Can the Left Face the Threat?
Last week’s New Republic’s article, claiming America has no fear from jihadists within, is a fiction so divorced from reality it should have been obvious even if one only gets one’s information from the mainstream media. The New Republic was so proud of this article that it cited the publication of this fantasy as a reason to subscribe in a recent promotion. I criticized the article last week; now Daniel Pipes totally demolishes the TNR’s thesis.
Why does the Left go on such flights of fantasy? There seems to be a complete lack of regard for reality. The TNR article made no attempt to deal with the literature or even common knowledge. I’ve noticed a pattern on the Left since 9/11, where any criticism of Islam immediately results in expressions of horror and moral condemnation. I had hoped everyone across the political spectrum could face the threat of Islam; but it seems the Left is fading as some on the Right begin to wake-up. Will the Left do nothing more than define itself in opposition to America and side with our enemies?
Why does the Left go on such flights of fantasy? There seems to be a complete lack of regard for reality. The TNR article made no attempt to deal with the literature or even common knowledge. I’ve noticed a pattern on the Left since 9/11, where any criticism of Islam immediately results in expressions of horror and moral condemnation. I had hoped everyone across the political spectrum could face the threat of Islam; but it seems the Left is fading as some on the Right begin to wake-up. Will the Left do nothing more than define itself in opposition to America and side with our enemies?
posted by Jason Pappas at 6:58 AM
11 Comments:
Will the Left do nothing more than define itself in opposition to America and side with our enemies?
They wouldn't be the Left otherwise.
The left can't do anything, because they stand for nothing. They only stand in opposition to something.
The reason? There is no leadership in the Democratic Party. They couldn't lead a group of starving Ethiopians to a free all-you-can-eat buffet table. They are disoriented, disorganized, and dysfunctional on their best days.
I would be hardpressed to register any kind of bet that will they ever win another national election, until they solve their problems with who they are and who they want to be.
You're both right. Next time I'll ask a hard question. I like the graphic description by lasunsett.
More complicated is the PC version
that all relgions are equaly valid.
Does this include ones with human sacrafice and widow burning. If all relgions are equaly valid then those are cultural variants and there is no evil.
Thus a religion that has a 1300 year colonial history and Jim Crow laws on the books is no different then the Society of Friends.
PC is a direct path to barbarism as there are no standards.
I'm being picky, but I believe the New Republic is commonly abbreviated TNR, and NR is reserved for the National Review. We wouldn't want to slander the latter, would we?
That aside, I'm glad you're reading and fisking TNR. Somebody has to.
Thanks, Baron. I welcome editorial help (and made the changes.) I also corrected another embarrassing error: I wrote treat of Islam instead of threat of Islam. Now, most of my readers know me better ... but I always welcome help from my friends.
Beak makes an important point about the relativism (also known as moral equivalency) that’s part of today’s multi-culturalism. It makes it necessary to overly criticize Christianity while at the same time look for good things to say about Islam. To really make these two disparate belief-systems seem equal, one has to become completely gushing about Islam’s meager achievements and occasional positive passages while dismissing the painful truth so obvious from the daily events that one ultimately becomes an inadvertent apologist for the crudest most barbaric religious/policial ideology on the face of the earth today, i.e. Islam. Soon one is writing articles like the one in The New Republic!
My impression of TNR is that it is slightly left of center (it was far left in the 1930s but that’s long ago.) They seem to welcome articles from several points of view so you may be right about this particular author. I don’t remember the article exactly and it is not important enough to read again. I’m glad Pipes has pick-up the ball.
But you’re right about Pipes. The education level would tend to increase the jihadist involvement and Pipes himself documented this activity in the past. Perhaps the un-educated become motivated to commit crimes without the full planning or the spectacular results (unlike a Mohammad Atta.) We also have activity like that here in our country: the attack of July 4, 2002 on the passengers waiting in line at the El Al counter in Los Angles, the murder of people at the top of the Empire State Building by a lone Arab terrorist. These types are driven by the ideology and their hate; but they don’t create and test an involved plan.
Pipes sometimes contradicts himself or wavers; but he gets the main points right and often says them forcefully - in many mainstream newspapers. Plus, he backs up his arguments with many details and examples.
Nevertheless, you’re right. That’s a good critical analysis. And you’re right about the numbers and concentration. That creates a more in-bred community where all the faults get reinforced. Thus, true Islam emerges and is undiluted by other factors.
Caroline,
Join the uprising - you don't have to submit your email and password to the spam listers that run registration pages on their websites. Go to BugMeNot to find a proxy that works.
LA makes an excellent point and had me laughing as well: They couldn't lead a group of starving Ethiopians to a free all-you-can-eat buffet table. They are disoriented, disorganized, and dysfunctional on their best days.
Jason, I've noticed the same thing: a pattern on the Left since 9/11, where any criticism of Islam immediately results in expressions of horror and moral condemnation. I had hoped everyone across the political spectrum could face the threat of Islam; but it seems the Left is fading as some on the Right begin to wake-up. Will the Left do nothing more than define itself in opposition to America and side with our enemies?
So many causes the Left otherwise takes up are offensive to Islam.
I, too, see the Right waking up, albeist slowly and incompletely. Christians still want to protect Islam under freedom of religion. They just don't seem to grasp that Islam is less a personal faith than a totalitarian political ideology, one with religious trappings.
Education won't solve jihadism. In fact, the more educated Muslims often move toward jihadism, whereas many of the "average" ones are just trying to make their way in the world. I'm not saying this very well, but I think you know what I mean.
Caroline,
Some astute analysis there! I noticed the same flaw but couldn't have stated the contradiction as clearly as you did.
Still waiting for Ducky to elaborate past "you're wrong" and get into "why you're wrong."
Of course, that would require honest debate and active brain cells on Ducky's end, so we may just be wishing for the impossible.
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