« BillBlast: Castration For Sex Offenders? | Main | Celebrating Free Speech On The Internet »
July 25, 2005BELTWAY BLOGROLL
In The Blog's-Eye: Rep. Tancredo Goes Nuclear
"Tancredo" recently soared to near the top of the search terms at Technorati.com, a search engine for blogs. At one point July 19, the name ranked third, just one notch below "Karl Rove" and one above "Harry Potter," for top searches in the hour.
The reason: Rep. Tom Tancredo suggested that a terrorist nuclear attack in the United States could prompt a retaliatory bombing on Mecca or other Islamic holy sites. Bloggers of all stripes have gone ballistic on Tancredo ever since, launching a rapid series of verbal missiles at the Colorado Republican, and conservatives are among his harshest critics.
Hugh Hewitt is among the bloggers on the front lines (see posts here and here), and he reminded readers of the recent outrage over comments by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. "Every media voice that was raised against Dick Durbin's asinine comparison of Gitmo practices to those of Nazis and Pol Pot should speak with equal pointedness against Tancredo's speculation."
The conservative Captain's Quarters also roundly condemned Tancredo's suggestion. "The GOP needs to remind Tancredo of the wisdom of silence in some issues," Ed Morrissey wrote.
As with Durbin, Tancredo has defenders in the blogosphere. "We need tough talk and tough action on global terrorism, and what Tancredo said was actually mild in comparison to what Islamofascists have in mind for us," said La Shawn Barber. And Lump on a Blog wrote: "Any nuclear attack against this country by terrorists will lead to one of two conclusions: The destruction of our civilization or the destruction of theirs. Take your pick. There will be no in-between."
While Michelle Malkin said her "friend" Tancredo should retract his statement quickly (he declined to do so), she also challenged Hewitt's view that "Tancredo's words were 'the most irresponsible' opinions expressed by any American official." She linked to her own picks for that category.
Ironically, Tancredo last week blasted Chinese Major General Zhu Chenghu for threatening a nuclear attack against the United States if the United States took certain actions first. "For a senior government official to exhibit such tremendous stupidity by making such a brazen threat is hardly characteristic of a modern nation -- particularly one planning to host the Olympic Games," Tancredo said in a press release.
Tancredo is a blogger himself, but he has not yet addressed the issue at his blog. In fact, the blog has not been updated in more than three months. Now might be a good time.
UPDATE: Tancredo answered his critics over the weekend in a Denver Post column where he took credit for starting "a national dialogue" about the best way to deter terrorists. "Many critics of my statements have characterized them as 'offensive,'" he wrote, "and indeed they may have offended some. But in this battle against fundamentalist Islam, I am hardly preoccupied with political correctness, or who may or may not be offended."
The column generated even more barbs from the blogosphere. Hewitt led the charge with another broadside: "No serious politician in the country has come to Tancredo's defense, and indeed I have not seen any credible authority on war or religion endorse this foolishness. No serious Christian theologian can endorse what is obviously an immoral threat against another faith." And Instapundit Glenn Reynolds endorsed that view as a "righteous fisking."
A blogger at the Denver paper's "Bloghouse" feature also took Tancredo to task. "He lacks the ability to reflect, to moderate, to weigh the consequences of his words and his actions," wrote television commentator Dani Newsum, a former civil rights attorney in the Colorado attorney general's office. "And the admiration he's getting from other fanatics in the U.S. and elsewhere, is only fanning his delusion of mass popularity."
Tancredo still has not addressed the issue at his long-dormant blog, but visitors there have not been shy about posting their views to Tancredo's most recent entry from April. At the last check, that entry had 983 comments.
Posted by | 01:05 PM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://amcblog.nationaljournal.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/31
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference In The Blog's-Eye: Rep. Tancredo Goes Nuclear:
» Tom Tancredo Refuses to Apologize from La Shawn Barber's Corner
Good!
Congressman Tom Tancredo, the only true conservative in Congress and the only politician on Capitol Hill who takes a hard line against illegal aliens, said that if Islamofascists upgraded to nuclear attacks, we could threaten to bomb Muslim ho... [Read More]
Tracked on July 19, 2005 01:33 PM
» Tancredo Fouls The Water (Updated) from Captain's Quarters
We have enough problems fighting the war on terror in the measured, strategic method used by the Bush and Blair administrations without Republican Congressmen recommending the bombing of sites held sacred by Muslims across the political spectrum. Yet t... [Read More]
Tracked on July 19, 2005 03:18 PM
» Tom Tancredo Refuses to Apologize from HCS's and Gen's Place
La Shawn Barber’s Corner:
I agree. All you have to do is read the interview. Don’t apologize for this one. You were speaking hypothetically.
Hugh Hewitt, The Captain, Michelle Malkin, and Baldilocks chme in.
*Update* The Instapunk weighs... [Read More]
Tracked on July 19, 2005 04:11 PM
» Hugh Hewitt takes the Norquist definition of Islam from The Pink Flamingo Bar Grill
When do they get upset about this hijacking of their religion? [Read More]
Tracked on July 27, 2005 02:44 PM
