Sobering thought from Lileks today

…on the ’04 elections and the extreme left. If Bush=Hitler in ’04, what will Bush equal if he’s back for a second term?

….what about those people who already regard the Democrats as sell-outs and phonies, bought-and-paid-for corporate whores? That’s a subset, the ranting fringe. But you have to wonder what they’ll do if Bush wins They already seem to regard America as a lost cause; they see the fascist caul draped over the land, just as the demented home-grown terrorists of the 60s and 70s saw Amerikkka as irredeemably evil, a thing that had to be killed for The People to live. Most of the ranting fringe – 99.5% – will whine and seethe in the message boards of the Internet, but I wouldn’t be surprised if domestic leftist terrorism made a comeback this decade. It only takes a few, after all. And it only takes a few sympathizers here and there to shield them.

Sometimes I look at pictures from the ‘fifties and early ‘sixties — the stiff formal fashions and skinny neckties, the earnest ads, the delight in new techology — and I think about the later ‘sixties and early ‘seventies, with the worship of the youth culture, the hippie culture, the riots, and I wonder if, for ordinary people, if it didn’t feel sometimes like the world wasn’t coming to an end.
I tend to take the threat of terrorism somewhat personally. Maybe it’s from the September 11th attacks — I vividly remember the panic of that day, how I had no idea where my husband was, how I couldn’t place a phone call because the lines were jammed. We didn’t know any of the victims of the attacks, but we have friends who lost friends. Maybe it’s from the days of the D.C. sniper — most of the shootings took place in neighborhoods where I live and shop. The last shooting was only a mile or two from my house. I think about the Palestinian suicide bombers and how they prey on people going about their business — people shopping, having coffee, dining out, going to work, going to school. I think about the Madrid bombing, and how the victims were commuters, just going about their business.
Will I be be the one glued to the radio, waiting by the phone, waiting for news of survivors of the attack on the D.C. Metro?
Or will it be my husband? Will I go run some little errand — maybe going to Michael’s for some food coloring or something trivial like that — and never come home again? Will he be the one dialing the cell phone number again and again and again, getting no response, taking hours to get home because of the traffic and the emergency vehicles and the detours, hoping for some good news?
It’s bad enough that I can see this happening because some Al Quaida operatives have found some holes in the net. But to think about it being the work of a domestic terrorist — Oklahoma City over and over again….

9 comments

  1. I hope that the government is keeping careful tabs on PETA, on those Seattle folks (I am refering to a whole bunch of organizations, most of which are not based in Seattle, but the phrase immediately conjures up the images of the dirt punks in gray and black screaming hysterically and throwing bombs), and so forth and so on. I think I am the only person outside the administration who not only supports the Patriot Act but thinks that it does not go far enough. Liberalism with its outlandish overemphasis on personal liberties was a frivolous luxury in the days when there was still enough of a cultural consensus left over from the pre-Liberal days. It has spent itself out, and it is now time to rethink the rather outlandish notions of the Bill of Rights.
    I am not calling for the jackboots of totalitarianism, but the guiding and loving hand of the authoritarian.

  3. Where is the Culture War Headed?

    I have to admit that I laughed loud and long back in 1992. I just couldn’t think of anything dumber than the concept of a culture war, and there was Pat Buchanan preaching it at the Republican national convention. I…

  4. Earth Liberation Front is already a liberal terrorist organization working within the U.S. There are just too many people that that believe that end justifies the means for what they call a good cause. Look at the violent demonstrations against the Word Bank.

  5. Jeff,
    Also, these groups work with legal front groups, so that they can raise tax-exempt money for their misdeeds. Given the lack of real ethics and philosophy being taught and the emphasis on sincerity over Truth, it is inevitable that we will have some pretty bad domestic terrorists.

  6. Have any of you all read any Jerry Pournelle? In many of his works he refers to a group he calls the FROMATES (friends of man and the earth) which is an eco-terror group. Quite frightening, actually. Jerry also has a webpage with some pretty interesting stuff. DOn’t always agree, but he does make me think.

  8. Culture War Update

    Read this and this for the latest news (links from Mark Shea), then have another look at this link from a comment (thanks bluewater) attached to my original post from last week. Here also is the post from the twosleepymommies…

  9. The greatest threat is often from within. I don’t have access to the numbers, but it seems there have been far more “civil” wars and internal coups than nation v. nation wars in the last several hundred years.
    One need look only as far as John Kerry’s recent past and his Vietnam Veterans Against The War group and their “discussion” regarding the proposed assassination of U.S. politicians to see that it can happen in the U.S. Again.

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