Perusing the conservative echo chamber
By Carol Devine-Molin
web posted November 27, 2006
It's always informative to get a pulse on the conservative echo chamber and the influential media personalities commenting on the political and social landscape. It shouldn't be surprising that the issues of "Iran racing to get nukes" and the overall "war on terror" (particularly the Iraq front) dominated the talk airwaves during the past few weeks. Moreover, radio and television host Glenn Beck has had a higher-than-usual profile on the conservative radar screen, most notably because of his: a) CNN Headline News special on the agenda of radical Islam, b) interview with perennial conservative favorite Binyamin "Bibi" Netanyahu, a former Israeli prime minister who's poised to make a comeback on Israel's political scene, and, c) guest-spot on the Rush Limbaugh radio program promoting his aforesaid special on the Jihadi.
As to Limbaugh's interview of Glenn Beck, there was an interesting exchange between the two of them, with Limbaugh stating: "You know, al-Jazeera - English version al-Jazeera - starts today, and I read that they're going to make just a few editorial changes. For example, Palestinian suicide bombers are referred to over there as martyrs." Clearly there's a note of sarcasm to Limbaugh's statement. Glenn Beck replies: "Bad guys? Maybe we could call 'em bad guys." There's a profound moral component in play here, which both Limbaugh and Beck recognize. My questions are these: Are the media types at al-Jazeera oblivious to the cultural and ethical leanings of most Americans? Or do they have contempt for Americans, and they're just interested in pushing their Jihadi propaganda? The latter sounds more plausible. Clearly, al-Jazeera is violating a fundamental rubric of business, which is to understand their customer base. Simply put, the majority of Americans view homicide bombers (i.e. suicide bombers) as murderers, not as holy martyrs. It's doubtful that most Americans are in the market to buy what al-Jazeera is selling, which is pure twaddle.
Now, let's discuss Glenn Beck's television interview with the former Israeli Prime Minister: As underscored again and again by renowned terror expert Bibi Netanyahu, the Iranian fanatics in power – President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Mad Mullahs – are "not deterrable". They're incredibly committed to developing nukes and fulfilling their apocalyptic fantasy. And their primary targets? Clearly, Israel and America are at the top of the hit list, although the entire western civilization is especially at risk. Essentially, you can't get Ahmadinejad and the mullahs to grasp reason since they're enmeshed in a "crazy messianic cult of death" as Netanyahu put it. No amount of diplomacy or talks will prove fruitful. Moreover, Netanyahu maintains that Israel will go it alone militarily if no other nation is prepared to tackle the Iranian nuclear threat. Glenn Beck asked: Do you feel that you would have to make a move if nobody else [moves] to stop them? Netanyahu replied: If that's the only option. It (the Iranian nuclear program) has to be stopped. And if it means saving the life of the Jewish state and another 6 million Jews who live in Israel, then the answer is yes, because we reserve the right to live." Clearly, the Israelis are survivors and they're not going to roll over and play dead for a bunch of lunatics running Iran.
Bibi Netanyahu also remarked on the approximate timeframe of Iran "going nuclear", referencing a statement by the Chief of Israeli Intelligence before the foreign affairs and defense committee in the Knesset: "It will take them (the Iranians) anywhere up to three years to cross all the nuclear technology threshold, and then it takes about a year or two to weaponize. But this at most would give us five years. It could very well be next year. Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran, is boasting that he's on the express train." Regarding many in the West who seem strangely out-of-touch with the peril posed by the Islamo-fascists, Netanyahu is quite vehement in his urgings: "And we'd better wake up. We'd better hear the jarring gong of self- preservation and act to preserve our lives, our cities, our children, our civilization in time." In other words, cataclysmic disaster can be averted by the West, but it must act. However, will every western nation have the wherewithal – the intestinal fortitude – to fight off this scourge of radical Islam?
Noteworthy, by "jarring gong of self- preservation" Netanyahu is paraphrasing Winston Churchill who stated: "There is nothing new in the story. It is as old as the sibylline books. It falls into that long, dismal catalogue of the fruitlessness of experience and the confirmed unteachability of mankind. Want of foresight, unwillingness to act when action would be simple and effective, lack of clear thinking, confusion of counsel until the emergency comes, until self-preservation strikes its jarring gong—these are the features which constitute the endless repetition of history."
I suppose the key question is whether the West has the "will" to fight? Or has social-democrat governance throughout the West created citizenries that are a bunch of worthless defeatists that are far too soft to persevere against a determined enemy? Journalist and author Mark Steyn expresses profound doubts about the West, particularly Europe, which he's essentially written off as morally and culturally bankrupt. Steyn believes Europe will soon succumb to the pressures of radical Islam. In his new book "America Alone", he sees a hunkered-down America surviving, but only if it eschews the Nanny state and continues to embrace the ideals of American exceptionalism, including the virtues of family, self-reliance and freedom. Steyn states: "There is one partial exception to the softening of the West: a nation that still breeds, still puts in a full work week, still maintains a vigorous military. And what's the reaction of the rest of the developed world – plus the Democratic Party, the mainstream American media, and the international law groupies on the Supreme Court? It demands America quit monkeying around and sign-up to the suicide pact with the rest of ‘em." Conservatives have two words for these Left-leaning dolts, and they're not "Good Luck". 
Carol Devine-Molin is a regular contributor to several online magazines.