My Own Private Idaho

This is the final installment for awhile, I promise, concerning my trepidation about the American Taliban, otherwise known as Christian fundamentalism. Call it coincidence or Providence but I return home to find the new Harpers and in it an article titled Through A Glass Darkly: How the Christian Right is Reimagining US History by Jeff Sharlet. Perhaps Renegade Eye is correct that this is just another sign of the movements "loudness" rather than it's actual power but when they describe their "theocentric" world view, with a whole industry cranking out revisionist history and religious curriculum for homeschoolers and Christian academys and colleges, when I hear of the near mythical status bestowed on people like Andrew Jackson and Douglas Mc Arthur, I can't help but think the Left needs to pay attention and come up with an aggressive response. These folks know full well that ,as Orwell put it, "those who control the past ,control the future while those who control the present , control the past." Then there is Major General Jack Catton saying that he sees his position as an advisor to the Joint Chief of Staff as a "wonderful oportunity" to evangelize men and women setting defense policy. For them the state has one legitimate function, that of the sword. "Another favorite of Christian history was Sergeant Alvin York, who in WWI turned his trigger finger over to God and became perhaps the greatest Christian sniper of the twentieth century."

Speaking of Wars to End All Wars, I want to throw in a rejoinder to the VietNam thing from yesterday. The War on Iraq brings up all kind of war analogies on the hawk blogs, we learn not to appease from Churchill, not to listen to hippies or the media from Nam, and this morning Rep. Duncan Hunter (R,Cal.) was warning his dem colleagues not to "sell us down the river" but to stand up against adversity like Ronald Reagan did when facing down the commies in the Evil Empire! He also reminded us how Ronnie (the Right's God) didn't falter when things looked tough in El Salvador! And now, thanks to Him, "hundreds of millions of people live in freedom and democracy"! Jaw dropping stuff. Totally straight face.