Posted on 01/03/2006 7:22:45 AM PST by Valin
In a stunning new statement, the enormously influential left-wing blogger Markos Moulitsas attacks the very basis for the war on terror, attributing American efforts to prevent future terrorist attacks not to national security concerns but to...conservative cowardice. In a piece entitled "Why are conservatives so afraid?", Moulitsas argues that conservatives simply aren't man enough to stand up to another terrorist attack, and therefore infringe on American civil liberties to save their own skins. "These blowhard pretend to be macho," Moulitsas writes, "even as they piddle on themselves in abject terror from every 'boo' that comes out of Osama bin Laden's mouth."
This is not the statement of some fringe blogger. Moulitsas is closely connected to the Democratic party leadership; according to a recent article in the Washington Monthly, Moulitsas speaks regularly with the staffs of Rep. Rahm Emmanuel, head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (and occasionally with Reid himself). Moulitsas also, shortly after the 2004 election, addressed the Senate Democratic caucus on the issue of making blogging part of the Democratic political strategy. He is not speaking as an outsider when he writes:
When our nation was founded, we had men of real character and courage fighting for their nascent America, one in which liberty and freedom trumped the authorative tendencies of the monarchy. Patrick Henry gave words to those efforts: "Give me liberty or give me death!"
My, how far we have fallen, with an administration that parlays the incessant fear of its supporters into increased authoritativeness [sic] to the point where he now resembles the very despot we fought in our war of independence.
And his supporters bellow, as they cower under their beds:
"Here's our liberties, just spare us from death!"
These blowhards pretend they are macho even as they piddle on themselves in abject terror from every "boo!" that comes out of Osama Bin Laden's mouth. They like to speak about how tough they are, even though they send others to fight their battles and couldn't last a day in places like Iraq, or Sudan, or the El Salvador of my youth, or any other war-torn nation....
The breathtaking cowardice of the 101st Fighting Keyboardists knows no bounds. They hide behind the American flag and our genuinely brave men and women in uniform. It's bad enough that they wouldn't deign to join the boots in the ground in Iraq. But now they make a mockery of our Constitution, for the very values that motivated our Founding Fathers to put their lives on the line to combat the unchecked powers of the British monarchy.
Moulitsas's statement drew a positive response from his readers, some of whom see a useful political strategy in it. "Oooo, I LIKE this meme!" one wrote:
It has a Wesley Clark flavor to it. If you guys are so tough, why are you prancing around looking for a place to hide from the big-bad terrorists? Ooooo, SCARY! Poor little Americans, pissing themselves because some guys took out a couple of buildings. We all have to get our survival plans ready in case they attack again. Let's give all our hard earned Freedom to Big Daddy George so he can tell us when we can use the john. Geez, Louise, you'd think Katrina would have snapped them out of it but the fraidy cats are still scared of those brown people with box cutters. You're more likely to get swept away by a hurricane and where will Big Daddy George be then? Clearing brush on his ranch.
Captains Quarter
http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/006066.php
The New Democratic Meme: Self-Immolation
Markos Moulitsas has lost it -- and the candidates who pay him for his services might have some explaining to do about their views on national security in the future. Kos wrote today that Republicans want to protect the United States out of a sense of cowardice (h/t: The Corner):
When our nation was founded, we had men of real character and courage fighting for their nascent America, one in which liberty and freedom trumped the authorative tendencies of the monarchy. Patrick Henry gave words to those efforts:
"Give me liberty or give me death!" ...
These blowhards pretend they are macho even as they piddle on themselves in abject terror from every "boo!" that comes out of Osama Bin Laden's mouth. They like to speak about how tough they are, even though they send others to fight their battles and couldn't last a day in places like Iraq, or Sudan, or the El Salvador of my youth, or any other war-torn nation....
The breathtaking cowardice of the 101st Fighting Keyboardists knows no bounds. They hide behind the American flag and our genuinely brave men and women in uniform. It's bad enough that they wouldn't deign to join the boots in the ground in Iraq. But now they make a mockery of our Constitution, for the very values that motivated our Founding Fathers to put their lives on the line to combat the unchecked powers of the British monarchy.
Patrick Henry, however, did not utter those words to urge Americans to withdraw from the world or to "redeploy" to a horizon position. He gave us that grand mission by urging Americans to rise up and fight the British to shake off the bonds of the monarchy that held us without representation in Parliament and without recourse to the very liberties Moulitsas accuses us of giving up. Nor did Henry say, "Let any man who agrees with me but does not fire a weapon be called a chickenhawk." Henry believed in civilian control of the government, not a military dictatorship where only soldiers and those who had served could enter the world of self-government.
In other words, the allegory is drizzly Kos bulls**t.
Kos loves freedom of speech when that speech agrees with him. He loves civilian control of the military when those civilians belong to MoveOn, but not when they belong to the Republican Party. In fact, Kos doesn't like American values at all -- he only uses them when convenient to his argument, but in fact would rather have a Starship Troopers (the movie) government made up of military bureaucrats making all of our decisions for us. He has no respect for those who did go to Iraq to help with security -- recalling his infamous "Screw 'em" to the civilians who did believe in the mission enough to go over and help out, smearing them as "mercenaries" -- and then calls those who stay home and support the mission 'cowards'.
I will pray every night that Howard Dean and the rest of the Democrats take Kos' advice and adopt this as their meme, because I'm sure people feel like they would rather not see New York nuked than to take action within the law to defend this nation. Even most of the Democrats in this country would have a problem with candidates adopting the "Let DC Burn As Long As International Calls Don't Get Checked" platform. I, for one, would rather have the NSA checking on valid leads on al-Qaeda terrorists here in the US than to have my granddaughter vaporized by Islamofascists at the Mall of America. And if Markos doesn't like the fact that I use my freedom of speech to make that clear, then Markos can kiss my entire ass. Screw him and anyone who supports him.
UPDATE: Clarified my reference to Starship Troopers, and removed reference to Heinlein -- not quite the same thing.
I suggest as a test for fear we put at liberals in cages with lions tigers and bears. (And by bears I don't mean those who are not bullish on the economy).
Lessee...
Republicans have the Senate.
Republicans have the House.
Republicans have the White House.
Yea, I think that the liberals are onto something here....
Not unlike Clinton, who had fought bravely along side our men in Somalia and Bosnia through thick and thin.
My sarcasm meter is twiching
"Why are conservatives so afraid?"
Because (to quote the 60's, 70's hippie "peaceniks"), "one Islamofacist nuclear bomb will ruin my whole day".
That's why "Richard(nickname)-head"
When Bill Clinton was in the White House, and Tom Dasshole was running the Senate, everything was all hunky-dory in the green-shaded world of Kos.
Good idea, Kos. Run with this one.
Lots of people that this nitwit describes as 'cowards' and 'blowhards' are in fact, veterans. But then, one oughn't expect anything like thoughtful reflection and common sense out of the Left.
Where the hell was this idiot on 9/11/2001?
Yep, the Dummies are gonna go far with this one.
He's got quite a rant there, and he makes some good points.
This looks like the fight we've been looking for, bring it on big boy. The cowards in Congress might cower, but you wont find that in Texas!
This "fear" meme has been tried before, although not exactly this way. This is coming from the "Bush is Hitler!" party, the and the "Global Warming Sky is Falling" crowd. Both sides use fear, no doubt, but I think the things conservatives, well, most normal Americans as well, fear at this moment, are things that are demonstrably true, in like, it REALLY HAPPENED already. Sheesh..
Hillary's phony moves to the center is only making her look like a facist to the moonbat activists who dominate the primaries.
Barf and Liar alert!!!!!!!!
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