John McCain's campaign has a problem: it just doesn't have much to talk about. According to the latest polls by Fortune magazine what the gravest long-term threat to the U.S. economy is, McCain answered, "Well, I would think that the absolute gravest threat is the struggle that we're in against radical Islamic extremism, which can affect, if they prevail, our very existence. Another successful attack on the United States of America could have devastating consequences."
Putting aside the question of whether there might be more serious threats to the economy (The housing meltdown? Exploding gas prices?), it's hard to avoid the conclusion that anyone who thinks that Islamic terrorists might succeed in literally destroying America -- "our very existence," as McCain says -- is either a certifiable paranoiac or a complete fool. Given that, it is remarkable how often McCain asserts that Barack Obama "doesn't understand" terrorism, as though unlike McCain, Obama just hasn't spent enough time studying up. And one might forget that McCain himself represents our modern Know-Nothings, the party that pours contempt on intellectuals, that fetishizes the abdication of thought, that for eight years has supported and defended a president who proudly proclaims that he listens only to his gut.
I can appreciate McCain's concern about terrorists. It's nice to have an enemy to whom we can lay blame. But terrorists have been around for ages and yes, they may have gotten stronger, so why haven't we tackled them in Afghanistan?
None of Bush's or McCain's arguments makes sense.
It seems that terrorism is a guise to keep the U.S. military dominant in the world, to keep defense contractors in business, to control oil supply (or at least try to anyway) and who knows what else.
It certainly isn't about keeping us safe. People die here everyday because they don't have healthcare. People die everyday in America because they are poor.
Americans are losing basic things, such as their home, because they can't afford to pay the mortgage. If you put things in perspective, terrorism is awful, but average Americans aren't going to be affected by terrorism in their lifetime.
McCain, Bush, Newt, and the rest of the republicans want us to believe that this is the most pressing threat. How about the fact that we're destroying our planet.
There just isn't a way to kill all the terrorists. What kind of strategy is that? We have to move through the world by setting an example. Not by crushing countries.
Terrorists are empowered when you declare them the enemy. Any dimwit knows that. We've built them up to be stronger than they really are, or should be.
The real threat to this country is poor leadership.
McCain continues to embody Bush's worst impulses on terrorism, not least his stubborn refusal to grasp even the most basic facts about terrorist organizations. So let's ask: What would al-Qaeda like America to do in the next few years? What would serve its goals? A few things are obvious. It would like us to stay in Iraq, both because it offers its members a place to practice planning and carrying out terrorist acts, and because it sustains anti-American feeling in the Muslim world. Al-Qaeda would also like the American government to maintain as bellicose a posture as possible, rattling its sword and threatening further military actions against Muslim countries.
Next, al-Qaeada would like to see the American president continue to proclaim that it is America's top enemy in the world, one so powerful and menacing that if the land of the free doesn't play its cards right, America might actually be destroyed. This kind of rhetoric not only elevates al-Qaeda's importance but guarantees that those who feel bitterness toward America turn toward bin Laden and Zawahiri as, if not their representatives, then at least their allies.
