Someone had to say it; I’m just glad it was Paul Krugman.
[T]here isn’t actually any such thing as Islamofascism — it’s not an ideology; it’s a figment of the neocon imagination. The term came into vogue only because it was a way for Iraq hawks to gloss over the awkward transition from pursuing Osama bin Laden, who attacked America, to Saddam Hussein, who didn’t. And Iran had nothing whatsoever to do with 9/11 — in fact, the Iranian regime was quite helpful to the United States when it went after Al Qaeda and its Taliban allies in Afghanistan.
Beyond that, the claim that Iran is on the path to global domination is beyond ludicrous. Yes, the Iranian regime is a nasty piece of work in many ways, and it would be a bad thing if that regime acquired nuclear weapons. But let’s have some perspective, please: we’re talking about a country with roughly the G.D.P. of Connecticut, and a government whose military budget is roughly the same as Sweden’s. […]
Mike Huckabee, whom reporters like to portray as a nice, reasonable guy, says that if Hillary Clinton is elected, “I’m not sure we’ll have the courage and the will and the resolve to fight the greatest threat this country’s ever faced in Islamofascism.” Yep, a bunch of lightly armed terrorists and a fourth-rate military power — which aren’t even allies — pose a greater danger than Hitler’s panzers or the Soviet nuclear arsenal ever did.
All of this would be funny if it weren’t so serious.
The politics of fear might be more effective it were grounded in reality.
No Trackbacks To “Krugman: No such thing as ‘Islamofascism’“
Neoconfascists, on the other hand, seem to exist in droves.
Let’s not forget the threat our shadows pose.
And there’s no such thing as islamophobia either.
The biggest threat this country’s freedom and Constitution has faced in over 200 years is the Republican controlled White House and the current Congressional Republicans. Yes, be afraid and do something. Vote the Republicans out of office.
Republicofascism. It’s real. Fear it.
“We have nothing to SELL but fear itself.”
“IT DOES NOT MATTER HOW MANY LIES WE TELL, BECAUSE ONCE WE HAVE WON, NO ONE WILL BE ABLE TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT.”
-Joseph Goebbels
Do the neocons claim that Saddam was an Islamofascist? He was a secular Stalin-style dictator.
“Of course the people don’t want war. But after all, it’s the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it’s always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it’s a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger.”
– Herman Goering during the Nuremburg Trials
If pants-wetting were an Olympic sport, Americans would clean up.
USA!
USA!
USA!
We’re number one!
if Islamofascism is a lie, then who did 9/11?
sssshhhhh… this internets is wiretapped. thoughtcrime!!!!!
From Project Censored 2007….
During a trip to the Middle East in March 1996, Dick Cheney told a group of mostly U.S. businessmen that Congress should ease sanctions in Iran…to foster better relationships, a statement that, in hindsight, is completely hypocritical considering the Bush administration’s foreign policy.
“Let me make a generalized statement about a trend I see in the U.S. Congress that I find disturbing, that applies not only with respect to the Iranian situation but a number of others as well,” Cheney said. “I think we Americans sometimes make mistakes…There seems to be an assumption that somehow we know what’s best for everybody else and that we are going to use our economic clout to get everybody else to live the way we would like.”
Cheney was the chief executive of Halliburton Corporation at the time he uttered those words. It was Cheney who directed Halliburton toward aggressive business dealings with Iran—in violation of U.S. law—in the mid-1990s, which continued through 2005 and is the reason Iran has the capability to enrich weapons-grade uranium.
It was Halliburton’s secret sale of centrifuges to Iran that helped get the uranium enrichment program off the ground, according to a three-year investigation that includes interviews conducted with more than a dozen current and former Halliburton employees.
If the U.S. ends up engaged in a war with Iran in the future, Cheney and Halliburton will bear the brunt of the blame. But this shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone who has been following Halliburton’s business activities over the past decade. The company has a long, documented history of violating U.S. sanctions and conducting business with so-called rogue nations.
No, what’s disturbing about these facts is how little attention it has received from the mainstream media. But the public record speaks for itself, as do the thousands of pages of documents obtained by various federal agencies that show how Halliburton’s business dealings in Iran helped fund terrorist activities there—including the country’s nuclear enrichment program.
