Jihadists of the right in Congress

Osama bin Laden always said he wanted to destroy America's economy (presumably to set it back to the seventh century, when Islam began). While he never achieved that goal in his lifetime, he'd probably take some pride in the work of the Tea Party conservatives in Congress. These yahoos are so determined to make their point about government spending that they're willing to risk economic catastrophe for the federal government, state and local government, domestic and foreign investors, car makers, home buyers and ordinary consumers. Enough of them are willing to allow a historic government default on its debt that they are rejecting not only the Democrats' proposals to raise the national debt ceiling but even their own party leadership's plans.

Call them "enablers" of al-Qaida or "fellow travelers" or whatever the operative phrase is in this post-Cold War world. They are making themselves the jihadists of the right wing. They can destroy the American economy without blowing up any skyscrapers or hijacking any airplanes, but their impact on the economy could be worse than anything that happened 10 years ago on 9/11. They even share some traits with the Islamic terrorists who wish to destroy us economically or any way they can — zealotry for their cause, unwillingness to compromise, contempt for their opponents and blind allegiance to their vision for the world.

The American military finally got bin Laden, who had threatened to destroy America. Now this country faces destruction from another group vowing to "save" America by pushing it off an economic cliff.

One speech won't change the world

President Obama pleaded with the Muslim world Friday in a 55-minute speech in Cairo, Egypt, that was widely praised by Western officials and moderate Muslims. Like all of his speeches, it was eloquently delivered and persuasively written. The problem is that moderate Muslims are not the ones making trouble in the world. At the same time Obama was visiting the Middle East, Osama bin Laden was issuing an audio recording calling on Muslims around the world to continue the violence al Qaida has sponsored against Western interests everywhere. Al Jazeera, the Arabic news channel, played the bin Laden tape while Obama was speaking.

Some of the reaction to Obama's speech (not quoted in the above-linked Washington Post article) showed just how far America and the West have to go to resolve the enmity felt by Muslims, especially Arabs. Obama sought to plow a middle ground, criticizing both Palestinian rocket attacks and Israeli settlements, for example, but a middle ground is unfamiliar territory in this region. One Palestinian I saw quoted lambasted Obama for defending Israel's right to exist, saying the president ignored Palestinians' "right of return."

The hatreds in this region go back many centuries. Often-violent differences between Shia and Sunni branches of Islam go back to the eighth century. One speech, even one that runs nearly an hour, is not going to resolve those differences.

Obama deserves credit for attempting to improve relations between America and moderate Arabs and Muslims, but the promoters of violence and hatred will not be won over by a speech.