Posted on 08/22/2002 7:40:34 AM PDT by Pokey78
But the most apropos line was from Lehrer's introduction to that song. He said, "There are people in this world who do not love their fellow man, and I HATE people like that."
Congressman Billybob
If this were a game of football, your side would have already lost because of your refusal to think offensively on the basis that your cheerleaders are hotter than the other team's.
Those who want to hear the President ranting about the defects of Islam (evident to anyone with an IQ above turnip stage) are going to be waiting a long time. It is not his style nor in his nature; in the same way he campaigns by dwelling on the positive instead of going into a full-frontal attack on the democrats.
Well, you'll most likely never understand what I'm about to say, because to a Bushie's mindset it's only about something so petty as "keeping the Democrats out of power", but I'll give you the opportunity all the same...
Islam is not a religion. It is a power-mad collective based in self-nihilism that seeks to impose that same nihilism upon every form of life on this earth. To a Muslim, you are either one with him or you are outside of him... and thus must be made to conform. The very word "Islam" means "submission" and that's what Islam does best: if one does not submit willingly, then he will be made to submit by force.
It's all too easy for a Muslim to blow himself up inside a crowded pizza parlor, or to kill thousands by driving an airplane into the side of a building: they have no individuality to call their own. It can't be said that they really exist of their own free will. They live in submission, and they will die for sake of submission. And they do not acknowledge the value of your soul or any other's soul, because they have consciously disavowed themselves of the sanctity of their own souls.
Islam is the same thing that communism was during the Cold War, but far worse. Communism was imposed upon people who otherwise would not have wished it to be. Islam is something that a person is given a free and clear choice to embrace. He can choose against it - and perhaps be met with the alternatives of death or slavery - but his free will in the eyes of God would be intact. Or, he can choose to submit to another god, Allah, who is merely the old god of this earth with another name. He can choose the way to escape temporal pain, but in truth he is choosing against his own accountability before God by embracing the centralized collective of power, to the detriment of all others.
That, dear lady, is evil. And it's the same evil that we fought against in Nazism, and in "emperor-worship" of Imperial Japan. Those were "religions" that we readily made war against. How is it, then, that Islam must be treated any different? And yes, Nazism was a religious system as much as a political one. We crushed it. But that's nothing compared to what we did with Japan: we crushed it spiritually, so that never again could whole squadrons of kamikaze crash themselves... we did it for them as much as we did it for ourselves. We did Japan a favor in smashing their old religion after World War II... just as we would do the entire world a favor by calling Islam for what it is: an evil engine of destruction.
Islam is a cancer upon civilization. If America has been wounded by it, she - and her leaders - have none to blame but herself if she refuses to have the tumor excised.
Besides, there are plenty of people to carry on the war against the PC culture, and it is not the President's job to do this when there are so many more weighty things on his plate.
"I can't fight communism... there's more important things I have to do": things Ronald Regan would never have said.
Political correctness is in the same leage of evil as is Islam, Nazism, and every form of socialism. If Bush won't call it for what it is, he's morally blind, value-neutral or plain bloody wimpy.
When I first read that I pictured a bunch of Borg saying you will be assimiliated...
I agree with you and Miss Marple. I think the President was trying to avoid two things... Jethro and Bubba in a pickup truck shooting every "muslim" they found. And the argument digenerating into a PC fight over multi-culturism on September 12th. Both instances would have derailed the war on terror in a heart beat.
But more importantly, this facade that Islam is a religion of peace has to be done away with before the American people will realize that this clash of civilization is to the death. That our enemy can't be characterized as the guy behaving badly. Those towers coming down was the first of many attacks if we do not fight back--with everything we have - now - until Islam voids the field in defeat and doesn't even think of attacking us again.
If one thinks Islam can live peacefully with other religions and other cultures haven't been paying attention. They have never done so in their history. They are not doing it now. We have seen just the beginning of their mode of fighting... They are Islam... and they are evil.
Well, I had the same problem just writing it ;-)
I know one thing, I hate the NEA!! and I do think they should be put into internment camps.
