# A leading Conservative blames Liberals for 9-11 Again ! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 16, 2007, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-leading-conservative-blames-liberals-for-9-11-again/388260 "2007-01-16T23:21:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-leading-conservative-blames-liberals-for-9-11-again/388260/1 "2007-01-16T23:21:08Z")
> [@](#): > > “In this book I make a claim that will seem startling at the outset. The cultural left in this country is responsible for causing 9/11. … In faulting the cultural left, I am not making the absurd accusation that this group blew up the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. I am saying that the cultural left and its allies in Congress, the media, Hollywood, the nonprofit sector, and the universities are the primary cause of the volcano of anger toward America that is erupting from the Islamic world. The Muslims who carried out the 9/11 attacks were the product of this visceral rage–some of it based on legitimate concerns, some of it based on wrongful prejudice, but all of it fueled and encouraged by the cultural left. Thus without the cultural left, 9/11 would not have happened.” Dinesh D’souza > **[Classical Values :: If homo lovers are liberal, then mullah lovers are...](http://www.classicalvalues.com/archives/004439.html)** > > Classical Values also > [@](#): > > Our values are quite similar to those of traditional Muslims. There’s no point chasing after “liberals” who believe in secularism and feminism and homosexual rights. Dinesh D’souza [http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZmUzZTlmNGY3ZDM5Mjg2ZWQ3ZjVmMWVmNDhkOWU0NjU=](http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZmUzZTlmNGY3ZDM5Mjg2ZWQ3ZjVmMWVmNDhkOWU0NjU=) Is there any real difference between cultural conservatives and traditional Muslims? A leading conservative believes there is no difference at all. I tend to agree. Boy, that evil feminism sure gets around. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-leading-conservative-blames-liberals-for-9-11-again/388260/2 "2007-01-16T23:48:50Z")
Am I correct in understanding this as D’sousa saying that the terrorists are striking out because the liberals had an unacceptably different cultural set, but that the conservative cultural set is not so easily distinguishable from that of the terrorists? :dubious: **That** is an insult that I would never think of making against them, made by one of their own! :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-leading-conservative-blames-liberals-for-9-11-again/388260/3 "2007-01-16T23:54:17Z")
Why does Dinesh D’Souza hate America? He hates us for our freedoms. ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-leading-conservative-blames-liberals-for-9-11-again/388260/4 "2007-01-16T23:56:53Z")
Honest question: is Dinesh D’Souza really a leading conservative? I’ve never, ever heard of him, and I pretend to be somewhat well-informed. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-leading-conservative-blames-liberals-for-9-11-again/388260/5 "2007-01-17T00:01:37Z")
He’s a fairly well-known [conservative author and commentator](http://www.hoover.org/bios/dsouza). ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-leading-conservative-blames-liberals-for-9-11-again/388260/6 "2007-01-17T00:02:58Z")
Ditto **Giraffe**. Who the hell is _looks, has no idea, copies and pastes_ Dinesh D’Souza? ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-leading-conservative-blames-liberals-for-9-11-again/388260/7 "2007-01-17T00:03:48Z")
I wouldn’t say he’s a “leading” conservative, but he’s a National Review contributor who gets around on the talk shows. He’s not an unknown. > **[Dinesh D'Souza](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinesh_D%27Souza)** > > Defunct > Gun rights > Identity politics ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-leading-conservative-blames-liberals-for-9-11-again/388260/8 "2007-01-17T00:07:44Z")
It’s a two-way street. The real reason Bush invaded Iraq had nothing to do with Saddam Hussein or WMD’s. In fact, he was actually enraged the cultural values displayed by Baghdad’s liberal elite. ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-leading-conservative-blames-liberals-for-9-11-again/388260/9 "2007-01-17T00:10:10Z")
Thanks, **Jackmannii** and **Lemur866**. Ignorance fought. End hijack. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-leading-conservative-blames-liberals-for-9-11-again/388260/10 "2007-01-17T00:17:38Z")
[QUOTE=Airman Doors, USAF] Ditto **Giraffe**. Who the hell is _looks, has no idea, copies and pastes_ Dinesh D’Souza? [/QUOTE] He’s the guy that writes all that marching band music, right? ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-leading-conservative-blames-liberals-for-9-11-again/388260/11 "2007-01-17T00:27:49Z")
[QUOTE=Miller] He’s the guy that writes all that marching band music, right? [/QUOTE] Close. This one only writes in D minor though. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-leading-conservative-blames-liberals-for-9-11-again/388260/12 "2007-01-17T00:35:47Z")
