OU Zone

[Hoople]

I just got a call from Holland. My friend heard a bang this morning on his street in Amsterdam. Theo Van Gogh (descendent of the great Van Gogh) was making a film there about the abuse of women and people in general by Islamic fundamentalists and the refusal of sensible Moslems to stand up to the lunatics. As a consequence he was shot down by a Moslem (according to my friend).

The ONLY good thing I can say about Bush is that in some simpleminded, visceral way he understood the danger of Islamic fundamentalism. As a liberal and intelligent friend who lived in the middle east for ten years said to me recently - you are sadly mistaken if you think that being open minded and understanding is going to make one bit of difference to these people. The fundamentalists hate the infidels and want us dead, period. And as an article I read long ago pointed out, if it's us they hate why did they blow up Buddhist statues and why do they torture their own people.

I voted for Kerry despite my doubts that he will take this threat seriously enough and hope like hell he can rise to the occasion. This is my major concern regarding him. I have MANY concerns regarding Bush if he wins but taking terrorism seriously wasn't one of them. Oh, the lesser of two evils it was today in that booth.