Saturday, October 11, 2003
Pat Roberson stepped into it deeply this time. I wish he’d be more careful.
Unfortunately, this appears to be yet another example of how the conservative movement isn’t ready for prime time. Somebody ought to tell these guys that we’re not backbenchers anymore. We’re actually part of the discussion now, and should not act like the loony Left, throwing extremism around like it’s a substitute for reasoned argument.
To wit:
Open Letter to Pat Robertson
Pat Robertson needs to be careful
Dear Sir,
I know that the United States Department of State is taking inordinate glee in responding to “your” statements regarding Joel Mowbray’s comment about placing a nuclear weapon in its (the State Department’s) headquarters. I read the quote, and it’s clear that you are not stating a similar desire but merely quoting Mowbray’s stated wish. But please! You are an experienced political mover and shaker, having been a presidential candidate and political commentator for decades.
You ought to have known better.
Maybe you have missed the fact that American conservatism is maturing. I remember the early days, the days when we didn’t have a significant voice in the world; the days when outrageous comments were only received by those few people who took the effort to seek out commentary by our spokesmen. We tended to overlook such over-the-top statements as the fevered evidence of reasonable despair resulting from wrong-headed and alarmingly naïve policy.
But with the advent of our emergence in mainstream society and media we are now open to the mischaracterizations and distortions of the (increasingly embattled) Left, and we should take care to keep the hyperbole to a minimum, lest we provide the Left (and its supporters and enablers in the State Department) with fodder for their anti-American cannons.
Basically, by making the mistake you did, you’ve furthered the efforts to remove Christian political commentary from legitimate debate.
Don’t get me wrong. There’s rarely a week when I don’t get the urge to drop-kick Colon Powell down Pennsylvania Avenue for his head-in-the-clouds optimistic visions of the United Nations, France, Germany and Yasser Arafat (et al). But talking of nuking the State Department is talking of murdering thousands of American civil servants, destroying public property and causing other ancillary damage to the United States. We ought not to be saying things like this. That’s one of the things that separates us from our foe.
As for Mr. Mowbray; if he did, indeed, say that in his book then he should be firmly backhanded for such a stupid comment, not lauded by America’s leading Christian conservative. We live in the United States of America, where we hold elections and expect our elected officials to remonstrate peaceably with our political opponents… not blow them up. We are not the Taliban.
We are involved in a war on terror and the states that support it. In play are such issues as nuclear and biological weapons of mass destruction. We’ve already taken approximately 3,400 casualties in this war, and that number will continue to rise. Using a reference to nuclear weapons as a rhetorical device to express justifiable angst against a dangerously foolish State Department is not only itself foolish, but is also dangerously close to the kind of extremist thought that we are, in part, fighting.
Such statements should not be passively reported. They should be roundly denounced and repudiated with vigor.
If you are a leader in our efforts to consolidate support behind President Bush, and you wish to further our mutual cause of proactive self-defense, then you have a responsibility to advance our efforts in a measured and respectable manner. And you have a responsibility to quell the unhinged rants of those amongst us who let their worry and anger push them beyond acceptable American discourse.
We are Americans. The negligence and foolhardy policies of the State Department are being exposed. We are getting the message out. We’re making the argument. Let’s do it in a way that preserves our dignity, rationality and propriety.
Regards,
Unfortunately, this appears to be yet another example of how the conservative movement isn’t ready for prime time. Somebody ought to tell these guys that we’re not backbenchers anymore. We’re actually part of the discussion now, and should not act like the loony Left, throwing extremism around like it’s a substitute for reasoned argument.
To wit:
Open Letter to Pat Robertson
Pat Robertson needs to be careful
Dear Sir,
I know that the United States Department of State is taking inordinate glee in responding to “your” statements regarding Joel Mowbray’s comment about placing a nuclear weapon in its (the State Department’s) headquarters. I read the quote, and it’s clear that you are not stating a similar desire but merely quoting Mowbray’s stated wish. But please! You are an experienced political mover and shaker, having been a presidential candidate and political commentator for decades.
You ought to have known better.
Maybe you have missed the fact that American conservatism is maturing. I remember the early days, the days when we didn’t have a significant voice in the world; the days when outrageous comments were only received by those few people who took the effort to seek out commentary by our spokesmen. We tended to overlook such over-the-top statements as the fevered evidence of reasonable despair resulting from wrong-headed and alarmingly naïve policy.
But with the advent of our emergence in mainstream society and media we are now open to the mischaracterizations and distortions of the (increasingly embattled) Left, and we should take care to keep the hyperbole to a minimum, lest we provide the Left (and its supporters and enablers in the State Department) with fodder for their anti-American cannons.
Basically, by making the mistake you did, you’ve furthered the efforts to remove Christian political commentary from legitimate debate.
Don’t get me wrong. There’s rarely a week when I don’t get the urge to drop-kick Colon Powell down Pennsylvania Avenue for his head-in-the-clouds optimistic visions of the United Nations, France, Germany and Yasser Arafat (et al). But talking of nuking the State Department is talking of murdering thousands of American civil servants, destroying public property and causing other ancillary damage to the United States. We ought not to be saying things like this. That’s one of the things that separates us from our foe.
As for Mr. Mowbray; if he did, indeed, say that in his book then he should be firmly backhanded for such a stupid comment, not lauded by America’s leading Christian conservative. We live in the United States of America, where we hold elections and expect our elected officials to remonstrate peaceably with our political opponents… not blow them up. We are not the Taliban.
We are involved in a war on terror and the states that support it. In play are such issues as nuclear and biological weapons of mass destruction. We’ve already taken approximately 3,400 casualties in this war, and that number will continue to rise. Using a reference to nuclear weapons as a rhetorical device to express justifiable angst against a dangerously foolish State Department is not only itself foolish, but is also dangerously close to the kind of extremist thought that we are, in part, fighting.
Such statements should not be passively reported. They should be roundly denounced and repudiated with vigor.
If you are a leader in our efforts to consolidate support behind President Bush, and you wish to further our mutual cause of proactive self-defense, then you have a responsibility to advance our efforts in a measured and respectable manner. And you have a responsibility to quell the unhinged rants of those amongst us who let their worry and anger push them beyond acceptable American discourse.
We are Americans. The negligence and foolhardy policies of the State Department are being exposed. We are getting the message out. We’re making the argument. Let’s do it in a way that preserves our dignity, rationality and propriety.
Regards,
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