bin Laden's video pitch to the left..

the mainstream media are calling this a "rambling" message, but if you've ever read any of the transcripts released by al-queada, it's pretty much par for the course. actually, it's less rambling than usual, because the usual sermon to us infidels contains huge helpings of Koranic wisdom, and not so much "political science".

bin Laden makes his appeal to the american left in many ways:

1. Bush's attack mode on the "religion of peace" has eroded our standing in the world:

"Since the 11th, many of America's policies have come under the influence of the Mujahideen, and that is by the grace of Allah, the Most High. And as a result, the people discovered the truth about it, its reputation worsened, it's prestige was broken globally and it was bled dry economically, even if our interests overlap with the interests of the major corporations and also those of the neoconservatives, despite the differing intentions."

..a little dig at "Big Oil", perhaps?

2. The Mainstream Media carries the water for Corporate America:

"And for your information media, during the first years of the war, lost its credibility and manifested itself as a tool of the colonialist empires."

(they must ONLY get FOXnews in Tora Bora or wherever the hell he is...)

3. Iraq is a "civil war":

"And thus, what is called the civil war..."

notice that not even bin Laden acknowledges that the situation is indeed a civil war..

4. The sins of the white man's past will always dog us in the present.

reacting to a statement by Richard Perle to the effect that if we leave Iraq, we'll face a holocaust:

"I say, refuting this unjust statement, that the morality and culture of the holocaust is your culture, not our culture....The holocaust of the Jews was carried out by your brethren in the middle of Europe...The genocide of peoples and their holocausts took place at your hands: only a few specimens of Red Indians were spared, and just a few days ago, the Japanese observed the 62nd anniversary of the annihilation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by your nuclear weapons."

5. The Democrats' seizure of Congress was a mandate to end the war in Iraq.

"...the vast majority of you (americans) want it stopped. Thus, you elected the Democratic Party for this purpose, but the Democrats haven't made a move worth mentioning..."

bin Laden's explanation for this is that the corporations/big money supports the entire political process in a democratic system of government, so the politicians have to do what they are told by their corporate masters. this, by the way, explains Vietnam, and also the JFK assassination (the corporations were fearful that Kennedy would try to abort the Vietnam effort, so they had him killed).

i highlighted "Democratic" above because bin Laden is savvy enough to know that's what the Democrats like to be called when used in conjunction with "Party".

6. Noam Chomsky knows what he's talking about.

"This war was totally unnecessary, as testified to by your own reports. and among the most capable of those from your own side who speak to you on this topic and on the manufacturing of public opinion is Noam Chomsky, who spoke sober words of advice prior to the war, but the leader of Texas doesn't like those who give advice."

Which is why, he goes on further to explain, mass anti-war demonstrations are futile...because Bush won't listen.

7. Global Warming is a bigger threat than terrorism (and it's caused by corporations).

"...It has become clear that they (corporations) are the real tyrannical terrorists. In fact, the life of all of mankind is in danger because of the global warming resulting to a large degree from the emissions of the factories of the major corporations..."

he also feels our pain in the current "mortgage crisis"...


So, bin Laden was doing pretty good up until that point. i can picture my liberal friends saying "y'know, he's making a lot of sense here". Then, in my opinion, he overreaches and makes his pitch for ditching democracy and replacing it with Islamic rule, and then COMPOUNDS this overreach with the argument that, under Islam, you PAY NO TAXES. Hey, Osama...you blew it.

Now, about that beard...


UPDATE 9/9/07: since i made this post i see that this same theme is making the rounds all over the internet. this is an alarming development to the Soros/Clinton funded "ThinkProgress" media-watchdog site. their especially enraged about NYT columnist David Brooks' comments on PBS (video at thinkprogress).