When I see the pictures of the demonstrations in Egypt, I feel an odd mix of excitement and dread. I am proud of the people rising up and demanding the departure of a dictatorship of thirty years. And I am worried what will happen to those people during and after the changes that must happen.
I respect both President Obama’s admonition against violent suppression by the Mubarak regime, and the sensible comment from House Speaker John Boehner, "The administration, our administration, so far has handled this tense situation pretty well. Clearly, reforms need to occur in Egypt."
What I don’t respect is the wacked out fear mongering from FOX(R) “deep thinkers” and the peanut gallery huffing from Rush Limbaugh. Fox Nation shrieks, "Obama Will Go Down In History As The President Who Lost Egypt.” Just how he can lose something he never had is a mystery to me. Limbaugh ominously warns us of the perils of not supporting the dictator. “Could we perhaps be helping to usher in a terrorist group under the guise of a democratic uprising?" Heavens to Betsy Ross! Tell me it isn’t so! That would be horribly similar to al-Qaeda in Iraq, where we practically asked for it.
If that were the extent of the fear-mongering I wouldn’t give it another thought, but it gets loonier.
Thank goodness for Glenn “Don’t talk to me about crazy conspiracy theories” Beck. He tells us just what to fear most, scary Muslims and Liberals, of course. Yes, as every “fair and balanced” indoctrinated American believes, Obama pals around with a domestic terrorist. It only makes sense that we to the left of Obama are even worse; we liberals are in cahoots with Islamic extremist terrorists.
Yesiree, Beck clued in O’Reilly when he told him Egyptian unrest “is being orchestrated by the Marxist Communists and the Muslim Brotherhood”. But the threat does not end there in Egypt. It is global. Yes, it’s high time we all fear the coming Islamic caliphate that will end our way of life.
On his radio show today we learned three very important points from his imaginary blackboard. “These are the things that I believe,” he told us.
1. Groups from the hard socialist and communist left and extreme Islam will work together because they are both a common enemy of Israel and “the Jew”.
2. Groups from the hard core socialist and communist left and extreme Islam will work together because they are the common enemy of capitalism and the western way of life.
3. Groups from the hard core socialist and communist left and extreme Islam will work together to overturn relatively stable countries because in the status quo they are both ostracized from power and the mainstream in most of the world.
Ya got it?
Islam wants a caliphate. Communists want a communist new world order.
They will work together because they both want chaos. Period.
Be afraid. Be very afraid. The Communists and Muslim Brotherhood have allies in hard core socialists like me. I can only suppose that would have to include Obama too. Quick! Somebody better go warn Boehner!
Wait a minute. Didn’t those oil rich capitalist Saudi Wahabists support al-Qaeda, who in turn hated the Russian Communists? And don’t those socialist European countries enjoy our “western way of life”? Come to think of it, isn’t Communist China incorporating capitalism? I thought Daddy Bush wanted a new world order. And I thought a caliphate was an office, state, or jurisdiction. Those don't sound very much like chaos to me. Say, don’t liberals and socialists and communists strongly oppose theocracy?
I’m getting confused...and frightened. I guess I just have to “believe” we liberals “will work together” with the terrorists, and will plot to destroy America. Thanks for clearing this all up for us, Glenn. You're the expert. That’s just what we needed here.
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28 comments:
CHINA WAS NOT OURS TO LOSE, NOR IS Egypt. but look at how much of the gops power came from saying the dems lost china. if it worked once they will try it
I've noticed that the followers of the far right are like little children. They love to hear the same thing over and over again, like telling little kids their favorite bedtime story every night. And to prevent any from getting bored with the repetition, occasionally the talking heads reach ever deeper in the loony bin for stuff to scare their listeners.
Anon,
That kink of talk is from the fools who "want their country back". It was never theirs to begin with.
Kulkuri,
They are infantile in that way, just like cult members needing the constant indoctrination by the cult leaders who claim God speaks to them alone.
"Tell us what to believe, and we shall believe, oh, divine source of truth."
As we all know George W. Bush claimed God spoke to him, and the beleivers believed. No claim is too outrageous for Republicans. Nothing is too ridiculous for American Right Wingers to swallow.
It a statement on how hollow the right is when they loudly proclaim they are the true defenders of liberty but want nothing more to force the rest of the world to stay under dictatorships when its convenient for them.
Great minds fall in the same ditch, Dave. I did one on Beck and Hannity this morning.
Fox proves once again they they are the Republican Ministry of Propaganda.
Of course they want military action in Egypt. How much of the aid we give them goes to buy arms from American companies?
Plus, with Iraq winding down Halliburton needs another invasion to keep profits churning.
The new slogan is "If it's good for Halliburton, it's good for America."
Songbird McCain has also joined in with the "Who lost Egypt?!?!?" crowd. He said the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, and the potential for the same in Yemen, Jordan and Syria, are a "virus" spreading across the Middle East.
I guess one person's "founding fathers" are another person's "virus."
Dave, you mean well, but you're giving Fox's propagandists and resident lunatic undeserved buzz. They're like the old-time crooked pol who was asked how he felt about the press writing unflattering stories and scandal exposes about him. He answered, "I don't care what they say about me, as long as they get my name right." The idea being, the publicity was valuable to him, even when it was negative.
