Thursday, May 05, 2005

Out There: Al Qaeda is the new Nazi. I don't mean that in the obvious way, in the fact that they are both racist, totalitarian extremists who murder innocents by the thousands or millions to impose their way of life on others. No, Al Qaeda has now become the newest overused political insult.

Just as many political wing-nuts defile and denigrate the memory of World War II veterans and holocaust victims by calling everyone a Nazi, such as by referring to President Bush and his administration as Nazis or by coining the ridiculous term "Feminazis", partisans are minimizing our current War on Terrorism by comparing all political enemies to Al Qaeda.

Conservative activist Pat Robertson says that federal judges are worse than Al Qaeda, in that they pass rulings with which he disagrees. And Democratic Mayor Martin O'Malley says Bush's budget is as destructive as the 9/11 attacks, because the president is attempting to actually cut federal spending.

This is insulting, immature, and inappropriate political behavior. Unfortunately partisans eat it up and the media flocks to it. It's well known in the news business that if you say something intelligent and reasonable, you'll never get quoted. Only the most extreme hyperbolic statements get headlines. In the process we cheapen the memory of the millions who died in World War II and the thousands who continue to die at the hands of Al Qaeda to score a quick political point.