would I do, bringing up such horrible events? I never laid my fingers to the keyboard. I just closed the window and moved on. Nothing to see here.
Until I heard the 0620 GMT news report from Classic FM, that is. Classic FM is a British radio station. Their taste in classical music is so superior that I ignore the public radio station that broadcasts right next door to me, in favor of internet streams from a station on the other side of the Atlantic. Now, I know perfectly well that radio news exists to transmit headlines, and is not the best source for understanding the news but still, there are standards.
I wasn't listening at all to this particular news report. I was thinking deep thoughts and preparing a post about my work, and the ethics and philosophy of my job. As I pondered, I faintly heard reference to that story I had considered blogging about earlier. The whole report, the last story in the news broadcast, went essentially like this: "The owner of a Staffordshire farm announced it will stop breeding guinea pigs [for medical testing] after a six year campaign of intimidation." Then, on with more jaunty early-morning music.
My head snapped around to face the speakers. My jaw dropped. My heart rate shot through the roof, as blood rushed to my head. My whole thought process derailed and I was left gaping at the screen of my laptop, nearly in tears. A six-year campaign of intimidation was all they said. It's like calling the 1917 Russian Revolutions "a nine month period of political instability." Staggeringly inadequate.
They removed his grandmother's body from her grave. The body of his grandmother was stolen from its grave. Grave robbery. There had been serious threats and all sorts of property damage going on for years, but that stuff is nothing. They desecrated a grave. They stole the bodily remains of his grandmother, for purely political reasons! THERE ARE NO WORDS. There is no reproach strong enough. What can I say? What can anyone say? There is no punishment strong enough. There is no appropriate response. Such depredations have been outside the Western experience for so long that we have no response to them at all.
This isn't a simple criminal violation. This is a crime against humanity. I'm seeing a war crime, perpetrated by terrorists. I am sitting calmly and rationally, in the peace of a silent living room, in a quiet provincial town, wondering in all seriousness whether hanging, drawing, and quartering is too lenient a punishment for the perpetrators of so obscene an act. Public crucifixion starts to sound like an excellent avenue. I cannot find a line where the punishment becomes cruel and unusual. (Today is, as it happens, the 700th anniversary of William Wallace's execution.)
More from Samizdata, and Captain's Quarters. Sadly, grave-desecration is just the latest in a series of ghastly crimes. The place should have been SWARMING with police officers. If I were a member of a police force that had done so little to protect the innocent from such monsters, I would certainly resign my commission in disgust.
As for Classic FM, There's no need to critique their news report. It's worth simply noting that their report makes it sounds distinctly as though these terrorists had won, and that the news department was fine with that. I could only bear to listen for a few minutes more. I tuned back in at 0700 GMT, to verify what I heard. Then, I turned it off. I have no desire to reach over and start that feed back up. I don't want whatever they're selling. Better to sit in silence.
And, as a final note, we refer back to Bill Whittle. The desecrators have violated the principle of SANCTUARY, and should expect no quarter.
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