Posted on 07/25/2005 3:22:39 PM PDT by Alex Marko
It is probably not a good idea in terms of job security to publicly call your boss a horse's ass. So have some sympathy for Will Adams, spokesman for Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo. He was asked by reporters to explain the asinine thing the congressman said last week. Adams told them Tancredo is just a "free thinker." By which standard Michael Jackson is just a tad eccentric. Or haven't you heard? Tancredo thinks maybe the United States should bomb Mecca. You know Mecca. City in Saudi Arabia. Birthplace of the prophet Muhammad. Holiest shrine of Islam, a religion practiced by one of every six people on Earth. That's the place a U.S. congressman thinks maybe we should lob some ordnance at.
Tancredo made this contribution to the national dialogue last week during a talk show on WFLA, a TV station in Orlando, Fla. Host Pat Campbell had asked how we should respond if U.S. cities are ever struck by terrorists using nuclear devices. "Well," said Tancredo, "what if you said something like, if this happens in the United States, and we determine that it is the result of extremist, fundamentalist Muslims, you know, you could take out their holy sites."
"You're talking about bombing Mecca," said Campbell.
"Yeah," said Tancredo.
Predictably, Tancredo's suggestion has been a little controversial. That is, if you can call statements of condemnation stretching from Moscow to the State Department to Ankara, Turkey, "a little controversial."
Tancredo has refused to apologize, but he did issue a written "clarification," which said in part, "I do not advocate this. Much more thought would need to be given to the potential ramifications of such a horrific response."
Actually, you don't need to give any thought to the ramifications of such an action, because they should be self-evident to anyone smarter than the average hamster. We would become an international pariah. Muslims would hate us with renewed fervor, and Osama bin Laden would thank us for writing his recruitment material.
In other words, the same situation we have now, except worse. Much, much, much worse.
And I wonder: Am I the only who feels that lately - lately being defined as since Sept. 11, 2001 - the nation seems overrun by yahoos?
Granted, the presence of yahoos in daily life is not a new torment. They have always been among us, the simplemindedness of their thinking exceeded only by the volume at which they express it. Think Cliff Clavin, the cogs of his brain lubricated by beer, holding forth from his stool at the end of the bar. Of course, the only thing you had to do to avoid Cliff was to stay out of Cheers.
But the 9/11 attacks have unleashed yahooism on an unprecedented scale. Cliff is no longer confined to his bar stool. Under the name Mona Charen, he once wrote a newspaper column advocating the expulsion of Muslims from America. Under the name Rush Limbaugh, he has a radio talk show on which he compared the torture of prisoners at Abu Ghraib to a fraternity prank. Under the name Ann Coulter, he calls for the racial profiling of travelers from the Middle East. And under the name Tom Tancredo, he is apparently a member of Congress.
What he doesn't get - what yahoos usually don't get - is that things that seem to make sense while you're hoisting a few rarely hold up in the sober light of day.
Tancredo has cast his refusal to apologize as a blow against political correctness. Which is silly. One can be plain-spoken without being reckless, blunt without being stupid, straight-forward without sounding like a fool.
Assuming, that is, you have something worthwhile to say. Tancredo evidently does not. Somebody tell him his beer is getting warm.
I think that if there is no connection to any nation, the retaliation would be against the imams who preach terror.
I cannot believe that there would be no retaliation at all.
Yep. It's not appeasement to say that Tancredo's remarks, upon reflection, are a bit over the line. 1 billion angry muslims is nothing to sneeze at.
what we are currently doing is working....that doesnt mean we will have every victory any more than we had every victory in ww2
what you want is a victory that occurs within the one hour time limit of your favourite television show..you have no patience for how long this war will take, thus the infantile proposal of nuking mecca...you think tha twould shorten the war, what it will do instead it ensure it never ends
We should nuke Mecca NOW, not AFTER terrorists nuke us. Justify it under Bush's premptive strike doctrine. The Tancredo retaliatory MAD response is just so yesterday.
This is irritating you know.
I have a full time job and can't educate every delusional ignorant sandmaggot lover in the world, so pay attention.
Follow this link:
Please note that it all transpired 6 months before Tancredo was ambushed.
Explain the total absense of reaction from the current crop of world affairs experts on this thread...
I agree with you about Bush hurting the party but you must be kidding about CA & AZ? NM has ALWAYS had a huge problem with illegals. We have 48% LEGAL Mexicans. Can you imagine what it's going to be when we have the next amnesty.
I think TX has been inundated along with us. The people who are waking up are the one's who live far away from the border, and now that it's become an issue, people are realizing what a big problem it is.
I would rather put up with a Tancredo, than hear Bush calling the Minutemen vigilantes.
You and me too. I'm fed up with Bush's inaction. Tancredo spoke the truth, but some of the FR liberals aren't able to comprehend the truth. God knows how many more people have to die because of the borders being unsecured.
I like how these people just gloss over the fact that he was talking about a response to a nuclear attack on our cities.Only an idiot would be worried about offending the feelings of muslums after millions of Americans were incinerated.If this ever happened we should definitely hit the terror sponsoring states of Syria and Iran.We could also hit Saudi Arabia for their big part in supporting terror and be justified.We can't let the main backers of terror off the hook just because they didn't carry out the act directly.
They just don't know who they're _ _cking with. Once they do, it will be too late for them.
you quote WND, want to nuke mecca and you call me delusional?
yep, and diaperheads and their ilk "the religion of peace"...why does no politician expleain how every conv store and motel and gas station is owned and operated by a raghead and an American Citizen can't get a $100.00 loan to open up a taco stand??
He is only the beginning.
Tancredo was thoughtless.
Tancredo was stupid.
I agree.
OK FReepers, it's final: Tancredo is thoughtless and stupid. It must be true cuz CJ says so!!!
nuking MEccas isnt going to happen stop dreaming.
also Tancredo as i have written elsewhere has done tremendous damage to his cause of illegal immigration.
It will be easier now to villify those who want immigration controls.
Tancredo should go.
After reading your postings here, I can only conclude that you are totally "uninformed". Suggest you do some research and come back to us.
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