Living in Oblivion

On October 6, Bush gave a really bad speech about the Islamic menace.   I wrote: 

is it just me or did that speech come across as second-rate, re-heated wingnut blogging?   I'm not going to say anything more about it... with any luck, this speech will quickly, and deservedly, fade into obscurity.

Evidently it did.  So much so, that today, George Bush decided to give the same speech again, figuring nobody would notice.  Sadly, No.  The blog by the same name has the gory details:

Speech at the National Endowment for Democracy, Oct. 6, 2005	Veterans' Day Speech, November 11, 2005
Some call this evil Islamic radicalism; others, militant Jihadism; still others, Islamo-fascism. Whatever it's called, this ideology is very different from the religion of Islam. This form of radicalism exploits Islam to serve a violent, political vision: the establishment, by terrorism and subversion and insurgency, of a totalitarian empire that denies all political and religious freedom. These extremists distort the idea of jihad into a call for terrorist murder against Christians and Jews and Hindus -- and also against Muslims from other traditions, who they regard as heretics.	Some call this evil Islamic radicalism; others, militant Jihadism; and still others, Islamo-fascism. Whatever it's called, this ideology is very different from the religion of Islam. This form of radicalism exploits Islam to serve a violent, political vision: the establishment, by terrorism, subversion and insurgency, of a totalitarian empire that denies all political and religious freedom. These extremists distort the idea of jihad into a call for terrorist murder against Christians and Hindus and Jews -- and against Muslims, themselves, who do not share their radical vision.
Many militants are part of global, borderless terrorist organizations like al Qaeda, which spreads propaganda, and provides financing and technical assistance to local extremists, and conducts dramatic and brutal operations like September the 11th. Other militants are found in regional groups, often associated with al Qaeda -- paramilitary insurgencies and separatist movements in places like Somalia, and the Philippines, and Pakistan, and Chechnya, and Kashmir, and Algeria. Still others spring up in local cells, inspired by Islamic radicalism, but not centrally directed. Islamic radicalism is more like a loose network with many branches than an army under a single command. Yet these operatives, fighting on scattered battlefields, share a similar ideology and vision for our world.	Many militants are part of a global, borderless terrorist organization like al Qaeda -- which spreads propaganda, and provides financing and technical assistance to local extremists, and conducts dramatic and brutal operations like the attacks of September the 11th. Other militants are found in regional groups, often associated with al Qaeda -- paramilitary insurgencies and separatist movements in places like Somalia, the Philippines, Pakistan, Chechnya, Kashmir and Algeria. Still others spring up in local cells -- inspired by Islamic radicalism, but not centrally directed. Islamic radicalism is more like a loose network with many branches than an army under a single command. Yet these operatives, fighting on scattered battlefields, share a similar ideology and vision for the world.
We know the vision of the radicals because they've openly stated it -- in videos, and audiotapes, and letters, and declarations, and websites.	We know the vision of the radicals because they have openly stated it -- in videos and audiotapes and letters and declarations and on websites.

It goes on like this for rather a while.   Pages and pages.   Guess October 6, 2005, wasn't one of the three pivotal moments in America's war with radical Islam after all... maybe that analysis was just so prescient that it was actually ahead of its time, and Pipes meant to say that the speech when given on November 11 would be the turning point?  If not, I suppose Bush could always give the speech again in another month or two.. I hear the third time can be a charm, sometimes.

Comments

[Nur al-Cubicle]

I've seen this shorter Bush speech over at Atrios.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzTERRORzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzISLAMISTSzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzDEMOCRACYzzzzzzzzzzzzzGOTTA FIGHT THEM OVER THEREzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzEVILDOERSzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzGODBLESSAMERICA.

[Collounsbury]

Mate, your coding on this is moderately screwed.

[Collounsbury]

I should note as well that what Pipes meant to say is "I am clueless bigotted hack, who is trying to replicate my father's work but with far less talent, after making a series of truly dumb predictions after the past 20 odd years, as in the Islamic comintern run by Iran....."

Of course that's how I've always read his writing in the past decade.

[Dr Victorino de la Vega]

Sacreblue… Damn it Aardvark!

Keep our advanced Neocon talking points algorithm under wraps lest you reveal our intellectual edge to the enemies of freedom/democracy/Zion/McDonalds burgers/Philadelphia cheese/Alabama banana pudding/you name your favorite American dish and call the PR & Public Information Management department at the Israeli embassy in Houston so they can add it to the list of heartland gastronomic liberties that constitute the bedrock of culinary freedom on which this great nation was built.

We won’t let Jacques Chirac and Saddam Hussein destroy our way of life with their poisonous Gallic soufflés and other radioactive yellow cakes cum hummus sauce cooked in the dirty Baathist/terrorist/evil/satanic/Islamo-fascist kitchens of Damascus and Tickrit!

[WH]

"Some call this evil Islamic radicalism; others, militant Jihadism; and still others, Islamo-fascism. Whatever it's called, this ideology is very different from the religion of Islam"... October 28,2005 in Norfolk, Virginia.

[Peter]

I'm the last person in the world to defend George Bush, but is it really such a big deal that a politican used the same script in more than one speech? I mean, don't most politicans do that?

Also, I don't think that most wingnuts agree with Bush's line that "this ideology [of radical Islam] is very different from the religion of Islam". Is that something people who put scare quotes around "religion of peace" feel comfortable with?

[Dan]

One would hope at least, for a veteran's day speech in a time of war, his speechwriters might come up with something new.

[upyernoz]

peter, the veteran's day speech was billed as a bold new speech

instead we got a warmed-over leftover

[John Penta]

Dan: It was at Tobyhanna Army Depot.

Do you know who comes up here to do anything important?

Nobody, that's who. Location can tell you something!

Every speech is bold and new and important...Because otherwise, nobody would listen.