The NPR’s Firing of Juan Williams: The Authoritarian Left at their Best

Poor Juan Williams. Recently, he found out that if you stray the slightest bit off message, the far left will destroy you. They’ve been known to eat their young in these situations in the past. Juan has also experienced what journalists and commentators on the right have experienced for years – left-wing outlets taking one line out of context and painting the person as a racist, a bigot or intolerant. Apparently, those on the left do not like what stares back at them when they look in the mirror. Juan has now come to this realization, and he told George Stephanopoulos that he “always thought the right wing were ones that were inflexible and intolerant and now I’m coming to realize that the orthodoxy at NPR, its representing the left.” (*)

The NPR has fired their only black, objective journalist; and the reason went far beyond his comment about Muslims that was taken completely out of context. The issue that they so desperately try to hide is the fact that Juan works for and makes regular appearances on the Fox News Channel. After all, leftists cannot attempt to indoctrinate the public about how the network is heavily biased, which makes it the furthest thing from “fair and balanced” if Juan Williams shows up there! Their attempts have had no success, as Fox destroys leftist media outlets ratings wise; and they don’t need taxpayer dollars to do so. The only people who currently hold this extremely ignorant view are people who have not watched Fox News outside of Media Matters clips that appear on “You Tube,” as the network employs a very long list of left-wing contributors who appear regularly on commentary programs.

I disagree with Juan more often than I agree, but he is one of few journalists on the left who have integrity and objectivity. Unfortunately, that’s what gets you into trouble with the George Soros’ of the world. Juan’s firing shows just how much of a tizzy the authoritarian left is currently in; and at times like these, they show their true INTOLARENT colors. I disagree often with conservatives and have been engaged in fierce debates, but there is only one group of people who will go to the gutter as NPR CEO, Vivian Schiller, did when she questioned Juan Williams’ psychiatric health. If she made the right decision, then why assassinate the man’s character? It was also noteworthy to see how she slipped and pathetically tried to cover herself when she said that Juan’s statement was “not compatible with a news analyst on NPR,” which she quickly changed to “the role of a news analyst on NPR’s air.” See her comments along with Bill O’Reilly’s interview below:

The O'Reilly Factor 10/21/10

Juan Williams firing was the most COWARDLY action I’ve seen by the left in some time, and unfortunately Mr. Williams had to learn the hard way. It is impossible to have a logical, rational conversation with these people about very complex issues. I’ve seen it first hand at Liberty Café, my Facebook political discussion group. Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg (who to my surprise came to Williams’ defense) walked off their own set, when they became too entangled in their web of political correctness. Frankly, it’s beyond embarrassing when people who preach tolerance can take their degree of intolerance to an unprecedented level.

George Soros can continue to pump millions of dollars into the NPR, Media Matters and all other left-wing outlets; but his efforts will be for naught. The authoritarian left cannot hide who they really are; and when they have two out of three branches of government monopolized, their ideas as well as their leadership will be challenged and criticized. Now we have seen how they respond to criticism by attempting to silence and publically degrade all who oppose them.

Since the NPR is receiving plenty of money from George Soros, I think it’s time that this supposed “non-biased” organization stop receiving TAX DOLLARS. I expect legislation to be introduced in Congress immediately. It is quite clear who the NPR and all public television networks take their marching orders from. I’m all for the existence of left-wing media outlets; I just demand that they get PRIVATE funding.

I extend major kudos to those on the left who defied their zealot leaders and came to Mr. Williams’ defense and called this action for what it really was. I also would like to see Fox News make room for Mr. Williams’ to have his own television show in addition to the promotion he just received.

*http://blogs.abcnews.com/george/2010/10/juan-williams-i-dont-have-a-psychiatrist-npr-ceo-low.html

Hats off to Andrew Breitbart!

Like most people who are attuned to our nation’s economic ills, I’ve been in a rather apprehensive mood about politics lately. I’m concerned that establishment Republicans may prevail this November over some of the new, energized faces who are challenging these dinosaurs. What I find even more troublesome, is what I witnessed in this video.

