Mikey Loves Osama

There’s trouble a-brewin’ in the love triangle of Chris Matthews, John Kerry, and Michael Moore.

A remark by MSNBC’s Chris Matthews in which he said that Osama bin-Laden “sounds like an over-the-top Michael Moore here, if not a Michael Moore” has outraged opponents of the war in Iraq and leading Democrats including former presidential candidate John Kerry. Matthews made the comment during an interview with Sen. Joseph Biden on Hardball Thursday in which they discussed an audio tape by bin-Laden that aired earlier in the day on Al Jazeera, the Arab news channel. Kerry commented: “You’d think the only focus tonight would be on destroying Osama bin-Laden, not comparing him to an American who opposes the war. ... If the administration had done the job right in Tora Bora we might not be having discussions on Hardball about a new Bin Laden tape. How dare Scott McClellan tell America that this Administration puts terrorists out of business when had they put Osama bin-Laden out of business in Afghanistan when our troops wanted to, we wouldn’t have to hear this barbarian’s voice on tape.”

Okay, let’s begin by ignoring Kerry’s usual blustery idiocy regarding Tora Bora and focus on his haughty indignation regarding Matthew’s statement.  The fact is, when you look at what OBL said and the crap that Michael Moore has been spewing for the past five years, there’s no a whole lot of difference between the two.  Here’s just a few of the more glaring similarities.  (The Osama bin Laden quotes below are all from the BBC News transcript.  The Michael Moore quotes are as linked.) First there is praise for the Islamofascist forces currently fighting the United States.

OBL: “I say that despite all the barbaric methods, they have failed to ease resistance, and the number of mujahideen, praise be to God, is increasing.”

MM:  “The Iraqis who have risen up against the occupation are not ‘insurgents’ or ‘terrorists’ or ‘The Enemy.’ They are the REVOLUTION, the Minutemen, and their numbers will grow—and they will win.”

Bush has no plan.

OBL:  “The wise ones know that Bush has no plan to achieve his alleged victory in Iraq.”

MM:  “In your heart of hearts you know Bush is a miserable failure. From having no plan on what to do in Iraq once he conquered Baghdad to the 380 missing tons of explosives that could be used to kill our brave young men and women, this guy doesn’t have a clue how to fight and win a war.”

The war in Iraq has made America less safe by creating terrorists.

OBL:  “Reality testifies that the war against America and its allies has not remained confined to Iraq, as he claims.  In fact, Iraq has become a point of attraction and recruitment of qualified resources.”

MM:  “We are hated, we are despised, we are less safe,” Moore said, inciting cheers and applause from the audience. “George W. Bush has made us less safe in this world.” Moore made it clear that the war on terror, or in his words, “the war on a noun,” is not making the world a safer place, but serving as a training ground for more terrorists. “You do not liberate a people with the barrel of a gun,” Moore said.

The war was all about corporate profit.

OBL:  “There is no defect in this solution other than preventing the flow of hundreds of billions to the influential people and war merchants in America, who supported Bush’s election campaign with billions of dollars.  Hence, we can understand the insistence of Bush and his gang to continue the war.”

MM:  “Halliburton is not a “company” doing business in Iraq. It is a WAR PROFITEER, bilking millions from the pockets of average Americans. In past wars they would have been arrested—or worse.”

I could have posted twenty more similarities between the two, but these are sufficient for illustrative purposes.  There are significant parallels between the rhetoric we hear coming from the Islamist terrorist camp and from the radical western left.  There always have been.

Now, that being said, there’s more going on here.  Basically OBL, with this “truce” offer, is playing to an audience.  The offer isn’t aimed at Bush or the Muslim world.  No, my friends, it’s aimed at the activist liberal left, the MoveOn and Michael Moore crowd, the bongo playing drum circle hippie asshats who stage a protest every five minutes because they have nothing better to do.  Much like the USSR used the anti-war movement to great benefit during the Vietnam era, so the terrorists know that the useful idiots in the contemporary peace movement can serve the same purpose.

Bin Laden’s message is simple:  “We are only fighting back against American imperialism and aggression, and for the liberation of Palestine from the Zionists.  The so-called war on terror is a war Bush cannot win.  Prolonging the war will only serve to enrich Bush’s corporate masters even further.  I am offering you a truce.  You might not like me, but I am willing to end this war right now.  If you believe in peace you will support me.” This is EXACTLY the mantra of the peace movement.  Go down the list of left-wing beliefs.

1) America is an aggressive imperialist which seeks global economic hegemony.
2) Israel does not have a right to exist, and the Palestinians are an oppressed group on par with black South Africans.
3) The war on terror is not an actual war, since terrorism is a tactic, and a war cannot be waged on a tactic.  Therefore the war on terror cannot ever actually be won, and is used solely as a justification for endless war, resulting in massive corporate profits.
4) Peace is defines solely as the absence of conflict.  Anyone should be trusted when they claim to have peaceful coexistence as their primary motivation.

It goes on and on and on.  What remains to be seen is if Michael Moore and his ilk will repudiate this message.  Don’t hold your breath.

Update: It appears that the fine folks over at Ankle Biting Pundits had exactly the same idea I did.  Don’t miss their selection of Mikey quotes.