According to Andrew Schellhammer in the 26 Feb 2006 Arizona Republic letters section (who quotes the famous Barry Goldwater RNC speech) when arguing that when battling the terrorists "…extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice" and “that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.” Nice, but those words are just as wrong now as much as they were in 1964.
How would Mr. Schellhammer feel if Mr. Goldwater’s words were used to justify extremist actions by Osama bin Laden? How would he feel if Goldwater’s words were used by extremists bent on the destruction of Israel to justify their actions? How would he feel if those words were used to justify attacks on American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan? What Mr. Schellhammer fails to see is that those who wish us harm can use those exact same words to justify their actions and attacks. To turn the use of a common conservative argument, arguing for extremist views helps and encourages the terrorists. It always has and it always will. Go look at history.
Extremism and extremists are the reasons we have the problems we have today. The world would a safer place without them—on all sides and on all subjects.
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