That'll Show 'Em

Smart post by pseudononymous blogger Jon Swift on the apparent forbidden desire of many on the right for another terrorist attack to realign our priorities—shoring up support for the war in Iraq, domestic wiretapping, and insert-your-own-policy-here. The post includes choice quotes from Michael Fumento, Jonah Goldberg, and Rudy Giuliani, as well as this jaw-dropper from the chair of the Arkansas Republican Party:

"At the end of the day, I believe fully the president is doing the right thing, and I think all we need is some attacks on American soil like we had on [Sept. 11, 2001 ], and the naysayers will come around very quickly to appreciate not only the commitment for President Bush, but the sacrifice that has been made by men and women to protect this country."

The quote from Fumento is interesting, too. After lamenting that Hollywood doesn't have the guts to put Muslim or Arabic villains in its movies and that, worse, it had the gall to cast an actual hero in the new Die Hard movie who "looks decidedly Arabic," Fumento wishes aloud:

A lot of people have suggested that, pathetically, it's going to take another terrorist attack to wake us from our slumber. Wouldn't it be fitting if it were in a movie theater?

Much hinges on the ambiguous placement of the word "pathetically," here. Does Fumento think it's pathetic that people would suggest such a thing (in which case he's right), or does he concede their point, and think it's pathetic that it indeed will take another terrorist attack to make America see the terrorist threat in the sensible way that Michael Fumento does?

In any case, as Matthew Yglesias notes, there was at least one "decidedly Arabic-looking" American hero in the run-up to September 11. Problem is, no one listened to him.