The Utter Stupidity and Ignorance of Jack Reed and Chuck Schumer
I just had to comment on K-Lo's post on a conference call that my other Senator Jack Reed and Chuck Schumer had as reported by Congressional Quarterly regarding the appropriateness of the term "Islamofacist". I've been using it for years, President Bush first used it in 2005, and it is an accurate term to use for our enemies, if you understand our enemies, which Reed and Schumer clearly do not. Reed also makes an ignorant historical error that he should be embarrassed about. First on the arguments about the term Islamofacism. I usually look for the simplest solution to a problem. In arguing about the meaning of words, I consult the dictionary! If my understanding and use of the word or term is close to the accepted definition, then it's ok to use. Sometime you can over-intellectualize things, and I have neither the academic background nor the time to argue the intricacies of historical fascism. So, here's the definition of fascism from Merriam-Webster:
Main Entry:fas£cism
Pronunciation:*fa]*shiz*m, *faa], *fai] also ]*si- sometimes *f*] or *f*]
Function:noun
Inflected Form:-s
Etymology:Italian fascismo, from fascio bundle, political group + -ismo -ism
1 often capitalized : the principles of the Fascisti; also : the movement or governmental regime embodying their principles
2 a : any program for setting up a centralized autocratic national regime with severely nationalistic policies, exercising regimentation of industry, commerce, and finance, rigid censorship, and forcible suppression of opposition b : any tendency toward or actual exercise of severe autocratic or dictatorial control (as over others within an organization) *the nascent fascism of a detective who is not content merely to do his dutyó George Nobbe* *early instances of army fascism and brutalityó J.W.Aldridge* *a kind of personal fascism, a dictatorship of the ego over the more generous elements of the souló Edmond Taylor*
Notice what I have boldfaced. Now here's a quote from Bernard Lewis' "The Crisis of Islam":
"In Muslim tradition, the world is divided into two houses: the House of Islam (Dar al-Islam), in which Muslim governments rule and Muslim law prevails, and the House of War (Dar al-Harb), the rest of the world, still inhabited and, more important, ruled by infidels. The presumption is that the duty of jihad will continue, interrupted only by truces, until all the world either adopts the Muslim faith or submits to Muslim rule."
Notice that "infidels" mean Jews, Christians, Buddhists, atheists, agnostics, Sufis, Yankee fans, etc - in short, anyone who doesn't agree with the Islamofacists. The Islamofacists are attempting to set up, ultimately, a single worldwide "Dar al-Islam" (hence the 'nationalism' of the movement) - all not participating will be eliminated. It will be under Sharia law (there's the centralized control over every aspect of life), the Islamofacists will control everything (commerce, industry, and finance) and any opposition will be imprisoned or killed. Only after the "Dar al-Harb" (the rest of us) is eliminated will there be a fight between the Shia who would follow the next caliph (perhaps the President of Iran) or the Wahhabists or any other Islamofacist sect that may come along. The point is that the competing factions of Islamofacists are after the same thing, it's just that it is in their best interest to eliminate all of us before they fight amongst themselves.
In short, "fascist" accurately describes what they are doing, and "Islamo" differentiates them from the rest of those who are peaceful Muslims.
As to the historical mistake that Reed made, he said the following:
"REED: Well, I'll just say I don't think it's particularly accurate. You know, I think if one carefully has looked at the history of fascism, which was a political movement in western Europe that actually, in the two principal cases, came to power through democratic elections — at least in Germany it did — I think the analogy is very, very weak."
As noted in the above excerpt from Merriam-Webster, western European fascism was a type of fascism, but fascism by definition is not limited to just the western European brand. And Reed's claim that Hitler came to power solely through a democratic election, suggesting that he was elected to his position as dictator, is false. Hitler lost to Paul von Hindenburg in 1932. A coalition government was then formed, and the Parliament chose Hitler to be Chancellor. Upon von Hindenburg's death, the German Parliament chose Hitler as his successor. Hitler didn't win the general nationwide election that brought him to power. Only after being named (not elected directly by the people) President did he consolidate his position to that of a dictator.
Pretty basic history that Reed is ignorant about. And Schumer agreed with him. I'm not surprised.