Tom, re: McCain and the rest of the GOP crackpot crusaders, they suffered terrible withdrawal for years after the Cold War went away. The "You Better Be Scared" wingnuts need a bogeyman, so OBL and the IWOT filled a big need for them. But of late that's not selling. So, just in time, they're going to grab on to this "virus" of Mideast populations trying to throw off the tyrants they've lived under and establish something new and less repressive and exploitative. I look for the crackpot crusaders to try to twist this rash of uprisings into some devious international menace that the flag, mom and apple pie must be protected against at all cost.
After all, fearmongering has brought them money and won them elections, and it makes funneling money to their campaign donors in the defense industries so much easier.
Yesiree, Beck clued in O’Reilly when he told him Egyptian unrest “is being orchestrated by the Marxist Communists and the Muslim Brotherhood”.
BWAAAAHAHAHAHAHA...Beck isn't good for much. In fact, he's a enormous waste of space. But, he does give me a good sound belly-laugh occasionally. Communists...LOL
Beach,
"Liberty" to the Right means paying no taxes for their wars and police state, and blaming the debt on us. Their ideology is so simplistic in its purity.
TomCat,
Nobody is as good as FOX(R) at reducing information and dumbing down the public to the lowest level, all while elevating fear and anger.
Truth,
The irony for the Neo-cons is that it is under a pet dictator, and not in Iran or Iraq that democracy is demanded.
Tom,
Gee I wonder why Republicans get nervouse when people rise up against authoritarian plutocracy....Naw, it can't happen here.
SW,
I understand your point, but I have a personal need to call out fascist lies, hate and fear mongering.
Bee,
As we know, when Gruppenfuhrer Beck says "Communists", he means liberals.
You're right Egypt wasn't ours to lose. It was Bush that started all the instigating and the failed ME program. Like everything else the mess is coming to fruition on Obama's watch. What a future huh? Anarchy, revolution, and a failing planet.
Jim,
Isn't it more than a little amusing that the Right in the US want Second Amendment remedies to democratic elections, while the real world revolts against authoritarians and demand democracy?
Mubarak was indeed an oppressive dictator, and unfortunately the second highest recipient of U.S. foreign aid right after Israel. We valued stability over our own higher principals evidently.
Nevertheless, his demise is not necessarily a bad thing for the United States and hopefully not for the people of Egypt.
The Muslim Brotherhood is indeed a real and tangible threat, but one that hopefully can be minimized by enough Egyptians so that they don't become a even more dominant player in Egypt and thereby the Middle East.
The possibilities of similar grand uprisings in Yemen, the comparatively benign Jordan, Syria, and elsewhere can be a great thing for the freedom and liberty of many of those in the Middle East; however, if the Muslim Brotherhood and their ilk do indeed usurp these uprisings as a means to consolidate their own power in the region, then Israel's existence becomes quite perilous.
This doesn't bode well for our friend and ally and very well could be the catalyst for a regional war transcending into a world war.
Hopefully that will not happen, but the very real possibility exists, whether it is labeled as "fear-mongering" or not.
Paine, the Muslim Brotherhood has had a presence in Egypt for a long time, but with little traction. Egyptians have long had a secular government and more-secular society than most Mideast countries. Those are good reasons to believe that unless the turmoil goes on for an extended period, Egyptians will go for secular leadership to replace Mubarak and his regime.
TP,
You’re right about Egypt getting the largest amount of our money after Israel, not counting Iraq and Afghanistan. And you are mostly right that we value stability over principles, with the latter unstable countries being clear exceptions. Most of all we value power and profit, and those “principles” are at the core of our foreign policy.
We share the hope that Egyptians as well as all people emerge with a more democratic and free country after this transition.
Like you, I am leery of the Muslim Brotherhood, as I am of all theocratic movements. However they are not the same as al-Qaeda. They are no threat to us directly.
I see your fear button is pressed sufficiently to worry about a world war resulting from this movement. Beck would be proud of you. His mission is succeeding and my point is made. His dishonesty sows fear and anger.
Dubya, there absolutely is a LOT of overlap between al Quaida and the Muslim Brotherhood, including such members as bin Laden and al Zawahiri. Our State Department even recognizes this fact.
Further, the fact that threats were made via the Muslim Brotherhood towards Israel (little Satan) should give you pause as to what their intentions would be, if possible, towards the great Satan of the United States.
Surely you aren't that naive, Dubya.
Dave, there are already over 3 billion Muslims hiding under T. Paine's bed.
If he isn't vigilant, they will drag him to hell.
Glenn Beck and T. Paine have a lot to fear. Most of the world's population isn't Christian, and wants to feed them to the lions.
Or at least that is what they fervently believe with all of their heart.
Dubya, so does that mean we should no longer honor our relationship with our ally Israel if the Muslim Brotherhood were to take over Egypt and declare war on them? (This newly peaceful Muslim Brotherhood have made such overtures, you know.)
