archy

How to make a bad situation worse
Unbelivable. Do they even know how stupid they are?

A Colorado congressman told a radio show host that the U.S. could "take out" Islamic holy sites if Muslim fundamentalist terrorists attacked the country with nuclear weapons.

[...]

Talk show host Pat Campbell asked [Rep. Tom Tancredo] the Littleton Republican how the country should respond if terrorists struck several U.S. cities with nuclear weapons.

"Well, what if you said something like -- if this happens in the United States, and we determine that it is the result of extremist, fundamentalist Muslims, you know, you could take out their holy sites," Tancredo answered.

"You're talking about bombing Mecca," Campbell said.

"Yeah," Tancredo responded.

The congressman later said he was "just throwing out some ideas" and that an "ultimate threat" might have to be met with an "ultimate response."

Spokesman Will Adams said Sunday the four-term congressman doesn't support threatening holy Islamic sites...

Even though that's exactly what he was doing.

...but that Tancredo was grappling with the hypothetical situation of a terrorist strike deadlier than the September 11, 2001, attacks.

The next time extremist, fundamentalist Christians bomb an abortion clinic, gay bar, or the Olympics, we should "take out" their holy cities Rome and Lynchburg, Virginia. Right?

When Sen. Dick Durbin suggested that the Guantanamo Bay prison camp was a blot on American honor, Tancredo issued a splenetic press release that said "It is no wonder that the global 'hate-America' crowd continues to gain momentum around the world when people like Dick Durbin are shouting their half-baked hyperbole through megaphones on the floor of the U.S. Senate right here in Washington, DC." His message was that making unpleasant comparisons when Americans are engaged in truly repellant behavior inflames the passions of the "global 'hate-America' crowd" and therefore endangers our troops. What does suggesting bringing down a nuclear holocaust on the Muslim sacred cities do for the security of our troops? Will that same "global 'hate-America' crowd" that was driven to homicide by similes be satisfied to say, "ah, but he was only speaking hypothetically" or will they say, "the Americans have just threatened Mecca"?

I'm sure the troops will be thanking you over the next few days, Tom.