Alright Pat Roberston, Tell Me What Islam Is

It looks like Perez Motel6 beat me to the ultra-conservative hate-fest, but there has never been any harm in throwing a little gas on the fire, unless you use too much, which, in this case, would be impossible. Believe me, with the conservative commentators’ reactions to last week’s tragic shootings at Ft. Hood, there will be plenty of gas to go around.

Let me start by saying that I agree with a main argument that is being made by many people, especially by conservatives — somebody messed up, big time. Nidal Malik Hassan was not and, whoever forbid, will not be the most covert terrorist to act on US soil. There were some pretty obvious signs that he was becoming increasingly radical, but for whatever reason, they were missed.

This, however, doesn’t change the fact that what Pat Robertson said yesterday was taking his racist, xenophobic lunacy to another level. After a rather long rant, he accused the United States of “covering up what Islam is.” According to Robertson, everything you have ever learned about Islam — from classes, books, Wikipedia, or from Muslims themselves — is wrong, and he would know. Islam is, instead, apparently a “violent political system bent on the overthrow of the governments of the world and world domination.” He wasn’t done yet, going on to say that we should treat Islam’s “adherents…as we would members of the Communist party or some fascist group.”

First off, does anyone else find it ironic that a hardcore Christian American is accusing another religion — or “political system” for that matter — of attempting to achieve world domination? If the goal was really to try to take over the world, history would clearly show that the US has emerged as The Brain, while the other nations are Pinkies. Ok, I’m not going to make blanket statements and call any single nation “genius” or “insane,” but you get the point. As to Robertson’s point about effectively treating Muslims as enemies of the state, I ask you sir, how stupid are you? Do you really think that every single person who answers to Allah speaks of infidels and jihad? Has the concept of moderacy in any way, shape or form ever entered that thick, right-leaning skull of yours, or does that miniscule mass of pink mush inside only allow you to think in extremes that induce hate and fear into an already fragily diverse equation?

So, Mr. Robertson, I both take offense to and disagree with your explanation of Islam, and pretty much anything you say for that matter. Everyone in this world is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.

Democratic Assasination?

Over the weekend, someone apparently used a 3rd party Facebook application to publish a poll begging the rather unaskable question; “should obama be killed?” So, it took a few days to gain some traction, someone on Twitter brought it to the attention of some blogger who brought it to the attention of the Secret Service, then the major news outlets caught wind, and in the end, after a few days, it was pulled — after over 750 people voted on it.

Wow. Perhaps the most frightening feature of this poll, which can be seen here, is the answer selection given by the pollster, probably a youngster with little knowledge of capital letters living in a home perpetually tuned in to Fox News and Conservative talk radio. The answer, “if he cuts my health care,” is just the latest proof of the volatility that the far-right has injected into this dispute. The far-right’s fringe arguments, however — the impending imposition of “death panels,” government oversight meaning the complete obliteration of private insurance and a loss of healthcare for the middle-class, etc. — seem to be making a rapid transit into the mainstream Conservative debate. When Glenn Beck, Ann Coulter, and Rush Limbaugh’s crazy talk becomes commonly repeated by people much closer and much more moderate than the extreme Conservatives that I have witnessed only in faceless YouTube comments, not only do I get scared, but we, as a society, rapidly lose the ability to have thoughtful discourse on anything, healthcare or otherwise. Once that goes out the window, it’s only a matter of time before people actually think ridiculous things, like killing the president is the best way to make sure he doesn’t take away their healthcare. Oh, wait…