The American Taliban v. The Taliban
This was posted on the front page of Daily Kos. I'm posting it here because its just so damn good. URL: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/8/31/0538/71562
A couple of years ago I stirred up the wingnutosphere into a frothy rage arguing that while Republicans like to accuse Democrats of being "terrorist sympathizers", Islamic fundamentalism was more in tune with conservatism than progressive values.
Once upon a time, it was easy for the American Right to smear its opponents on the left -- they could simply equate them with the nation's communist enemies. It didn't matter that the American "left" (Democrats) had more in common with the Right than international communism, the smear was useful.
Now, however, our international enemy -- Islamic radicalism -- is actually the polar opposite of what liberals stand for -- their actions on women rights are deplorable, they insist on theocracy, they loooveee torture and the death penalty, they demand to control the culture (TV, movies, music), they rail against rampant sexuality, they seek to spread their ideology via force, and they have a well-defined black-and-white sense of truth.
Remind you of a certain American party?
That's why hysterical assertions by the wingers that liberals hate America and want the terrorists to win are so absurd. As absurd as it would've been to claim that Reagan wanted the Communists to win the Cold War. The Taliban/Al Qaida/Hezbollah/Jihadists of the world are the exact embodiment of evil in the liberal mind. They are everything we are against, and against everything we are for.
In fact, they are exactly what we see in the Republican Party as the GOP continues to consolidate power -- creeping theocracy, moralizing, us versus them, embrace of torture, the need to constantly declare jihad on someone, hysterics over football-game nipples, control over "decency" on the airwaves, lyrics censorship, hostility to women freedoms, curtaling of civil liberties, and so on.
So it's pretty obvious -- we don't love terrorists. We don't want them to win. For them to win would be to realize our greatest fears. The muslim terrorist is truly the anti-liberal. Like matter and anti-matter.
Republicans, on the other hand, hate the terrorists because they're Muslim. But aside from that, they've got far more in common than they'll ever admit to themselves.
I then took this thought further, comparing how conservatives are like our Islamic enemies here and here. A few samples:
Tolerance
Al Qaida/Taliban: Death to the infidels
American Taliban: Kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity
Liberals: Live and let live
Marriage
Al Qaida/Taliban: Marriage is only between a man and a woman
American Taliban: Marriage is only between a man and a woman
Liberals: Marriage is between any two people who love each other
God
Al Qaida/Taliban: God is on our side and will help us kill our enemies
American Taliban: God is on our side and will help us kill our enemies
Liberals: God may or may not exist and will not help us kill anyone
You get the point.
Now there was a ton of whining about these posts from the usual suspects. But ultimately, this is the bottom line reason we don't like Islamic Fundamentalist AND the GOP -- their moral absolutism, their militarism, and their oppressive efforts to impose their rigid morality on the rest of us.
Today, a Republican state senator in Montana confirmed all of this in pitch-perfect form:
As a Republican state senator in Montana and as a human being, I am offended by Senator Craig's existence. Why oh why are most of the perverts that get caught Republicans? Are there more of them or are they just stupid? The thought of a US Senator chasing love in all the wrong places makes me think longingly of the Ayotollahs in Iran. They would just kill the turkey.
Yup. This guy said what the rest of them think. They want theocracy. They want a system which enforces their prejudices and bigotry. They want a world in which violence is the first and only solution to every challenge.
Again, the only reason American conservatives hate Islamic Fundamentalism is because of the "clash of religions" thing. Otherwise, on the issues, they see eye-to-eye on just about everything.
A couple of years ago I stirred up the wingnutosphere into a frothy rage arguing that while Republicans like to accuse Democrats of being "terrorist sympathizers", Islamic fundamentalism was more in tune with conservatism than progressive values.
Once upon a time, it was easy for the American Right to smear its opponents on the left -- they could simply equate them with the nation's communist enemies. It didn't matter that the American "left" (Democrats) had more in common with the Right than international communism, the smear was useful.
Now, however, our international enemy -- Islamic radicalism -- is actually the polar opposite of what liberals stand for -- their actions on women rights are deplorable, they insist on theocracy, they loooveee torture and the death penalty, they demand to control the culture (TV, movies, music), they rail against rampant sexuality, they seek to spread their ideology via force, and they have a well-defined black-and-white sense of truth.
Remind you of a certain American party?
That's why hysterical assertions by the wingers that liberals hate America and want the terrorists to win are so absurd. As absurd as it would've been to claim that Reagan wanted the Communists to win the Cold War. The Taliban/Al Qaida/Hezbollah/Jihadists of the world are the exact embodiment of evil in the liberal mind. They are everything we are against, and against everything we are for.
In fact, they are exactly what we see in the Republican Party as the GOP continues to consolidate power -- creeping theocracy, moralizing, us versus them, embrace of torture, the need to constantly declare jihad on someone, hysterics over football-game nipples, control over "decency" on the airwaves, lyrics censorship, hostility to women freedoms, curtaling of civil liberties, and so on.
So it's pretty obvious -- we don't love terrorists. We don't want them to win. For them to win would be to realize our greatest fears. The muslim terrorist is truly the anti-liberal. Like matter and anti-matter.
Republicans, on the other hand, hate the terrorists because they're Muslim. But aside from that, they've got far more in common than they'll ever admit to themselves.
I then took this thought further, comparing how conservatives are like our Islamic enemies here and here. A few samples:
Tolerance
Al Qaida/Taliban: Death to the infidels
American Taliban: Kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity
Liberals: Live and let live
Marriage
Al Qaida/Taliban: Marriage is only between a man and a woman
American Taliban: Marriage is only between a man and a woman
Liberals: Marriage is between any two people who love each other
God
Al Qaida/Taliban: God is on our side and will help us kill our enemies
American Taliban: God is on our side and will help us kill our enemies
Liberals: God may or may not exist and will not help us kill anyone
You get the point.
Now there was a ton of whining about these posts from the usual suspects. But ultimately, this is the bottom line reason we don't like Islamic Fundamentalist AND the GOP -- their moral absolutism, their militarism, and their oppressive efforts to impose their rigid morality on the rest of us.
Today, a Republican state senator in Montana confirmed all of this in pitch-perfect form:
As a Republican state senator in Montana and as a human being, I am offended by Senator Craig's existence. Why oh why are most of the perverts that get caught Republicans? Are there more of them or are they just stupid? The thought of a US Senator chasing love in all the wrong places makes me think longingly of the Ayotollahs in Iran. They would just kill the turkey.
Yup. This guy said what the rest of them think. They want theocracy. They want a system which enforces their prejudices and bigotry. They want a world in which violence is the first and only solution to every challenge.
Again, the only reason American conservatives hate Islamic Fundamentalism is because of the "clash of religions" thing. Otherwise, on the issues, they see eye-to-eye on just about everything.