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Reader Feedback on "The Secret Life of Kitty Lyons: Osama Bin Laden"

it was a naughty but good fantasy. obl is just a blank page to project on. no one knows anything about the man other than what could be gleaned from that secret video; all other videos have been suppressed here in the uS. a fantasy is just that. the raw realties of obl are repulsive, like rape is repulsive. but that doesn't stop you from having rape fantasies. it has zero to do with reality. read that again & understand it. obl is elegant, how true, soft-spoken & he does have nice eyes, sensual lips & graceful hands (when they are not swirling-lol). i don't know if this is more prominent in women or not due to their gender specific position as the creators & healers of the 2 sexes, but when you are faced with a terrifying situation that was 9-11 & what sprung out of it, one impulse is to draw yourself closer (mentally) to the source of the horror. in hopes that you can either 'understand' it better & therefore obtain the key to unlocking the threat; or 'understand' the human component (obl--the human cypher)& slay the monster with it, therefore destroying the monster & saving yourself & the world. it is instinctive to want to sexualize a faceless, automan/terrorist threat like the ones we've seen, & therefore make them human, & open to human weaknesses (see: Samson & Delilah in the old testament Bible for reference, peeps). then again, some might be drawn to what obl himself called the "stronger horse"--sexually, the tough, strong men have never been wanting for women attracted to them; it has nothing to do with morality, because that can always be justified away. and don't kid yourself, Muslim women the world over, but especially in the Middle East & Asia, are attracted to obl, it's not just the few, b/c of the afore mentioned qualities but also because he is seen as a 'champion' of the underdogs. who hasn't seen those pakistani schoolgirls swooning over him on msnbc? or what about those saudi girls who say, "whatta man!" it's comical & scary, but real. the violence & the violence merged with sexuality displayed in some of these responses are more scary to me than a funny sacrilige fantasy about obl.
--rs
02/25

You are a stupid bitch but I would love to fuck you in your ass in nut all in your mouth and for you to swallow it all.
--pooh
01/21

Geez - reading some of those early responses to this article was something else. Can we direct our anger in some kind of constructive way, kids? What, really, are y'all so upset about?
--cp
01/14

It is surprising to me that anyone who visits this site and reads the columns would take offense at this article. Kitty, think about whatever you like - and write about it also. As for those who took offense, remember: fantasy is just that. Honestly!
--cp
01/14

Kudos to Kitty for writing this! Kitty was exercising her American right to freedom of speech. If you don't like what or who she writes about, you can go ahead and boycott reading it anymore. If creativity becomes limited due to others being offended by it, then the terrorists have won in that department!
--SJM
01/11

I think this is a very excellent piece and very brave to post something funny about Osama, especially when everyone's so deadly serious about him.
--lt
01/08

I don't understand the rational of all the freaks who say that the US deserved getting attacked because of our policy towards Afganistan, Isreal or anyplace else in the past. Saying that what we did for Afganistan came back to us, is like saying the Jews deserved what happened to them during the holacost because they had all the money in Germany. By the way to all the fags who have called me "angry man" and then posted stupid little names like "Vu" or "Ick" and acted like that was bravery, I will now post my real initials. Now you will know who you are dealing with. My office is in Harlem. Leave a message, I'll get beack to you (you fucking fags).
--WJC
12/23

Anyone who actually finds it "sick and disgusting" to celebrate our great country at any time is a miserable piece of shit who doesn't deserve to live here. That's my opinion. Don't I have the right to express my opinion without being told by leftist faggots (that's what you are, look up the words in the dictionary, your high mindeness) that I'm angry or violent? Like I said go give a copy of this letter to a NY fireman when he's off duty and see what you get (you fucking assholes)
--
12/21

I'd like to" smooth the anger out of..." me by beating your fucking radical left wing liberal faces with my bare fists, but you're all too pathetic to bother. I don't beat up men who don't qualify as such. Isn't it degrading just to look in the mirror?
--
12/21

