Terrorism strawman

Hube is angry that DelawareLiberal is downplaying the terrorism stories of the day.

Frankly, he's missed the point. Jason is arguing straw man. It is not that we should be afraid but that we need to take these attacks seriously. This one may have been a dud, but that doesn't mean anything. Imagine that 19 young Saudis were thwarted in their efforts when their bags were lost or they were denied boarding. We would have read posts on Kos and DelawareLiberal about how those bumbling idiots thought they were going to hijack a plane with a blade embedded in a toothbrush! Complete fools! Nothing to see here, move along. Look! Bush said something non-inclusive! Atheists/gays/liberals were disrespected! What a buffoon.

Hube correctly points out the neat trap they've constructed for anyone who takes terrorism seriously. Doing something makes you a jackbooted civil liberties squasher. Doing nothing makes you either an incompetant rube or worse, a opportunistic soul-less bastard who lets the attacks happen in order to seize more power.

Democrats don't want to discuss terrorism because they have no ideas. They have no plan. Candidates are in an even worse spot. They know the seriousness of winning in Iraq and Afghanistan but doing what is necessary to win there will put off their base. The base is so completely against Bush, they're willing to lose in both Iraq and Afghanistan if it means a blemish on his legacy. Long term consequences be damned (c.f. Vietnam).

Comments

Anonymous said…
You really don't get it do you. We are fighting a war, but it is not a war that we will win by killing more of their guys. We are fighting a war of Chinese Handcuffs. The kind of ham-handed BS that we have allowed this President to use is making our position worse.

Our strength is not in our might, it is in our righteousness. It is in our ability to build coalitions and argue our case. It is our skillful diplomacy. At virtually every turn when we could have been inclusive, understanding or persuasive, we have brushed these nuances aside and run full-speed the wrong way.

We like our civil liberties. Don't you miss them a little?
mkfreeberg said…
lg,

Just as a favor to me, or more of a healthy exercise for yourself, go back to the paragraph that begins with "Our strength..."

Imagine those words in the context of the battle between liberals and conservatives. Of COURSE it can't fit. But why not? How come when our liberals fight the good fight with their "righteousness" against conservatives, extremism is the order of the day; not a single inch of ground may be forfeit, unless it's a gambit for two inches or more to be won back at a later time. But when the enemy is bloodthirsty fiends who want to kill women and little kids to make a point -- all of a sudden -- compromise is the order of the day.

If the inconsistency was turned 'round a hundred and eighty degrees, it would still be weird. But not quite as much.

Liberals are thoroughly committed to plowing the conservative weed under, and sowing salt on top of it. But they don't want to do the same with the terrorist weed; all kinds of opportunities, real or imagined, exist to turn that weed into a rose.

Too many Star Trek episodes, I guess. I can't think of anything else to explain it.
The Last Ephor said…
LG:

Your argument seems to indicate that if we just be good, they'll stop and have no reason to attack us or hate us.

Building coalitions is great and helpful to a degree but in order to kill a fanatical ideology it must be not just defeated but vanquished.

Japanese militarism died only after two atomic bombs and abject defeat. I fear a repeat may be necessary for Islamic fanaticism.
Anonymous said…
We like our civil liberties. Don't you miss them a little?

Talk about your ham-handed BS! If our civil liberties are SOOOO in danger, how is it that you are permitted to write what you do, day after day, Geek? You simpletons are so clueless as to how civil liberties have barely even been touched when compared to past conflicts. And I mean CLUELESS. And this is a completely different type of war.

You liberals continually hold Europe as the example the US should follow; in the UK not only do they video cameras everywhere but they (the police) can stop anyone anytime to "check them out" -- IOW, profiling>. They do not need probable cause as we STILL need here in the US, Geek.

Duff: Great post. You're right in that I should've been more specific about the "fear" aspect; I agree we shouldn't be "fearful," but vigilant. And the Catch-22 that the Delaware Ostrich crew has constructed perfectly suits their needs -- 'cause they can "win" (rhetorically, that is) no matter what the outcome of a terror incident.

Popular posts from this blog

So....the autism thing

For Gerard