Friday, May 09, 2008

Definitions for Dondero: "Islamo-Fascism"

[Note: In discussion and debate with Eric Dondero, I frequently find myself forced to repeat certain explanations of the obvious. This new, occasional feature at KN@PPSTER is intended to reduce the labor involved in that process by allowing me to simply link to said explanations rather than laboriously typing them into blog comments and such - TLK]

The highest value of Islamic theocrats is God.

The highest value of fascists is the state.

The central tenet of Islamic theocratic political movements is that the state must be subservient to God.

The central tenet of fascist political movements is that the state is God.

Therefore, there is no such thing -- by definition there can be no such thing -- as "Islamo-Fascism."

Debating US foreign policy with someone who quacks about "Islamo-Fascism" is like debating pool cleaning techniques with someone who babbles about the magic fairies who live in his pool's pump system and are ejected into the pool when the pump is turned on. He's either ignorant of the nature of what he's seeing come out of the pump, or he's bullshitting you, or he's barking mad. None of those conditions are conducive to meaningful discussion or debate, and you are therefore best off seeking another interlocutor -- one who chooses to inhabit, and is capable of living in, the real world instead of an imagined or manufactured alternative universe.

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