Yes, but the lefty elites are crafting this stuff. I don't think it's mere insensitivity for many, but active hatred for "Americans" and displaced obsession or identification of the "other", distant enough to think they control them, at least in domestic discourse. They are filters, and planes into buildings, plus the internet, is making it hard for them to maintain authority. So they lash out - first was the "root causes" innuendo, which failed because the root causes people found came out of Saudi, not America, apparent to all. Next is the deflection to perceived American failures in the past, which is already part of their controlled discourse. WWII, for example. The only facts relevant to them are the internment camp and atomic bomb, which they perceive as "trumping" all the good deeds of America in that war. That's why they hype these facts, omit 99% of other information. If it doesn't further the project of maintaining an anti-American discourse, it is omitted, or red herrings and deflection are used to combat it.
"The old-time commies at least used to go to a bit of effort to tell the Western leftie intellectuals what they wanted to hear. The Islamists, by contrast, cheerfully piss all over every cherished Western progressive shibboleth. "
The important point is not that the Islamists say this, but that Western leftie intellectuals aren't listening, or are filtering the info. With the net, this is harder to do. I've noticed some leftie suppression campaigns lately about Memri.org and other groups who translate what Arabs say in Arabic...the attack is usually they are "Zionists."
At least we don't hear the "You're censoring me" thing from lefties anymore - translated: "I have nothing to say that doesn't sound stupid to any average Joe, so it's your fault."
I no longer am sure of how to post an article, but someone posted one on another forum, from JWR yesterday, I think, by a writer whose last name was Warren. It was a truly masterful description of what Bush intends to do in the ME, and his objectives are HUGE. It's as big as Reagan ending the Soviet Union. Wish someone would post it on FR. Bush intends to change the balance of power profoundly in the ME and for the longterm. You don't get there all at once, and you don't get there by driving off potential supporters with scary rhetoric. It's the "speak softly (big stick)" routine, and it WORKS.
Bush is attempting to encourage the tiny, infant impulses toward modernism and democracy in the ME. Yes, they are presently small and weak, but he is willing to start working in that direction, keep at it for the long haul, and trust that it will bear positive fruit in the future.
Regime change in Iraq is only the first step in a very long march. The NY Slimes clearly does not want Bush to have this HUGE potential PR victory, so they are doing everything they can to trick him into wimping out. He won't though.
Radical Islam is evil. There is no doubt about it, and the President has said so. Regular Islam is just plain wrong, but it is NOT the President's job to missionize the Middle East. In fact, I believe government promoting a religion is prohibited by the Constitution.
As I said before, if you don't like the President's style and strategy, you are just going to have to learn to live with it. Just because you, or Mark Steyn, or any one of a hundred other gripers isn't pleased with his mmanner of addressing this issue does not mean he is going to change.
AND, just because you make denigrating comments to me does not mean I am going to change my position either. Simplistic and belligerent as usual, you fail to address the fact that not all Muslims are the same, that we wish to get them to turn from the temptation of the radicals, and that in the large scheme of things and the context of this war the direction that you wish the President to take would be highly destructive. It may come to the point that we fight all of Islam. I pray this doesn't happen, because we are outnumbered significantly, and in a context such as that would gain few allies. Are you willing to throw the Turks over the side because they are Islamic? How about the Indonesians? Pakistan? Ready to abandon Afghanistan because they are Muslim?
I want all those countries on OUR side, and I want the radicals discredited. Only when there is a chance of secularizing those countries and removing Sharia law is there a chance for those countries to open up to the west and change.
So, no, Reagan wouldn't have abandoned his fight against Communism; on the other hand, he was cordial to Gorbachev and didn't call him names, but worked with him as much as he could.
Like Reagan, President Bush is an optimistic, positive, and patriotic individual. He has defined America's war on terrorism, in much the same way Reagan defined America's efforts in winning the Cold War. Bush has spoken out time and again, indicating just who the enemy is, what challenges we face as a nation and how we will come out victorious in the end. Bush has accomplished this with the American spirit as his driving force.
Like Ronald Reagan, George W.Bush will stay the course and remain focused on the ultimate goal of winning the war on international terorism.
While your statement may be true, it does not follow it is a univeral principle. They seem to be able to co-exist peacefully only when they are in the distinct minority and do not hold the reigns of political power.
Try as I might, I can't think of a single country where Muslims are in the majority that the other religions aren't actively persecuted or at least heavily restricted by law. However, I can think of many countries where other religions, especially Christianity, are in the majority where there is general religious freedom and tolerance, including for Muslims.
