An absolutely clueless Newsweek article mocks President Bush for being aware of the goal of the Islamic fascists: Caliwho ? Bush’s Favorite New Word: ‘Caliphate’.

Oct. 12, 2006 - When President George W. Bush starts using fifty-cent words in press conferences, one has to wonder why [Yes, after all, he’s just a stupid chimp, isn’t he? —ed.], and on Wednesday, during his Rose Garden appearance, he used the word “caliphate” four times. The enemy, he said—by which he clearly meant the Islamic terrorist enemy—wants to “extend the caliphate,” “establish a caliphate,” and “spread their caliphate.” Caliphate? Really? Many people live long, fruitful lives without once using the word caliphate. Almost no one, with the exception of our president and some of his advisers, uses it as a pejorative.

After asserting that there’s nothing negative about a “caliphate” (which is, of course, the Islamic domination of the world), the authors of this piece, amazingly, proceed to tell us that Osama bin Laden uses the term as a “weapon.”

Well, I suppose that’s not technically a “pejorative.”

In fairness, Bush isn’t the first person in recent history to appropriate the word caliphate and use it as a weapon. Osama bin Laden did it himself, most notably three years ago, in his statement to the United Sates via Al-Jazeera. “Baghdad, the seat of the caliphate, will not fall to you, God willing,” he said, “and we will fight you as long as we carry our guns.” Bin Laden’s rhetoric evoked, as it often does, an earlier, golden era of Islam, one that exists more in his imagination than in the lawless, crumbling city of Baghdad today. Backers of the war in Iraq—Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, not to mention hawks like Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania—jumped on the word and used it in speeches dozens of times.

“Jumped on the word?” Why, how hawkish of them! How dare they take Osama bin Laden at his word?

And no mainstream media whitewash of radical Islam is complete without a quote from the Council on American Islamic Relations (one of whose founders was sentenced to more than 6 years in prison yesterday for supporting terrorism):

Parvez Ahmed, chairman of the Council on American Islamic Relations, says bin Laden’s word choices distort Islam for the world, and he wishes the president would take more care. When Ahmed heard “caliphate” Wednesday morning, he thought of the way Bush used the word “crusade” after September 11. “There’s a fundamental misunderstanding with the president and his advisers on core Islamic issues,” Ahmed said. “He’s getting bad advice, they’re misinformed on Islamic terminology.” Either that, or he’s making a strategic rhetorical choice.