Wake Up, Little Peter, or, The Twilight Struggle Between Pedantry And Common Sense Continues...

Can "wake-up call" mean "Unexpected but important warning? We face these tough calls every day.

Peter Beinart, writing in The Atlantic, vigorously disputes the notion that the ISIS attacks represent an attack on Western civilization.

And he may make some excellent points! However, I am stalled at the third paragraph of his introduction:

ISIS Is Not Waging a War Against Western Civilization

A primer for Marco Rubio

...

At least Marco Rubio didn’t answer the attacks in Paris by demanding that the United States accept only Christian refugees. He left that to Ted Cruz.

But given the Florida senator’s reputation in GOP circles as a foreign-policy wonk, it’s worth looking in some detail at just how ridiculous his response was.

“The attacks in Paris,” Rubio began, “are a wake-up call.” Forgive the pedantry, but this is among the stupidest clichés in politics. Wake-up calls are things you plan yourself because you want to be awoken from your slumber at a set time, usually by a hotel clerk. The Paris attack was a horrific surprise orchestrated by France’s enemies. It wasn’t a “wake-up call” unless you believe its ultimate author was France itself.

Forgive the pedantry? Not likely! Is Rubio really blazing new ground by using that tired metaphor to mean "an unexpected alert"? Maybe Mr. Beninart could tell us which wordsmith used that very image to describe the ISIS approach to the gates of Baghdad in June of 2014:

So any action that we may take to provide assistance to Iraqi security forces has to be joined by a serious and sincere effort by Iraq’s leaders to set aside sectarian differences, to promote stability, and account for the legitimate interests of all of Iraq’s communities, and to continue to build the capacity of an effective security force.  We can’t do it for them.  And in the absence of this type of political effort, short-term military action, including any assistance we might provide, won’t succeed. 

So this should be a wake-up call.  Iraq’s leaders have to demonstrate a willingness to make hard decisions and compromises on behalf of the Iraqi people in order to bring the country together.  In that effort, they will have the support of the United States and our friends and our allies.

Wow, the Shi'ite leaders of Iraq planned the ISIS offensive? That is a heck of an allegation, if that is what Mr. Beinart wants to imagine was being said. Or (SPOILER ALERT - of course it was Obama) maybe Obama was employing the same lame metaphor as Rubio.

Or here we go from August 9 of 2014; the topic is still ISIS, and who said it?:

So the upshot is that what we’ve seen over the last several months indicates the weaknesses in an Iraqi government. But what we’ve also seen I think is a wake-up call for a lot of Iraqis inside of Baghdad recognizing that we’re going to have to rethink how we do business if we’re going to hold our country together.

Of course that was Obama. And here we go again, from August 28 2014:

It also means that states in the region stop being ambivalent about these extremist groups.  The truth is that we’ve had state actors who at times have thought that the way to advance their interests is, well, financing some of these groups as proxies is not such a bad strategy.  And part of our message to the entire region is this should be a wake-up call to Sunni,to Shia -- to everybody -- that a group like ISIS is beyond the pale; that they have no vision or ideology beyond violence and chaos and the slaughter of innocent people.  And as a consequence, we’ve got to all join together -- even if we have differences on a range of political issues -- to make sure that they’re rooted out.

I know the collapse of Sunni Iraq to the junior varsity in 2014 was a big story and the President's reactions made news. Still, I have yet to unearth Mr. Beinart's criticism of Obama's metaphor selections. But the day is young!

Well. Maybe this incident will serve as a wake-up call to Mr. Beinart's editors to focus on the substance of the argument and to avoid easily mocked pedantic silliness.

JUST SAYIN': Please don't think I am out of ammunition after a mere three citations; I picked on Obama waking up to the ISIS threat but he, the country, the world, or the UConn Huskies have been woken up to Ebola, climate change, job losses, energy, and losing to Stanford (hard to imagine the Huskies scheduled that in advance.)

