Stupid is as stupid does, Mr. Hanks.

Yes, that title is pretty low-hanging fruit, but I couldn’t resist after Tom Hanks said this:

Back in World War II, we viewed the Japanese as ‘yellow, slant-eyed dogs’ that believed in different gods. They were out to kill us because our way of living was different. We, in turn, wanted to annihilate them because they were different. Does that sound familiar, by any chance, to what’s going on today?

Since he’s asking, I’ll answer. No, it doesn’t sound like what’s going on today.  Nor is that a particularly fair or accurate description of what started WWII.  But as for the circumstances today,  “they” – in this case, radical Islamists – are out to kill us because our way of living is different.  We choose, aside from far too many appeasers, not to submit to Islam.  The ultimate remedy for that according to the Quran is to kill us, and a fair few of these Muslims are walking out their faith accordingly.  We, on the other hand, are not trying to annihilate them because they’re different.  We’re not even trying to annihilate them, really – the current rules of engagement disprove that theory pretty conclusively.  But we are returning fire against those who are making war against us, as one group after another has done in one fashion or another since 1979.   It’s very perplexing why the left objects to that.