We don't know about you, but we were not planning on having to address 'Bin Laden Was Right' craziness this week. But this is where we are. As Twitchy readers know, yesterday a disturbing trend was spotted on TikTok of thousands of people reading -- and agreeing with -- Osama Bin Laden's infamous 'Letter To America' where the terrorist explained why he attacked the United States.
As the saying goes, 'We don't want to live on this planet anymore.'
But since this happened, and since we DO live on this planet, we think it's only fair to let those people know exactly what they are agreeing with. We're all about education. Let's start very simply: Bin Laden was a horrible writer.
LOL. It's true. But that being said, let's move on to the substance of the letter and leave the rhetoric and composition notes aside for another time.
For this, we turn to Michael Young, a theorist specializing in postmodernism who goes by the handle 'Wokal Distance' on Twitter. Young has studied the roots and impacts of 'woke' for years and he offered a thorough breakdown of the letter that had so many people fascinated.
This is an important starting point. Detest Bin Laden all you want (we do), but don't underestimate his intelligence or ability to push America's buttons.
First, Bin Laden attacks aspects of our society that will resonate with conservatives.
Then, his attack shifts to issues he knows will resonate with the left. The propaganda strategy is emerging. His next step is to position himself as above all of that.
This leaves him free to then attack the Jews. Because, of course, he attacks the Jews.
The call to his faith, to his standard, will then stand as the only true path. This is what cult leaders do.
But here is the tricky part: it's all a lie.
Bin Laden was not an environmentalist. He came from Saudi oil. The last thing he would have cared about was Greta Thunberg. Nor was Bin Laden a pure person when it came to things like pornography, as Young points out.
He doesn't believe any of what he said. Any of it. He just wants other people to believe it. (Sound familiar? Like maybe, people who fly around on private jets telling you to give up all of your modern comforts?)
It's all about subversion. This is not to say that Bin Laden was a Communist, strictly speaking, but many of the same principles (oppressor and oppressed) apply, and certainly all of the same tactics do.
After pointing out all of this subversion and hypocrisy, Young then lands on the critical point:
Let those last words be a warning. Bin Laden's letter is currently appealing to many because it shows the illusion of moral strength and confidence, and many Americans (particularly young ones) have never seen moral strength before. At least not from our political leaders, nor many institutional leaders in corporate America or academia.
The letter is a complete lie, a total hypocritical manipulation, but it is important to understand why so many could be seduced by such a lie.
Mock the people who say they are taking a new look at Bin Laden (and we will), dismiss this as a TikTok fad (and it might be), but don't lose the important lesson that Young explains here. If we want to win a propaganda war, we need to arm ourselves better for it. With the truth, but also with confidence and strength.
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