Peace @ 9:
It just goes to show that people never change, only the lies do.
We are a nation of wimps, cowering in fear and being manipulated into giving up our constitutionally guaranteed freedoms.
Eisenhower was right when he warned us about the military industrial complex, so was Roosevelt when he told us that “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself”.
I am not afraid of a bunch of two-bit terrorists.
Truth Be Told @ 11:
A: A small, well coorinated group of Saudi Arabian criminals who exploited a glaring hole in our domestic transportation system.
That’s who.
Marcus Aurelius @ 2:
“Mr. President! We cannot allow a ’shadow’ gap!”
Every time I turn around, there’s my shadow - sneaking up on me.
exitstan @ 10:
Roffle! :D
I know this is a serious subject but this cracked me up.
It’s sad how desperately the ‘merkan govt. wants it’s people to be afraid to do anything except shop and nod in agreement with whatever insane, fascist crap they come up with.
I think history will call Hucklebee the genial nutjob. Didn’t realize he was nuts until he started opening his mouth. Keep talkin’, Mike.
exitstan @ 10:
Isn’t pants-wetting the opposite of “cleaning up”?
They (NeoCon or Theocon) whatever you want to call them, find it easier to use terms like that because they think they can scare people into thinking Islam will turn everybody into Allah worshipers. It’s a sure-fire way into the heart of the “stupid factor” of America. The people who believe in ghosts and supernatural beings etc. They will do whatever they can to keep the scare machine full tilt.
Wait…. There is no Islamofascism? Well…Who is it that hates freedom?
Oh.. that’s right– Your mom….really.
[Deleted]
raymond @ 1:
I agree, truly the greatest threat we face as a nation is the Republicans, they hate America and Americans for our freedoms and they will stop at nothing to strip us of our freedoms, and you want to talk about a group that should not have access to Nuclear weapons, nobody has wanted to unleash WMD’s they way the Republicans do…against anyone for any reason.
theWalrus @ 5:
WOW! That’s fucking hilarious! LOL I’m not being sarcastic.
I’m sick and tired of this neo-cons all over the news. I’m amazed that most of the American people are so stupid and actually believe these idiots.
I’ve always liked this site for pointing out the corruption in the GOP. Now if Amato would acknowledge the corruption on the left. Hillary wants to go to war with Iran and has yet to make any announcement denouncing war with Iran. There is only ONE viable anti-war candidate, and his name is RON PAUL!! Don’t believe the phony polls, RP is winning by a landslide!
Now don’t be silly guys…there are plenty of facists of all stripes around that wish to force their way of life on you. Why wouldn’t there be Islamo-Facists? There are facists of every other kind!
Or do you guys really believe that Islam is immune from facists desires and designs? No other ideology or religion is, why the exception for Islam?
Silly Rabbits…
Islamofacism is a cute little “buzzword” the neoturds have latched onto….
how does islam and fascism exist together?
Is “Islamoscapegoatism” a word?
Sheesh. Thank the Great Soul (or, for athiests, the flux of circumstance) that el Baradei came out strongly recently about the lack of Eek Eek WMDs in Iran. If the Dems weren’t so chickenshit &or obliged to pimp this fraud, I’d sleep better knowing that it would be a hard slog to get up a drumbeat to attack.
In the meantime, I, too, am glad to see Krugman pulling the last veil off this stupid straw boogeyman. To my prior offer to bear his young I toss in a year or two of balling his socks. I don’t do that for anyone: Krugman is just that good.
Jeremy Trudell @ 26:
Talk about False Flags!
Hillary has never been a member of the Left. Ron Paul certainly is not. He would invade Japan if the Congress approved it. Dennis Kucinich is the only true Peace Candidate.
Jeremy Trudell @ 26:
RP is a Republican, you’ll gain no traction by evangelizing here fan boy.
Miller Smith @ 27:
Silly Miller, look up Fascism.
Have I told you that I like this guy Paul Krugman? He seems to be very intelligent.
Miller Smith @ 27:
Because Islamic extremism does not meet the criteria for fascism.