I guess I liked Cutler's piece too.
--ar
12/19

Cullen's piece was excellent. This tragedy has upset me terribly, but the people who are upset about the same things I am keep being told they are bad Americans. The fact that the piece was so mocking really appealed to me and the way I have been feeling. I was so moved I have responded (effusively) several times! -very cathartic! Thank You! 5000+ people were murdered by a man who was armed and trained by our government, and the way our culture is "honoring" them is by painting everything red white and blue and selling it. I find THAT sick and disturbing. Oh, and Vu is a poo-poo head.
--AR
12/19

ummm, ar and who, whatever. Again I get an e-mail to visit back here to read this stuff. ar? Is there some reason why you must explain yourself to the point that all your mental ingredients are posted on your cyber forehead like a packet of Protein Mix? Just a question, dunno. You type too much. I don't understand what you wrote, but you do, others too. Not my vocabulary or language. Sorry. ummm, sorry for your mom and stuff to. Hard.====================================================================================================================You missed something or know something I do not, maybe cuz of language. The "angry" person who wrote below did not specify his/her sex. Why do you automatically conclude it as a man? Violence? Force? You're a US women reading such words and *click* it must be a "guy" and only a guy? Afghan women can cut you up with dull knives, ask any wounded Russian soldier in the 80's left on the field. They can do it without expression or guilt or a bad dream while sleeping in their villages at night. Now I've wrote too many words, and I understand them but many will not. Sorry once again if not understood. Oh! I'm a guy. FWIW -> The violent one may be a women down there, below. Never know. Dunno.
--Vu
12/18

To everyone- my statement involving myself and another man "fucking the hate and anger out" of the butch homophobe should not by any means be interpreted as a rape. my statement is one of desiring to sooth and heal these destructive forces out of the world, and what a lovely image right? The religious zealout, the militant, and the bleeding-heart, all coming together in a healing expression of love for humanity. I only wish that if given the experience to be able to help heal the anger out of a violent homophobe or Taliban member that I would have the grace to do it, problem is I have as much rage in me as angry man, and I too would want to react with vengence.
--ar
12/17

angry man- I want you to remember that a person who uses the term "homophobe" doesn't have to be gay. I am a woman, a very sensitive woman, who, because of that, and losing my own mother have felt horrible pain everytime I've seen murder, torture and rape inflicted on innocent people. September 11 paralyzed me, It was/is an overwhelming feeling to know that 5000 families at once are all feeling the pain I have felt-and for no good reason. It hurt me even more then to think of vietnam, when such a mindblowing number of our brothers were killed, either there, or the ones who came back here and were unfairly blamed for it. angry man- i am so glad you stayed and continued to post messages- please, instead of saying how much you hate me, please tell me what it is that I, or somebody said to evoke such emotion. We have all just gone through (and continue to go through) and its only through talking through it can we heal from this
--ar
12/17

boy, does someone need a hug? misdirected-energy-man-who-won't-sign-his-name seems to be feeling a bit of negativity. channel that, let it *flow*
--c.
12/17

Ar and all like-minded assholes, I'm won't even read your bullshit motherfuckers. I'm not even going to look at this pathetic article or your and your sympathizers responses again. But I assure you if you said what you're writing to my face, I'd beat the living shit out of you with my bare hands. I assure you with you're attitude it will happen to you someday, you low-life degenerate fucking scum. You will get yours someday asshole. This tradgedy wasn't a fucking joke that you panty wearing, fag liberals can make fun of, and use as an excuse to mock the United States. If there was ever a reason for an abortion it would have been your mother when she was carrying you. Even Pat Robertson would approve of that. I hope someday you get caught doing something and spend the rest of your life getting fucked in the ass. That's what you like anyway, right?
--
12/17

to the angry man who want's to defile my grave. The tragedy that happened to the innocent people in the world trade center should never happen...to anyone, in any country. My Mother died, I would never wish that pain on anyone, and whether you want to believe it or not, The United State's and much of western europe's prosperity has come for the horrible slaughter of innocent people! I understand why this makes you respond with such defensiveness! I have been studying world history for only two years, and already I am overwhelmed! The comments I made were mostly metaphors, but I still want to have a threesome with myself and a man who can gently fuck all of the hate, anger and violence out of any scared, angry homophobe
--ar
12/17