And when Mr. Beinart is done absorbing the news about the rhetorical shortcomings of our Wordsmith-in-Chief he can tackle Ms. Obama, describing the stresses of motherhood:

And one day, my pediatrician pulled me aside and told me, “You might want to think about doing things a little bit differently.”

That was a moment of truth for me.  It was a wakeup call that I was the one in charge, even if it didn’t always feel that way.

I can quit anytime. Mr. Beinart can go argue with Adam Levine about whether "Wakeup call" can mean "Unexpected warning".

 

 

 

Comments

[Thomas Collins]

It's an attack that is part of a war on anyone who doesn't accept the external aspect of jihad (imposition of sharia law in a caliphate and dhimmitude for those who don't accept Allah). It's really so simple that one needs to be a gentry credentialed moron not to be able to understand the center of gravity of the various terrorist attacks by Muslims.

[Thomas Collins]

But on a different note, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR MAXIMUM LEADER!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DK0AlvUrW7g

[Thomas Collins]

Beinart is exhibiting shoddy thinking. He attempts to refute the notion that Islamic State is conducting a war against western values by pointing out that Islamic State has spent a long time limiting its action to parts of Iraq and Syria. Yes, Mr. Beinart, if Muslims are trying to establish a caliphate, one needs to spend a great deal of effort controlling the territory that will constitute the caliphate. That is not at all inconsistent with a war on Great Satans who won't accept sharia law, especially when murdering the Great Satans will attract followers and enhance a reputation as being the strong horse.

[jimmyk]

From earlier this morning on the last thread:

How long have we been hearing about "No Go Zones" in the Paris suburbs...and what were they thinking would come from that?

I also remember that there were those on the left who vigorously asserted that no-go zones were an urban myth, present only in the overheated imaginations of wingnuts. Now we have explicit confirmation of no-go zones in Belgium, how different can the Paris banlieus really be?

[narciso]

and SJM, to prevemt any confusion, has been on the radar since the Madrid bombing, so what has been their excuse,

[jimmyk]

I agree with Beinart that "wake-up call" is a tired cliche, just not for the pedantic reason he cites. Just because it is. But thank you TM for noting the double standard. I'd like to search Beinart's own writing for use of the term, but I'll settle for Barry, the king of tired cliches, as well as of straw men.

[Cecil Turner]

America’s domestic freedoms, precious as they are, don’t have much to do with it.

Really? Let's test that notion. Would Beinart care to publicly burn a Koran? Publish a Mohammed cartoon?

Yeah, didn't think so.

[Thomas Collins]

I think, jimmyk, most people who ignore the obvious signs of Islamicization, such as no-go zones, are simply clueless. But there are people, such as Obama, who truly believe that a conciliatory approach to the Muslim world, and an approach of ignoring creeping (in some places galloping) imposition of no go zones and sharia law is the way to peace. It's only a way to peace, however, if one wants to live one's life as a dhimmi.

[narciso]

first link, I'm sure Peter Rabbit was sure to denounce,

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2015/09/02/first-president-arctic-obama-issues-wake-up-call/71624148/

[Cecil Turner]

BTW Tom, you left the "l" out of struggle (and happy birthday).

[narciso]

if anyone is trite and unoriginal,

http://www.aol.com/article/2015/09/10/michelle-obama-talks-nutrition-and-wakeup-call-moment-in-her-familys-past/21234056/

[narciso]

sometimes, you keep the snooze alarm on, you know:

http://www.cnn.com/videos/topvideos/2014/07/18/tsr-dnt-acosta-obama-on-plane-crash.cnn-ap

[GMax]

How did Beinart release the suction of his lip lock on the bony @ss of Zero to allow him to write such dismissive prose? These progs seem a bit desperate dont they? Maybe they should return to telling us how a free ride at the military academies is not a scholarship, forgetting that the academies themselves describe them with just that word.

