Thursday, May 21, 2009
Glenn Greenwald Asks: "Is there anything the Right isn't afraid of?"
This was an aspect of the debate over Guantanamo prisoners that I hadn't considered:
I listen to portions of Rush, Hannity, and Glenn Beck probably 4 times a week, and I don't think I have ever heard any of them even once give even a nod to the possibility that any of the people being held at "Club Gitmo" might be innocent. It would be unfair to say, "Apparently they think that just because some Marines grabbed a guy, he therefore is a terrorist," because their train of thought never even gets in the same ZIP code as that type of thought. It's possible that it never even occurred to them to wonder.
The "debate" over all the bad and scary things that will happen if Obama closes Guantanamo and we then incarcerate those detainees in American prisons is so painfully stupid even by the standards of our political discourse that it's hard to put into words...And the money quote:
Rather than scoff at the inane fear-mongering or point out simple facts to reveal its idiocy, Democratic "leaders" such as Harry Reid echo the right-wing fears in order to prove how Serious and Tough they are -- in our political debates, the more frightened one is, the more Serious and Tough one is -- and/or because they are genuinely frightened of being called mean names by Sean Hannity ("Harry Reid isn't as scared of this as I am, which shows that he's weak");
I listen to portions of Rush, Hannity, and Glenn Beck probably 4 times a week, and I don't think I have ever heard any of them even once give even a nod to the possibility that any of the people being held at "Club Gitmo" might be innocent. It would be unfair to say, "Apparently they think that just because some Marines grabbed a guy, he therefore is a terrorist," because their train of thought never even gets in the same ZIP code as that type of thought. It's possible that it never even occurred to them to wonder.
Comments:
Bob, this is why I can`t be bothered to listen to Rush, Hannity, or Glenn Beck.
They have so busy peddling fear - in order to enhance their own standing/pocketbooks - (combined now with a CYA exercise) that they rather obviously don`t care about the rule of law or freedom, and the way that the White House (and Republicans generally under Bush) also mongered fear to enhance their own power, in ways that greatly diminished transparency and enhanced the intrusiveness of the state.
Have your eyes truly been opened?
They have so busy peddling fear - in order to enhance their own standing/pocketbooks - (combined now with a CYA exercise) that they rather obviously don`t care about the rule of law or freedom, and the way that the White House (and Republicans generally under Bush) also mongered fear to enhance their own power, in ways that greatly diminished transparency and enhanced the intrusiveness of the state.
Have your eyes truly been opened?
To Greenwald's argument, the neocons would probably same something like "Harry Reid isn't afraid of the terrorists because he knows that the chance of him personally being harmed by one of them is small, but he should be afraid for the sake of the American people as a whole. He's the one who's truly afraid because he prefers to do nothing rather than do unpleasant things that are necessary to keep us safe."
I listen to the radio show of a local Neocon (Mark Belling) who says things like this. Just yesterday he tore into Ron Paul, calling him a "cretin" and "pissant" for not being willing to do what is needed to protect us for terrorism, and then complaining when terrorism happens. I wonder if he ever heard Ron Paul's arguments that the flight crew and passengers on the hijacked flights should have been allowed to be armed, and that the US should have use their constitutional powers of marque and reprisal to put a bounty on Bin Laden instead of invading Afghanistan and Iraq. That probably would have prevented the 9/11 attacks from being successful, led to the capture of Bin Laden, and avoided two destructive wars that will have future blowback effects that will endanger us all.
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I listen to the radio show of a local Neocon (Mark Belling) who says things like this. Just yesterday he tore into Ron Paul, calling him a "cretin" and "pissant" for not being willing to do what is needed to protect us for terrorism, and then complaining when terrorism happens. I wonder if he ever heard Ron Paul's arguments that the flight crew and passengers on the hijacked flights should have been allowed to be armed, and that the US should have use their constitutional powers of marque and reprisal to put a bounty on Bin Laden instead of invading Afghanistan and Iraq. That probably would have prevented the 9/11 attacks from being successful, led to the capture of Bin Laden, and avoided two destructive wars that will have future blowback effects that will endanger us all.
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