I hope Ashcroft deports all your sorry asses. Fuck all of you who liked this article. I hope to piss on your fucking grave, you degenerate pigs.
--
12/17

I didn't mean to imply that Kitty's excellent potential frig-fest was a heartbreaking analogy of the United States screwing the world. But with this inspiration I will retreat to my bed and go to that cave, but bring one of those sexy butch USMC homophobes in with me. After it's all over the three of us will be cuddling and calling each other pet names that end with "ookie"
--ar
12/17

The greatest turn on is danger, but the danger in this is not so much the danger of imprisonment or death, but of being so intimate with a philosophy that we believe is foriegn, only to find out it is as identical and seductive as Fireworks flying through the air and American flags waving in "victory" To personally experience the awful truth about the foundation of our privledge is a vile interruption, but what is even more vile, is the sadistic pleasure we get from it...instead of getting turned off, we fuck harder, and as we inflict more pain we get more and more aroused. After it's over and everything is a mess, we get up and leave, and leave them to clean up...it is their mess of course.
--ar
12/17

Right on! Osama is totally hot--I've thought so from the beginning, baby.
--krl
12/16

I have to say I'm glad editorial decided to run this column. If there's one thing that scares me even more than the recent terrorist attacks, it's the sudden curb on our freedom of speech. This is America after all. Let's not loose sight of what we're trying to protect.
--HMK
12/14

?? There was a debate about publishing that? It was brilliant! Totally brilliant. Not the least because I share the political sentiments. Ah, Culver ought to have gone further. Only quibble: get rid of the husband, already!!!!
--EE
12/10

Glad to see it published -- though Kitty seemed a little scared and overwhelmed by the encounter!
--RD
12/08

Kitty has transformed the way I think about politics and sex. I now fantasize differently about both. The saddest thing about the era we're witnessing is the threat to freedom of speech and the loss of humor and political satire. Kitty, honey, keep it up and open.
--gp
12/07

It seems that Nerve's attempt with this piece to spur intelligent debate on freedom of speech or pushing the boundaries of taboos in fantasies has fallen flat. What comes next in this discussion? "I'm not a poo-poo head! You're a poo-poo head!"?
--M
12/07

vu- spoken like the true left-wing commie asshole I knew you were
--
12/07

Vu's True American Consumer piece was a hell of a lot more entertaining than Kitty's article. Well done!
--M
12/05

Ooh ooh Kitty, you just didn't go far enough. Fantasize about doing him after he's dead, in paradise, and work in his 90 virgins. You could bother all the readers (including your editors, who should know better)who seem to think the column is some sort of documentary. Or is it?
---fom
12/05

see what happens with all this dumbing down? its contagious I even forgot how to spell dessert with apologies
--me
12/04

Is nerve having a nervous breakdown? Can't handle its own power, ie maggie? She serves us a very tasty meal. Saucy, spicy, a little hot perhaps. But inventive, a new spin on things. Something to wake up our numb sleepy tastebuds And for desert we are offered a debate. How exciting. What will it be? Jello! To my horror, very watery, not quite set. Without taste. But the palest excuse for a desert (excuse me a debate) I've ever seen. Being frightened of fantasy is one thing, but clamping down on it with wobbly jello is simply inexcusable.
--me
12/04

The entire Kitty/Osama brou-ha-ha is utter nonsense. Kitty's power is the new world order. When we have a bad guy that Kitty CAN'T subdue with her imaginitive nymphomania, THAT'S when we should be worried...
--sc
12/04

In answer to an earlier question, selective breeding is known as "eugenics."
--mean
12/03

...and it doesn't get much lower than that.
--
12/03

GEJ, George "you know who" wouldn't fuck you with Al Gore's dick.
--
12/03

Vu, Your statements are absurd and there is no point arguing with someone as off-base as you. This is a free country and if someone really wants to leave that bad, they have that opportunity. In your case suicide may be an option. But please do it alone.
--
12/03

