It's all your fault (#92; Topic A)

A week or so ago, the Vice President of the U.S. Dick Cheney accidentally shot one of his hunting buddies (#85). In a subsequent TV appearance, Cheney not only did not apologize, he almost said something to the effect that "it was all your fault." Indeed, when the target -- the word victim is clearly inapplicable -- held a press conference, he apologized for the accident! At first, I find this American logic difficult to grasp; but, in the context of a unique feature in the English language -- when an affirmative answer to a question is called for, it makes no difference whether that question is stated in the positive or negative (#74) -- one can appreciate the beauty of this double talk. So, when U.S. incurred a record trade deficit in 2005 vs China (#89), it was China's fault for not encouraging -- demanding might be a word that better captures the U.S. sentiment -- her citizens to spend more and save less. By the same token, when Palestine, following President George W. Bush's direction to vote and voted, it was fine. But when Palestinians voted in a political party that was not expected to win but did win by a landslide, getting something like 74% of the votes cast, it was Palestinians' fault. (In today's Washington Post, former president Jimmy Carter had a somber ed-op piece entitled "Don't Punish the Palestinians.") Come to think of it, whenever a westerner has trouble following what a person of Chinese ethnicity has said or acted, the adjective used is invariably inscrutable -- which is a shorthand statement for the following: "I am rational and intelligent; you are not. It is all your fault that I cannot decipher you." At first, I was amazed at the self-aggrandizement; in time, I take it to mean an admission of inadequacy.
Posted at 5:10 pm, Monday, February 21, 2006