[Cecil Turner]

Obama doesn't need a debate on strategy because he has, you know, experts working for him:

“I can’t afford to play some of the political games that others may,” Mr. Obama said. “We’ll do what’s required to keep the American people safe. It’s entirely appropriate for us in a democracy to have a debate about these issues. If they think that somehow their advisers are better than the chairman of my Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the folks who are actually on the ground, I want to meet them.”

The problem of course isn't that he doesn't have actual experts working for him, it's that he just doesn't listen. Because he's smarter than they are:

The White House takes pride in the fact that Obama’s PDB is “not briefed to him” – because, they say, he is “among the most sophisticated consumers of intelligence on the planet.” That hubris brings to mind this revealing quote from a September 2008 New York Times profile of Obama:

“I think that I’m a better speechwriter than my speechwriters,” Mr. Obama told Patrick Gaspard, his political director, at the start of the 2008 campaign, according to The New Yorker. “I know more about policies on any particular issue than my policy directors. And I’ll tell you right now that I’m going to think I’m a better political director than my political director.”

So it should come as no surprise that apparently Barack Obama thinks he’s a better intelligence briefer than his intelligence briefers.

And now, a better strategist than his strategists.

[Jane]

Happy Birthday TM!

Ugh Cecil!

[Jeff Dobbs]

How about some wake up calls from within the hallowed halls of The Atlantic...

Jeffrey Goldberg:
http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/09/a-wake-up-call-for-environmentalists/244723/

David Rohde:
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/08/how-the-us-failed-james-foley/378863/

Deborah Fallows:
http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2015/08/a-library-of-good-ideas/400259/

Shirley Li:
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/03/the-next-cybersecurity-target-medical-data/388180/

Mark Penn and Bob Baer:
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/07/has-america-entered-an-age-of-impossibility/373744/

[Momto2]

DId he REALLY say this?

“What I’m not interested in doing is posing or pursuing some notion of ‘American leadership’ or ‘America winning”

[Gentlejim]

You guys are good. I was trying to catch up on the prior thread reading posts about 404's presser and was mentally trying to organize a post about Queeg and frozen strawberries when all of a sudden Queeg and strawberries appear. Fantastic.

[Beasts of England]

Nice to see Momto2 commenting again!

[Comanche Voter]

Barack and Moochelle got the wakeup call that they can order up Air Force One for a vacation or a round of golf anytime the thought or desire percolates through their head.

Neither one got the wakeup call that "being large and in charge" means you actually have to do any work or take any responsibility for what you do. Or in their case, mostly don't do.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Anyone doubt Pedant Beinart's voluminous buffoonery contains the offending phrase used in precisely the same way?

[GMax]

Well Texas, Arkansas and Indiana have joined Michigan and Alabama with Governors announcing no Syrian refugees for the foreseeable future. I am expecting around 31 such announcements, maybe 32 with the Indy in Alaska onboard, and then the rest of the blue hells can take the influx. I am sure the Democrats who voted them in will not mind a bit, heck their Presidential candidates dont even know how to pronounce Islamic extremists...

[Jane]

Do we have any options?

[GMax]

Pendajo Beinart seems more appropriate from my seat in this chair...

[Thomas Collins]

Although Massachusetts has a GOP Guv, the karma here is so blue that I suspect we'll be settling more jihadists in our midst.

[Dave (in MA)]

I keep getting 404s. Did JOM sign up for Obamacare?

[Momto2]

Nice to see Momto2 commenting again!

Thanks! I'm a regular lurker - normally can't add much to the brilliance of 99% of the posters (excluding you know who) ....this press conference just got me all stirred up! Thanks for letting me vent!

[Peter]

Happy Birthday Mr. Maguire.

[Buckeye]

"blue hell can take the influx"

Preferably in thier sanctuary cities.

[Rick Ballard]

GMax,

It would be nice if the list of sanctuary cities, with accompanying maps and phone numbers of social services, could be provided in the headchopper refugee camps.

[Jack is Back!]

