RW and their enablers losing it over Pope flap and illegal war

[ProSense]

The Pope wimps out

It is high time that religious and political leaders call out Islamic leaders for not calling out Islamisits for their use of violence in the name of religion. The Pope did so last week but then promptly wimped out, apologizing for hurting anyone’s feelings. Didn’t know the Pope was from California. Feelings? Since when did the Pope turn PC?

http://www.buzzmachine.com/index.php/2006/09/16/the-pope-wimps-out

Losing Our Will to Win

By Ed Koch

The Islamic terrorists or as President Bush calls them -- Islamic fascists -- are continuing their ruthless bombing campaign in Iraq and Afghanistan. The casualty numbers are staggering.

Snip...

I believe this war of civilizations, which was brought to our shores in 2001, is one of the most important wars we have ever fought. In the Revolutionary War back in 1775-1783, we had extraordinary leaders, including George Washington, chosen as General and Commander-in-Chief and later elected President of the United States. We forget that he lost almost every battle at the time, but he ultimately won the war. But there were moments -- the harsh winter at Valley Forge -- when it all looked hopeless and Washington was sharply criticized by fellow Americans. He had the strength to ultimately prevail and overcome the military defeats and personal attacks on his abilities.

more...

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2006/09/losing_our_fighting_spirit.html

[saltpoint]

1. For what it's worth, I voted for Mario Cuomo in the mayoral run-off

against Ed Koch.

That was back when Ed was more or less making sense.

He's long ago gone over to the Republicans.

I'd love to disagree with the righties on this one on points alone, but they've branded it a political dispute and it's not really political so much as cultural.

And the Right always gets it wrong culturally.

Always.

Siding for or against the firebombing of a church is not a "rightwing/leftwing" position. It's a condition of living issue, correspondent to how stable and economically fair a given region of the world might be in and of itself, and in relation to other cultures.

The point isn't to do things on purpose to rile radical Islam or anyone else; they point is whether a Danish cartoonist may draw cartoons which paint radical Islam in a violent caricature, and whether the West's defense of his free speech privileges should also carry caveat regarding likely outcry among Islamic extremists. An overwhelming majority of Catholics are not inquisitors; an overwhelming majority of Muslims are not firebombing churches in Palestine, etc.

The world wide web is coming to a radical Islamic neighborhood real soon, and it might be of assistance to all if it were embraced. The government of China is trying to censor the web, and they've had some success, but it's going to be an unmanageable task before long. Roman roads built in part to dispatch its legions worked also to undermine its authority, as early Christians swept into the city as missionaries. Even Ted Stevens knows those tubes go both ways.

[ProSense]

3. The biggest mistake in all of this

is the continued focus on religion instead of extremism and terrorism.

[saltpoint]

4. ProSense, thank you for putting that pie chart up there. It is

much appreciated and worthy of its own post.

I accuse you of consistently mature, big-picture thinking on pertinent issues.

[LeighAnn]

2. Barf

:puke:

Comparing Bush to Washington should make one eligible for a free psychological evaluation.