Below is the portion of John McCain’s victory speech that deals with the War on… Terror? From AZCentral:
“The work that we face in our time is great, but our opportunities greater still. In a time of war, and the terrible sacrifices it entails, the promise of a better future is not always clear. But I promise you, my friends, we face no enemy, no matter how cruel; and no challenge, no matter how daunting, greater than the courage, patriotism and determination of Americans. We are the makers of history, not its victims. And as we confront this enemy, the people privileged to serve in public office should not evade our mutual responsibility to defeat them because we are more concerned with personal or partisan ambition. Whatever the differences between us, so much more should unite us. And nothing should unite us more closely than the imperative of defeating an enemy who despises us, our values and modernity itself. We must all pull together in this critical hour and proclaim that the history of the world will not be determined by this unpardonable foe, but by the aspirations, ideals, faith and courage of free people. In this great, historic task, we will never surrender. They will.
But who are they? Islamists? Radical Muslims? A Tiny Minority of Muslim Extremists? No label — not even the minced labels for jihadists that have attained some acceptability in the mainstream discourse. For its lack of specificity, the above paragraph could all but refer to the tussle between the NFL Network and the cable industry.