I didn't hear all of the presser but was it the first more challenging Q&A from the press corps? It sure seemed like it was getting close the Rather-Nixon moment. Any comments?

[Jack is Back!]

...to the Rather-Nixon moment.....

[henry]

Saw a tweet (forwarded by our lurking friend) that the Mass gov has a conditional block on refugees (pending better vetting).

[glasater]

Those 'no-go' zones in the capitals of Europe are not sustainable (hate that term) without the 'host' surrounding them. I'd like to see that logic pointed out to the muslims living there but that thinking doesn't often reside between those peoples ears.

[Buckeye]

So in September, Kasich was all for letting the refugees in.

Now he says no way.

Glad to see he has remained principled.

[GMax]

Must have gotten some mail delivered his way!

[Gentlejim]

JiB,
I can't believe it only took 9 years for the press to toss him something other than a softball. Would think someone would have grown a set earlier.

[Buckeye]

JiB

I was waiting for him to take his shoe off and start banging the podium.

[Texas Liberty Gal]

This makes me very happy!!! Steve King is endorsing Sen. Ted Cruz!!

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/major-iowa-endorsement-steve-king-picks-ted-cruz/article/2576438

[Rick Ballard]

The "no go zones" are very similar to our slave pens. It's just 'humane' predator/vermin control, meant to provide cheap prey.

There aren't any fences, so it's actually an intelligence test for the prey.

[glasater]

Well, RickB, I should have better said "self sustaining".. And thanks!

[Appalled]

TM:

It is my habit to boldly go where many of the rightish persuasion dare not, and wave at others to follow. In this case, I recommend stalling, perhaps, at the pop up ad, and then wandering off to your sports blog of choice.

Beinart's article is the sort of pedantic sneer work one would expect of pajama boy, where Rubio's word choice decisions are parsed, deconstructed, and disparaged, to no particularly useful end. Which is a bit of a joke -- considering that the title's lead sneer -- in which Mr. Beinert labors to assure us that Isis is not warring on all of the West for, um reasons, but only France and the US because we're meanies -- is a pretty unfortunate word choice too. I take Isis at it's word that they want to see us burn, and that their project is the forcible conversion of the West to Islam. It seems really dense to suggest that Isis, if they were sincere about that, ought to concentrate on Costa Rica just as much as France (big unhappy Muslim population), and the US (big propaganda victory).

The elite wonders at the popularity of buffoons like Trump. They should check their buffoon privilege before wondering much more.

[glasater]

Hollande has asked the French people to change their constitution to give him more control in fighting terror. Wonder when BOzo will ask for the same thing here.

[Jeff Dobbs]

Janet:
DId he REALLY say this?

"If they think somehow their advisers are better than the Chairman of my Joint Chiefs of Staff and the folks who are actually on the ground, I want to meet them,” Obama said. “And we can have that debate. But what I’m not interested in doing is posing or pursuing some notion of American leadership or America winning or whatever other slogans they come up with that has no relationship to what is actually going to work to protect the American people and to protect the people in the region who are getting killed and to protect our allies and people like France. I’m too busy for that."

[Janet]

All the refugees will end up in Virginia once the sensible governors say NO.

[Thomas Collins]

I'm sure the Bay State will relieve some of your burden, Janet. And the jihadists will get free tuition to the UMass system schools. That's my prediction.

[clarice]

Obama has the same views as those of any sophomore at a tenth rate school like Hamilton College--he quite obviously thinks the troubles in the Third World are due to imperialist Western nations, and not because of cultural and social structure differences . If you think that way you'd see why he wants to make it up to them and why multiculturalism rings a bell with him.

[Jane]

He thinks it's because of climate change. Big arguments that it's all caused by the Syrian drought. No word on why it's only one group of terrorists.

