August 29, 2003
THANK YOU, PART TWO
Michael Totten has some advice for anti-war protesters currently feeling sick after being thanked by Balinese terrorists:
You need to stand unflinchingly against terrorism everywhere, always, forever. This “of course we are against terrorism” line doesn’t cut it. At least one terrorist thinks he’s your buddy. He said it, not me.
When you reserve most of your judgement, criticism, and wrath for Western governments while speaking barely a word against Islamofascist death squads, it sends funny signals to our enemies. I know you don’t support terrorists and fascists. Well, when the victims are Jews it looks like some of you do.
But the rest of you don’t, and your message is not getting across. Louder, please. Draw a line in the sand.
Your domestic political opponents are not your enemies. Hamstringing America and defeating the Republican Party is not more important than defeating terrorism.
Your enemies are those who are trying to kill you. Make the proper distinctions. Get your priorities straight. Trust me, you don’t want to hear Osama bin Laden, or whoever is making those audio tapes, say he’s your pal. It could happen if you don't watch it.
Hey, some of them might welcome Osama’s friendship:
Posted by Tim Blair at August 29, 2003 02:56 AMOn Christmas Eve, in the Melbourne Age, another pundit, Michael Leunig, called for a national prayer for Osama bin Laden on Christmas Day. "It's a family day," Leunig explained, "and Osama's our relative." It is not recorded whether the aforesaid Osama, sitting cross-legged beside his Christmas tree somewhere under Afghanistan, offered up a prayer for Michael. He might have done: after all, they were on first-name terms.
I love it when Totten hits one out of the park like that, but it's even better when you cap it off so perfectly (to mix a metaphor or three).
Posted by: ilyka at August 29, 2003 at 03:18 AMThe one thing that I can't understand about Leunig is: WHAT THE FREAKIN HECK IS HE DOING 'TOONING FOR THE MELBOURNE AGE?!?!
I think that a person with his views on such "controversial" issues as countries standing up against terrorism would feel more at home drawing for the Green Left Weekly. Or is there really someone in The Age so twisted as to voluntarily hire this fruitcake?
And another thing...aren't cartoonists meant to be FUNNY? Judging by Leunig's ultra - politically correct (and utterly humorless) views on current affairs, I can just imagine what it would be like trying to tell him a joke:
RICHARD: "Hey Michael, why did the chicken cross the road?"
MICHAEL: "Oh my. What was that poor chicken doing out on a roadway, all by itself? Didn't it have a family of it's own? Why did the farmer allow it to escape and wander around all alone? Howard/Bush/Blair have blood on their hands over this. Waaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!"
Posted by: Richard at August 29, 2003 at 03:21 AMGood advice. But I'm sure there are some sections of the left who are well aware of the fact that they are supporting terrorists, and don't care. After all, they have to live up to the legacy left them by Stalin, Mao, Castro, et al.
Posted by: TimT at August 29, 2003 at 10:37 AMA silly cartoonist loved Osama,
'Though he caused all sorts of drama,
When coming home pissed,
He was croaked by a terrorist,
Only right- must have been karma.
Richard: Leunig is a Melbourne institution, like rickety trams and bad weather. To get rid of him just because he isn't funny or perceptive would be like dismantling the clock on Flinders Street station just because it doesn't tell the time very well.
His presence at the Age is also a carry-over from the 70s and 80s, when, believe it or not, he was actually quite amusing, in a low-key kind of way. This was all before his whimsy overpowered him like a particularly aggressive cancer and turned him into what he currently is: a fey, pale creature who can't tolerate conflict, harsh words, or loud noises.
Posted by: Andrew D. at August 29, 2003 at 12:25 PMA better poem by far (although I can't claim authorship)-
'If I could meet Osama
I'd ask if it was brave
To kill so many people
And why he lives inside a cave
If I could meet Osama
I'd say, "Please be nice instead."
Then I'd whip out my revolver
And shoot the motherf*cker dead.'
The Binster and Leunig the Loon,
Loved to cuddle and spoon,
But when Mike was found out to be a fella,
Who was Anglo and didn't love Allah,
Osama was mad; he ranted, he raved,
There's only one way he's to be saved,
To Mahommed he must send his soul,
So Mike ended up in a hole.
(And this is a poem, not a limerick- the other poem was by Blair,T.)
The moral to this it is said,
Osama's mates often are dead.
So if you're a fan of El Qui'da,
Watch out for that F16 fighter.
Cripes, thank the non-existent being that I am not related to Leunig. Christmas is bad enough but imagine how horrible it would be if you had to put up with mad Uncle Michael and his fanatical murderous "relative" Bin Laden at the dinner table. I'd be out of there before Aunty Mavis entered the dining room with the crackers let me tell you.
Posted by: Darlene at August 30, 2003 at 05:23 PM