Just You Keep It Up
There is a very good reason the Democratic Party in America is, for all intents and purposes, in serious decline; and there is a very good reason I will continue to use my miniscule influence to highlight the bile coming from the Angry Left. Until I see mainstream Democrats condemn this sort of horsehock instead of coming to play at the site that hosts it, you cannot convince me that they are a serious party any longer:
Strangely, when I visited a blog frequented by GOP apologists this evening, all merrily playing the “Democrats are like bin Laden” sweepstakes, they were shocked, shocked I tell you, when the tables were so easily turned on them. They were outraged :::Gasp:: can you imagine? They were almost speechless when I pointed out the eerie parallels between Osama bin Laden and fundamentalist Islam, and the stated social policy goals of the extremist religious right currently running the so called Republican Party. Nope, they didn’t like it one bit.
When the neocons say that Liberals or moderate Republicans are against America and for the terrorists, they could not have it more backwards. The extreme religious rightwing of the GOP is the closest thing to Islamo-fascism we have in our country, and no one is worried that Al Qaeda will be storming ashore on our beaches en masse, invasion style, anytime soon.
Then there is this nonsense from Glenn Greenwald:
The Matthews smear illustrates the fact that it has become routine in our national political dialogue, and among our nation’s journalists, to equate opposition to George Bush with subversiveness, treason, and support for Al Qaeda.
The national media has truly adopted this dissent-quashing dichotomy created by the Bush White House: one is either a follower of George Bush who praises his war and terrorism policies, or one is an enemy of the United States who is on the side of Al Qaeda. That is not hyperbole.
Oh, no, Glenn, not hyperbole at all.
Just as there is no difference between Chris Matthews making an astute observation that bin Laden is using the language of the Left to appeal to an American audience (not equating the Left with terrorists, Glenn, but saying he is appropriating their language) and DarkSyde using the front page of the Daily Kos to truly make a statement of moral equivalence between Republicans and terrorists:
It’s the Neocon, fundie dominated, GOP that is the closest thing to fanatical Wahhabism in our nation today.
In general, as all my readers know, I am a pretty reasonable guy, and I don’t like to accuse my opponents of bad faith.
Well, I’m accusing you, Glenn, and you, DarkSyde, and the many, many like you of bad faith on this one.
If you are so blinded by your hatred of George W. Bush that you can’t see the difference between the reasonable comment made by Chris Matthews and the vile, venomous puke spewed by DarkSyde, then you are either (a) an idiot, or (b) a fanatic. I defy anyone to explain how the two statements are even remotely comparable.
All of my fears regarding 2006 are fading fast…there is no victory so secure that the Democrats cannot lose it…
george, there are multiple posts and over 50 comments dealing with this issue here…why repeat when the source material is so close to hand? My blog does have a search function up there on the upper left under the title bar…
They are vehemently against abortion, they resist progressive woman’s rights. They view homosexuality as a crime against nature and God, some advocate the death penalty as an option for it. Separation of Church and State is despised by these folks; they insist the nation is founded on the principles of their religion, and they work hard to bring that de facto theocracy about. They deplore strong language, gay characters, and sexual content on TV and in the media. And they ignore the Geneva Convention when it suits their ideological purposes, including provisions against torture or due process. They’re anti-stem cell research, pro-creationism, and generally distrustful of science. These folks are easily whipped into a state of frenzy with ideological manipulation to the point where they will commit violence, or at least tacitly endorse that violence is acceptable, if it advances their Divine agenda. They then take great pains to justify that violence, including unprovoked attack of civilian areas, under certain conditions, with convoluted theological gymnastics. They are almost to the man pro-death penalty … Am I railing against the religious right again?
Could be, but my target here is actually Al Qaeda and related fundamentalist Wahhabism; the source of terrorism, the scourge of our planet, the Axis of Evil.
So, which parts of the above did DarkSyde get wrong?
Ummm, george…
Tell me, what ‘Religious Right’ figure has advocated the death penalty for homosexuals? Better yet, has actually carried it out?
