-When someone like Omar Ahmad of the Council of American Islamic Relations claims that "the Koran . . . should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on Earth," I believe he means what he says, just as I believe Imam Zaid Shakir, former chaplain at Yale University, when he says that "Muslims cannot accept the legitimacy of the existing American order, since it is against the orders and commandments of Allah."-

I believe the imposition of 'Christianity' and 'Democracy' on the world no less a threat.

And you cite Muslim honor-killings of teenage girls, beheadings, suicide bombings while the US government spies on its own citizens and, presumably, its political opponents, wages illegal undeclared wars, commits propaganda against its own populous, offers individuals and corporations immunity to cover its own crimes, incarcerates the world's and it's own citizens illegally and in perpetuity unless it sees fit to engage them in show trials without adequate and unfettered access to legal counsel, a basic human right, and denies them even POW status, supplanting the phrase with the Orwellian 'enemy combatant' so that they might not seek redress in the event that could in fact be innocent, something that is supposed to be a presumption on Constitutional grounds in America.

The US administration is no more or less criminal than the leaders of the terrorists. And I stress 'criminal' because crimes are what we are talking about and crimes should be dealt with by police action, not massive miltary strikes and invasion of sovereign countries. The body count is so much lower and its much less expensive and a great deal more effective, as Europe has proven time and again.

Shooter, kindly read the post again.
Steyn is not saying that Greenwald "has a point" that he (Steyn) is part of a "right-wing bloggers who can't sleep at night," rather that he "has a point" which is not, and never has been, that "[i]t's psychologically exhausting being on permanent Orange Alert."

Hey, I've been wrong before but this actual quote seems pretty clear to me.....

Glenn - nobody cares about adolescent Terrorist game-playing like this any longer.
Steyn - Okay, a small comment. He may have a point: It's psychologically exhausting being on permanent Orange Alert, especially as the reason for it recedes further and further in the rear-view mirror.

It sure looks a concession that "fearmongering" is passe' to me.

of this:

http://www.rpstudios.net/sshistory.html

The first battle at Bull Run (also called First Manassas), fought during July 21, 1861, was a unique affair in several ways. It was the first major battle of the Civil War. It was fought for the most part by green amateur militia units in front of ladies and gentlemen from Washington, D.C., that actually went out to watch the battle as if it were going to be a picnic.

Also reminded me of an educational video a professor friend of mine recently created, called Militainment, Inc., which is about the militarization of our society and pop culture - the slack voyeurism of modern war as common to so many armchair warriors.

http://apocalicious.blogspot.com/2007/08/box-cover-very-exciting.html

Overgrown children, overcompensating.

But I'm just a 100-pound middle-aged female, hardly a candidate for the Army,

Kasimara

Have you tried, Kass? I bet they would take you! And it's not as if there were no other available ways to help! Homeland Security is desperate for agents and employees, and there is always the private security industry or a military contractor.

Are you just going to sit there, all 100 lbs. of you, and wait for them to come to you? My God, Kass, do you know what they do to a white women. I will spare you the details, but don't count on being one of the 72 afterwards.

For a citizen who is aware of the existential danger posed by the onslaught of Koranic atrocities, you seem awfully unwilling to participate in your own defense. You are not counting on this crowd to do it, are you? Cause I don't even think they care that Islam-a-bad-bad-bad!

And don't let that recruiter give you a "no: for an answer, we need gals like you to hold off the hordes.

One of the most courageous and intrepid of all - Marine Cpl Matt Sanchez: http://www.cplsanchez.info/

The only reason they can engage in these orgies of courage is that, deep down, they know they're not in danger.

When we actually were in danger of nuclear annihilation, all the mythic heroic movies (from Ice Station Zebra to any spy thriller) skittered back to the status quo. Could we dream of victory? No.

Did we fight in Vietnam to march through and into China? Were we rolling things back? Nobody could afford to dream like that. It was real death we were talking about.

But this is perfect. Are these people actually scared of the enemy? I would say they aren't. The decks are stacked in our favor. We have the cheat codes that gives us unlimited ammo and as many extra hit points as we need. So boot up from the last saved game!

It's like Armageddon: a big big battle with victory foreordained. (why then have it at all? don't ask stupid questions, blasphemer.)

George Bush, to my knowledge, has never even issued a call for people to enlist in the armed forces. There's no rationing, no war taxes--quite the opposite, in fact. The only sacrifice demanded of us is to stop criticizing him and stop voting for Democrats. The message is clear by omission: this is not a real danger. We are not in trouble. The villain always falls in the third reel.

They say 'when the next terrorist attack comes, boy will you be sorry!" The assumption there is that the next terrorist attack comes, it won't be in the writer's city. If the writer at all admitted that possibility, the tone would be entirely different.

The Republicans delight in fake fights. Eeevil Mexicans Immigrants! Homothexuals! Hollywood Liberals! Republicans employ the Mexicans, are homothexuals themselves, and own the movie studios. (If the Republicans were really scared of Mexican cultural hegemony, they could eliminate the jobs for illegals with a couple of mass emails. That would, in fact, be the end of that.) Nothing better than a scary enemy who poses no real threat.

These folks are not scared that Osama Bin Laden is still at large. They aren't scared that Kim Jong Il has both bombs and missiles. And they certainly aren't scared that the anthrax killer is still at large.

Think of what would happen if an Al Qaeda suicide bomber blew up Rush Limbaugh's broadcast studio. Think if a conservative blogger were gunned down in the street. What would happen if the people who wanted to kill us actually started doing so? Some would enlist, no doubt, but this 'heroic warrior' stuff would evaporate.

They do this dance because they know they personally are safe. After all, that's what they've been promised.