There is no word in Newspeak for Cold Blooded Murder

In case you missed it, the War on Terror is over. This has been confirmed by the highest authorities, including Donald Rumsfeld and Joint Chiefs chief Gen. Richard Myers. Now we are engaged in "a global struggle against violent extremism". Whatever the heck that means. What they really mean is "perpetual war for perpetual peace." I'm afraid another way to read this is that Iran has always been our enemy.

I have yet to hear a Newspeak term for the cold blooded murder of Jean Charles de Menezes. You know, the totally innocent Brazilian guy who was shot five times in the head while being held down, right there in the subway train in front of God and everybody. I guess the reason why this hasn't been euphemized away yet is that everybody knows there is no possible justification for such a brutal act, so all those who would try are left with is stumbling bluster in plain English. Indeed, the crime bosses of this band of cold blooded murders, British senior policeman Ian Blair and Interior minister Charles Clarke, boast that they will kill again. But I guess since Brazilians look kinda like Arabs, it's OK.

But you don't need a war on terr -- ahem -- a global struggle against violent extremism to get your paranoia up. Here at home, it was revealed yesterday that Rowan County here in NC spent over $23,000 to investigate anonymous letters sent to their County Commissioners. Some claim the letters, sent from the "Department of Common Sense," had a "threatening tone." I guess the Commissioners felt threatened by violently extremist topics like the corporate welfare they were doling out to Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium, an auto racing track and a bear habitat. Funny thing is the letters stopped at the same time Arthur Chamberlain was elected to the board, so now they think he is the one who sent them. Chamberlain denies everything, but if he is the author, well he certainly found the best way to truly threaten his paranoid fellow commissioners.