"thank God for Kitty"!!!
--NY
12/03

Dear Editors, This is a wonderful piece, and provocative as it should be. Yes Osama is the enemy, but who can deny that he, like many in Afghnistan, is goodlooking? I would sooner have sex with them than with George you-know-who. Keep Kitty flourishing. She is unique and darin.
--GEJ
12/03

ct: I'm not looking at bin Laden and Hitler historically, but sexually. Hitler yelled and he always looked so mad. I think he might have spit when he talked. Bin Laden smiles, moves his hands like swans on water, speaks low and melodiously. That's what I meant by elegant. I was not equating elegance with evil, power or sympatheticness (if that's a word). I believe my point there was that everyone here is looking at a sexual fantasy in political context, and I think one can have a fantasy outside of that. Unrelatedly, the Germans in the 30s may have been more intellectually and artistically accomplished than Afghans today have the opportunity to be, but they too were impoverished and humiliated.
--lcc
12/03

Dear Reactionary forces at Nerve, Let's say I'm more than a little surprised at your rush to censor yourself. Do you think that absent Kitty's weekly political romp, W and Laura would approve of Nerve's content? No? So what's goes next? Would you turn your nose up at a "Jenna Does Barbara" color layout, purely for patriotic reasons? What the hell ever happened to First Principles? Mencken said every editor needs a pimp for a big brother so he has somebody to look up to. But it's worse than that now. If you jamokes aren't careful, you'll be happily denouncing each other and yourselves in secret military tribunals...
--JMcE
12/02

Leave Kitty be. You're supposed to be Nerve, not Nervous.
--LG
12/02

why didn't Kitty Lyons write about fucking OJ Simpson? How about one about fucking Ted Kennedy? Now that would really be sick!
--
12/02

Yeah.Terrorism turns me on.Because,truly,who hasn't wanted to probe the mind and body of an evil genius? Who hasn't wanted to be one themselves at some point in their lives? And all of us know,that violence can be very sexy.
--GOD
12/02

It's sad that so many people who dislike American civilization live here in America. There are other places they may go and I wish they would. But I'm sure there's some entitlement program that is finianced by hardworking American taxpayers that keeps them here, even though they have such disdain for America.
--
12/02

It' OK for Kitty Lyons to write a fantasy about fucking a man who is a foreigner, after that man killed thousands of American people. But imagine if a guy wrote a fantasy about being a Nazi in a concentration camp screwing a Jewish prisoner? But it's all just freedom of sexual expression. This is the example of the double standard that all you people who liked this article live by. You can do it but others can't. You can offend, but no one can offend you.
--
12/02

c and Icc, I'll take both your opinions with grain of salt. First of all the Confederate south was in disagreement with the administration and I doubt very much that you'd hail their efforts. The same can be said for David Corresh and Timothy McVeigh. And as far as Bin Ladin being elegant and Hitler not being so, I wholeheartedly disagree. Hitler was successful in seducing an educated, industrial nation in basically comitting suicide. How can you say Hitler was not elegant? He was one of the greatest orators in the history of the civilization. All Bin Ladin has done is seduce a relatively poor and ignorant, small group of people. And as far as the sympathizing with Bin Ladin and degrading the current American patriotic trend, I would like to see if you'd think the same if it was a right-wing group that had committed this current atrocity. Why don't you have the same sympathies for Hitler. I mean the Jewish people had all the money and the country was starving. Do you think the American government should have recognized Hitler's actions with more of an open minded attitude in 1941? When you so-called intellectuals try to defend the indefencible, you should try to at least be consistent.
--ct
12/02

I think that Kitty Lyons' column on Osama Bin Laden is hilarius--- a reader in the heartland of Vermont
--BL
12/02

It's all in the normal context of the Secret Life columns, I don't see the problem.
--AG
12/02

Maggie Cutler is truly inspired. Kitty Lyons is what I look forward to every time I come to this site. She is smart, sexy, and cutting edge. This is her best yet.
--KAG
12/02