Andrew Breitbart Confronts Hateful Protesters At Right Nation 2010

How can a protest that has a clear ambition of “stopping the hate” be filled with people who hold hateful signs and spew hateful rhetoric? Beyond that point is something even more disturbing; these people were planted by unions that have strong ties to the Democratic Party. If that’s not enough, NONE of these people could defend their position when asked.

People’s ideologies, as much as they differ from mine, have never bothered me so long as they can articulate and defend what they believe. Dissent is what makes America thrive because it flaunts an individualistic manner of thinking as well as a system of checks and balances. I host a multi-viewpoint discussion group, Liberty Café, on Facebook because everyone should have a place where they can persuade people as well as defend their point of view. However, if a person is told to go somewhere and protest an event, and they don’t have the slightest idea why (or they are basing their dissent off misinformation), then this is part of the herdish mentality that poses a direct threat to our individual freedom in America.

Besides no one being able to answer Brietbart’s simple questions, notice how the people disbursed when they were told to disburse. There wasn’t even a hint of individual thinking present in this group – the only exception being ONE woman who came on her own free will. She was briefly interviewed at the end of the clip.

Most the signs being held were very unoriginal. I have plenty of my own criticisms concerning Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin and the Tea Party movement; and as creatively challenged as I am, I could have come up with something better. But then again, I do own my mind.

One sign that did stand out to me was the gentleman who held the sign that said “Tea Baggers - Corporate Dupes.” This was very comical and disturbing at the same time. I wonder if this gentleman, who proudly pays his union dues, ever questions the manner in which his donations are used. Does he mind being told how to vote, told how to think, being trapped in permanent dependency; and does he question the role, the fringe benefits, as well as the salaries the people in the top of his union receive?

Is he concerned at all about their political ties? Does he mind that the dues that he pays directly funds the campaigns of connected politicians? In fact, if he is part of the SEIU, over $65 million of his and his fellow members’ union dues went to fund the campaigns of politicians in 2004. These are candidates that he doesn’t know about and may not have supported.

I wonder if he supported the corporate bailouts, which almost anyone who aligns themselves with the tea party strongly opposed. After all, wouldn’t a corporate dupe support such a thing? In fact, the politicians who benefitted from his union dues voted not only in favor of these bailouts, but also directly contributed to the housing market monopoly (vis a vis Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) that crashed the market in 2008. As Breitbart rightly pointed out, these people will be the last to find out that they are the ones being duped.

This is the kind of mind-numbed idiocy that boggles me. The protesters in this group, who cannot think for themselves, wait for their marching orders from a corporate hierarchy, and put their entire future into the hands of the most greedy and controlling people in America have the nerve to say that people who advocate limited government, free market principles – the very principles in which America was founded, are duped. These are the people who contribute to the EXACT kind of corporatism in which they claim they oppose. The sad irony is they don’t even realize this truth.

Kudos to Mr. Breitbart for his bravery in coming to my city of Chicago, which I firmly attest has a leftist stranglehold, and confronting this crowd full of mindless sheep. I don’t believe anyone has successfully broken up a union-organized crowd in this manner.

F*cking Hispanics, How Do They Work?

(Title referencing this)

Oh, dear.

Oh my, oh my.

One of the leaders of the most ethical Congress in history just said:

"I don't know how anyone of Hispanic heritage could be a Republican, OK? Do I need to say more?"

How exactly does a white man in a position of vast power within the United States government get away with saying something like that?

Oh yeah, he's a Democrat.

It wasn't too long ago Reid said Obama was a light-skinned African-American with no "negro dialect" unless he wanted to have one.

And just over a year or so ago he attacked Utah for voting Republican over and over and over calling them stupid.

The man has a knack for sounding like a out-of-touch, racialist, defeatist elitist snob.