[clarice]

So far-these governors say no to the refugees:Mass., Ill, Arkansas, Louisiana, Indiana. )Call home guys)

From Taratno BOTW today (read it al)Mrs. Clinton is quite right to emphasize that we’re “not at war with Islam” or “with all Muslims.” Perhaps it even overstates the case to say we’re at war with “radical Islam.” But it is an act of willful ignorance to deny that the enemy’s ideology is Islamic, or even (as per Mrs. Clinton) that the enemy has an intelligible ideology at all.

Yet Mrs. Clinton isn’t even consistent in her denial. It appears she doesn’t know enough to be politically correct. Note that the exchange began with Dickerson quoting her describing ISIS as “radical jihadists,” a term she used earlier in the debate. What exactly does she think jihad is a pillar of? She might as well say she loves Christians but can’t abide trinitarians.

Given all this, it’s hard to deny that Ed Rogers’s and Steve Clemons’s foreign interlocutors had a point in faulting the U.S. for its lack of leadership. Then again, when the U.S. was leading, 12 to 14 years ago, one suspects they were not among those who eagerly followed.

[clarice]

http://www.wsj.com/articles/non-islamic-jihadis-1447699286

[clarice]

Also, Texas--no go on the jihadi plague ships.

[clarice]

Also, Michigan

Call and spread the rebellion if you live in one of these states:http://www.nga.org/cms/home/governors/staff-directories--contact-infor/col2-content/governors-office-addresses-and-w.default.html

[Miss Marple 2]

Just heard Maine was saying no to Syrian refugees, too.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

--From Taratno BOTW today (read it al)Mrs. Clinton is quite right to emphasize that we’re “not at war with Islam” or “with all Muslims.” Perhaps it even overstates the case to say we’re at war with “radical Islam.”--

Not sure I agree with him here.
Were we at war only with militant Nazis? Did we declare war on expansionist Nazism?
We declared war on Germany proper and waged total war on all of it and its puppets, declaring any collateral civilian damage unfortunate but not a deterrent to that total war.

We are at war with Islamic states such as Iran and their offshoots and proxies. They do not adhere to a radical interpretation of islam but to its mainstream and orthodox doctrines.
When in the ascendancy they have always advanced islam via the sword, and in its more dormant state, a state that only exists when enforced by the outside world, have waited patiently to put infidels at the point of the sword again when they can.

Are there peaceful muslims? Sure, just as most cancer cells are relatively harmless but still make up the mass of the tumor that kills you and is created by the virulent stem cells that do the real work.

[Tom Maguire]

I'd like to search Beinart's own writing for use of the term...

I had no luck - it is a pretty tired phrase, maybe fatigued from being woken too early - but Barry seemed like a good substitute.

Re "..left the 'l' out of Strugge"

I blame my aging eyes. But does this mean others don't celebrate their birthday by Cutting the Rug with a Sunrise Strugge? Huh.

[squaredance]

You misuse the term "pedantry"here - this is only "pedantry" in a very minor sense, and even here it is used only rhetorically.

I think what you really mean is "casuistry"

Of course, what is really going on here is just plain, old sophistry, and with all the usual tricks we expect out of the left.

The reaiy pint is to distract, divert and suppress all the rest of us from stopping the destruction of our nation, civilization, and, truth be told, our race.

they do not do this to distract us from their "failures" in the ME, but rather to distract us from what they are actively pursuing there and elsewhere.

ISIS, the import of Muslims, the push for illegal immigrants, Iran, and climate change perfidy are all of a piece. They are linked aggression against us.

It may be insanity, and it is certainly immoral, but is is not mere incompetence, not from Obama and his patrons, clients and supports points of view.. One need to understand their ultimate program and project.

Obama actually let it out of the bag--it is not about "American Leadership"or "America Winning". NO, not at all.

This is not "disinterest" on his part; it is will and treasonous aggression. It is about our final destruction. This is why he was placed in the White House in the first place.

We must understand that "debating" their points has but limited utility. We must see this for what it is: propaganda, agit-prop and pure verbal assault, all with the most violent and destructive intent. They must be called out on this now.

We need to face them squarely and stop the jabbering.