You need to look up fascism in Wikipedia, read the definition.
Nowhere in Islamic extremism is there a fascist organization, but you (if you are an American) live in a fascist state by the very definition.
Silly person.
So WTF are we doing wrong?
How can so many mouth breathing morons continue to believe anything that comes out of Bush/Cheney’s lying, putrid mouths?!?!
Why, when we point out the fallacy of their arguments, not taken more seriously?
Lefty said it even before this. He points out that in their bipolar, good vs evil, one or the other world if they can paint the Islamists as being the fascists, then they themselves logically are not. This is the goal.
http://leftopia.blogspot.com/2007/09/f-bomb.html
Simon White-Thatch Potentloins @ 20:
Nuts and Dolts. That pretty much sums up this group of Republican candidates.
Didn’t Ricky “the Rooster” Santorum make up the word Islamofascism? After all, I believe it is Ricky that is on a mission to warn the world about the dangers of Islamofascism. So that makes Huckabee another idiot like Santorum. Huckabee does believe in creationism so that should tell you everything you need to know. Just another flat-earth believer.
Americans should be fearful of people like Huckabee and not worry about make believe enemies.
The problem with Huckabee’s assertion about Hillary not being man enough to attack Iran is as much bullshit as Saddam really having WMD but just not finding them. You see, that is one of the main reasons why Hillary is not desirable to a lot of us liberal progressives. It seems like she would pull the trigger on an invasion as fast as Bush (well maybe not that fast but still pull the trigger). Even thought I love it that the right wing fascists are crazy scared about Hill and Bill I remember very clearly that they are way to far to the right for my liking.
Geekfather @ 37:
Fox News
CNN
ABC
NBC
CBS
Wall Street Journal
New York Times
Washington Post
NPR
The right wing Think Tanks send out OP Eds every day to every newspaper in the country. It is easier and cheaper to print their nonesense than to come up with something original and meaningful.
Bill Kristol, George Will, Britt Hume will talk to anybody. Rush is on four hours a day. Bill O’Rielly has a cable AND a radio show. Ann Coulter cranks out books as often as she shits, but they stink worse…
The machine is almost endless and very profitable.
I’ve got to agree with Krugman. If you break down that term “Islamofascism” you will find that not one middle eastern Islamic foe even comes close to the actual definition(s) of fascism. There is no extreme nationalism present, nor is there any statism combined with corporatism to build a massive military complex because they have no actual state to rally around nor any corporations to draw support from. That is, at least the many Islamic terrorist groups do not. There isn’t even any populist thought or collective mind set present. Heck, in most cases many of the terrorist groups are ideologically opposed to each and are fighting each other.
Even Iran does not fit all of the characteristics listed. The only nation that comes close to being a fascist state in my opinion is the United States as it resembles the old European fascist states more and more.
Marcus Aurelius @ 2:
There was a man who was afraid of his shadow. But the more he ran away from his shadow, the more it followed him. Eventually he ran himself to death. If only he had sat in the shade of a tree, he would be still alive. — Zhuang Zi
Geekfather @ 37:
It’s because the whole right wing plays on the fears of the masses. If you scare the people enough they will do anything you tell them. The whole right wing are playing this game. Remember FOX (not)News saying the fires in So Cal being started by Al Qaeda? Be afraid. Be very very afraid.
Geekfather @ 37:
Because logic doesn’t stand a chance against a good slogan. Sound Bytes have replaced explainations. And if a General said it, it must be true.
Here is an interesting site. Project For The Old American Century.
Mike Nazibee is a freak who’s bloodlust is not satisfied by the million murdered in Iraq since bush’s fascist invasion.
Holy shit! What are we going to do about Sweden????
xoites defends Constitution @ 47:
Agreed. That indeed is an interesting site and very telling. The Bush regime and those that support it meet every last one of those characteristics of fascism. Even the demonizing of a particular religion or group is the same as many past fascist regimes. In the end, the only difference between those past regimes and Bush is the target.
To use an expression that I learned from my Austrailian friends…..your goverment” lost the plot” a hell of a long time ago.
Rusty Shackleford @ 49:
And when do we start economic sanctions against Connecticut! (Sorry