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The reaction of the people of the world has been even more gratifying. They and their governments seem to be rising to the challenge of tracking down and eliminating those who would destroy Western civilization. At the time of this writing, nearly every country on Earth has joined the coalition.
This does not mean that we see no cracks in the edifice of solidarity, no dangers lurking on the horizon. We note, for example, that while our congressional leaders have called for sacrifice on the part of the people, they have put forward absolutely no indication that THEY are prepared to sacrifice in ANY way. At every turn they busily allocate more money than the executive has requested...presumedly the only way they know how to show their "patriotism"...while putting no effort whatsoever in determining just where all that money will come from. This is not WW-II, where funds legislated for war production actually stimulated the economy. Bailing out air lines or helping insurance companies cover the damage will do little to help you and us. But not a single member of Congress has suggested cutting OTHER appropriations...the legendary pork that they need to support their re-election bids. They have suggested that CEO's of corporations cut their salaries during the crisis, but no suggestion has surfaced that THEY cut their OWN salaries! While the administration works day and night to wage this war, those who may oppose George Bush in the 2004 election are busy showing the flag...and their faces...as often as they can...on talk shows, local news, wherever. Who gives a rat's ass that Hillary Clinton, Bob Kerry or John McCain think that we should "support the administration?" We know perfectly well why they really are trying to get their face and words into the media.
Then, consider the Islamic religious leadership, both here and abroad. The litany of these folks seems to be to first pay lip service to the victims of the WTC attack, then spend the rest of their time decrying "racial" profiling in the treatment of Muslims in America. Mushy-brained liberals...who still can't tell the difference between profiling...which law enforcement agencies MUST do in the normal course of their duties to protect us...and which is a form of what Dinesh D'Souza calls "rational discrimination"...from Apartheid...and have provided them with this extremely thin justification. After all, toward whom SHOULD our suspicions be directed? Short, middle aged white women? Young black males from France?
It is clear that Osama bin Laden...in his own words...wishes to destroy non-Islamic civilization in the name of Islam. He hopes that our response to terrorism will polarize the world. So, why are Islamic leaders not saying what is obviously the truth? These people are not "Islamic" terrorists any more than Timothy McVeigh was a "Christian" terrorists. What they are is psychotic megalomaniacs who are using religion as a cover for their evil deeds. So why aren't the leaders of Islam saying so? Why aren't they declaring that...contrary to the bullshit fed to the young men who are giving their lives for bin Laden and his ilk...that they are NOT going to go to paradise and be surrounded by willing "virgins," but will rather burn in hell for all eternity? Terrorists should not even be allowed to call themselves Muslims or Christians!
Instead, bin Laden is able to use the "jihad" section of the Koran...which literally means something more akin to a "life's work" for an individual, than a "holy war" in support of bin Laden's madness...to justify the actions of his followers. In response to legitimate complaints about American foreign policy, he somehow finds a reason in the Koran to indiscriminately kill civilians merely because they are (mostly) Americans. That section of the Koran which urges Muslims to support one another against the infidel is used by the terrorists to claim "legitimate" support from Muslim nations. It must be made clear...by ALL sensible Islamic leaders...that this dog will not hunt.
We ask again, "Why are Islamic leaders allowing bin Laden to get away with this?" The answer, we believe, is that so many of these nations have no separation of church and state. Thus, to preserve their power, the leaders of these countries, especially the religious leaders, MUST cater to the most extreme among their followers...MUST tailor their state policies to these ends. The ONLY reason the extreme Christian right has not imposed its equally nutty beliefs on the entire U.S. population is that the Pooblioob politicians they think they control need only PRETEND to go along with them. When push comes to shove, our constitution protects the lying politicians...who else are the Pinheads going to vote for?...as well also the rest of us from these jerks.
After buttoning their lips shortly after the attack, the Israeli lobby has once again crawled out from under their rocks to "inform" us that "now we know how it feels to be an Israeli," and why they do what they do to "terrorists."
We not only do NOT understand what it is like to be an Israeli, we do not WANT to know what it is like! Unable to drop the one "demand" that makes any difference...that Jews need a RELIGIOUS state of their own, where Jews can "protect" themselves from European anti-Semitism...they are simply blind to the fact that Arabs are Semites too and that, by denying them full human rights as occupants of Israel, they are just as anti-Semitic as their Nazi role models. Israelis seem prepared to "live with terrorism"...not to mention contracting the definition to exclude their own terrorist military practices, or to "allow" all those Jews exercising their "right of return" to seize and "develop" formerly Palestinian lands...Israelis seem to prefer this to actually forming a secular state with equal rights for EVERYONE. Sorry, Dudes and Dudettes of this troubled land, we Americans do NOT want to be like Ariel or Menachim or Moshe. We would rather "be like Mike."
We would like to address the complaints of our readers that we are not sufficiently sensitive, as libertarians, to the administration's attempts to limit U.S. civil rights via the new anti-terrorist legislation being suggested by Ashcroft and the Justice Department. Our answer is simple. We have read and heard so many caveats issued from both the left and the right that we are secure in the knowledge that a whole lot of Americans are going to make sure that this does not happen. Almost from the very day of the attacks, Americans have been shouting their opposition to contracting U.S. rights and privileges in the face of terrorism, correctly noting that this would be tantamount to surrender to the terrorists. Still, among the scare articles written about these attempts, most strike us as a bit on the paranoid side. In any case, we are glad that there are those who will hold Congress's feet to the fire on this issue. Hurrah for the American Civil Liberties Union and the American Taxpayer's League! Both the left and the right are protecting us. What more could we ask?
Finally, one weird result of the WTC attack has been that comics are afraid to ply their trade. Criticism of President Bush is being treated as tantamount to treason.
Say what!?
The truth is, that Bush still resembles a deer in the headlights of history. His off-the-cuff remarks still strike us as bumbling. His speeches are repetitive and un-original. But, he is OUR bumbler! Let us all continue to mock his charming but often silly ways. Let Osama bin Laden and the Taliban experience his "serious side." We like him just the way he is.
Talk to you later...
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