And want to know the reason why no one on the left is calling him out on this racially charged words?

Because they believe it.

The leftist narrative on race is that everybody but whites should vote Democrat. Blacks vote Democrat because LBJ got the Civil Rights Act passed (with Republican help). Hispanics vote Democrat because César Chávez was man of the people (who opposed illegal immigration on the same economic grounds that many on the right do).

I think the narrative goes something like this:

All minorities should vote Democratic because its the party that respects family values of your native culture! Unless you're Asian, you guys already have it too good >:-/

Black Baptist? We'll call the Tea Party racist if you vote for gay marriage. Oh, wait, you didn't vote against Prop 8? Well, it's okay, we'll blame the Mormons.

Latino Catholic? Could you...? No? That's okay. We won't say anything. We'll blame it on “hate... buring white hot white hate!”.

Islamist Muslim? Ah, you don't like gays either. No matter. That mosque at Ground Zero backed by foreign money should build some bridges between you and the gay community anyway.

Hindu? Oh, okay. I'm sorry about that. We had no idea Julia Roberts would... I understand you're very angry, but... I know Pretty Woman was quite offensive... I know she looks like a horse... Please calm down, sir!

Muinduistic? ... ... ... Damn, could we get some Wiccans or college students or something to start that up for us?

Nevermind! Come, join the party that opposes everything you believe in! If we can't win you over with principle, we can win you over with handouts!

(Excuse me, what about white Christians? Many of us have some moderate suggestions about the gay marriage issue.)

Go away bigots! Shoo! Go kill a Jew or something.

No, Mr. Islamist Muslim, no!!!!! Sit down! You cannot go with them.

When the Apology is Longer Than The Crime...

...they ain't sorry.

The crime: 120 characters.

According to Patterico:

Fadlallah was a Holocaust denier who has justified suicide bombings and who “is believed to be responsible for the killing of 241 U.S. Marines during the 1983 Beirut barracks bombings,” according to the New York Times.

The apology: 747 words, emhapsises mine. With gems like:

It was an error of judgment for me to write such a simplistic comment and I'm sorry because it conveyed that I supported Fadlallah's life's work. That's not the case at all.

Life's work. Like terrorism and Jew hating?

I used the words "respect" and "sad" because to me as a Middle Eastern woman, Fadlallah took a contrarian and pioneering stand among Shia clerics on woman's rights. He called for the abolition of the tribal system of "honor killing." He called the practice primitive and non-productive. He warned Muslim men that abuse of women was against Islam.

He still supported things like, um, TERRORISM!

It goes on and on retelling mostly her encounters with him. She does say "Sayyed Fadlallah. Revered across borders yet designated a terrorist. Not the kind of life to be commenting about in a brief tweet. It's something I deeply regret." You didn't need to explain a terrorist to say sorry, Nasr. Just say "Sorry I lamented the death of an oppressor of Lebanon."

Or, if you actually care about Lebanon missy, you do what I did and say "YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Steele's Loose Lips Sinks Us All

"Keep in mind again, federal candidates, this was a war of Obama's choosing. This was not something that the United States had actively prosecuted or wanted to engage in.... if [Obama] is such a student of history, has he not understood that you know that's the one thing you don't do, is engage in a land war in Afghanistan?"

-Micheal Steele

Micheal Steele must go. Now.

I'm not exactly a GOP activist. I joined the party last year because I felt I could do more in the system than out by supporting libertarian-leaning and/or national defense hawk GOPers in Utah primaries (I supported Mike Lee, for those who care). I'm not usually a party guy, but today I am because Micheal Steele is a giant idiot.

Afghanistan wasn't a war of Obama's choosing. It was a war brought to us by Al-Qeada and the Taliban. It was brought to us way before 9/11 (WTC Bombing, Embassy Bombings, USS Cole), but it was 9/11 that brought us to Afghanistan. We defeat the Taliban and drove it back to its Pakistani base. We've harassed Al-Qeada for almost a decade now, keeping it on its toes and killing major players. While we've yet to capture or kill Osama bin Laden or his deputy, we've done so much damage that AQ's branch in Yemen is working harder than is core in Pakistan.

