President Bush characterized Islam as a peaceful faith Wednesday, seeking to distance himself from controversial remarks by conservative Christian leaders Pat Robertson and the Rev. Jerry Falwell. (AP) [Yahoo]
I never thought I'd hear myself saying this, but Falwell and Robertson are right. Islam is a violent faith. What they don't understand, what they project, is that Christianity is also a violent faith. Their defense against that claim is that Christians have abandoned violence in favor of peace. But assuming that's true (it's not; America is always dropping bombs, etc. in the name of a Christian God and country), enlightened Muslims also have abandoned violence in favor of peace.
President Bush says "The crisis in the western ports [U.S. West Coast, 2002] is hurting the economy." Bush is the one who's hurting the economy. What hurts inside is outwardly revealed, if you look in the right place.
The Chief Moose gets angry with the media for reporting the Tarot card in the serial sniper case, when the media is doing exactly what it is supposed to do in a country with a free press, reporting the facts. The real problem is that a member of the police leaked the information. This is the cops projecting onto the media blame that belongs squarely on their own backs.
Conservatives badmouth the ACLU, continually. Why? Because conservatives, despite what they claim, cannot stomach what America is really about, freedom. In effect, conservatives who would take away our freedom in the name of "homeland security" [that's not the real reason, which is, rather, a bid to grab more power] are unpatriotic and are, in fact, traitors to the principles upon which America is founded. Their protestations against people who would defend their freedom, their labeling them as unpatriotic, is denial and projection of that very same sin within themselves. John Danforth McCarthy Ashcroft generalizes this behavior to half of America: we're not patriots because we criticize him and his phony cronies.
Conservatives should want me to contradict their desire to go to war against Saddam, or anyone. I embody the ideal they (claim to) hold dear, democratic freedom, the right to dissent, to freely speak my mind. When conservatives desire, especially vehemently, that I should think like them on this or any issue, they threaten our freedom, the freedom of this nation. If they would succeed at convincing everyone to think the same as they do, they would have destroyed democracy. They should be thanking me for disagreeing. In this way, they affirm the democratic spirit.