Previous: Snap!
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| "We had to destroy democracy in order to save it!" |
"Quite," said Slate.
"I cannot be arrested!" continued the Minister. "I cannot be jailed! I cannot be prosecuted! Do you not know anything?"
"I do know," said Slate calmly, "that no man's job title places him above the law."
"Ha!" replied the Minister, whose ashen face was becoming more florid with each passing second. "We make the law! We are the law! The law is ours! It is not to be used against us!"
Holmes, Slate, and I stared in disbelief as the handcuffed man carried on. Robinson, moving slowly, emerged from the bedroom and began to approach us. The Minister didn't seem to notice; he simply raged on.
"We're the government!" he shouted. "We make the law. So clearly we cannot break it. Do you see? Whatever we do is legal. It's legal because we do it. It's all very simple."
"I'm dreadfully sorry, Minister," replied Slate. "We have been instructed to apply the law equally. No exceptions. No exemptions."
"But the law is not yours!" exclaimed the Minister. "It's a tool of governance. Its function is to keep the peace, and that means protecting us, protecting the government. It is our tool, and it is to be used by us, not against us. Is that clear?"
"You can tell that to the jury," said Slate, "if the judge will permit it."
"Judge? Jury? What are you talking about?" continued the Minister. "I will never be prosecuted! Never, do you hear me? Never! No Crown attorney would ever do anything so daft!"
"We shall see about that," said Slate. "But first, you'd better come with me."
"What? How dare you?" demanded the Minister. "After what I've done to protect you? You don't understand a single thing that's happened, do you? We're in a war! Do you know that? Are you also trying to give aid and comfort to the enemy?"
"You see how they do it?" asked Holmes. "They tell a pack of lies to 'justify' starting a war, then they use the state of war to 'justify' telling more lies. In the process, they pervert the very idea of justice itself, as well as the democracy which they claim to protect."
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| "It's a struggle for power -- raw, unfettered, unambiguous." |
"Politics is not a parlour game, gentlemen, nor is it a popularity contest. It's a struggle for power -- raw, unfettered, unambiguous. We need as much power as we can get in order to protect the nation. We had to destroy democracy in order to save it!"
"To protect the nation against what, exactly?" asked Holmes.
"Against Muslim fanatics," the Minister replied, "who would happily blow themselves to bits if they could take a plane full of innocent people with them!"
"Even if their plot was impossible?" asked Holmes.
"It doesn't make a damned bit of difference whether their plot was possible or impossible!" replied the Minister. "They hate us, and they were plotting to attack us. If their attack had succeeded, it would have killed tens of thousands of innocent people -- people who are still alive today, living productive lives, and paying taxes -- all because of us!
"Don't you understand? These fanatics are crazy! They have no respect for human life! We can't let them get their hands on our weapons of mass destruction! We don't want the next smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud! We can't let them blackmail us with all their oil! We must stay the course! Either you're with us or you're with the terrorists! Truth is the first casualty! Do you not see that?
"So we bomb and invade their countries -- so what? So we kill a few supposedly innocent people -- so what? Collateral damage. What difference does it make?
"We give the survivors an opportunity to create a viable democracy, with a strong and independent sovereign government controlled by a popularly elected legislature totally amenable to our interests. We put all that democratic infrastructure in place for them, and the ungrateful wretches refuse to take responsibility! Instead they hide in their caves and plot their revenge. Revenge against what? Our humanitarian intervention?
"And look what they do! They send imitation students halfway across the world to take pictures of football grounds and shopping centres while they communicate through coded email. Are we not supposed to arrest them? Are we not supposed to protect the community? Are we supposed to let them keep their bombs and their missiles and whatever else they have, so they can attack us again?"
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| "Make the people tremble with fear, and they'll give you what you want!" |
"It's not our fault!" replied the Minister. "They only know what they want! They have no idea what they need! We had to enslave the people in order to free them! We had to take control!
"If a fanatical Muslim terrorist bombs your community, you won't care whether he had any bombs or not. You won't care whether his plan was viable. You won't even care if he was too stupid to tie his own shoes. You won't care about anything other than your dead and wounded friends and relatives. So that's why we do what we do -- to protect you from these Muslim fanatics, who would happily blow themselves to bits if they could take a plane full of innocent people with them!
"It doesn't matter if their plot was possible or not! They hate us, and they were plotting to attack us. If their attack had succeeded, it would have killed thousands of innocent people -- people who are still alive today, living productive lives, and paying taxes -- all because of us! You are free not to worry about the safety of your family, and it's all thanks to the government!
"Don't you understand? These fanatics are crazy! They have no respect for human life! We can't let them get their hands on our weapons of mass destruction! We don't want the next smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud! We can't let them blackmail us with all their oil! We must stay the course! Either you're with us or you're with the terrorists! Truth is the first casualty! Do you not see that?
"So we bomb and invade their countries -- so what? They hate us. We can't let them get their hands on our weapons of mass destruction! Don't you understand?
"So we kill a few supposedly innocent people -- so what? They have no respect for human life! We can't let them blackmail us with all their oil!
"If their attack had succeeded, it would have killed thousands of innocent people. You are free not to worry about the safety of your family, and it's all thanks to the government!
"We had to enslave the people in order to free them! We had to destroy democracy in order to save it! We had to take control to protect the nation! Don't you understand? They hate us. Do you not see that?"
"We'd better get him out of here, Bucky," said Scott Robinson. "He keeps saying the same things over and over."
"I think he's delirious," replied Buckingham Slate.
"They all are," added Sherlock Holmes.
Next: A Second Toast
