If someone says he’s going to kill you, believe him

Jack, my favorite Retired Preacher, has republished in his blog, with the original publication's permission, a lengthy article about radical Islam's goal of creating a worldwide Caliphate governed by the purest expression of 7th Century Islamic law. Aside from generally being an interesting article, I found especially fascinating the way in which the author juxtaposed, on the one hand, direct quotations from Islamists stating clearly their hatred for America and their desire for a worldwide Caliphate cleansed of Western ideals with, on the other hand, the New York Times' repeated denials that anyone in the Arab world could really want a Caliphate. This pairing made me think of two hoary old expressions, both of which are remarkably apt here: "Denial ain't just a river in Egypt," and (see my post's title) "If someone says he's going to kill you, believe him."

As I noted at Jack's blog, my memory of history (which is pretty damn good) is that Hitler was also remarkably clear about his goals. The elite made excuses for him, rejiggered and reinterpreted his explicit pronouncements, ignored what he said, and allowed him to embark on a war that saw the deaths of more than 20 million people (including the slaughter of 6 million Jews).

As the Duchess in Alice in Wonderland might say (since she was able to find the moral in everything), "The moral of the story is that, jst because a man (or nation) is clearly insane, doesn't mean it doesn't have the ability methodically to carry out the fruits of his (or its) insanity."