As the Onion has proven, one of the best thing ways to fight back is to go on. We all must go on. A woman speaking out about her sexuality is one of islamic fundamentalism's greatest fears. So let's hit 'em where it hurts. Hurrah for Kitty.
--TJB
12/01

Juicy work! There's nothing better than embracing the dark side and I'm glad you had the guts to do it. I've gotta admit that in the days following Sept. 11th, I also turned to erotica to escape and ended up smack in the face of my secret fantasies about Arabic men. It turned into a great piece, but I wondered whether readers would be ready for it. But as the great Marquis has shown us, nothing is too sacred for sex. Thanks for confronting our collective dark side in this piece.
--ep
11/30

This is a good essay. Yay!
--AJK
11/29

Each person deems for themselves what is and isn't inappropriate--ah, the glory of our "soulless modern world." Gracias, Kitty, for the liberties you take.
--NDK
11/28

Oops, I didn't mean genocide. I meant ... what's the word for selective breeding?
--lcc
11/28

jdw posted: "diversity of opinion is being suppressed in the name of patriotism. Challenging the dominant view - the view expounded by the Administration - isn't about political correctness. It's about insisting on a substantive political process." :::: I agree. That diversity, that challenge is what this country is based on. This is a country founded by those who disagreed with the administrations of the time. This country is built by people who left to do better, by the misfit, by the minority. We forget this too often. :::: As far as the article goes, I think its timing was inappropriate, wholly inappropriate. I've never been a fan of the Kitty series to begin with, I find the concept repulsive. The editorial decision was to publish it, and this has been questioned (an understatement). They decided to stand by it. They sowed the wind, let them reap the whirlwind. So be it. :::: Those addressing this issue with rallying cries of bloodletting and violence, the same can be said for them: sow the wind, reap the whirlwind. Violence does not end violence, a lesson that we, as a species, have yet to learn.
--c.
11/28

Oh for god's sake! America was practicing genocide before Hitler did, with the castrating of our own "undesirables" -- the mentally retarded (or people so poorly educated they were THOUGHT to be retarded), the diseased and the criminal. But anyway, the Hitler comparison is completely uncalled for in a fictional sex fantasy piece because Hitler was loud and just not sexy, while bin Laden is handsome and moves elegantly. Or, if you equate power and success with sexiness, neither one did so well. Hitler's government lasted only 12 years, and bin Laden's bid to start World War III seems to have failed before it even started. Both had many innocent people killed, and both (I bet) will be dead by suicide very soon. You can have sexual thoughts or dreams about ANYONE. Your own father can rape you as a child and ruin your life, and you might still have sexual fantasies about him. That's our funny little id. You're writing in as if this were a history lesson or a political argument. It's not. Sexual fantasies are usually dumb and inappropriate, if you're honest with yourself. Personally, I think Kitty didn't go far enough in treating this as a true sexual fantasy, because she backtracked as one does in THOUGHT, not in lust. Nevertheless, it did disturb me when I read it. I can HAVE yucky fantasies, but to read it turned into literature so soon after events brought on by this man not only killed and orphaned so many people, but also made millions of survivors insomniacs, it just felt really weird!
--lcc
11/28

mean, If the child in the Catholic school fantasized about a rabid dog, one that went on a rampage in her own town killing 4,000 people, some victims were parents, relatives and friends of her fellow classmates in the Catholic school, it goes a little further no? The Catholic school girl writes in explicit detail her sexual accounts in the Catholic school news bulletin for all to read and share, her true fantasy -I am sure no one in the school would react and maybe she'd get the Pope to give her an award for her creativity and imaginary skills of sorts. I have to reflect on this for a moment, you may have a point. Thanks, It's Autumn, Vu
--Vu
11/27

ct, I think your response is a good example of the distortion and attack I described. Consider my claim that American TV coverage is one-sided: I'm not claiming that all the media coverage is one-sided - I think some of the newspaper and radio coverage is reasonably balanced. I also didn't say that there was one other side - the terrorists' side - although I think it's desirable to know their side, just as it was desirable to know Hitler's side; knowing doesn't imply you're sympathetic, but it does let you understand what you oppose. There were and there are several ways to respond to the WTC attacks; there were and there are several ways to view the situation. However, diversity of opinion is being suppressed in the name of patriotism. Challenging the dominant view - the view expounded by the Administration - isn't about political correctness. It's about insisting on a substantive political process.
--jdw
11/27

