Letters to the Editor
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Extremism may be closer to McCain's heart than political correctness
My opinion is that McCain's al-Qaida-Shi'a conflation has a long history and is especially popular among that segment of his base that believes Islam to be irredeemable. If 13% think Obama is in fact a Muslim, I'd suggest--strongly--a greater percentage believe this is a 'clash of civilizations.' This posit is popular elsewhere than in the Christian fundamentalist camps.
It goes like this:
al-Qaida enjoys support on the so-called Arab street.
Islam proffers a conception of its being the last Abrahamic revelation.
This conception makes a duty of converting the un-believer.
All Muslims are called to this unless they are themselves heretics and unbelievers.
The above conceptions enjoy support on the Arab street.
Islam is equivalent to the Arab street.
Islam wants to convert the non-believer.
Thus: IT HARDLY MATTERS WHAT THE NUANCES HAPPEN TO BE.
It would be charitable to state this is poppycock. Yet, it would be a mistake to underplay the support of the American street that is vulnerable to hooking up 'we don't do defeat' with 'Islam wishes to defeat us.'
...just my opinion, yet, McCain does seem to play to this crowd. His job is to scare enough of the middle undecideds into going along for the ride such a clash of civilzations promises.