[unamused]

Dynamite assessment of "modern America"....
Will the "wimpified" U. S. be able to prevail in this situation?
...very iffy....

[Vigilanteman]

This should be the fate of terrorists who plan atrocities from within their host nation.

In war time, we need't wait for their execution before their execution. And, perhaps we ought to invite the politically correct crowd to participate in the first test drop.

[GuillermoX]

I agree with the author. We WILL lose if we keep going down the path of PC. It seems the top priority in this country is to make sure that these Mohammedans are not offended in any way.

Islam and Western Civilization DOES NOT and CANNOT mix. The Mohammedans know this, that's why they want the USA to become an Islamic state. They CANNOT seperate religious law from secular law, it's AGAINST their religion. It's a lost cause until we come to this realization.

[Mission2mars]

[i]America's job is to utterly destroy – that means kill – the terrorist network, root and branch, and likewise to destroy the governments of the terrorists' patron states. [b]If we do this just right, with the right spirit and timing, we may just succeed in shocking those millions of future Osama bin Ladens who today are following the siren song of militant Islam, and forcing them toward the more moderate end of the spectrum. [/b][/i] Sorry folks, but if you believe in facing the cold unvarnished truth, the author here is engaging in an unsupported conclusion. He lays out the danger of PC think very well, but his idea that we may be able to "to shock future osama Bin Ladens" doesn't seem to come from any exicting logical model. Like so many so called experts on the middle east he seems to have a far firmer grasp of the problem than the solution.

[Aerial]

Welcome to the Brave New World...of Paradise-Engineering.

[Zeph211]

Fantasic assessment!

Then, they can destroy America in their own good time – remember, it is central to their politicized, utopian, religious beliefs that they convert the entire world to Islam – by force, if necessary.

AMEN to that! I don't think we REALLY believe this is the ultimate goal.

[Hit & Run Poster]

The news media, the filter through which Americans receive their information, is reluctant to define the enemy. Indeed, within the last week, it has become politically incorrect to describe the Islamic terrorists who blew up the World Trade Center and Pentagon, murdering thousands of innocent Americans, as "Islamic terrorists."

Stephen Jukes, Reuters' global head of news, decreed that the giant wire service's 2,500 journalists should not use the T-word unless in a direct quote.

"We all know that one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter and that Reuters upholds the principle that we do not use the word terrorist," he wrote in an internal memo. "To be frank, it adds little to call the attack on the World Trade Center a terrorist attack."

In 1990 Rush Limbaugh warned that Political Correctness, especially on the college campuses, was becoming the Fascism of America. In this case, I think Rush has been proven "More than Right." Who could have predicted such sheer, stark-raving mad lunacy would develop from the PC movement?

Even here on FR, the PC crowd sometimes jumps in with such whimpy fury, that I fear at the rate we are going, in a few more years, an excellent article posting such as this one would be pulled by the PC Police.

Thanks for the head's up, JohnHuang2, this represents an absolutely awful & nefarious social development.

[Russell Scott]

This is a MUST read!!! E-mail this to everyone you know. This is a commentary that will wake people up, and shatter the PC evil that has had America in its ugly grip for 40 years.

[Semaphore Heathcliffe]

this is a reposted reply from 9/18 re: two American high school students who tore down a Palestinian flag in their school:

Bump for these guys. Our only real hope in "winning" whatever we're in now is for this PC crap to be beaten out of people. We need a population who have the backbone to demand any questionably allied foreign nationals be deported ASAP. Even if some innocent, charming foreign nationals get shipped out. We need a population who have the backbone to make this country uninviting for anyone who's of a mind to move here, live here for few years, then strap on a bomb for Allah.

The terms of this war cannot possibly have sunk into the national psyche yet, but all here know that we are LIVING IN the frontlines. This BS about being nice-nice to the innocent (whomevers) is great in an academic kind of way, but when you're dealing with an enemy who willing to exchange his one life, in a surprise and catestrophic fashion, for the lives of thousands of people; untold vital communication, transportation, and commerce infrastructure, and the guy could be living next door to you and me, then we haven't really got much choice to be a bunch of pricks about weeding him out. IOW, we need to err on the side of being too harsh, rather than erring on the side of appeasing the PC sensibilities that have been strangling rational discourse and thought in this country for years.

Unfortunately, the sentiment of tolerance at any cost is getting increased play on the public airwaves. We will likely have the opportunity to see the stamina of said sentiment in the face of another horrendous attack. At that point, we will know whether we've won or lost, IMO.

[Dan De Quille]

And we must throw political correctness onto "the unmarked grave" of history.

Just so. We just may have to throw the Libs into the "dustbin of History" first in order to do it.

[Pontiac]

"We all know that one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter and that Reuters upholds the principle that we do not use the word terrorist," he wrote in an internal memo. "To be frank, it adds little to call the attack on the World Trade Center a terrorist attack."

These men, these terrorist (I will use the term), do not fight for freedom. They fight for conquest. They fight for domination. They fight Christianity. They by their own words fight to make the whole world an Islamic Republic. They can hardly be called Freedom Fighters

When one sets out to report on an event one must define the event in terms that can be understood by the target audience. The attack on the World Trade Center attack was an attack on building predominately occupied by civilians. This is a target with out any military or strategic value. This attackers only conceivable purpose is to strike fear in to the populace of the target country and destroy the will of the people to resist the attacker and accede to attackers political demands. This in the understanding of the general population of this country would in popular parlance be termed as a Terrorist Attack

[wjeanw]

I've been reading a lot on Islamism since the World Trade Center attack. All these groups trace their origin to the revolutionary views of Komeini. If anyone would know of an excellent biography of this Iranian leader, please let me know. However, I have found out so far that he was influenced by the writings of Ali Shariati and Franz Fanon. Reading the beliefs of Fanon is more chilling than any suspense novel. Try this site: http://www.emory.edu/ENGLISH/Bahri/Fanon.html

[Cincinatus]

A largely overlooked piece yesterday by Paul Johnson, Relentlessly and Thoroughly, made many of these same points. People should read that very important article.

