--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Just to say evil Islamics did it, that's…" description: "\"“Just to say evil Islamics did it, that's so lame, and we know it. We see those official close-ups on the screen. The shifty liar's look, the twelve-st..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/58b/thomas-pynchon-533_islam_just-to-say-evil-islamics-did-it-that-s_2155455.jpg" --- # Just to say evil Islamics did it, that's so lame, and we… ![“Just to say evil Islamics did it, that's so lame, and we know it. We see those official close-ups on the screen. The shifty liar's look, the twelve-stepper's gleam in the eye. One look at these faces and we know they're guilty of the worst crimes we can imagine. But who's in any hurry to imagine?…” quote by Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/58b/thomas-pynchon-533_islam_just-to-say-evil-islamics-did-it-that-s_2155455.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/58b/thomas-pynchon-533_islam_just-to-say-evil-islamics-did-it-that-s_2155455.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/58b/thomas-pynchon-533_islam_just-to-say-evil-islamics-did-it-that-s_2155455.jpg) > ““Just to say evil Islamics did it, that's so lame, and we know it. We see those official close-ups on the screen. The shifty liar's look, the twelve-stepper's gleam in the eye. One look at these faces and we know they're guilty of the worst crimes we can imagine. But who's in any hurry to imagine? To make the awful connection? Any more than Germans were back in 1933, when Nazis torched Reichstag within a month of Hitler becoming chancellor. Which of course is not to suggest that Bush and his people have actually gone out and staged the events of 11 September. It would take a mind hopelessly diseased with paranoia, indeed a screamingly anti-American nutcase, even to allow to cross her mind the possibility that that terrible day would have deliberately been engineered as a pretext to impose some endless Orwellian 'war' and the emergency decrees we will soon be living under. Nah, nah, perish that thought. "But there's still always the other thing. Our yearning. Our deep need for it to be true. Somewhere, down at some shameful dark recess of the national soul, we need to feel betrayed, even guilty. As if it was us who created Bush and his gang, Cheney and Rove and Rumsfeld and Feith and the rest of them--we who called down the sacred lightning of 'democracy' and then the fascist majority on the Supreme Court threw the switches, and Bush rose from the slab and began his rampage. And whatever happened then is on our ticket.”” [Thomas Pynchon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-pynchon/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker critiques how societies quickly blame groups for tragedies, drawing parallels to historical scapegoating, and warns of a desire to find conspiracies that justify fear and control. **In simple terms:** People love blaming others for bad events, even when evidence is lacking. Key Takeaway Question assumptions and seek evidence before assigning blame. Themes blame conspiracy historical parallels media influence psychology Mood skeptical critical reflective Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - political discourse - media analysis - public opinion - education - critical thinking Key Concepts scapegoating paranoia collective guilt Questions to Reflect On - What evidence supports these claims? - How does scapegoating affect societal trust? A Different Perspective Such narratives can oversimplify complex events and fuel division. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Islam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/islam/) [Terrible day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/terrible-day/) ## Related quotes > [If you believe yourself unfortunate because you have loved and lost, perish the thought. 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You think you will die, but you just keep living, day after day after terrible day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/the-broken-heart-you-think-you-will-die-but-you-just-keep-living-day/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [Just because today was a terrible day doesnt mean that tomorrow wont be the best day of your life, you just have to get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/im-all-his/just-because-today-was-a-terrible-day-doesnt-mean-that-tomorrow-wont/) Im\_all\_his > [I play because I have fun. The vets of this team, I just wanted to say thanks to them. You guys mean so much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-durant/i-play-because-i-have-fun-the-vets-of-this-team-i-just-wanted-to-say/) [Kevin Durant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-durant/) ## More by Thomas Pynchon > [“How strange tonight, this city. 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Return hate in kind (ness) for proper netiquette. Love Muslims alike.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-chiles/no-hate-speech-online-is-a-social-media-netiquette-rule-return-hate/) [David Chiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-chiles/) [Browse all 6,032 Islam quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/islam/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Just to say evil Islamics did it, that's so lame, and we know it. We see those official close-ups on the screen. The shifty liar's look, the twelve-stepper's gleam in the eye. One look at these faces and we know they're guilty of the worst crimes we can imagine. But who's in any hurry to imagine? To make the awful connection? Any more than Germans were back in 1933, when Nazis torched Reichstag within a month of Hitler becoming chancellor. Which of course is not to suggest that Bush and his people have actually gone out and staged the events of 11 September. It would take a mind hopelessly diseased with paranoia, indeed a screamingly anti-American nutcase, even to allow to cross her mind the possibility that that terrible day would have deliberately been engineered as a pretext to impose some endless Orwellian 'war' and the emergency decrees we will soon be living under. Nah, nah, perish that thought. \"But there's still always the other thing. Our yearning. Our deep need for it to be true. Somewhere, down at some shameful dark recess of the national soul, we need to feel betrayed, even guilty. As if it was us who created Bush and his gang, Cheney and Rove and Rumsfeld and Feith and the rest of them--we who called down the sacred lightning of 'democracy' and then the fascist majority on the Supreme Court threw the switches, and Bush rose from the slab and began his rampage. 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