Worst Kaus Ever?
By I’m not a fan of Peter Beinart, but this is perhaps the most ill-conceived line of attack anyone could come up with:
Even if you favor making gay marriage a central, non-negotiable Democratic plank, the fact remains that this greatly complicates any Democrat-led struggle against Islamic extremists (because, as my emailer notes, it alienates even Islamic moderates). That’s another reality Beinart doesn’t seem to want to confront. (Better to talk about 1947!) How exactly would a Dem president who declares gay marriage a “morally momentous” principle convince civilized, non-terrorist, observant Muslims that their religion and culture is compatible with Western-style economics and democracy?
So, we can’t be both for gay marriage AND for a vigorous war on terror, because they hate us for our gay marriage. That’s right; they hate us not for the support of authoritarian regimes in their region, not for our support of Israel, not for our occupation of several of their countries, but because of gay marriage. The Iraqi insurgents? Now I understand why the insurgency hit a lull in February of 2004, then began to escalate. Probably took a bit of time for notice of the decision of the Massachusetts Supreme Court to filter into Falluja. . .
Is the Massachusetts Supreme Court the next target of Al Qaeda? This puts a whole new spin on the gay marriage debate in Canada; if we see complete normalization, then will that get Osama off of our backs? I must say, it is remarkable how violently the people of Turkey and Indonesia have reacted to the spread of gay marriage in the United States, what with the embassy bombings, Americans attacked in the streets, and so forth.
The problem with Kaus is that he accepts terms of debate that would make a slow-witted nineteen year old College Republican blush, then tries to argue the “reasonable” liberal position. Weisberg doesn’t have to put up with this kind of nonsense; although Mickey may have been a rarity back when he was hired for the Slate gig, there are now plenty of bloggers, even “centrists,” who are a hell of a lot better than Kaus.