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Recovering backpacker, Cornwallite at heart, political enthusiast, catalyst, writer, husband, father, community volunteer, unabashedly proud Canadian. Every hyperlink connects to something related directly or thematically to that which is highlighted.

Tuesday 2 September 2014

Oh, snap! ISIS gets Trolled

 
  1. Can't be asked to deal with these people now. May Allah increase us all in patience.

ISIS wants you to fear them.  They're mean, beheading machines - they could be your neighbours.  They could sneak up on you in the subway, or while you're walking down the street.  They're on Youtube.
 
In some sense, ISIS is like a more lethal version of Justin Bieber.  Making ISIS fanboys the jihadi equivalent to Beliebers.
 
And guess what?  Just like celebrities with leaked nudie pictures, ISIS has been hacked.
 
It's kinda hard to be feared when you can be so easily caught with your pants down.
 
But that's just the start of it - what does ISIS do when they're punk'd?
 
You can't deal with those people, maaan.  May we all be patient, maybe pass a joint around or something.
 
So much for their Armageddon scenario.  ISIS is more like a punchline.
 
Not to make light of what ISIS is doing; they are to the Middle East now what Christian crusaders were in times past; rapists, imperialists, thugs with guns and a superiority complex.  They stand for a power-grab and are destroying lives and scarring generations to come.
 
At the end of the day, though, they are as vulnerable as any of us.  That it takes having their ass handed to them on a global digital sphere just shows how weak they are as human beings. 
 
How long do they have to torture journalists to get them to buy into a cause they were dumb enough to take on of their own free will?  Yet all it takes is one embarrassment for them to tuck tail between their legs.  Hell, the best weapon we've got against ISIS is probably Jon Stewart.
 
Imagine that scenario for a second - a small group of angry men who couldn't get dates tuck themselves into the desert to show how unfraid they are; they cut off the heads of abused men with their hands tied behind their back to show how strong they are; they hide behind masks to show how strong their belief is; they use one-way internet videos to show how confident in their message they are -
 
And then the world trolls them.  They get reduced to fart jokes and puns, and memes, and mash-ups with whatever celebrity poke is making the rounds. 
 
 In other words, their quest for a recognition of legitimacy and strength gets mocked.  They get mocked - not feared.
 
Not so easy to recruit weak souls looking to get tough by association when your brand is a joke, is it?
 

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