David
gus wears panties.
it’s so obvious by the wad he always manages to twist them into.
did you guys hear that alqaeda has claimed the tsunami was not the result of an undersea earthquake? they claim the united states was conducting secret weapons tests off the coast of malaya and the tsunami was a result.
the laskar jihad are setting up in banda aceh. as is typical with muslim insurgencies, they seek to recruit people to their cause by preying on the poor and unfortuneate.
banda aceh was already anti western. now the tsunami has destroyed most everything the people there had, which was very little.
in swoops the international community to offer aid.
first, various muslim groups hinted that the tsunami was a message from Allah to stop the hedonistic lifestyle they were enjoying in places like thighland. now, alqaeda is claiming that the tsunami was not a natural disaster at all. they claim the tsunami was a result of a secret US weapon being tested off of the coast. killing thousands and thousands of muslims.
no doubt, the laskar jihad will shortly be claiming that the aid being provided by the international community is really an effort to buy muslims. that the aid effort is nothing more than an effort to whore the sons and daughters of islam by the decadent west.
i hope the people don’t fall for it.
“first, various muslim groups hinted that the tsunami was a message from Allah to stop the hedonistic lifestyle they were enjoying in places like thighland.”
Are you sure you’re not confusing them with conservative commentator Michael Savage?
http://mediamatters.org/items/200501050006
“If you are a God-believing, God-fearing person, I am sure at some point you ask yourself, wait a minute. The epicenter of this earthquake and the resulting tidal wave was adjacent to the sex trade island of Phuket, Thailand … and then it knocked out many, many regions of Indonesia, some of which are the most vicious recruiting grounds for Islamic terrorists. That’s a fact of reality. Then going the other way, it hit Sri Lanka, ex-Ceylon. And as you well know, Sri Lanka is a viciously anti-Western nation, the home of the Tamil Tigers, who are not only separatists but anti-Westerners, anti-Christians, etc. You could argue, maybe this is God’s hand, because some of their brethren struck Christian America. Maybe God speaks the truth but waits. Seeks the truth and waits. I don’t know. You could argue: God struck them.
[…]
Many of the countries and the areas in these countries that were hit by these tidal waves were hotbeds of radical Islam. Why should we be helping them destroy us? … I think what we’re doing is feeding our own demise. … I truthfully don’t believe in foreign aid.
[…]
We shouldn’t be spending a nickel on this, as far as I’m concerned. … I don’t want one nickel of my money going over there. … I am sick of being bled to death by every damn incident on the earth.”
Another charming response that I think Mlah might agree with (because he also mentions $ for AIDS in Africa being a waste) was from David Holcberg of the Ayn Rand Institure:
http://www.cnsnews.com//ViewCommentary.asp?Page=\Commentary\archive\200501\COM20050103a.html
“The United States government, however, should not give any money to help the tsunami victims. Why? Because the money is not the government’s to give.
“Every cent the government spends comes from taxation. Every dollar the government hands out as foreign aid has to be extorted from an American taxpayer first.”
Quite frankly, the granting of foreign aid is not spelled out in the Constitution, so the argument that the government should not be giving it out is a valid one. Look at the response from private citizens of this country, giving much more than what “the government” is providing (granted, the logistical forces of the government are ever so useful in distributing that aid, and that’s a good use of resources as it stresses our military system on short notice, useful for practicing war). Even many donations coming from the Red States that Gus hates so.
Make the argument that foreign aid falls under the umbrella of national defense, or even national interest (a weak cousin of national defense which allows us to basically get involved in whatever little thing in the world we want to) and you have more ground to stand on.
Ayn Rand was a very convincing political commentator, having lived through the October Revolution and seen first hand how the Soviet state was corrupted. However, she allowed her hatred of the Soviet state to cloud her judgement, and insisted that all giving is bad (e.g., the root of all problems vis-a-vis Communism started with Jesus 2000 years ago). She forgot that people have free will and can give of their own as they choose. Her point that what is mine is not yours, that you have no claim on it, and that I don’t HAVE to give it to you, however, remains as valid today as it was in the 20th Century.
As for the charge that the tsunami was retaliation from Allah for allowing the decadent Westerners to frolic on the beaches of the Indian Ocean: that came from the Friday prayers following the event. Several mosques used that theme in their services.
I listened to Mikey Savage while I was in Hawaii last month, the guy’s wierd. Not even an entertaining personality (like Rush Limbo). Nothing worth laughing at, he doesn’t even sell himself as a showman (Rush is pretty good at doing that). I only point to Rush as a counter to make my point. Just to head Gus off from labeling me a dittohead. Why you so stuck on Savage, Gus? You think he represents all conservatives like Mikey Moore does all liberals?
I am in no way “stuck” on MSavage. I’ve never brought him up here before and may never again. It’s just a little scary that he has, like, the 4th-highest rated talk radio show or something. That’s a great point, Yup– as Savage doesn’t represent all conservatives, nor does MMoore represent all liberals. I hope folks around here keep that in mind.
And, yes, Ayn Rand was pretty over-the-top. Greed as God, basically.
Foreign aid is a funny, double-edged thing. I wonder if those Objectivists (Ayn Rand-ites) ever had a problem with our gov’t using such cash as a carrot/bribe to lead some countries away from Communism, ha. I have problems with the huge amount of cash, loan guarantees and military aid we give to countries with less-than-stellar human rights records, but dig all the humanitarian aid. And well said, Yup, nat’l interest being the “weak cousin” to nat’l defense. We’ll scratch most anybody’s back in the hopes that they’ll scratch ours in return, on some level. That’s just US diplomatic reality.
I’m not surprised red-staters are giving to tsumani relief, why would I be? Jeez, take it easy, dude. Sometimes we’re all just human. There are many fine people in those places, even if we don’t agree on many political/cultural points.