Bricks and Osama

The wingnuts, in their irony, are retreating to terrorist lite. This brick, thrown into a Democratic Party office in Rochester, New York has a note attached: "Extremism in defense of Liberty is no vice."

I wonder if the man who threw that brick realizes that he's the spiritual brother of Osama Bin Laden. Bin Laden, terrorist that he is, does not perceive himself as some terrible outlaw. That much is clear from his tapes. Yet, I think, the old joke, first attributed to Winston Churchill, expresses the continuity of principle that links these two men:

Churchill: Madam, would you sleep with me for five million pounds?
Socialite: My goodness, Mr. Churchill… Well, I suppose… we would have to discuss terms, of course…
Churchill: Would you sleep with me for five pounds?
Socialite: Mr. Churchill, what kind of woman do you think I am?!
Churchill: Madam, we’ve already established that. Now we are haggling about the price.

Bin Laden, from all I have read and seen, seems to perceive himself as a Muslim freedom fighter trying to throw off the yoke of American Imperialism in the mid-east. His actions, while spectacular and more effective than the brick thrower are, on the continuity of belief, the same. That is, he believes his actions (however immoral others may find them) are justified in the name of freedom and defense of his liberty from the government of the United States. Just like the brick-thrower who refusing to consent to being governed via the process of the ballot box and the results of his democratically elected government.

Ironically, Bin Laden has the more intellectually sustainable position. He, as an Arab, is not given a say in the government of the United States and his roles are, consequently, limited to "victim" or "freedom fighter." Whereas our brick-thrower could engage in the political process and make a change.