"Taliban" is becoming the new "fascist." "Fascist" long ago lost any meaning the word ever had, and it now is simply a word the left uses to tar anyone they don't like.
The left has gotten bored with "fascist", so now they tar the right with "Taliban." Google "Taliban wing" and you get almost six million hits, usually followed by "of the Republican party."
If you're going to compare your Republican political opponents to Islamist murderers, then you have no right to complain about Carl Rove.
Your point is a good one and a fair one. Though, I note, it is not only “liberal” and “leftists” who leap to pejoratives like “Taliban” or “Islamo-facists” to describe those whose policies they oppose (indeed, supporters of the Administration have never shied away from using terms like AlQeda lovers, or other terms to describe their opponents -- but, it is a sort of political chicken and the egg thing, I am sure).
Clearly, as a description of DeLay and his “politics,” Taliban is unfair. Taliban describes a foreign, religious/political configuration that has nothing to do with the American political scene. No, Tom DeLay is not an “American Taliban.” In the future, though I am sure I will not fully succeed, I will endeavor to avoid such rash, polarizing statements.
No, from now on I will use the only word that truly describes Tom DeLay as he is and what he stands for – Republican. Tom DeLay embodies, in every sense of the word, the modern, Republican Party – what it wants, how it operates, how it manages the branches of government it controls, the kind of people it attracts and what a modern Republican believes. He wouldn’t have become the Majority Leader were not that the case.
So, as I said, I will seek to banish “Taliban” and “Fascist” from my lexicon when it comes to main-stream American politics. Words are important. I will describe Mr. DeLay as what he is – a proud Republican and a moving force for over a decade of Republican politics, policy and aspirations.
In that way, it is clear that Mr. DeLay’s vision of himself, his role in government, his belief in the narrowing of the separation of church and state are all firmly rooted in the Republican Party that he has built and expanded over the last ten years, the party that he has helped lead to formal control of two branches of government.
So, the argument shouldn’t be over whether Mr. DeLay is a “Taliban,” but whether modern Republicanism and its embrace of millenial politics and fundumentalist Christian vissions is good for America. Again, given how far DeLay was able to ascend, given his power and influence, given the people he has promoted and supported (including the President), given his vision and aspirations (personal and political) it seems clear that in an American context, at least, Mr. DeLay sees himself and the Republican Party as the party of God (NOTE in an Islamic sense, but in a pure, Texas, all-American, rock-ribbed, Jerry Falwell-approving Republican kind of way).
Thanks for keeping me honest.
