Tancredo: Well, what if you said something like, "If this happens in the United States and we determine that it is the result of extremist, fundamentalist Muslims." You could take out their holy sites.Campbell: You're talking about bombing Mecca?
Tancredo: Yeah. What if you said, "We recognize this is the ultimate threat to the United States, so this is the ultimate response." I'm just throwing out some ideas because you would be talking about taking the most draconian measures you could possibly imagine. Because other than that, all you could do is, once again, tighten up internally.
It doesn't take a genius (or so I would have thought) to realize what a terrible idea this is, but Tancredo refuses to back down from his statement.
The situation is especially ironic when you consider this snippet of a July 14 letter from Tancredo regarding Major General Zhu Chenghu of the China People's Liberation Army:
For a senior government official to exhibit such tremendous stupidity by making such a brazen threat is hardly characteristic of a modern nation...Tancredo was responding to the General's claim that the United States would be attacked if it interfered in a war against Taiwan.
For a little background, why don't we examine Tancredo's target of choice, the holy Muslim city of Mecca. The holiest site in the Muslim religion, a pilgrimage to Mecca is required of all who are able, and between 2 and 3 million do so during the Hajj. Conservative estimates indicate that hundreds of millions of adherents pray in the direction of Mecca five times daily, or at the least believe that Mecca is a fairly important place. This includes 1.5 million citizens of the United States. Tancredo, in his infinite wisdom, thinks that the actions of a few extremist Muslims justify bombing Mecca. Well, you're a Christian, Tom. Can I assume that every other Christian on the planet believes the same as you do? In that case, can we put you all away? It sounds a bit nutty.
Since I have some time to kill, let's play the old switcheroo on his statement:
Tancredo: Well, what if you said something like, "If this happens in the United States and we determine that it is the result of extremist, fundamentalist Catholics. You could take out their holy sites.Or...Campbell: You're talking about bombing The Vatican?
Or...Tancredo: Well, what if you said something like, "If this happens in the United States and we determine that it is the result of extremist, fundamentalist Mormons. You could take out their holy sites.
Campbell: You're talking about bombing Salt Lake City?
Tancredo: Well, what if you said something like, "If this happens in the United States and we determine that it is the result of extremist, fundamentalist Mayans. You could take out their holy sites.Or...Campbell: You're talking about bombing Palenque?
Tancredo: Well, what if you said something like, "If this happens in the United States and we determine that it is the result of extremist, fundamentalist Jews, Christians, and/or Muslims. You could take out their holy sites.All it takes to realize that threats like these are nothing short of nonsense is a little critical thinking, a skill Rep. Tancredo may want to hone before he runs for president in 2008.Campbell: You're talking about bombing Jerusalem?
