Just when you'd hoped some freaky folks had done us all a favor and slipped back under the radar...

Latest news from Punditville: seeing as how their previous, post-9/11 pro-wider war Jeremiad letter to President Bush was largely ignored, a number of neo-conservative freakonauts have decided to up the ante in the PR war against "anti-American" sentiments. They're calling themselves Americans for Victory Over Terrorism (AVOT), which sounds extremely reasonable at least until you actually look at their web page, and who's on it. The list reads like a veritable who's who of hawks and undemocratic thugs, and makes me wonder what their true goals are.

Not that their stated ones are all that great. In their "Statement of Principles," AVOT claims that "The radical Islamists who attacked us did so because of our democratic ideals, our belief in, and practice of, liberty and equality. AVOT will take to task those who blame America first and who do not understand--or who are unwilling to defend--our fundamental principles."

This is complete hogwash on both counts. It makes two very annoying analytical mistakes that are way too in-vogue for my liking these days: (1) 9/11 happened because our enemies hate our principles of liberty and freedom, and (2) anyone who questions this is "blaming America." The second point is just a lame attempt by some folks to either silence dissent, or else control the national conversation by steering it towards polarization. They snidely insinuate that either you're totally with us or you're totally against us: you can't call yourself patriotic for approving of military action against terrorism on one hand, but yet ask if any foreign policy of previous - or current - Administrations led to the mess we're very clearly in.

AVOT member - and former CIA Director - James Woolsey said "We are not here to shut anybody up," but I have a hard time believing that. Especially when the point man for this dog and pony show is noted culture-vulture William J. Bennett, who's been trying to browbeat our popular culture into submission for ages. And how like Mr. Bennett to whip up yet another group aimed at making some rather dodgy scheme to cure our society of X, Y or Z look legitimate because it's got a name, a mailing address, press releases and website.

And as for the first point come on, this is getting ridiculous. Are we still stuck on that one? For the record, loud and clear - the kooks and nutjobs who attacked us did so not because we stand for freedom, democracy, fairness and equality. I don't think most of their number could have cared less if we were a freedom-lacking totalitarian state.

In fact - and I find this extraordinarily funny - those amongst the enemy who decry us for our free and open society make the same sorts of criticisms that William Bennett himself has. Our freedom allows us to express ourselves in ways that some consider indecent, vulgar and/or obscene. And we export that "pornography" to the world, "infecting" them with hypercharged, sexual imagery that tempts and corrupts young minds oh, the horror.

It is things like that which have led to our being called "The Great Satan." In some sects of Islam - most notably the one in control of Iran, where the term first gained vogue - Satan (Iblis) is not seen as an all-powerful force of unremitting evil, but instead as a tempter, and a very powerless one at that. Iblis can't make anyone do anything: all he can do is promise cheap distractions in an attempt to sway the faithful from their personal struggle to come closer to God.

And that's our notions of freedom, fairness and equality and the smut it produces: a cheap distraction. State censorship, social indoctrination and personal vigilance can take care of those little problems in Islamic states - in theory, at least - but that's not nearly as much of a danger as cruise missiles, gunboat diplomacy or billions of dollars' worth of foreign aid per year sent to the #1 bugaboo for the vast majority of radical Islam: Israel.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is where I believe the attacks had their real genesis.

They attacked us because they hate us, and they hate us either because they're crazy, or because they believe - incorrectly - that we have declared war on Islam. They think we're out to get them, and if you looked at only the questionable actions we've taken in the region, and none of the good or charitable ones, it's easy to see how folks with little access to independent news and short memories could be very easily led down that path by war-mongering wackoes in search of a one-way ticket to Paradise.

Oh dear... did I just blame America? Or did I point out - as any citizen is entitled to, courtesy of the Constitution - that maybe it was the things our government and various Administrations have done that made those aforementioned kooks and nutjobs single us out for deadly attention? Or are Democracy and freedom of speech a good thing until there's a national emergency, and then we all should just shut up and stop asking questions?

This doesn't just annoy me: it pisses me the hell off. What the heck is it with these people? Of course there are folks who are going to try and use the present problems to push a questionable agenda, but hey - guess what: it ain't just the usual leftists in the professional protest crowd who are doing it. Elected and appointed officials can use wars to get the craziest pet projects shoved through into reality with a minimum of fuss, hence the revived debate over national ID cards.

We should all be wary of this, and we should all feel free and unhindered in our right to express concern over these matters. I expect - nay, demand - the right to make my voice heard in the national debate. I will not stifle my thoughts because someone, somewhere might question something that far too many people take for granted. I will not be eyebrowed into toeing the official line by those who have obviously confused heartfelt patriotism with undemocratic conformity.

And I'll be damned on my going in and going right back out again if I submit to the malformed pipe dreams of failed and disgraced former public officials turned talking heads.

If anyone from AVOT is reading this, I double-dog dare them to put me on their little list of heathen intelligentsia. I'd consider it a high compliment to know that the likes of William Bennett & Co. consider me a threat to my own country, especially when anyone with any sense - and a real understanding of the issues at hand - can see that the exact reverse is true.

"High-fiving people who share your beliefs is easy. What's hard is accepting everyone's point-of-view without attempting to silence them." - Duane Alan Hahn