Afghanistan was never going to be an easy war, no matter what anybody said. It was always going to be a long-haul, decade(s)-long counter-insurgency against a fanatical grouping of terrorists. They're dug in there forever. They want to rule and expand their ideology, no matter what. Its a battle of wills, as a great general said a few days ago.

Everyone who says no one has ever conquered Afghanistan forgets that we're not there to take it over. We're there to deny it as a base to our very active enemies. We're not the British or the Tsarist Russians or the Soviets. We're there to deny access, not to rule. If we were there to rule and reap, would we allow Karzai to dictate our air war policy? To insult us publicly? To mismanage his government? No.

Honestly, Steele is talking like the fringe libertarian/far left. Ever since Iraq, the anti-war crowd has crowed that Iraq took away from winning Afghanistan. The President ran on that issue, even though he said we were slaughtering civilians as well. Now that Iraq is inching every closer to complete victory, we hear from them that Afghanistan is lost. It's not. Its just that the anti-war folks have no knowledge of this kind of war and have no backbone. Or worse, they've always wanted us to lose.

The long and short of it is that:

1) Afghanistan is important enough to GWOT that we must stay in for decades. Maybe not at the levels we have now (98 000), but we cannot abandon it as we did right after the Soviets left. This is one nation building project that's actually vital to our national security.

2) With Russia throwing its weight around and Iran following suit, having Afghanistan in our geo-political pocket is vital to our ability to hold off Russia and its Iranian client in Central Asia. Unlike the rainbow-dreaming folk in the White House, Russian dominance in the region will not bode well for us in the next decade or so. If this means pulling out of Western Europe (Oh God, pretty please), then so be it. If NATO has to be dissolved, so be it. The key to the next two decades of geopolitics is Central Asia, not Europe. This means turning places like Afghanistan to us. Also, countries like Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Georgia (especially Georgia), Armenia, Azerbaijan, and so on are all perfect for us in both anti-terrorism and counter-Russian planning. We need allies more in tune with our goals, not in tune with their navels.

3) Micheal Steele is a giant moron and needs to resign from his position as head of the party for his comments. Really now, when you can't tell the difference between the head of the GOP and Code Pink, you're pretty much screwed.

If the GOP doesn't do anything about Steele, his flubs will sink the party even further than it's already fallen.

Ideas Matter

Late night, scatterbrained post. Engage!

I'm one that believes ideas (principles, core beliefs, etc) are the life's blood of the human soul. Even those who proclaim apathy to politics still have views and convictions. Ideas matter. They always matter. So when it comes to Israel, why do the left's support of tolerance, unity and pan-ethnic love take second fiddle to the goals of the Islamists?

If you question a liberal or a leftist on their support of Islamist groups, they'll deny it. They don't support Hamas, they support the people of Palestine. They don't support Iran, but they don't want anyone interfering with its drive for nukes either. Most of the people on the left that I'm friends with are not supporters of Islamism, which is the antithesis to most of their goals, they're just not supporters of Israel. Enemy of my enemy and all that.

Yet, the chorus on Israel isn't strategic, its moral. The Guardian, the socialists and the rest aren't saying they're supporting the Islamist-led attacks on Israel because Israel is a “racist” state and “oppressive”. I'll grant that from a far-left humanism/world love perspective, a nation solely dedicated to Judaism is pretty repulsive (aside from the fact Israel has a very open society and a healthy political culture that spans the entire spectrum). As would a nation solely dedicated to Islam... like Hama's Gaza, Hizbullah-occupied territories in Lebanon or Iran. Yet, we don't hear much about them and their homophobia, their anti-woman ideology or their extra-judicial violence.

It doesn't do the left any good to build it's high ground on sand.

