January 3, 2007
Between Sen. Edwards and Stuck Mojo
There is a lot of room to find middle ground. I don't champion moderation in politics a'la Morton Kondracke, but I encounter excess of many stripes in the blogosphere. The most dangerous place for excess is, of course, on the war.
Many people refuse to name our enemy for fear of offending. I personally like “Islamofascists.” They seek to use state power to enforce religious rule.
Mark Steyn points out that Senator Edwards can't find room, in his top five policies to address terrorism.
He's running for president on five big priorities: ''guaranteeing health care,'' ''leading the fight against global warming,'' ''strengthening our middle class and ending the shame of poverty,'' and by then my fingers were too comatose to write down the fifth theme but, if memory serves, it was guaranteeing to lead the fight to strengthen ending the shame of platitudinous campaign rhetoric.
Dean Burnett reviews the new Damon-DeNiro CIA flick (man those guys are so brave taking the CIA on!) and concludes that the producers believe that both the Cold War and Terrorism were ginned-up threats that served the government; neither really ever threatened our lives or our freedom.
On the other side, I promised a more explicit critique of JohnGalt’s nominations for ThreeSources Album of the Year. Excuse me, I meant to say ThreeSources Coveted Album of the Year.
I didn't give a long listen to Stuck Mojo. I listened to the three tunes you recommended. I enjoyed the one with the speech and the strings reminded me of Bob Marley's "War," the lyrics of which were a Halle Selassie speech.
The others represent musical styles that I don't personally appreciate I imagine if the good folks of Stuck Mojo put the same lyrics atop a nice vi-ii-V-I jazz groove, you’d probably have me.
As it happens, I think the lyrics are emblematic of a segment that cannot separate Islam from Islamofascism. Without formally deconstructing the lyrics, the "religion of peace" line is a red flag for me. President Bush used that in the early days of the conflict to offer healing, and comfort Muslims that he recognized that he and they shared faith if not the same faith.
Now that has become a pejorative code word for those who seek to incite Americans against Muslims. I believe Michelle Malkin is a Christian and would resent somebody mocking her faith, yet she uses “religion of peace” derisively.
It's music, it's art. I support their right to make it and yours to listen to it. (I bought the Curious George Soundtrack by Jack Johnson from iTunes and it includes a paean to Recycling as a bonus track, Ohboy!)
We have to call our enemies by name but be careful whom we name as our enemies. I don't consider myself a middle of the road guy but I'll stay away from both Senator Edwards and the folks who want a new Crusade..
Defending Stuck Mojo-
Here's what Cyrano had to say in his email sharing the link: "This is "metal rap" (yuk), but -- besides the great news video -- the music video has some things I sorely miss in discussions of Islamism: (1) identification the fact that this is a battle of rationality vs. barbarity; and (2) anger -- a rational and morally appropriate evaluation of the irrationality and destruction facing us."
So you see, the "Crusade" to be fought is by rationality vs. barbarity, not Christianity vs. Islam.
Equating Islamism with Islam? Let's look at the lyrics...
- "I speak peace when peace is spoken, But I speak war when your hate is provoking,"
- "I don't need a faith that's blind, Where death and hate bring me peace of mind, With views that are stuck deep in the seventh century, So much sand in your eyes too blind to see,"
- "I don't give a damn what god you claim, I've seen the innocent that you've slain, (...) Cause your attitude's the reason, The triggers keep squeezing, The hunt is on and it's open season."
So the thrust here, as you can see is not their religion per se (as he says, he "don't give a damn what god you claim") but their actions: hateful provocation, sowing "death and hate," and slaying innocents. As a result of this "attitude" on the part of Islamists, "the triggers keep squeezing" and the "hunt is on" around the world.
I say if Islam is to be defended as a "religion of peace" it should be done by peaceful Muslims. Where are they?
Posted by: johngalt at January 5, 2007 3:34 PM | What do you think? [1]