Mike the Usurper wrote:
Someone said to me today, "If you can't see the difference between the administration and Al Qaeda then there's something ... wrong."
The difference, is the ballot box. Our administration, like it or not, is a choice of leadership that was made by our country. That you don't agree with that choice, I understand. But that's the country we live in. A controversial issue (like who our leader is going to be) comes up, millions of people vote on it, and the majority wins out. Al Qaeda, on the other hand, was not voted in by anybody. They're a bunch of self-appointed thugs who feel that they know what's better for the world than anybody else. They have no sympathy for other ways of life. They believe that their way is the right way, and to hell with everyone else. They seek to impose their own *very* narrow world-view, upon the entire planet. Our administration, on the other hand, usually bends over backwards to accommodate as many different viewpoints and ways of life as possible. A further difference is how those two groups (the U.S. administration vs. Al Qaeda) go about exercising their power. The administration has a series of checks and balances. They need to get approval from an enormously complex system before they can do *anything*. And, their power is temporary. A few years down the line, they're gone, and another administration is voted in. If Al Qaeda could have been voted out of power, I think they would have been gone long ago. It is my belief that the vast majority of the muslim world despises the methods that Al Qaeda uses. Another difference has to do with how power is used, especially when it involves violence. When our administration uses violence, via our military, it is done in a very controlled fashion, with an enormous amount of public debate and consensus-seeking. Nearly every single step is open to scrutiny and consideration by the public, our other leaders, and the rest of the world. Our plans are usually announced well in advance. Further, military targets are chosen with care and compassion. Innocents and civilians are not specifically targeted. Al Qaeda, on the other hand, exercises its power in secret. They have no public debate. They use subterfuge, they use hatred. They use small groups with no public oversight, that seek to kill as many people as possible, with little care as to *who* they are killing. If they could kill thousands or even millions of Americans with a nuclear bomb in the middle of one of our cities, they would do it. And then if they could, they would do it again, and again, against not just Americans but against *anyone* that stood in their way, until they could force the world into the shape and culture that they wanted. I have no trouble distinguishing between the two sides. The difference between right and wrong is very clear to me. But it flabbergasts me that anyone can say that the two sides are similar, or that the administration is *worse* than Al Qaeda. That shows to me a phenomenally deep loss of center, and in some ways, a blind hatred of one's own country. And that saddens me. I'm not saying that I think that you and I should agree on everything. I *like* that we disagree, and I think that the process of discussion is a healthy one. But I hope we could at least agree on some basic definitions of the difference between good and evil. Elonka RE: Today's Ugly Question | 