JDW, You sau American media coverage is biased and it's possible that we're not proceding correctly. Would you have recommended letting Hitler give his "Mein Kampf" ideas to the American public during or before WW2? Maybe you think it'd been politcally correct to have let Hitler tell us his side of the final solution story before we actaually invaded Germany? Maybe you think he'd have given good argument for us to have let him keep the concentration camps going? Or maybe we should have let the Japanese just have the Philippines, because it wasn't really politically correct to declare war against another country. I have never heard such a ridiculous argument from anyone on any subject than I have from JDW on today's crisis regarding the WTC bombings.
--ct
11/27

Boy, there is a little too much anger out there. A teacher of mine once asked if it was wrong for someone to have a fantasy about having sex with a dog. Most of the class said yes. The teacher said no. Instead, he said it would be wrong to have sex with the dog and that a fantasy was a fantasy. If you dream of killing someone, that is worse that dreaming of having sex with Osama. The fantastical musings of a fictional character are hardly sick. And the person is placing traits on Osama that have no basis in fact. So fantasy, as long as not lived out, is fine. That much said the piece was mediocre at best. By the way, the class I was in, was in a Catholic school! in Queens County, New York. Surprise.
--mean
11/27

Kudos to all involved with this story. Nerve content is frequently funny, interesting and sexy. I'm glad to see how gutsy you can be as well.
--EL
11/27

LK, I don't see any comments here justifying the WTC attacks with cultural relativism. That is, I don't see anyone saying, "The bombers did what they thought was right according to the values of their culture, so we can't condemn them." What I do see is that attempts to confront the problems in our attitudes, motives, and decisions (and nothing we do can be completely unproblematic) are radically distorted and viciously attacked. I think the effect of that kind of response, the "United We Stand" slogans, the one-sided TV coverage, etc., is to produce an artificial, undemocratic unanimity that leaves us more likely to take morally flawed action.
--jdw
11/27

oh yes, and re my comment re relativism, that goes for those of you in this thread who should know better. There is a difference between evil and Evil, good and Good. Dust off your Plato ...
--LK
11/26

re the Nerve Editorial Debate ... blah, blah, blah. Cultural relativism is dead. You must take a stand. Other points of view are not interesting/valid/worthy-of-publication just because they are "different." Stimulating debate is a weak curtain behind which to hide.
--LK
11/26

Mr. Vu...You may read, but with your deranged mind the words you read make no sense. Where in your pathetic little brain did you ever get the idea that any version of the Christian faith condones killing or violence whether it be in Lebanon, Isreal, China, the United States or anywhere? P.S. Moron, the Spanish Inquisition is NOT modern history. You are so ignorant, but with a liberal twist you think you sound smart. Maybe if you went to church, you'd learn something. If you don't believe in God, fine. But don't blame the world's problems on a peaceful practice.
--
11/26

medal, not metal.
--
11/26

Do we all really want bin Laden dead? Huh. I want him prosecuted by international courts and getting deserving punishment. But all of you who want brains and blood take a close look at yourselves, you're pretty damn close in that moment to the guys taking over those planes. When we cease to have regard for human life, no matter how offensive and reprehensible (look Vu I can spell) it is, we start to live out of the same place the killers do. BTW - Go Kitty!!
---sej
11/26

the weird messed up thing about fantasies is that they are often inappropriate ... i think this was daring and it got people talking ... come on folks, we all want bin laden dead, we are all on the same team ...
--ydb
11/26

Pay no heed c., the majority here still believe they vote directly for the president of the U.S. and that Thanksgiving was a wonderful experience with Indians and fellow native Americans ->after their feast we'd all like to forget what we did to them all. Hey by the way, did you know it was the White Man who taught the Indian to scalp heads. Yep, bounty claims to be paid for the RedSkins and easier to bring in a saddle bag of bloody scalps than the dead bodies. Money to be made back in those days. How history repeats itself. These people are reading olde. All of them.
--Vu
11/26

