Some Republican politicians see sympathy for Islam as a liability.

[AUUSN 823]

If George W. Bush were seeking the Republican presidential nomination today, he’d face at least one big problem: his defense of Muslims and Islam. In a 2000 debate with Al Gore, Bush condemned the fact that “Arab Americans are racially profiled” using “what is called secret evidence.” After 9/11, he called Islam “a faith based upon love, not hate,” and made a highly publicized visit to a mosque. One Muslim Republican even called Bush America’s “first Muslim president.”

A decade and a half later, the climate on the American right has radically changed. In January, the Republican presidential hopeful Bobby Jindal argued that “it is completely reasonable for [Western] nations to discriminate” against some Muslims in their immigration policies, on the grounds that radical Islamists “want to destroy their culture.” In February, another GOP contender, Mike Huckabee, declared, “Everything [President Obama] does is against what Christians stand for, and he’s against the Jews in Israel. The one group of people that can know they have his undying, unfailing support would be the Muslim community.” In March, after New York City announced that public schools would close for two Muslim holidays, Todd Starnes, a Fox News contributor, lamented, “The Islamic faith is being given accommodation and the Christian faith and other religious faiths are being marginalized.”

This is strange. Why are conservatives more hostile to Muslims and Islam today than they were in the terrifying aftermath of 9/11? And why have American Muslims, who in 2000 mostly voted Republican, apparently replaced gays and feminists as the right’s chief culture-war foe?

For half a century, cultural conservatives have vowed to protect America against threats from domestic insurgencies: black militancy, feminism, the gay-rights movement. But those insurgencies involved large and restive groups. Muslims, by contrast, make up only 1 percent of the U.S. population. And they are not restive. Yes, a tiny share sympathizes with Salafi groups like the Islamic State, orISIS. But unlike the civil-rights, abortion-rights, and gay-rights activists of eras past, American Muslims are not seeking to transform American culture and law. They are not marching in the streets. For the most part, they constitute a small, well-educated, culturally conservative minority that wants little more from the government than to be left alone.

Muslims have become the right’s greatest cultural enemy in large part because they are what remains after the ideological collapse of the “war on terror.” After September 11, George W. Bush outlined an epic, generational struggle—a successor to World War II and the Cold War—to make the Middle East democratic and pro-American. “In our grief and anger,” he told a joint session of Congress nine days after the attacks, “we have found our mission and our moment.”

For a time, that mission directed the right’s energies outward. Most conservatives (along with many liberals) supported Bush’s efforts to occupy and transform Afghanistan and Iraq. Undergirding these efforts lay a deep confidence in the power of American arms, the size of America’s bank account, and the universal relevance of American democracy.

Since Bush’s second term, however, when both the Afghan and Iraq Wars went dramatically south, that confidence has collapsed. Today, most conservatives credit Bush for the success of the Iraq surge, but they no longer propose large deployments of American troops to the Middle East, and they no longer believe America can spend limitlessly abroad. And especially since the failed Arab Spring, they no longer proclaim the necessity—or even the desirability—of Arab democracy. Whereas the Bush administration once pressured Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak to hold free elections, prominent conservatives now praise his successor, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, for having led a coup to overturn their results.

But if conservatives no longer believe they can transform the Middle East, they still greatly fear terrorism by Muslims. A 2014 poll by the Pew Research Center found that Republicans were 31 percentage points more likely than Democrats to be “very concerned” about the threat of “Islamic extremism” around the world. The result is a mismatch between conservative anxieties and conservative methods. Although most conservatives are happy to bomb ISIS, the American right has lost its appetite for a vast overseas struggle against jihadist terror. Instead of tempering their view of the threat, conservatives have domesticated it. By reconceiving the Islamist danger as a largely domestic problem, conservatives can now fight it ferociously without having to invade any other countries.

...

As America recovers from the Great Recession, some pundits have observed that foreign policy is again becoming central to American politics. But that’s not quite right. Much of what passes for foreign-policy debate is actually the inversion of foreign policy, whereby conservatives try to replace a formidable target abroad with a softer one at home. Sadly, McCarthyism is not the only precedent in American history for this type of demonization: hyper-nationalist politicians went after German Americans during World War I and Japanese Americans during World War II. Similarly, today, with conservatives frustrated by America’s failed wars in the Middle East and the increasing unassailability of their traditional domestic foes, they are turning on American Muslims for the simplest of political reasons: because they can.

