Bizzaro World

I have often discussed the absurd meme that the Islamic terrorists hate us because of who we are - because of our freedoms. As Pat Buchanan said they don't hate us because of who we are they hate us because of where we are. Over at LewRockwell.com Steven LaTulippe discusses this in relation to the recent Republican "debate" in South Carolina and the flap over Ron Paul's remarks.

Rudy’s Ride to Bizzaro World

While watching the South Carolina Republican debate a few weeks ago, I finally succumbed to Justin Raimondo’s theory that 9/11 ripped a hole in the space-time continuum and transported us all to Bizzaro World – an upside down universe of fun-house mirrors and distorted thinking.

I am, of course, speaking of Rudy Giuliani’s reaction to Ron Paul’s statement that our foreign policy has fueled Muslim anti-Americanism. Rudy seemed surprised and angry as he pandered to the crowd and demanded that Rep. Paul retract his statement.

Ron Paul, to his credit, stood his ground.

But as ignorant as Rudy’s comments were, the real strangeness is to be found in our mainstream media’s reaction to the incident. Even establishment liberals like Chris Matthews have treated Rep. Paul with bemused disdain and have written off his assertion as sheer quackery.

Of course it's anything but "quackery". The US and Europe have been imperialistically manipulating the middle east since oil was first discovered there in the 1920s. That includes supporting tyrants and in the case of Iran overthrowing a democratically elected government.

So what theory is actually "quackery"?

On one side, we have the "Rudy theory." This view – held by our entire political and media establishment – asserts that Muslim extremists are attacking America because they "hate our freedom."

Even a cursory examination of this hypothesis exposes its sheer absurdity.

Are we to believe that waves of Muslims have spontaneously decided to immolate themselves in suicidal attacks because we have freedom of the press and freedom of religion? Would the Muslim world initiate a horrific war with the most powerful military in history merely because we have elections and jury trials? Do they really hate Britney Spears so much that they would blow themselves up just to take a few of us down with them?

The questions answer themselves.

That this theory is the only one "permitted" in public discussions is proof positive of our descent into Bizzaro World. No other evidence is necessary.

When the subject is framed with the above questions we can see how absurd the "conventional wisdom" is. Of course they don't hate us because of who we are. They hate us because we are in the middle east to gain control of their natural resources. It of course doesn't help that at the same time we show disdain for their culture and religion.

When our political situation has become so distorted that an obvious truism is discarded outright while an obvious falsehood is universally acclaimed, then something is seriously wrong.

Perhaps it really is Bizzaro world...or maybe it’s something more sinister.

Either way, given what I saw in South Carolina, it’s obvious that our political system is nowhere near curing what ails us, and we can expect more of the same for as far as the eye can see.