If you are like me, then you probably grew up reading DC Comic Books. You may have even watched Saturday morning cartoons. As you got older and could stay up late to watch prime-time TV you may have been one of the millions of people who were captivated by Joanna Cameron as she rushed into our living rooms once a week as Andrea Thomas a.k.a a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secrets_of_Isis#DVD_release">Isis, the unassuming school teacher who during an archeological dig happens upon an ancient Egyptian amulet.
Endowed with super-human powers, nothing was more climactic than when in the presence of danger, Andrea would call out to her God, "O Mighty Isis" and transform into an all powerful female Super hero.
Although "The Secrets of Isis" was a fictional TV show many, many years ago, the Egyptian Goddess Isis is a real religious symbol within the Egyptian and Greco-Roman world.
As I watch Richard Engle try to explain to Rachel Maddow this evening why the Mainstream Media has insisted on calling the Cowards from Iraq and Syria ISIS, it literally is turning my stomach. The reason he says... because it "sounds better"..."it rolls off the tongue better". And that's it.
There is no other legitimate reason why ISIS is being used to describe these cowards with guns other than it rolls of the tongue better than saying ISAL, which happens to be the correct acronym coined by President Obama on day one.
Table the above for a second, and allow me digress into an analogy to help illustrate where I am going with my point.
For the past 80 years, millions of America have become fond of a Football team known as the Washington Redskins. However, as times have evolved over the past couple of years, people have slowly become aware that the name "Redskins" is offensive to a certain group of Americans who have very little political power to make a fuss about it. And so thousands of other Americans who recognize the insensitive stereo-type the name represents have slowly been using their collective voices to cause awareness and a possible name change of this particular professional Sports Team.
Unfortunately, the changing of a Sports Team's name is something that can only be achieved by it's Owner, and so the fight goes on. Meanwhile the debate over mis-using titles that my be offensive to a group people has pretty much become universally rejected.
Getting back to I.S.A.L., a.k.a the cowards with guns in the Middle East. Isis is not only the real name of an Egyptian Goddess known for health, marriage and love, but Isis is part of the American lexicon associated with strength, honor and justice, used to fight evil around the world..... not be part of it.
By calling Cowards with guns by the same name that is the complete antithesis to what ISIS really represents is not only a slap in the face of every American who takes their childhood icons sand heroes serious, but I am quite sure we are pissing off every Egyptian and Greco-Roman on the planet, both domestic and abroad.
Half of the reason we a a Nation have so many enemies in other countries is because for eight years George Bush and Cheney disrespected the cultures and sovereignty of other unarmed nations and set off a firestorm of resent that continues to boil over from one administration to another.
Egypt, an ally to the U.S., has still been relatively quiet and neutral since the Six Day war with Israel of 1967. Not only that, but they have been instrumental in brokering peace deals between Israel and Palestine whenever possible.
The above being the case, last thing we need is to begin displaying a lack of reverence for another nation's Religions symbols, and risk any sort of backlash. Especially if it can be avoided by not using the name of another countries Goddess to describe a bunch of cowards with guns.
Why anyone in charge of creating the Slug-lines, and acronyms for the news agencies would choose ISIS, simply because it "sounds good" is asinine to me. It probably sounds good, because it's been part of our American lexicon for nearly 50 years. However, that is no reason to apply it to such an evil band of cowards with guns.
To all news media personnel, or C.E.O.'s of AP, CBS, NBC, ABC, (never mind Fox)....please stop calling these cowards with guns ISIS. How about we choose something more appropriate and simply call them what they really are....COWARDS.
Yeah that's it, let's make a new acronym for I.S.A.L., I propose C.O.W.A.R.D.s. which stands for Cabal Of Whacked-out Arabs Runnin' like Dogs!
- Vison