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/05/the-new-enemy-within/389573/

[Mims44 1,867]

That was way too long, so I'll sum it up for everyone.

G.W. Bush was one of the greatest American presidents ever!

[Mikey 16,577]

Such sympathy is a liability. Unless, of course, you are one of those yelling "Go beheaders! Chop-Chop-Chop!" If that's your team, then you have sympathy for them.

Like it or not, terrorists and murderers are the face of Islam. Until those alleged throngs of "good Moslems" step forward clean up their own mess they deserve no sympathy.

[cptau 169]

I don't agree that conservatives were accommodating to Moslems just after 9/11. Most wanted an aggressive war. And Bush was definitely a moderate at best and not a conservative.

Bush was trying not to start a holy war with all of Islam and was trying to maintain a coalition Which is still the policy today. The attempt at nation building was a failure and everyone knew it was high risk to try and build a nation in a state that is not really a country like Iraq or Afghanistan, replacing a dictator with a new dictator is all that is possible short term. Otherwise you are looking at military occupation for generations. The ottoman Turks did that and it didn't work either, but they kept the Arabs under control. As long as the Arab states are chopped up incorrectly and the Saudis and Irianians fund fundlementalist groups, it will not get better.

[AURaptor 1,122]

A holy war is exactly what the Jihadists want, and that's what no one seems ready to acknowledge.

[cooltigger21 0]

These people see the apocalypse as something that is desirable. There maybe more "good Muslims" than jihadists but until they rise up and wrest control away then these jihadists are Islam. We can't reform it for them. They have to do it themselves.

[AUUSN 823]

Looks like the author is on target...

Although most conservatives are happy to bomb ISIS, the American right has lost its appetite for a vast overseas struggle against jihadist terror. Instead of tempering their view of the threat, conservatives have domesticated it. By reconceiving the Islamist danger as a largely domestic problem, conservatives can now fight it ferociously without having to invade any other countries.

[AURaptor 1,122]

The Jihadists are coming here, that's why there's less of a need to invade other countries.

Read the news much ? Damn near weekly there's a Muslim immigrant or a Muslim convert who has been thwarted in committing some act of terrorism.

[AUUSN 823]

It must be terrible to live in perpetual fear or feel the need to fear monger all day, everyday. Luckily there are those who have seen the world and can see through this hyped up BS. Sadly though it's only going to get worse as politicians try to out fear each other.

[cooltigger21 0]

The Jihadists are coming here, that's why there's less of a need to invade other countries.

Read the news much ? Damn near weekly there's a Muslim immigrant or a Muslim convert who has been thwarted in committing some act of terrorism.

They don't even have to attempt a terrorist act. They are setting up their own little communities like in Dearborn Michigan, running it accordingto Sharia law and daring anyone to come in and stop it. The progressives are bending over backwards to appease them.

[AUUSN 823]

Yes, yes. Hype that fear, get those morons to give up more rights. http://www.snopes.com/politics/satire/sharia.asp

[AURaptor 1,122]

Yep. Just hyping fear is all..

http://en.wikipedia....tates_post-9/11

( and this list is 3 years out of date,btw )

[AUUSN 823]

[AUUSN 823]

CONservatives be like...

[cooltigger21 0]

Yep. Just hyping fear is all..

http://en.wikipedia....tates_post-9/11

( and this list is 3 years out of date,btw )

Got to remember raptor we're the bad guys.

[AURaptor 1,122]

Offer a serious response or just don't bother. These drive-by one-liners (you're not the only person who does it but this is the one I just saw) are tiresome. If you think the subject isn't worthy of your time, then just don't post on the thread. If you do think it worthy, then sink your teeth into it and offer either an impassioned support or a thoughtful critique.

- TitanTiger. Admin.

[AUUSN 823]

Offer a serious response or just don't bother. These drive-by one-liners (you're not the only person who does it but this is the one I just saw) are tiresome. If you think the subject isn't worthy of your time, then just don't post on the thread. If you do think it worthy, then sink your teeth into it and offer either an impassioned support or a thoughtful critique.