Ideas matter. Your convictions matter. If you believe in secularism and unity and unicorns turning the world's religions into pillows, you goddamn well better have the stones to shoot in all directions at all times. You may fool the media. You may get the handshakes of terrorists and tyrant leaders. You may get your face ironically plastered all over merchandise sold at anti-capitalist fairs. But in the eyes of the the truly passionate and truth-seeking folk like we have here at Generation Patriot and across the anti-partisan blogosphere on all sides, you aren't heroes. Ganhdi was a hero. MLK was a hero. The wannabe shaeed on the flotilla were douches and their Western kin were douches with strings connected to their ideological polar opposites.

The You're A F***ing Moron Dept.

I check out lefty blogs a lot, but I tend to avoid lefty orgies like Crooks and Liars. Sadly, I checked it today and saw this: James Galbraith: 'Zero' Danger Posed By Deficit.

And THIS is the smartest comment I found:

If the government borrows too much money, then interest rates rise and it makes borrowing more expensive for the government and the people. That can put a damper on economic growth.

And if the government prints money, then the currency is devalued -- that means inflation at home.

But interest rates aren't very high right now, and inflation isn't either, so we've got some breathing room. OTOH, Greece is kinda screwed in the "printing money" thing because they don't mint their own currency anymore, but that's not the case for the US.

No, we don't have breathing room, idiot. Our interest rates are near zero, that means giant amount of cheap credit, the very thing that created every bubble since central banking became the norm. The Fed is printing money like its toliet paper and because they're printing it the value of our currency is nearing the cost a single sheet of two-ply. The federal deficit was tripled. Congress passed a health care bill that has risen past the one trillion dollar mark and plans to nationalize more crap. Demographics is about to kick our ass as the Boomers will start getting their generational warfare money (Social Security), which "owes" its people TRILLIONS, not billions, TRILLIONS of dollars over the next 10-20 years. And guess what? THE GOVERNMENT DOESN'T HAVE THAT MONEY! These are serious liberal people who write and post at C&L. This is the brains behind the Obama administration. Dear f***king God.

And for the record, Greece was screwed because it spent itself into a debt 125% plus of GDP (according to Wikipedia). That means it owes the entire value of its economy PLUS an extra 25% on top of that. Greece has to first MAKE MONEY, hence the radical measures, so it can start paying back its entire value and then some. This isn't including interest, mind you. Michelle has written a lot of this and will write more.

It's been a long, tiring, taxing day today, so I apologize for my rudeness. I shouldn't insult the retarded.

UPDATE: Federal government's obligations - $65.5 trillion BEFORE health care.

Still think we've got breathing room, buddy?

Matt Yglesias and Authenticity

Apparently, being an authentic Jewish comes with a political condition...

Along with Jonah Goldberg, one of the main guys who gets my goat is Eric Cantor. There’s something unseemly about seeing fellow Jews turn into rightwingers.

Kudos NRO.

Bedwetters: A Rant

Between 1941 and 1945, the United States killed hundreds of thousands of civilians, dropped nuclear weapons on two cities, summary executed hundreds (maybe thousands) of spies, probably tortured tens of thousands and imprisoned over 250 000 of our own citizens based on their race. But that was the good war. That was FDR.

Yet, it's millions of conservative Americans that'll incite terrorism. It's a legal interrogation program that destroys our image. It's the liberation of 60 million people in Afghanistan and Iraq that makes radical Islamists hate us. It's the fighting of terrorism that makes us evil.

Lincoln dissolved state legislatures, held Americans without trial, executed Americans without trial and his generals burned down American cities to win the Civil War. He's a hero.

Bush gave terrorists a place to stay, eat and relax, as well as having the most overwatched interrogation program in American history. He followed the international rules of war. He went beyond what he had to to make sure the ILLEGAL terrorist combatants (aka, not covered by Geneva) were cared for when captured. Bush is Hitler.

