You know, I wouldn't be so tempted to poke fun at NRO articles, if they just weren't so funny. It's like they're begging me to write snarky things about them. And yet I keep reading, because I still have it in my head that these are people with whom, in somewhat less paranoid times, I would usually agree.
If you've read almost any recent political punditry recently at all, you've probably heard various branches of extremist Islam compared to fascism, or in some cases made by excitable people, Nazi Germany at the height of its infamy. This is usually followed up by loud arguments over whether the entire Muslim population of the world can rightly be called a 'nation', in order to satisfy those who are prone to say silly things about fascism being somewhat nationalist at heart, and not especially theocratic by nature.
Obviously, words are what we define them as, so I'm all for people calling anything under the sun 'fascism', as long as I get to use terms like 'intrepid exploration of creativity and spontaneity' when referring to the fact that I mowed my lawn in a different direction.
However, we must move on, because I put a potentially controversial title on this post, and I have creative and spontaneous things to say. Or rather, to refer to other people as saying. Sort of. With a little help.
Read this. Yes, I realize it's a couple of pages. There aren't that many big words, so I'm sure you'll do fine. Okay, now read it through again, replacing "Iran" with "the U.S.S.R"', "Middle East" with "Eastern Europe" or possibly "some little Asian peninsula", and "Hezbollah" with "the Communist Party of whatever country we're currently talking about." See? Like a pheonix, the Soviet Empire rises again! Pfft. And you thought we'd won the Cold War.
Fortunately for me, the mole now inhabiting my yard has done an excellent job of prepping the ground for my brand new fallout shelter. I'll be laughing it up, protected from the imminent world-encompassing nuclear war, while you all are bemoaning the fact that you didn't see far enough into the future to recognize how truly prescient I am.
Posted by Ardith at August 21, 2006 08:58 PM | TrackBack