The Neglected Fifth Column Against Terror

As I read the German newspapers about three guys being arrested with 1,500 pounds of explosive material that they had allegedly planned to make bombs out of along with the news that they are allegedly Muslim militants hellbent on terror, I couldn't help but remind myself of a certain important tool against terror that has been completely underused....and that is ridicule. If everyone from the blind cleric on to Osama Bin Laden and Al-Zarqawi had been roundly and successfully mocked and laughed at for their idiocy, then they would have had almost no following by now. Instead they were made into the outlaws, the out-of-control desperados, the master criminals, the crazed zealots. All of those are things that our society has romanticized over time. Think of Jesse James, Captain Morgan, and even Al Capone. Brutal men committing brutal acts against innocent people have been an inspiration to down-and-out losers all over the world for centuries. So now we are at the point that wayward young western men are being caught playing the jihadi game, and I would bet my bottom dollar that the reason for it is the huge notoriety of the more famous terrorists.

The answer? Ridicule. We need to start making fun of these guys and need to do it fast! Otherwise, just like Manson found the unlikeliest of converts (i.e. upper-middle class white Anglo-Americans), so will Bin Laden. Believe me it's coming....unless we open a can of ruthless mockery on the asses of those who harm us.