The far-left and pussy libertarian critics are bedwetters. Four year old, Pull-Ups wearing bedwetters. The Civil War, WWI and WWII had hundreds of thousands Americans in prison camps... BY THEIR OWN GOVERNMENT. Yet, we're supposed to believe Bush, the CIA and the War on Terror will create tyranny by its very existence. Cheney will smile and people will be arrested and tortured.

Bullshit.

So much bullshit.

Name a single terrorist captured by the US that's been executed while in custody?

Not one.

They live in their fantasy world of rebellion and revolution where if only all of us didn't defend ourselves or want the government to do its job to defend us, we'd all live happily and free with unicorns, candy and free blow-up dolls with interchangeable sex organs.

They refuse to see how the world is, so they make it up to make themselves feel better. And many of these people are top politicians, journalists, thinkers and teachers. They are the gutter of politics, and because their ideas have become the main ideology of liberalism/progressivism, we have to go to the gutter to smack reason into these idiots.

They are children. Maybe we should treat them as such.

/rant

Not Your Average PMC Conspiracy

*PLOT SPOLIERS*

DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE PLAYING OR PLAN TO PLAY  

SPLINTER CELL: CONVICTION!

So Splinter Cell: Conviction's story is pretty short, hence the quick follow up on my post about the blood thirsty Canadian who has eyes for American contractors instead of terrorists.

I don't want to put up mega spoilers, so it'll be sufficient to say that the rouge PMC (aka, “military industrial complex” to said gamer) is just the tip of the iceberg. From what I can tell, the brains behind the plot in SCC are foreign, but that's not for sure. It is definitely not some half-assed right-wing conspiracy to make the US a corporate-fascist nation using a Blackwater clone. Not in the least. To me, it's more a one-world conspiracy by big government supporters and corporate honchos (George Soros, for instance). All of the baddies in SCC are pawns, even the top villian, so that gives you an idea of how big the conspiracy is. For now, the story is way above the stupidity of 24 season 7 and above the intelligence of the dumbass Canadian who gets the blues when taking out non-American baddies. I plan on buying the novelization of SCC to see if it has any more depth to this interesting take on the media's second-favorite military whipping boy.

Saving the World Makes Me Feel Guilty

But killing Americans in cold blood is a hoot.

Emphasis totally mine.

I’m often conflicted while playing games in Ubisoft’s Tom Clancy library. They’re fantastic fun—several entries in the Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon, and Splinter Cell franchises have provided some of the most memorable moments I’ve experienced in military-themed gaming—but I’ve always had a problem with Clancy’s politics. America’s forces typically act as world police in his games, conducting overt or clandestine operations in foreign lands with little regard for local governments and citizens and usually with impunity. It makes me feel a little guilty for enjoying myself so much while playing.

And that’s what makes Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction such a welcome change of pace. It delivers the sort of high quality and innovative action that players have come to expect from Clancy-branded games while giving us a hero who is actually rebelling against the American military industrial complex. It feels great.

So fighting terrorists and nations bent on destroying us makes this guy "feel a little guilty", but when the story involves a wayward PMC full of ex-American soldiers "[i]t feels great".

I'm a fan of Splinter Cell and Tom Clancy. I've read many of his books, Red Storm Rising being my favorite. He's had many Westerners as bad guys, and just like 24 these white male bad guys are bent on subverting the free world in some way. Yet, the only thing that gets this gamer off is killing Americans. You'd think that the video game world should be making Che games based on this idiot's preferences.

I've bought Splinter Cell: Conviction and I'll be commenting on the story once I finish the single-player campaign. It'll be interesting to see if SCC uses and intelligent evil PMC story, or if it'll go the way of 24 Season 7 and beyond ludicrous. I'm talking plaid-bad storytelling.

It's Only Hate If You Do It

NRO.

