. . .and I think this is the controversy. . .The Left is howling; albeit only for purposes of creating a 'smoke and mirrors' kind of environment for D'Souza's book. Offering their provoked response on behalf of an 'America slighted'; when. . .should one be so inclined to read the book; after hearing the howls; realizes immediately 'who' is 'the' enemy he references.
. . .and they just do not want anybody recognizing; much less debating D'Souza's presentation of the dirty truth; or more specifically for the Left, the dirty truth of their contribution to 9/11.
There is nothing really new in D'Souza's book; at least premise-wise; for sure. But, political correctness has prevented many from 'overtly'; directly. . .going there.
From Introduction/excerpt:(paragraphs/italics mine):
'The Enemy At Home':
[The Bush Administration and the conservatives must stop uncritically promoting American popular culture, because it is producing a blowback of Muslim rage. . . .American foreign policy should stand up for liberal values; but not for the liberal values associatied with the cultural left. Rather it must work to promote classical liberal ideas (. . . .)
There are also healthy aspects of American culture that we can be proud to share with the rest of the world. But we must stop exporting the cultural left's America.
That means we should stop insisting on radical secularism, stop promoting the feminist conception of the family, stop trying to promote abortion and "sex education," and we should try to halt the export of the vulgar and corrupting elements of our popular culture.
When we cannot do these things, we should apologize to the rest of the world and make it clear that we too find a good deal in this culture to be embarassing and disgusting.
There is no "clash of civilizations"between Islam and the West. But there are two clashes of civilizations that are shaping the world today.
The first is a clash between liberal and conservative values within America. The second is a clash between traditional Islam and radical Islam, a clash within Islamic society. So realize it or not, American conservatives are fighting a two-front war.
The first is a war against Islamic radicalism and fundamentalism. The second is a political struggle against the left and its pernicious political and moral influence in America and around the globe. My conclusion is that the two wars are intimately connected. In fact, we cannot win the first war without also winning the second war.] end excerpt. . .
...while he ignores more relevant criticism from the right. D'Souza seems to feel that if the existence of homosexuality in the US or the appeal of American music to Middle Eastern youth is what "enrages" the mullahs, this is something we should apologize for. On the contrary: if these things are true, we should sweep in and wipe Wahhabism off the face of the Earth with exactly the same techniques we used on Nazism. Sorry, but if a foreign religion really does insist on imposing its laws in the streets of Manchester and Minneapolis, then it has no reason to live. If D'Souza really does love America, he should realize this.
BTTT
Dinesh D'Souza hasn't just been bashed by the left for this book, but by many on the right. He's gotten beaten up by Alan Wolfe in the NYT and the America-loathing Katha Pollitt at The Nation, to be sure, but he's also been trashed in Frontpage Mag (by a reviewer I don't know, and by Jamie Glazov), on Powerline (by Scott Johnson) and Hugh Hewitt's blog (by contributor Dean Barnett).
Those are not rabid sites who attack people just to see the blood, but mainstream and reasonable conservative commentators. They have read Dinesh's book.... and after reading their reviews, I'll give it a miss.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=26572
and
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=26584
and
http://hughhewitt.townhall.com/g/4358f1f6-2a20-42a9-ba23-bda2d69af0ef
and
http://powerlineblog.com/archives/016556.php
d.o.l.
Criminal Number 19F
I thought 'liberals' were vehement that we should you seek to understand the 'root causes' of terrorism.
If the Cultural Left is undermining a depraved culture that exudes its rotten pus in the form of terror and murder, then
RAH! RAH! GO CULTURAL LEFT!!