Friday May 14, 2004 at 12:42 PM
The Pundits Get Serious
Appearing in Seen Elsewhere
While events of the past few years have provided political pundits with an unusually deep well from which to draw thier material, the very real possibility of the United States losing the war in Iraq has provided a unique opportunity to see which of our national intelligentsia is still capable of considered thought.
It is at moments like these, when the likely outcome is so dangerously close to tragic, that our writers, critics, and commentators most clearly display their true nature. And while some of the most famous commentators are proving once and for all that they are nothing but narrow-minded ideologues whose only allegiance is to their own hatreds and overgrown egos, others are clearly demonstrating their capacity to consider new information, to change their positions, and even admit mistakes.
It is this later class to which we must focus our attention as theirs are the considered positions most likely to lead us towards a better, more hopeful, more peaceful future.
To wit, a few thoughtful quotations from recent days:
- “Leave process aside: the results are plain. On almost every issue involving postwar Iraq—troop strength, international support, the credibility of exiles, de-Baathification, handling Ayatollah Ali Sistani—Washington’s assumptions and policies have been wrong. By now most have been reversed, often too late to have much effect. This strange combination of arrogance and incompetence has not only destroyed the hopes for a new Iraq. It has had the much broader effect of turning the United States into an international outlaw in the eyes of much of the world.”
- Fareed Zakaria
“The Price of Arrogance”
Newsweek
- “We are in danger of losing something much more important than just the war in Iraq. We are in danger of losing America as an instrument of moral authority and inspiration in the world. I have never known a time in my life when America and its president were more hated around the world than today. I was just in Japan, and even young Japanese dislike us. It’s no wonder that so many Americans are obsessed with the finale of the sitcom ‘Friends’ right now. They’re the only friends we have, and even they’re leaving.”
- Thomas Friedman
“Restoring Our Honor”
New York Times :: May 6, 2004
- “We went into Iraq with what, in retrospect, seems like a childish fantasy. We were going to topple Saddam, establish democracy and hand the country back to grateful Iraqis. We expected to be universally admired when it was all over. ¶ We didn’t understand the tragic irony that our power is also our weakness. As long as we seemed so mighty, others, even those we were aiming to assist, were bound to revolt. They would do so for their own self-respect. In taking out Saddam, we robbed the Iraqis of the honor of liberating themselves. The fact that they had no means to do so is beside the point.”
- David Brooks
“For Iraqis to Win, the U.S. Must Lose”
New York Times :: May 11, 2004
Comments
Dear Mr. Robert Baxley,
Your battle is with 50+ years of the best think tanks in the world. The situation is much more dangerous than believable, it is the end game of all out nuclear war.
Why should your group be included? I mean if you are not up to date by now with logic which is backed by public available information, then why should someone bring you into the war room, the fray?
Okay, you realize the power has been stolen with lies. Now what the hell can you do to stop the button from being pressed? Get the idea, now. When a few votes were stolen and you did not stand up to stop the power from going into the hands of the thief, that was when you lost any of your control. Now, you realize later lies presents you with a big problem. Yet you still underestimate the size of the problem; and, furthermore, just asking will not return the power to your control.
Now, the bad news. Since you have been fooled, how can you trust the next, or the next, or the next President from picking up the game plan without your even suspecting. In other words, if you do wake up to reality, then what or how are you going to proceed next?
For example, how could you miss this simple logic. Bush the younger sent you out to disarm a nuclear armed person. Not very smart. If said person did have a nuke, then Bush the younger would have given the most stupid order in all recorded military history. Yet, you fell for it, and did not realize that if such order was given then that Commander-In-Chief must have been 100% sure no such weapon existed, duh.
Counter point, is it not clear that Bush the younger does not plan on giving up the power. Would he press the button? Sorry, Bush the younger has already threatened the world that he would if anyone tried to stop him. Plus, he wanted even more nuclear weapons.
Your move. If you do not believe this, then I suggest you google a little bit and learn what counter moves Russia has taken since Bush the younger's threat.
I have answers for America. But the political climate could not be farther away from getting the voting public to agree. Educate yourself as others are doing and the trail of the truth will not be dropped. But then, sooner the secrets may no longer be necessary...control has already been lost. Can you make him give back the button without pressing it? NO! Can you create a situation in which another nuclear power decides that they should press their button first? Yes.
Is there a way to become safe again, without the public? All think tanks apparently hope so, or else they would already have come out with an announcement. Or are the other think tanks remaining silent such that if an unexpected opening occurs then their people may be able to step in and grab the power for themselves.
Face it, my friend, the American people have lost their chance, for now. And as this glitch in the American system has been exposed, then the hole has also been widened for another to do the same again. Don't Ask, and Don't Tell, cause the people have to be first receptive and willing to act. Hopefully only the act of a vote will be necessary, if the chance for a vote comes around again. Holey shit, you may be surprised that events between now and the up coming election will preclude a vote for martial law and postponed election, duh. Bush the younger has the control, now you understand why things are getting worse, not bad military decisions, if you consider the goals may be the opposite of what you assume.
May we all have good luck. I agree with your proposed vote. It would be a step. Yet, it would make the situation no less of a problem should the public not see the need for some Constitutional Amendments (And they will not, so if Bush the younger is elected, then don't worry, maybe then the need for future changes in our Constitution will become apparent.).
Hell with a terrorist and one nuke. America is vulnerable to putting world destruction within the hands of an obvious IDIOT. And an ideologue commanded by voices of G-D, too.
Posted by: LonghairSteve on Fri May 14, 04