I Know You Are, But What Am I?

Watching the President's speech at the National Endowment For Democracy this morning, I was shocked to hear that some of the words he used to describe the War on Terror and its surrounding catastrophe could easily be used to describe his administration's policies and the policies of his pals on The Right.

A few examples:

He said: Islamic terrorism is, "an ideology that exploits Islam for political ends and defiles a noble faith."

I say: The Right has an ideology that exploits Christianity for political ends and defiles a noble faith.

He said: "Terrorists serve a clear and focused ideology. The ideology... exploits Islam to serve a violent political vision that calls for the murder of all those who do not share it... Although they fight on scattered battlefields, these terrorists share a similar ideology and vision for the world openly stated in videos, audiotapes, letters, declarations, and websites."

I say: The Right serves a clear and focused ideology, and they too have called for the murder (1,2) of those who do not share it. They work for different companies on different networks and in different states, but they share a similar ideology openly stated in videos, audiotapes, letters, declarations, and websites. To steal from Rumsfeld, you use the tools you have, not the tools you wish to have.

He said: "The militants believe that controlling one country will rally the Muslim masses, enabling them to overthrow moderate governments in the Middle East."

I say: The Right believes that converting one country will rally the Muslim masses, enabling them to overthrow all non-capitulating governments in the Middle East.

He said: "The radicals exploit local conflicts to build a culture of victimization, exploit resentful and disillusioned young men and women, and use modern technology to multiply their destructive power.

I say: The Right exploits local conflicts (Terri Schiavo, racism, anti-homosexuality, et al), to build a culture of victimization, exploit resentful and disillusioned young men and women, and use modern technology to multiply their destructive power. Again, you use the tools you have...

He said: "In pursuit of their goals, Islamic radicals are empowered by helpers and enablers. They are sheltered and supported by authoritarian regimes... that use terrorist propaganda to blame their own failures on the West, America, and Jews... The militants are aided by elements of the Arabs news media that incite hatred and anti-Semitism, feed conspiracy theories, and speak of a so-called American "war on Islam" - with seldom a word about American action to protect Muslims..."

I say: In pursuit of their goals, The Right is empowered by helpers and enablers. They are sheltered and supported by an authoritarian president and Congress that uses propaganda to blame their own failures on The Left, terrorism and Muslims. They are aided by elements of the American news media that incite hatred against The Left with seldom a word about The Left's action to protect Americans against loss of civil liberties and God given rights.

I know that some of you probably agree with the President on many of these issues, and some of them ring true. However, using these as reasons while doing the same thing from the other side of the fence reeks of the worst kind of hypocrisy.

His philosophy is to fight fire with fire, but all that does is make things really hot.

In my experience, water and sand work a lot better.