President Bush this morning delivered what was advertised as a "major" speech at the National Endowment for Democracy. The speech really gave no further information about Bush's war than what is already common knowledge to most Americans and was clearly intended as red meat to his conservative base.
Upon closer inspection, it seems that the President is experiencing some confusion as to what ideology is really threatening America. Perhaps, if we look carefully, substitute a more nuanced understanding here and there, we can uncover the nature of the evil threatening the United States. First, from the speech:
Some call this evil Islamic radicalism; others, militant Jihadism; still others, Islamo-fascism. Whatever it's called, this ideology is very different from the religion of Islam. This form of radicalism exploits Islam to serve a violent, political vision: the establishment, by terrorism and subversion and insurgency, of a totalitarian empire that denies all political and religious freedom. These extremists distort the idea of jihad into a call for terrorist murder against Christians and Jews and Hindus -- and also against Muslims from other traditions, who they regard as heretics.
Now, I am utterly flabbergasted that the leader of our country would use a ridiculous propaganda term like "Islamo-fascist" (popularized by the happy-go-lucky racist nutjobs at LGF) in a speech to the American public. The term shows a complete lack of understanding about both Islam and fascism, things with which Bush really ought to be more familiar.
Perhaps the President had better take a closer look at some of the real, closer-to-home radicals opposing the American way of life and the ideology they espouse. I've compiled a quick primer for our Dear Leader:
Fred Phelps
"Rabbi Lawrence Karol is an apostate Jew, who denies the faith of his fathers, militantly promotes the anal-copulating agenda of Topeka's filthy fag community, and persecutes the Lord's people just as his vermin ancestors did in killing the Lord Jesus Christ and their own prophets and persecuting the apostles of Christ".
Pat Robertson
"You know, I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if [Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez] thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it. It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war."
Jerry Falwell
"[W]e must fight against those radical minorities who are trying to remove God from our textbooks, Christ from our nation. We must never allow our children to forget that this is a Christian nation. We must take back what is rightfully ours."
James Dobson
"The world of the Christian activist can be a very lonely place. War is always tough on those who are called to fight it."
D. James Kennedy
"God forbid that we who were born into the blessings of a Christian America should let our patrimony slip like sand through our fingers and leave to our children the bleached bones of a godless secular society. But whatever the outcome, one thing is certain: God has called us to engage the enemy in this culture war. That is our challenge today."
Randall Terry
"I want you to just let a wave of intolerance wash over you. I want you to let a wave of hatred wash over you. Yes, hate is good ... if a Christian voted for Clinton, he sinned against God. It's that simple. Our goal is a Christian nation. We have a biblical duty, we are called by God to conquer this country."
Alas, but it seems that Iraq is not the only example of George W. Bush being unwilling to see the true danger to our country and way of life. I guess we tolerate religious extremism here so we don't have to tolerate it "over there".
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