"The Riots of the Faithful" or "Orson's Lost It"

Orson Scott Card has seemingly disconnected something with his World Watch - May 15, 2005 - The Riots of the Faithful article.

I say this because he is making many arguements from the wrong side of things. Let me demonstrate:

So Newsweek prints an uncorroborated allegation about American interrogators flushing Qurans down the toilet in order to get fanatical Muslim prisoners to talk, and there's rioting and death all over the Muslim world.

I guess he missed the memo... This was known by the Red Cross in 2003. Common Dreams

Personally, I think there should be legal consequences for editors and publishers and reporters so abysmally selfish and stupid that they would run with a story that they knew would provoke outrage in Muslim lands, without first making sure it was true.

er...

I'm talking about informal consequence, like Newsweek's correspondents being frozen out of news stories. Being banned from the White House, the Pentagon, the State Department for at least a year. But if any administration did such a thing, all of the media would unite to crucify them.

Why do you think they backed off? One hard question of Bush and you will never get called on again. But Jeff Gannon on the other hand...

So all that's left would be a clean personnel sweep of everyone involved in publishing a false story that leads to needless deaths.

So when do we sweep Fox of everyone who waved the WMD flag? Or how about Condie "Mushroom cloud smoking gun" Rice?

So Newsweek kills people with a false story that is actually a lie (unlike anything President Bush ever said about Iraq and weapons of mass destruction), and nothing happens to the perpetrators.

You're kidding right? Yellow cake uranium ring any bells? The above was written a full two weeks after the Downing Street Memo was published. Maybe Orson has his head in the sand...

Our country is at war. And it's a war in which victory absolutely depends on the Muslim world perceiving it as a war between the U.S and its allies on one side, and fanatical murderous terrorists on the other.

If it is ever perceived as a war against Islam, then we have lost. The world has lost.

So during such a difficult time, even people who think the Iraq War or even the whole war on terror is a horrible mistake still have an obligation of loyalty to the nation that offers them protection, prosperity, and freedom.

I mean, what kind of idiot breaks a hole in the hull of his boat during a storm, just because he doesn't like the guy at the tiller and thinks the storm could have been avoided?

What kind of idiot throws his country into a quagmire that leads to the perception that it is a war against Islam?

Unlike many, I actually raised my hand and swore an oath to defend and protect the constitution of The United States of America against all enemies foreign and domestic. Though I am no longer in the armed service, I took that oath very seriously and still do today. Patriots don't follow one man or one party blindly.

Even if the allegations about Quran desecration were completely and absolutely verified, why in the world would you publish the information during wartime?

It is news. We the people have a right to know what is being done with our money, by our men, in our name.

After all, who benefits from the publication of such a story at this time?

Only one group: People who want to bring down or weaken President Bush and everything he stands for, no matter the cost.

Wrong. Those who benefit most are those that blindly believe that we can do no wrong. Time to wake up and smell the shit. We're in a dirty business being led by dirty men in an unjust cause that should be ended immediately.

I'll reserve comment about Mormons for another time as I spent the first eight years of my life as a minority in Utah.

How long did it take for the people to be utterly disenchanted by government-by-fanatics, who see every opponent as evil and make every political decision an article of faith?

I'm curious if this has anything to do with executive orders and the threat to issue the first ever veto... Ebreyonic stem-cell research is opposed as an article of faith. As was the attempt to intervene in the Theresa Schaivo case. If you look at the recent approval numbers, it seems that 4 years and 5 months is how long it takes.

Already we are outraged by the propaganda they foist on our children in the schools, without reference to the values of the community or the roots of the American culture.

I'm guessing that the "propaganda" refers to the theory of evolution... Before we attach too much to the word "theory" let's remember that gravity is just a theory too.

So as we watch the Democratic Party flush away democratic processes in order to get correct outcomes, it's worth remembering that we're not so different from "those wacky Muslims."

Huh? The Democratic Party was not the one that floated the idea of doing away with a 214 year old institution in the Senate in order to get their correct outcomes on judicial nominations. Wait... let me put that whole last bit here:
So as we watch the Democratic Party flush away democratic processes in order to get correct outcomes, it's worth remembering that we're not so different from "those wacky Muslims."

People who are so sure they're right that they are willing to eliminate democratic processes in order to get and keep power are the enemies of freedom for everyone. We may be slow to recognize the danger, but one thing is certain: Once the Puritans have power, everyone else will finally see the cost of their utopia.

And as the Iranians and North Koreans have learned, it's very very hard to get rid of a dictatorship with a puritan ideology. Sometimes you're lucky and a big country comes along and liberates you. But sometimes there's no country big enough to do it, and you just have to hunker down and pretend to think correct thoughts and live some kind of life below the radar.

You know, the way believing Christians do right now at American universities.

You see, If we weren't on opposite sides of the looking glass, I could agree with the above. Sadly we're seeing the same devil in different people.