[QUOTE=Lemur866] I wouldn’t say he’s a “leading” conservative, but he’s a National Review contributor who gets around on the talk shows. He’s not an unknown. > **[Dinesh D'Souza](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinesh_D%27Souza)** > > Dinesh Joseph D'Souza (/dɪˈnɛʃ dəˈsuːzə/; born April 25, 1961) is an Indian-born American right-wing political commentator, conspiracy theorist, author, and filmmaker. He has made several films and written over a dozen books, several of them New York Times best-sellers. Born in Mumbai, India, to Indian Catholic parents, D'Souza moved to the United States as an exchange student and graduated from Dartmouth College. He was a policy adviser in the administration of President Ronald Reagan and has... [/QUOTE] I haven’t heard from him much recently, but he was a familiar talking head 5-10 years ago on shows like The News Hour with Jim Leher. I could pick him out of a police line-up with one eye closed. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-leading-conservative-blames-liberals-for-9-11-again/388260/13 "2007-01-17T00:36:28Z")
Hmmm, let’s see. (1) They hate us because of our liberal values (2) They hate us because of our freedom Therefore (3) Liberal Values = Freedom. Right? ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-leading-conservative-blames-liberals-for-9-11-again/388260/14 "2007-01-17T00:38:39Z")
[QUOTE=Giraffe] Honest question: is Dinesh D’Souza really a leading conservative? I’ve never, ever heard of him, and I pretend to be somewhat well-informed. [/QUOTE] D’Souza has sort of had his day. He is especially well-known on college campuses, as much of his writing has been about the way that liberals have allegedly run down the academy. He’s opposed to things like affirmative action and other stuff that campus liberals support. He was, as a student, editor of the student paper at Dartmouth, where he gained some notoriety for his and the paper’s conservative—some said race-baiting—views. He’s a fairly typical late twentieth century combination of cultural conservatism and free-market economics. He has faded from the public light a bit over the past five years or so, although this new book will probably bring him some new notoriety. One thing i didn’t know about him—and that is contained in his Wikipedia article—was that he allegedly dated Ann Coulter at one time. That should tell you all you need to know about him. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-leading-conservative-blames-liberals-for-9-11-again/388260/15 "2007-01-17T00:38:49Z")
God, what an idiot. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-leading-conservative-blames-liberals-for-9-11-again/388260/16 "2007-01-17T00:40:00Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] I haven’t heard from him much recently, but he was a familiar talking head 5-10 years ago on shows like The News Hour with Jim Leher. I could pick him out of a police line-up with one eye closed. [/QUOTE] Well, in a room full of Republicans, his dark skin might stand out. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-leading-conservative-blames-liberals-for-9-11-again/388260/17 "2007-01-17T01:13:05Z")
Well, I’m a conservative. I’ve posted here and had a few letters to the Editor published. That makes me about as much a spokesman as the quoted pundit. What the douchebag doesn’t realize is that extremist Islamists are against capitalism in many ways. When shitheels talk about “Western corruption”, they aren’t talking about lyrics or how someone dresses in a video or what brand of soft drink is being touted. They’re talking about the freedom of a society that allows those as well as the freedom to bitch about it. Conservatism is not a bad thing. Like liberalism isn’t a bad thing. Anything can get bastardized once you start to mix power into it. It’s all bullshit. And the quoted “conservative” in the OP is in no way a leading conservative. Do your homework. ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-leading-conservative-blames-liberals-for-9-11-again/388260/18 "2007-01-17T01:16:55Z")
> [@](#): > > And the quoted “conservative” in the OP is in no way a leading conservative. Do your homework. Um. If I were asked to name leading conservative thinkers of the last fifteen years or so, D’Souza would certainly be one who would spring readily to mind. His book _The End of Racism_ has been particularly influential. Would you say Thomas Sowell is a leading conservative? I’d roughly equate the two of them. Do _your_ homework. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-leading-conservative-blames-liberals-for-9-11-again/388260/19 "2007-01-17T01:22:16Z")
Problem is, I think a point can be made about how Western decadence (caused by both libertine behavior and capitalist driven greed) can inspire grievances in the Islamic world. Of course, you’d have a hard time seeing these points if big buckets of shit are dumped over them. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-leading-conservative-blames-liberals-for-9-11-again/388260/20 "2007-01-17T01:32:15Z")
[QUOTE=Mr. Moto] Problem is, I think a point can be made about how Western decadence (caused by both libertine behavior and capitalist driven greed) can inspire grievances in the Islamic world. Of course, you’d have a hard time seeing these points if big buckets of shit are dumped over them. [/QUOTE] Welcome back, dude. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-leading-conservative-blames-liberals-for-9-11-again/388260.md?page=2)