This is the same kind of nonsense that occured under Clinton when his responses were to treat Islamofascist terroristic attacks as criminal actions instead of the acts of war that they were. It was this crap that emboldened bin Laden in the first place and had him declare that the U.S. was a "paper tiger".
bin Laden was dead wrong when Bush took office and actually did take the fight to them in Afghanistan after their murderous attacks on 3000 innocent civilians.
We ignore the past at our own peril. And rather than Muslim's under his bed, I suspect that Weasel sees evil conservatives under his. (Thanks for telling me what I "fervently believe" once again though.
Wease,
There’s no need to feed anything else into the Fright Wing paranoia and persecution complex. It’s thriving quite well.
TP,
Now there you go again with the fear factor. You ask me an irrelevant question conditioned on two consecutive, hypothetical, fear-ridden scenarios.
What nonsense are you talking about, the nonsense that Clinton didn’t invade a couple countries? The nonsense of bombing Iraq? How about the nonsense of capturing terrorists by criminal investigation?
Do you want nonsense? What about the criminal negligence by the Bush regime? For such “acts of war”, as you pronounce, they were mighty indifferent, weren’t they? Before 9-11, did they do anything at all; let alone criminal investigations, about terrorism or al-Qaeda? Anything? No, they ignored a PDB in August 2001 warning of an al-Qaeda attack.
So it’s all Clinton’s fault eh? The outgoing Clinton Administration specifically warned the Bushies that they needed to watch al-Qaeda, but were ignored because they were scorned and hated so much. Remember Richard Clarke, their anti-terror advisor, was shut out of cabinet meetings and otherwise ignored. Clarke was told by Bush to connect 9-11 with Saddam and Iraq, though. Yes he was. Clarke did no such thing and told him why. He was fired and the propaganda was “catapulted”, to use Bush’s own term. On they eve of his invasion, 70 percent of Americans falsely thought Saddam was connected to 9-11. Fictitious scary WMD’s were the icing on the cake. Mission accomplished.
After ten years of wars Bush started but could not finish, wars that drive us into debt to China, wars that fueled the Patriot Act and destruction to the Bill of Rights, wars that will continue to bring us down, bin-Laden is still alive and protected by a sympathetic population. This is death, destruction, waste and failure on a catastrophic magnitude, and the bill is coming due. The economic elite will not pay; for we must, at all costs, keep their taxes low. Everyone else will pay.
Your far Right talking points have no bearing on history or reality.
But they sure are frightening, and that’s what matters most.
Yes, we do ignore the past at our own peril.
Dave: I don't doubt that when Beck says "communists", he means Liberals. His group are so shallow they think they are geniuses. What he doesn't realize is that his group is smaller than he thinks it is. Half of those geniuses have yet to figure out that their pastor thinks his religion is a dangerous cult. If Mitt Ramni gets around to running for President (and actually gets past the primaries), their pastors will clue them in. Since they have already pretty much identified Obama as the antichrist de jur, they could be stuck with a choice between a cultist and an antichrist! Oh the humanity!
Rick,
While Beck's Mormonism is at odds with most of his viewers' fundamentalism, they do share a holier-than-thou mentality, along with enough xenophobic fascist inclinations to keep their cycle of hate spinning a long time.
Beck may be getting his due from fellow Right Wingers. Beck's simpleton world view is now coming under criticism from Neocon Bill Kristol. He has completely aggravated the Jews with his Soros/holocaust lies. He is slowly alienating neocons, moderate Christians and other non-hysteria driven conservatives.
He will eventually be marginalized as just another scoundrel on the long list of hate mongers. Unfortunately the damage to democracy by misinformation, anger, fear and the violence he inspired will have long term consequences.
T. Paine said...,
"This is the same kind of nonsense that occured under Clinton when his responses were to treat Islamofascist terroristic attacks as criminal actions instead of the acts of war that they were. It was this crap that emboldened bin Laden in the first place and had him declare that the U.S. was a "paper tiger". "
Well, the attacks were financed by Saudi Royals. The attackers passports, which the FBI declared were faked, showed them to be Saudi's and Egyptians. (so why didn't we attack Egypt?)
The hijackers flew from Saudi Arabia to the USA, then were put up in Apartments by the Saudi Government. Their flight training was paid for by the Saudis.
No evidence that Osama Bin Laden was involved had turned up.
And that's why we are spending hundreds of $billions a year to kill goat herders in Afghanistan.
If we're attacked again, who do you think we should go to war with? Perhaps Yemen? Maybe We should fight in Somalia again?
Dave, I thought we learned from FOX News, that the USA saw no terrorist attacks on it's soil while Bush was in office?
Aren't we supposed to now believe that those attacks happened while Clinton was President, and Bush had to come in a fix everything?
Wease,
As I recall from the Ministry of Truth, Clinton was responsible for 9-11 and Bush, the Vietnam war hero who defeated Kerry the draft dodger, protected America from terrorist attacks.
What upsets me most about Obama in Egypt is how he is trying to preserve the Mubarek regime under a new dictator.
Libhom,
Replacing a dictator with a partner in rendition and torture is not really "change" anyone can believe in.
thanks Dave! Looks like we have the same fighting spirit!
Sue,
I'm with you. Bring 'em on!
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