Many on the left have accused conservatives of exploiting the Paris terrorist attacks for political gain. On Monday, Daily Kos founder and publisher Markos Moulitsas jumped on the pile, alleging that the right’s main reaction to the attacks was not sadness or outrage, but “excitement” over the prospect of stirring up Islamophobia -- perhaps to the point of getting the Middle East war that they supposedly want so much.
“Finally! An excuse to wield their favorite tool—fear!” wrote Kos. “Because if there’s one sentiment that defines conservative ideology, it’s fear. Fear of the blacks, the communists, the immigrants, the liberal college professors, the Mexican rapist/drug dealers, the sleeper cells hiding amidst Syrian refugees…This is a movement that can’t speak to people’s economic plight, but it sure can rail about the monsters under the bed!”
The entire post (bolding added):
You could sense the conservative excitement last Friday, as bombs, bullets, and blood shook Paris to its core. Finally! An excuse to wield their favorite tool—fear! Because if there’s one sentiment that defines conservative ideology, it’s fear. Fear of the blacks, the communists, the immigrants, the liberal college professors, the Mexican rapist/drug dealers, the sleeper cells hiding amidst Syrian refugees…This is a movement that can’t speak to people’s economic plight, but it sure can rail about the monsters under the bed!
So now you have the GOP presidential candidates going all-fear, all the time. You have MItt Romney, with his gaggle of non-serving sons, begging for more dead Americans on Middle Eastern soil. You have Republican governors refusing to resettle Syrian refugees in their states, because apparently terrorists wouldn’t know how to use cars or trains or Greyhound buses to cross state lines if indeed violence was on their minds.
Remember, gun attacks are only scary when Muslims do the shooting. The NRA has made that perfectly clear. Over 280,000 killed by guns in the US in the past decade alone is perfectly okay, apparently.
Yet not one of those Republicans has called for raising taxes to pay for their war.
Not one of those Republicans has encouraged their children or grandchildren to sign up and fight their war.
No, it’s always someone else’s money, and the blood of someone else’s family member.
If they want to convince people their war aims are altruistic and genuine, they can lead by putting their own interests on the line.
Don’t hold your breath.
