Yeah, we realize that that headline may sound a bit convoluted, but it really is accurate reflection of one liberal critic’s response to another liberal’s new book.
Markos Moulitsas, the head wacko over at the Daily Kos, has written an inflammatory new book called American Taliban in which he compares the conservative movement to, you guessed it, the Taliban. And he does it in all seriousness. Earnestness, one might even say.
According to the book’s dust cover description, “America’s primary international enemy–Islamic radicalism–insists on government by theocracy, curtails civil liberties, embraces torture, represses women, wants to eradicate homosexuals from society, and insists on the use of force over diplomacy. Remind you of a certain American political party? In American Taliban, Markos Moulitsas pulls no punches as he compares how the Republican Party and Islamic radicals maintain similar worldviews and tactics. Moulitsas also challenges the media, fellow progressives, and our elected officials to call the radical right on their jihadist tactics more forcefully for the good of our nation and safety of all citizens.”
Well, Moulitsas book is so far over the top that even many liberals are ripping it to shreds. The Atlantic offers up a number of those reviews, but this is our favorite:
The Daily Beast’s Ben Crair says American Taliban “might have just as easily been written by Rush Limbaugh or Ann Coulter. This is a liberal’s attempt at a conservative bestseller. … Moulitsas made it his mission to create a movement on the left similar to the one that Limbaugh and Coulter helped to build on the right. … If the Democrats run the country for the next 50 years because Moulitsas has taught them to fight fire with fire, then I guess I won’t complain. I just wish reading American Taliban didn’t make me feel like a member of the Conservative Book Club.”
So as we understand Crair’s reasoning, it was wrong for a liberal like Moulitsas to compare conservatives to the Taliban because only conservatives are vile enough to make such an invalid comparison about their opponents.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what you call circular reasoning. And we don’t mind admitting that we got a bit dizzy going around in that circle.
Oh, and one other thing: If Limbaugh or Coulter had written the book, it would (a) sell a lot more copies, and (b) be a lot funnier.
Source: Atlantic Wire