[truthkeeper]

BUMP

[Semaphore Heathcliffe]

Now that we're more than two weeks and a half weeks past the attacks (a virtual lifetime in the eyes of American media), it's become increasingly evident in TV interviews and radio call-ins that a significant portion of our population have literally stifled any self-survival instinct in favor of not offending anyone. It's absolutely mindboggling. There are now entire generations of Americans, young though they may be, who know nothing other than a fuzzy relativist worldview where nothing's really better than anything else. They and their adult counterparts (whom tragically have infested the very media that shape public opinion) can only be a liability in what is shaping up to be a cut-throat future.

And as the reality of an obliterated national icon and financial hub fades into "America United" or "America's New War" or whatever braindead network of your choice has named this week in time, we lose sight of the bottom line. This situation will very possibly become, whether the majority wants it or not, a war between Islam and the West. Correction: the guys of 9/11 have made this a war between Islam and the West. And the West, being so hamstrung by PC, can't find the stones to call it what it is. Please, West...find the stones, and join the battle that is on your front lawn.

[Pietro]

Excellent job, as usual!

One thing I've noticed lately, and one must listen to NPR to hear this (for now at least), but many of the pc police are trying to use this attack as a venue for moving their agendas forward.

For example, Andrew Sullivan thinks now is a good time to lift restrictions on gays in the military, feminists want us to rethink our martial macho culture and/or make women's opinions on war equally relevant to talk of retaliation. Afterall we can't give into the forces of "hate". Militant blacks wonder if America is even worthy of defense.

Our leaders, and each of us, must insist that this fight, this war, is about our survival as a free people. Nothing less. All appeals to politics & politeness & fairness be damned. These are distractions we can't afford.

I believe these discordant voices will grow as the shock of the attack wears off. No freedom loving citizen should give them any leeway or venue for their stupidity.

[FreedomPoster]

Source: Associated Press

AP? Making sure we're on our toes, John, even before the first cup of coffee?

Good post. Hopefully, this war will mean the death of PC. If not, I fear it will mark a significant inflection point in the decline of America.

[texlok]

Another problem with PC is the fact that if we go into Afghanistan or Iraq or wherever, the American public is going to have to deal with the fact that innocents will probably be killed. It's sad, but true. It happened in Iraq, but wasn't widely publicized, and it'll happen here I'm sure (some reporter aching to get a news story and that doesn't like the administration would love to flash pictures on the screen of collateral damage).

I'm actually somewhat worried that some news organization will flash a few pics of people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time and all of the sudden the sheeple of the world will try and make us out to be bad guys. "Those awful Americans, look how they killed civilians" and then some here in the US will lose the will to do what has to be done. Things happen, there's nothing we can do about it. Sometimes the means justify the end (and before anybody brings up Hamburg and Hiroshima and Nagasaki, hey, we could have totally demolished those countries had we not done what we did).

[cricket]

Kudos to David Kupelian and even AP. . .Great article to share ***** "So former Reagan staffer and columnist Paul Craig Roberts was right when he observed recently that "Americans might be so politically correct and racially sensitive as to be unable to deal with the problem at all." ***

That IS the intent in the design and the 'delivery' of PC. . .and it's introduction into our language is no accident. With PC, you cannot identify the idealogical enemy. Can we say 'L I B E R AL'? (Any out there reading this article; what do you think?)

Do feel sad however and concerned for the good Muslims in this country and political correctness aside, would not be rude to anyone. OTOH, feel offended as well, by just how much is being demanded by so many Muslims in light of September 11.

Not that they should NOT try to explain to America who they are in an effort to dis-engage ignorance; but some are more demanding. . .more vocal in their complaints about OUR 'insensitivity'; by our prayers, the presence of our Flag, our expression of fear or distrust, even if only in the eyes of those they behold.

A ratcheting up of PC, seems to be the required response. . .

Political Correctness embraces the irrational. . .(as expressed in the insanity of ". . .the terrorist and victims should be placed on an equal playing field). We must fight our way back to reasonable ground.

The Media might be cowed into a quiet rhetoric; or being Liberal themselves, demand it of others; but we do not have to be.

Maybe in time, they will follow the 'mainstream'; and not the other way around.

It is time to recognize that words mean things; time to reassert that 'sensitivity' does not have to mean 'SURRENDER', which is what political correctness is really about.

David Kupelian is right about "PC Terrorism". Political correctness is a 'soft' terrorism,(my words). . .by creating fear for anyone expressing the the truth.

[randita]

Take the estimated four to seven million Muslims in the U.S.A.

I would have thought there were more than this. I wonder if this includes not only Muslims of Middle Eastern descent, but also the American black Muslim movement. Weren't most of the the Black Panthers of the 60's and 70's Muslim? I know the New Black Panthers are. The leader of the New Black Panthers has appeared on O'Reilly. He doesn't want any whites, including Bill Clinton, to operate businesses or live in Harlem.