Wednesday, January 10, 2007

On manners

So my last post -- accusing Conservatives of wanting Canadian soldiers dead -- was intemeperate, even by my own standards. It is also exactly a mirror of the language slung at the NDP for the last year over Afghanistan, so any Conservatives who have a problem with this should look at the beam in their eyes before screaming to me.

But let's check the scorecard for "baseless accusations of perfidy" today...

* The name of Dinesh D'Sousa's upcoming presentation at the Heritage Foundation blaming liberal Americans for 9/11: "The Enemy at Home"

* Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson this morning on Sen. Ted Kennedy and other war opponents: “hostile enemies right here on the home front."

* Sean Hannity's newest Sunday show feature targeting liberals: "Enemy of the State."

Blaming the left for 9/11 began just hours after the Twin Towers fell that Tuesday morning. So don't expect any sympathy from me on this count -- I've spent the last five years being accused of hating freedom, being a racist, and wanting the Taliban to retake Afghanistan. All because I opposed (and continue to oppose) the war in Iraq and I've tried, and increasingly failed, to square my support for NATO's mission with the conclusion that we're increasingly likely to fail in Kandahar.

Even Olaf at The Prairie Wranglers, a blogger who I respect and whose writings I enjoy, has played this game with me (albeit more politely than some) and I get fucking sick of it.

This isn't a "you did it first" excuse (even though the right objectively did, in fact, do it first) but rather a bargain: When Blogging Tories STFU about "Taliban Jack", when calling Canadians "pro-Taliban" is seen by Tories as beyond the pale in reasonable company, when we can generally have a serious debate about foreign policy without the useless competition to see who's more patriotic/bloodthirsty than who, then you'll get my apology for the post immediately below. And not a second sooner.

8 comments:

McGuire said...

1) Bill Clinton is as much to blame for 9/11 as Bin Laden is. If he were half as interested in defending American security as he was chasing after a fatty intern, I doubt it woudda happened. He had more than one opportunity to either kill or take into custody Bin Laden & dropped the ball.

2)As for some of the examples of how you think conservatives cross the line in their attacks on the left, the criticisms of Ted Kennedy are very well deserved. He is essentially the leader of the 5th column in the US & has been for some time. As for the others you cite, I dunno about using the term enemy, but the left has been undermining American interests for quite some time

3) As for your apology of sorts, hope it doesn't get ya in trouble with Mr. F*ck the Jews. The Nurse Cratchet wannabe doesn't like people who don't treat those who aren't of his-her particular ideological persuasion with respect.

john said...

McGuire,

Thank you. You've made my argument for me.

Tylere said...

"...so any Conservatives who have a problem with this should look at the beam in their eyes before screaming to me."

Done.

But I won't scream at you, just let you know I'm a tad disappointed =(

M. Simon said...

The jihadis are looking for a Vietnam win.

Iraq gets stabilized. The US pulls out and Congress refuses further support. The jihadis take over. Or Iran invades.

Which is why the lack of will on the left is hurting us so badly and will hurt us worse in the future.

The jihadis are counting on Ameerica having no staying power. They say this over and over. Why not believe them?

Where does it all leade?

A look at the fall of the Roman Empire may provide some clues:

Decline and Fall
Desolation Row

Mike said...

John,

The zealots like McGuire and m.simon, don't and possibly never will get it. Its part of their black-and-white, for us or against us thinking. They genuinely cannot conceive of any position but theirs or their 'enemies' - and if you don;t agree with their delusions 100%, you are most certainly 'the enemy'.

Their small minds cannot conceive of a couple of lefties that might support the Afghan mission but think it is going down hill fast and things need to change. It is unacceptable to be for Afghanistan and against Iraq.

Oh and mcguire, I can't resist:

"If he were half as interested in defending American security as he was chasing after a fatty intern, I doubt it woudda happened."

Except it was Clinton that launched cruise missiles against Bin Laden in Afghanistan. It was the Republican Congress and House that were more interested in him chasing a "fatty intern" and accused him of pulling a "Wag the Dog" to divert attention from it. They refused to let him strike again. Because they were too interested in trying to impeach him for something most people didn't give a crap about.

About that mote in your own eye...

john said...

The one that made me laugh was "Bill Clinton is as much to blame for 9/11 as Bin Laden is."

I assume, therefore, that Winston Churchill is responsible for the holocaust.

McGuire said...

Mike:

1) Clinton DID launch cruise missiles to divert attention from his zipper problems.

2) Don't expect me to defend much of the GOP's handling of Clinton's impeachment. They really botched that job

Mike said...

mcguire,

Not according to Steve Coll in "Ghost Wars". But he's just a member of the media right. That whole Pulitzer Prize means nothing...