And While We're on the Subject...

Adding to Matt's post, there's the absurdity of Bush's speech to the UN today, in which he claimed that fighting extremism is the U.S.'s "calling."

There are a couple of major hypocritical assumptions here. The first is the definition of extremism. In his worldview, being a Muslim at the head of a government is "extremist," or being a nationalist head of a state that disagrees with and refuses to buckle to the U.S.'s policy (a la Hugo Chavez) is "extremist" and a cause worth combating, yet being somebody who bends over backwards to satisfy the extreme right in the U.S. by proposing anti-gay marriage amendments, supporting the fight against a woman's right to choice, and claiming that God tells you what to do is NOT extremist. (This is an argument I hate - "extremists aren't me." It's just like the right-wing condemning "activist judges" they disagree with - all judges are "activist," people; it's just whose side their activist for).

Additionally, there's the more subtle hypocrisy of the wording itself. Where exactly is this "calling" coming from? Given Bush's open professions of the role his (fundamentalist) religious beliefs have in his shaping of policy, one would suspect there's religion behind this wording. Certainly, the people of the United States aren't in the streets clamoring for the government to combat "extremism." Couldn't one suggest that a "calling" from God to fight certain cultures and nation-states that don't agree with you is a little extreme? But, thanks to this right wing worldview, America can do no wrong. Our "callings" for issues such as the "conversion of others to Christianity" and "nation-building" are part of some universal, abstract, absolute truth, whereas the jihadists' "callings" for the "spread of Islam" (a subtle difference in linguistic meaning) and autonomy are inherently wrong and even evil.

The hypocrisy of the government never ceases to amaze. The worst part is, by the end of it all, the damage of claims to America's "callings" in an international forum will probably have the same effect of alienating nations-states as the use of torture.