Here at THE HOWLER, we’re not inclined to agree with Bill Maher’s recent ballyhooed statement. Nor did we agree with the view in real time, when mainstream pundits routinely called U.S. bombing in Kosovo "cowardly" (see THE DAILY HOWLER, 9/22/01). But talk show hosts with nothing to say have made quite a stink about Maher’s remarks. Thus have we sorry humans begun our latest demonstration of a reptilian instinct—the enduring impulse to "Kill the pig" during times of major crisis and tension.

Most micro-nitpicking of George Bush has disappeared in the past week. But certain sectors have been quite busy attempting to stomp out all "dissent." Indeed, jihad lives in the human soul, as these antagonists seem determined to show. The attacks on Maher have been the leading edge of a profoundly human—but anti-American—instinct.

Take the always-dependable Michelle Malkin, writing in today’s Washington Times. Malkin is one of three op-ed columnists (plus Greg Pierce) who used her Tuesday WashTimes piece to excoriate those with whom she disagrees about the recent events. For writers like Malkin, the bombing of the World Trade Center has become an excuse to do what they like best—to search out trivial comments by ideological foes and wage a holy war against them. In Tuesday’s Times, Arnold Beichman was slamming edited quotes by Tom Hayden and Susan Sontag from the mid-60s; Julia Gorin was complaining that liberal New Yorkers who are patriots now will shortly begin to backslide. And just how far will Times jihadists go to find a quote which they can clobber? In his "Inside Politics" column, Pierce scalded a comment he drew from LGNY, "a New York journal for homosexuals." After all, why waste time with things that matter when quotes from unknown gay mags are on-line? At times like this, jihadists peer under every bed, looking for enemies to drag out and slaughter. The Maher-hunt has been the leading edge of this idiocy, but it was all over the Times Tuesday morning.

And nobody does it like Malkin. She starts with unintentional irony. "President Bush urged citizens last week to go back to work and try to restore normalcy to their everyday lives," she writes. And she then gets back to what she does best; she scours the provinces, beating the bushes for running dogs to punish for their corrupt anti-Maothought. And these days, how hard is it to come up with people who won’t accept the current consensus? Malkin is reduced to quoting a Berkeley high school student who dared say what Michelle Malkin doesn’t think:

Malkin uses her national platform to note a troubling fact—one teen-ager has said something she doesn’t agree with. But so it goes when the spirit of jihad bubbles up from our own nation’s soul. Malkin also notes that 100 undergrads at Cal Berkeley "attempt[ed] to shut down the student-run daily newspaper" in protest of a stereotypical cartoon about Arabs. How’s your math? That’s 100 undergrads—out of a student population of roughly 30,000! At a time when we need to solve a thousand real life-and-death problems, that is the sort of thing that deeply troubles Malkin’s Holy War-lovin’ soul.

But Malkin truly shows the soul of jihad when she deals with Rep. Barbara Lee. For those who would shut down internal debate, a 420-1 vote ain’t enough; that "1" must be sought out and silenced. Lee, as you know, was the only House member who voted against a resolution last week—a resolution giving Bush the power to proceed militarily without further permission from Congress. To jihadists, the 1 is more powerful than the 420, so Malkin began to trash Lee’s soul. Here’s what she told misled readers:

But like tormented jihadists in every region, Malkin is corrupt—a cruel liar. Did Lee "blast the vast majority of Americans?" Did she say they had "embraced the evil we deplore?" Hardly—Malkin is lying. Let’s take a look at what Lee really said when she cast her vote on this measure. And then let’s consider the price we pay when the Malkins among us engage in their jihads. Here was Lee’s opening comment in the House as she prepared to "blast the vast majority of Americans:"

Amazing, eh? And then she got even nastier! Lee said that "[t]his unspeakable attack on the United States has forced me to rely on my moral compass, my conscience, and my God for direction;" before she was done, Lee even referred to "our justified anger over these outrageous acts by vicious murderers." Did she actually accuse Americans of "embracing the evil that we deplore," as Malkin, lying, told her readers? Here is what Lee actually said at the end of her statement to the House:

Lee did not "blast" the public for "embracing evil." She quoted a clergyman from the president’s prayer service, praying that we not fall into such error. In her full statement, she explained why she feared that day could come. She voiced a set of perfectly reasonable concerns (text below). Malkin pretended that Lee had said something else so she could stir up a jihad against her.

Malkin was lying about Barbara Lee. But domestic jihadists are now out in force, seeking domestic voices to silence. Maher has been the most visible example, but to Malkin, Maher’s head won’t be enough. Jihad is now running all through her brain, and she wants to silence the stray school kid too. Jihad exists all over the world—and all over the WashTimes this morning.

Next: The problem with squashing dissent.