They've already won

[Econoline]

From the latest post by Jim Wright over at Stonekettle Station:

Modern conservatism in a nutshell: They’re coming for our stuff.

They’re coming to kill us.

They’re coming to take our freedom.

It’s always some goddamned monster to be afraid of, some bogyman, some night terror, some vague horrible undefined thing. Commies. Putin. God’s terrible wrath for abortion and gay marriage. ISIS. Ebola. Socialists. Gun grabbers. The Liberal Press. States Rights. The End Times. The poor. The Rich. Sharia Law. Rap Music. Illegal aliens. Yellow Cake Uranium. Electric cars. Evolution and climate change poisoning our kids in the schools. Iran. Big government. Jade Helm. Bird Flu. Pornography. Harry Potter. Affirmative Action and Political Correctness. Equal Rights. Black Thugs. Affordable Healthcare. The IRS. The EPA. Benghazi. I mean, fuck, it just never ends with these people. They’re always afraid of some damned thing.

And now, oh Dear God help us, it’s ISIS! They’re coming, folks, soon they’ll be putting their dirty boots on America.

This is what it’s come to, this is the once great party of Lincoln. Fear. Paranoia. Terror.

ISIS? They’ve already won.

That’s right. It’s too late. They’ve won.

Even if we kill every single one of them, they’ve still won.

Even if we carpet bomb the Middle East.

Even if we nuke ‘em.

Even if we burn the entire region down to the bedrock and piss in the ashes.

They’ve still won.

They’ve won because the goal of terrorism is terror.

Because the goal of terrorism is to make us afraid.

Because the goal of terrorism is to make us hate.

The terrorists don’t have to invade.

They’ve already won.

Read the whole essay here: http://www.stonekettle.com/2015/12/sound-and-fury.html






ETA:

This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory.
- FDR

[Bicycle Bill]

If that's the case and ISIS has already won because their terrorist tactics are causing people to fear them, then the Russians won the Cold War as well because their missiles and their bombers caused us to fear them as well (and movies and books like Dr. Strangelove and FailSafe certainly didn't help the hysteria/paranoia).  But they didn't; we created weapons and systems that made them fear us just as much if not more than we feared them.

Same thing with WWII.  Most people feared the Japanese and their Imperial forces following Pearl Harbor, to the point where we rounded up our own citizens and confined them merely because they were of Japanese descent.  But as time went on and we began to fight back, we became stronger and stronger until it was the Japanese who feared *US*.  Ditto Hitler and the Nazis once the US really entered the European war and put boots on the ground instead of just giving the Brits and the others some second-hand destroyers or supplying them with other matériel.

And the same thing should happen to ISIS.  Come back at them with guns a-blazing and let them know what fear and terror REALLY is.

Bad argument, E'line.  Mr. Wright needs to try again.

-"BB"-

[BoSoxGal]

[Gob]

[Lord Jim]

Good Lord, what a load of ultra-simplistic garbage...

Lumping together concern about a terrorist organization that has taken over a third of two countries and has camps and bases in six others, has recruited 1000s of Westerners to fight for it and recruits others to carry out attacks independently, has murdered thousands, created millions of refugees, and launches attacks all over the planet, with nimrods up-in-arms over Harry Potter...

Mr. Wright is a dolt.

[dales]

Stonekettle Station


Don't just embrace the crazy, sidle up next to it and lick its ear.