"It has been written that those men from the Middle-east are the most endowed in the case of penis size. Just ask the female pilot that was taken prisoner and raped in the ass by the Iraqis during the Gulf War. Not really an appealing fantasy to most women, I'd think. -- 11/25" What the hell does this have to do with the article being discussed? Is it already time to just start throwing in any Mid-East slams, bigoted comments and ignorant statement? Reading the comments so far, apparently. Can't keep it on topic, can you?
--c.
11/26

It has been written that those men from the Middle-east are the most endowed in the case of penis size. Just ask the female pilot that was taken prisoner and raped in the ass by the Iraqis during the Gulf War. Not really an appealing fantasy to most women, I'd think.
--
11/25

JDW, There are no accounts of any Christian group killing people in the United States or anywhere in the world in modern History. If in the U.S. there are, than those people are breaking the laws of the United States and are being persued, investigated or prosecuted or in McVeigh's case have been prosecuted. I cannot recall anyone in the US government declaring war on Muslim fundamentalism. The war is against terrorism. In the Muslim religion the people referred to as infidels aren't other religions, they are people who do not worship or believe in god.
--aj
11/25

I didn't think it was sexy, but I did find it funny, in a sick way. But it's just like the Kitty Column when I've read it in the past.
--
11/24

That's not sexy or funny. The word "despicable" comes into mind.
--RM
11/24

Mr. or Ms. jdw, Please come out of your white tower. This is a tasteless article and you are an unpatriotic piece of garbage. There is no need for further debate or discussion about religious fundamentalism. Bin Ladin is a Hitleresque style dictator who minupulates people with lies regarding religion. You by justifying Bin Ladin, Bin Ladin's actions or Bin Ladin's followers makes you a traitor to the United States. Most of Bin Ladin's actions are justified by him as a retaliation against aggression from Israel. You haven't mentioned Jews yet though, just Christians. How can you add Tim McVeigh into this discussion? Son of Sam was Jewish and so was Legs Diamond and Bugsy Siegal, so what? The Muslim religion doesn't teach what Bin Ladin did and everyone knows that. You're a sick fuck jdw.
--
11/24

Our latest popular demon, Timothy McVeigh, had at least a few links to Christian Identity, and I think groups like Christian Identity are analogous to al Queda. Christian fundamentalists can commit spectacular mass murder just like Islamic fundamentalists; the point is that large-scale violence backed by religious conviction isn't limited to those people over there who couldn't be anything like us. The presence of good Christian fundamentalists in the U.S. - my friends and family among them - suggests to me that there are good Islamic fundamentalists in Afghanistan, but the words "Islamic fundamentalist" have come to connote rabid destructiveness, as if every Islamic would want "to take a sledge hammer and break their fucking heads and watch their fucking skulls gush blood and brains all over your fucking front porch." As indicated by the unreflective ad hominem attacks here, it's hard to see in yourself what you'd project on your enemy.
--jdw
11/24

jdw, Hello anyone home? How many Christian fundamentalists drove a jumbo jet into the world trade center killing 4000 people? How dare you make this a issue of religious freedom.
--
11/23

Mr. jdw, I'm sure there's many New Yorkers who'll gladly see you move to Afganistan and stay there to learn about Bin Ladin the man, the myth, the legend. Hopefully you'll be in the cave when the cruise missle blows his ass to HELL.
--
11/23

I agree with JDW. Bin Ladin is human and so are his Taliban buddies and all the other so-called "religious fundamentalists that liberal-atheist JDW compares them to. And I'd like to take a sledge hammer and break their fucking heads and watch their fucking skulls gush blood and brains all over your fucking front porch you fucking asshole.
--
11/23