Don’t be stupid…
How many Islamic countries do you think will have ‘Brokeback Mountain’ playing in their theaters? How about zero?
The most positive step taken for women’s rights in years was the overthrow of the Taliban – or do you, like most hardcore lefties, think only the right to kill the unborn counts?
If you can’t tell the difference between the government of the United States and the government of, say, Saudi Arabia, Iran, or the Taliban-era Afghanistan, then I feel truly sorry for you, because you are lacking a moral compass and are remarkably ignorant, to boot…
Tell me, what ‘Religious Right’ figure has advocated the death penalty for homosexuals?
Answer: Pastor Fred Phelps of Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas City.
http://www.adl.org/special_reports/wbc/wbc_on_america.asp
The same Bible that prescribes the death penalty for murderers, also prescribes the death penalty for those who engage in homosexual conduct. It is a measure of the perversion of our country — our near-total alienation from God — that the masses cannot see this great national hypocrisy.”
– “Homosexuals, also, should have the Death Penalty!” WBC flier, June 14, 1997″
Ummm, Mark…
Fred Phelps.
http://www.godhatesfags.com/
I know you think I’m being stupid, but that’s no reason to lob me softballs (the soft bigotry of lowered expectations, no doubt)…
Brokeback Mountain is off topic, but, as an aside, http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,635176966,00.html
Comparing of our government to others is off topic too (sorry, the right doesn’t get to take credit for American freedom, plenty of lefties have contributed to the freedoms the right is so willing to give up because they’re afraid), the topic was which part of DarkSyde’s commentary was inaccurate. He was commenting on the similarities between religious right and Islamic fundamentalists – not our government, and not what movies are playing. All the off topic nonsense aside, you have yet to point out where DarkSyde misses the mark, Mark.
No, George, you don’t get to play the DarkSyde game of pretending you win by ignoring what I say…that’s the way it works in Kos-land, I know, where the posters are too cowardly to link back to the blogs they denigrate, but I assure you we don’t play that way at my blog.
Fred Phelps is a moron, and has no influence whatsoever. If the best you can do is pull up some lunatic fringe figure, when I’m talking about governments in actual power, then you’re truly grasping at straws.
Make some better points or go bother someone else…we cater to adults here…
Rider, sorry, your post originally got caught up in my spam filter – it was not intentional, I assure you. Again, I must say that Phelps is a very marginal figure – that was not the comparison DarkSyde was making, he specifically referred to the religious fundamentalism that he assured us was the power behind the Bush throne…and Fred Phelps ain’t it…
Okay, George, sorry, reading over my last comment, I can see that I’m losing my cool with this argument. I’m afraid I’ll have to let it go there, because the aggravation factor is far outweighing any good that can come of this…
If you truly believe there is no difference between religious ‘fundamentalism’ as practiced in America, and the brand of Islamic fundamentalism that stones rape victims to death, sentences homosexuals to death, beheads innocents, and flies planes into buildings…well, your loss…
If anyone else wants to take up this conversation, they’re welcome to…though I wouldn’t blame you if you don’t.
As for myself, that’s all, folks, on this thread…
Mark,
My last post on this topic.
I think DarkSyde’s observation (similar to those made by Matthews and crew) is more benign and less intellectually dishonest than the playing of the treason card/weak on defense argument that has been promoted by Bush supporters.
I understand that Phelps is a fringe player, but, like it or not, he is a member of the Religious Right. Where are we to draw the line at what constitutes the fringe? Pat Robertson? I think most of them are whackos, but so does Republican strategist Mike Scanlon as evidenced by his communications.
I’m really just trying to illustrate that the bin Laden shares talking points/ideology with INSERT TARGET argument is easy to make.
Thanks for letting me post here.
You’re always welcome to post here…and sorry again for getting a bit heated there…we welcome dissenters here, and I was getting a bit too personal…thus, I wanted to pull back a little…