Those observations alone should be sending up huge red flags to those who advocate Muslins gain ascendency to the point of political power. When they do, it is usually curtains for the "others".
However, Turkey seems to be the main exception. Algeria might also qualify, although I'm not sure. It is notable, though, that in both countries the Islamic religious parties won control through elections in the past few years and the army immediately stepped in with a military coup to oust them.
There's something about Islam that wants to create a theocracy instead of a democracy, and that would be reason enough for us to oppose it. However, it gets worse, since they seem to want to create theocracies that would like to kill us.
Turkey is rated as A-3 by the group, International Christian Concern.
A = Government sanctioned
Severity of Persecution against Christians:
3 = Numerous violations that include fines, discrimination in education, employment or the electorate process, insufficient legal representation, and restrictions on places of worship.
If you need more information on Turkish persecution, just dial up turkey+christian+persecution on Google and you'll get over 20,000 hits.
And just think,... Turkey is the best of them!
Don't you remember that hillarious line from the movie "Airplane" when the trolling airline captain asked the innocent little boy (after he asked him if he liked to hang around men's locker rooms), "Peter, have you ever wanted to visit a Turkish Prison?"?
I am, and thanks for that reminder.
I appreciate your cogent comments regarding President Bush, his approach to the War on Terrorism and isolating radical Islam. I enjoy reading Mark Styne but although he is informative, thoughtful and often entertaining, he does misjudge George W. Bush - as so many others do.
These same nay-sayers would the very first to scream 'BUSH KNEW' and stand in the Senate pointing to newspapers with that headline should Saddam develop a nuke and some Islamic suicide bomber set it off in an American city anytime soon. President Bush isn't about to allow that to happen. Many of us realize that but some, like Mark Styne, believe that Bush hasn't convinced the American people. I disagree.
President Bush isn't holding a 70 % approval rating because no one agrees with him. As has been pointed out, close to 80% of the respondents in general polls know full well that Iraq is an enemy and support our eventual invasion of Iraq to remove Saddam Hussein and his WMD. The liberal media would have us believe differently. The drumbeat of opposition to invading Iraq is manufactured from the usual leftist suspects and a few nervous Republicans who are afraid of being on the wrong side should an invasion not succeed or should there be major loss of life on the U.S. side. They are mistaken and will likely join the rest of the American people in supporting the President once hostilities begin.
It's clear from the Wednesday (21st) Texas press briefing (with the Secretary of Defense at his side) that President Bush intends to ignore the nervous nellies and is planning to do what is best for American interests and security, which is an invasion of Iraq and an overthrow of Saddam Hussein.
We will succeed and the Middle East will never be the same again. Petty dictators and kings on shaky thrones are easily swayed from supporting radical Islamic fanatics once a despot like Saddam Hussein has been eliminated and they realize that (a) Bush is deadly serious (b) the American people (if not the media) are behind him and (c) supporting Islam and endless jihad will end in their certain death and destruction. That fact sobers people, both rulers and the 'Arab street'.
Thanks again for your observations. Nice to see something besides Bush-bashing and doom and gloom posts all the time.
My humble idea for 9-11, suitable for all grades: teach them the Bill of Rights, explain that we are endowed by our Creator, not the government, with these rights....and explain how other nations differ....how Johnny Jihad can't tell his friend about Jesus in Saudi Arabia or he may be jailed; how the Chinese "Cnn" reporter can't tell the world about the forced child labor or they could be jailed, etc., etc., etc..
If the children aren't grateful for living in the U.S. by the time the fifth amendment rolls around, the teacher needs to brush up on the subject.
Radical Islam is evil. There is no doubt about it, and the President has said so.
So the president is the final determining factor between what is "good" and what is "not good"? Good lord... you really DO believe he's God, don't you?
Regular Islam is just plain wrong, but it is NOT the President's job to missionize the Middle East. In fact, I believe government promoting a religion is prohibited by the Constitution.
We don't want to promote a religion. We just want to destroy the ones that are actively trying to destroy us.
As I said before, if you don't like the President's style and strategy, you are just going to have to learn to live with it. Just because you, or Mark Steyn, or any one of a hundred other gripers isn't pleased with his mmanner of addressing this issue does not mean he is going to change.
We're citizens. At least it's better than being a sycophant.
When the "Crusade on Terror" was rechristened the "War on Terror" I started to worry a lot.
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