Why Can't They Stick with Hatin' on the Gays?

Marc Lynch wrote an edifying post the other day about the Pope's colossal misstep and how it, as well as our administration's recent penchant for crusadespeak, have played right into Al Qaeda's hands (at least the Pope's mistake wasn't intentional, probably).

Everything which strengthens the central al-Qaeda narrative of a Crusader war against Islam serves that strategy. Al-Qaeda does not need to win support for itself as a movement for this strategy to succeed - all it needs to do is to shape the political environment towards its "clash" narrative.

This is why Bush's recent "Islamic Fascism" speeches were such a gift to bin Laden, playing right to the al-Qaeda script, and seeming to confirm al-Qaeda rhetoric over a Western "Crusade" (and don't even get started on Bush's recent "religious revival" musings). And now the Pope has jumped in to lend a helping hand to al-Qaeda. Couldn't they have just sent flowers? I don't think that this is quite what the Counter-Terrorism Center at West Point meant by "stealing al-Qaeda's playbook" - we weren't supposed to actually run al-Qaeda's plays for them.

Lynch goes on to assess Al Qaeda's successful use of the media, especially in the past year. Man, do I miss the days when gay marriage was the greatest threat to America and Christendom.