I like the piece. I loosely read it at probing the alienness of The Enemy. We have plenty of Christian fundamentalists in the U.S., many of them friends and family functioning with everyone else in a civil society, but we talk about Islamic fundamentalists as if they were radically different, as if every ten year-old over there dreams of growing up to be a suicide bomber. We have an image of bin Laden that fulfills our needs - it provides an uncomplicated object to hate - but most of us have minimal knowledge of the man: his temperament, his biography, even his beliefs. Greater familiarity with his temperament, biography, and beliefs might not change anything, but it's good to know what we don't know._____The phrase "...I would never stoop to facile stereotyping, even for a laugh," pokes at the liberal tendency to be scrupulously fair and earnest about someone who's decidedly against us, but I think the tendency's sound. It may be easier to destroy your enemies if you have contempt for them ("vermin, low-life disgusting pig, crawling with lice and smelling like camel crap,") because they then seem less than human. However, they are human, and we shouldn't ignore whatever that implies.
--jdw
11/23

"Just to clarify for readers: this is part of a regular column. Kitty Lyons is a fictional character who fantasizes about political figures, not the writer herself." [*cough* toilet flushed] A sad excuse to say that you'd accept your dad's funeral to be published as an all out orgy over his casket [him included] and you'd give the pallbearers "head" while thinking about doing your own mom. Right? But it's just a make believe fantasy story in your logic? All make believe. With 4,000 plus dead in your own back yard [half still barried in the pile] you'd expect a little more initative from Nerve and it's staff to reframe from this type of editorial and creative subject matter and "behavior" so soon. Don't you think? But if you need the ratings for cash flow we understand. What next week, a story about making it with Hitler in the ovens in Sobibor? Lots of good bone-ie and skinning thoughts there you could develop on no? Toastie-marshmellowdramatic...
--NH
11/23

Let's take a guess at what this article is supposed to achieve. Could it be a shameless attempt to gain publicity on the network trash shows that follow the evening news in order to give Nerve some national TV exposure? Could this be a liberal-Democrat, Dan Qualye/Murphy Brown style trap to try to get President Bush, George Pataki or Mike Bloomberg to condemn this piece thus condemning free speech? Whatever it is, it's strange.
--
11/23

Just to clarify for readers: this is part of a regular column. Kitty Lyons is a fictional character who fantasizes about political figures, not the writer herself.
--
11/23

Oh by the by, you're now World-Wide Famous, you real name as author as I send this around for opinion on both you and Nerve. Twenty-five million won't buy you a wet dream after this one. Cool
--Vu
11/23

Considering the fact I live in NYC, Nerve itself being local NYC and accepting your [writing] so shortly after WTC, I find your article totally insane, out of context and sadly a result of poor taste and brains [both you and Nerve]. Some things you don't fuck around with especially when so many of us have lost friends, family and associates. Take two asprins and see a thirty-odd-six.
--Vu
11/23

I thought it WAS funny. Sick but funny. I took it as satire, not a litteral fantasy.
--
11/23

Wacko femi-Nazis at Nerve obviously have a chip on their shoulders. Why don't you people grow up? This article isn't funny, it's disgusting.
--
11/23

Thank you Kitty Lyons for remininding me how warped and twisted the female mind is.
--sbg
11/23

I mean vermin, low-life disgusting pig, crawling with lice and smelling like camel crap. There is no woman in her right mind that could be sexually stimulated by a piece of shit like Bin Laden
--jfl
11/23

Kitty Lyons is fucking sick. How could she want to even be in the presence of this disgusting vermon. I think Kitty Lyons should get her ignorant little brain examinined.
--jfl
11/23

This article of your's is kind of funny, and I understand what you're feelings are. However I don't think that at this time it's responsible of you to submit this article nor do I think Nerve should have posted this article. This article of your's is insulting to the United States (something I'm sure you couldn't care less about). More importantly to a liberal like you, it's insulting to the men and women who were killed in the attack on September 11th. Although you probably couldn't stand those types of people anyway. I hope you have fantasies about screwing dead guys, because pretty soon that's what Bin Laden is going to be. And to Nerve; is the last statement "cool"? P.S. I couldn't care less.
--AJC
11/22

Funny and kind of touching, actually.
--dh
11/22

loved this piece. god bless the lady who wrote it.
--JK
11/22

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