The Jewish Defence League held a demonstration today in Toronto at Palestine House, one of the many jihadist front organizations without which no sophisticated multicultural western city is complete. Tomorrow night, for example, they're hosting the editor of the London newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabi, Abd al-Bari Atwan. Mr Atwan is a celebrity eliminationist who declared on TV that "if the Iranian missiles strike Israel, by Allah, I will go to Trafalgar Square and dance with delight." Because Palestine House is government-funded, Mr Atwan's appearance to share this and other insights is effectively being underwritten by Canadian taxpayers.

At the demo, Palestine House officials were caught on tape telling Jewish protesters "You need another Holocaust" and "We love jihad... We love killing dogs... your bitches with you". As a notorious "Islamophobe", I certainly don't begrudge anybody his Judeophobia. What I don't understand is why Canadian taxpayers should subsidize it.

Yet any attempt to roll back funding for such organizations would be met by howls of protest that the government was attacking "immigrant groups" and "human rights". Lenin famously said the west would "sell us the rope by which we will hang them". He was underestimating our suicidal stupidity: We're happy to give it away.

Not only the rope, Canada has built the entire gallows and offered the radicals the first pull. Sooner or later, Canada has to stand up against the government funding people like these. This is another reason for homegrown terrorists, not our war against their kin, but cultural acceptance and government funding of their views.

Stick to Destroying the Constitution. Kay? Thanks.

Winner!

This hope [ending Afghan corruption] is delusional, as the remainder of the editorial makes clear (Karzai's most important political allies, as well as members of his family, are among the corrupt). No amount of jawboning is going to cure the systemic corruption that plagues the Afghan government. Building the rule of law, moreover, takes decades even under favorable circumstances.

But the greater error in this policy is that our military presence in Afghanistan is making the terrorism problem worse (see this essay), not better, because it inflames Islamic radicalism worldwide--including homegrown terrorism. (Meanwhile, Al Qaeda has other places to seek refuge and locate training camps.)

The author is correct about Afghan corruption, but he should stick to his legal wet dreams and not counter-terrorism.

The idea that we should stop fighting Islamist radicals because fighting them pisses of Islamic radicals is old, worn and comes from the festering bowels of far left ignorance. Islamist ideas aren't knee-jerk reactionary burps. It's a well thought out ideology born of the combination of anti-Americanism, anti-Western civilian and Islamic superiority. Sayyid Qutb, the father of modern Islamist terrorism, wrote volumes of theory and ideology. The goal? Islamic supremacy. Not the liberation of Palestine. Not the ending of American friendships with the Saudis. Not stopping Danish cartoons. Absolute and total supremacy of Islam. Some, like Hibz ut Tahir, try to do it politically. Others, like Al Qaeda, see themselves as the vanguard force of the new Islamic caliphate. Either way, being nice to the radicals won't stop them. They have goals, power structures, ideals; an entire state all planned out when they win. They hunger for power vacuums, they do not abhor them.

The greatest thing Al Qaeda could have is a base of operations as large as Afghanistan. Currently, Al Qaeda is trapped in the tribal areas of Pakistan with its leaders in hiding, not an ideal situation for the group. Before 9/11, they trained tens of thousands, financed themselves through drugs, had the protection of the Taliban and, by proxy, the protection of Pakistan. After 9/11, we captured major players in the group, forced them into a remote area of a new ally, tracked their calls, killed their leaders and constantly harassed them. Unless Al Qaeda gets a new country as a base (like Afghanistan for instance if we leave prematurely) they are stuck as moral support. The groups capable of attacks are stuck in their respective areas. Al Qaeda in Iraq was soundly defeated by the surge, but they are still a problem. Al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb was formerly an Algerian Isalmist group that has plans of going global, but remain an Algerian problem for now. Al-Qaeda in Yemen has been the biggest problem of the last year. They armed and trained the infamous Christmas Day Pantybomber. All of these groups would just adore us if we left Afghanistan open to establishment of a central Al-Qaeda base.

Just like they adore the left-wing idiots that represent them in courts they had no right to be in.