- TitanTiger. Admin.

My one liners are consistent with this thread. From the article...But if conservatives no longer believe they can transform the Middle East, they still greatly fear terrorism by Muslims. A 2014 poll by the Pew Research Center found that Republicans were 31 percentage points more likely than Democrats to be “very concerned” about the threat of “Islamic extremism” around the world. The result is a mismatch between conservative anxieties and conservative methods.

[AUUSN 823]

There is a second way in which American Muslims have replaced previous conservative foes. Since the 1970s, conservatives have often depicted American Christians as under assault. In his book A War for the Soul of America, Andrew Hartman quotes the Reverend Jerry Falwell as arguing that the fight against feminism constituted “a holy war for the survival of the family.” In his 1992 convention speech, the Republican presidential candidate Pat Buchanan called the culture war a struggle over whether “the Judeo-Christian values and beliefs upon which this nation was built” would survive. More recently, Fox News’s Bill O’Reilly has invoked a “war on Christmas.” As Alan Noble, a professor at Oklahoma Baptist University, noted last year in an online piece for The Atlantic, “Persecution has an allure for many evangelicals.”

[cooltigger21 0]

We simply have too many people who are unwilling to face the hard truth about Islam. They have basically remained unchanged since their inception. 1500 years ago they did the same thing they do now. Frankly it seems to be getting worse instead of better.

[AURaptor 1,122]

http://counterjihadreport.com/2015/04/19/ohio-arrest-shows-threat-to-u-s-from-al-qaeda-in-syria/

When Bush was in office, Proggies claimed he was a racist, and phonying up claims of threats to the US, as a means of perpetuating the massive military industrial complex.

Now that Obama is in office, the Proggies still make fun of more and more Muslim threats which have been thwarted. But they don't connect Obama to any of these thwarted attempts. Instead they just make fun of those who take notice.

Irrational, to the hilt.

[JoeBags7277 734]

We simply have too many people who are unwilling to face the hard truth about Islam. They have basically remained unchanged since their inception. 1500 years ago they did the same thing they do now. Frankly it seems to be getting worse instead of better.

Really? 1500 years? In keeping with their forbears, 1.8 billion people have been engulfed in a jihad against Christians, as well as the whole of western society for 1500 years? You don't actually believe that, do you? Nothing in the immediate aftermath of WWI might have ramped up that extremism? 1953? Our various interventions in the internal affairs of the region? Seems as if there's a few big chunks in those 1500 years where Islamic extremism is tempered, or even nonexistent.

You know, I have to take up for you guys, at least on one thing. Progressives have no business accusing you guys of being anti-government. You're very pro-government when it comes to sopping up war propaganda.

[cooltigger21 0]

We simply have too many people who are unwilling to face the hard truth about Islam. They have basically remained unchanged since their inception. 1500 years ago they did the same thing they do now. Frankly it seems to be getting worse instead of better.

Really? 1500 years? In keeping with their forbears, 1.8 billion people have been engulfed in a jihad against Christians, as well as the whole of western society for 1500 years? You don't actually believe that, do you? Nothing in the immediate aftermath of WWI might have ramped up that extremism? 1953? Our various interventions in the internal affairs of the region? Seems as if there's a few big chunks in those 1500 years where Islamic extremism is tempered, or even nonexistent.

You know, I have to take up for you guys, at least on one thing. Progressives have no business accusing you guys of being anti-government. You're very pro-government when it comes to sopping up war propaganda.

In answer to your question, yes they have been in perpetual war against Christianity and especially Jews. This isn't a recent phenomenon. The crusades were a response that actions taken by Islam.

[AURaptor 1,122]

Weagle1787 - go back & read up on what Thomas Jefferson said about the Muslims.

This isn't just some recent development.

[homersapien 11,366]

A holy war is exactly what the Jihadists want, and that's what no one seems ready to acknowledge.

That's just BS. There's no dispute as to what's driving these people.

http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2015/02/what-isis-really-wants/384980/

[Proud Tiger 4,261]

You hit the bull's eye Raptor.