Sound and fury
MeTheSheeple is ever-intrigued at just how polarizing a force the Iraq war is becoming.
There's the ongoing debate about whether to "cut and run" in Iraq. There's this Boston Globe analysis piece about how the Republicans are trying to make the label stick to those wimpy Democrats. There's this Boston Globe opinion piece about how how, historically, it's the Republicans who are advocating the cut-and-run stance. Now it looks like the White House might just be studying something that looks a lot like the cut-and-run approach. However this shakes out, MeTheSheeple offers one of his favorite sets of campaign promises involving the cut-and-run approach:
1968: Richard M. Nixon: Elect me and I'll get you out of Vietnam.
1972: Richard M. Nixon: Elect me and I'll get you out of Vietnam.
Despite everything even known then about Nixon, and the obvious lack of follow-up on Nixon's campaign promise, and even the use of CREEP as an official campaign committee name, Nixon still made it.
That sort of leaves open some questions about what could happen, politically, in the fall. Expect political casualties, of course. Here's a good starting idea of Iraq's great divides:
Here's one example MeTheSheeple found intriguing. One of the concluding comments:
The Iraq war's divides aren't just to be found in blogs, either. A retired brigadier forwarded an e-mail to me that questions Murtha's credentials and honesty. Whatever the facts are, however objective analysis would influence anyone's views, it's obvious that the subjective divides in Iraq are only growing deeper.
The real shame, of course, is that all these political conundrums, attacks, slanders, misdirections, misinformation and the like will create political casualties that will influence real casualties. While the debate continues, real people on all sides or on no sides of the conflict are dying, while countless others are suffering. These are very real, not theoretical, problems. Here's to hoping some concensus will form, soon, over some good answers.
An aside: A year ago, MeTheSheeple was riding in a car to a gun range with a military veteran. Said veteran had a then-wacky idea: If all these Iraqis are so sure life was much better under Saddam Hussein, why not drop him back in power and then see how the fighting really goes? ... Now, Hussein himself seems to think maybe the Americans have that idea. Yeah, OK, he's more than a few fries short of a Happy Meal ... but as the months go by, I wonder if that family friend wasn't maybe on to something.
What was that old line? "There's a time to think and a time to act. Gentlemen, this is no time to think!"
There's the ongoing debate about whether to "cut and run" in Iraq. There's this Boston Globe analysis piece about how the Republicans are trying to make the label stick to those wimpy Democrats. There's this Boston Globe opinion piece about how how, historically, it's the Republicans who are advocating the cut-and-run stance. Now it looks like the White House might just be studying something that looks a lot like the cut-and-run approach. However this shakes out, MeTheSheeple offers one of his favorite sets of campaign promises involving the cut-and-run approach:
1968: Richard M. Nixon: Elect me and I'll get you out of Vietnam.
1972: Richard M. Nixon: Elect me and I'll get you out of Vietnam.
Despite everything even known then about Nixon, and the obvious lack of follow-up on Nixon's campaign promise, and even the use of CREEP as an official campaign committee name, Nixon still made it.
That sort of leaves open some questions about what could happen, politically, in the fall. Expect political casualties, of course. Here's a good starting idea of Iraq's great divides:
Here's one example MeTheSheeple found intriguing. One of the concluding comments:
And anon, I'm pretty sure I have a pretty good idea about what service to my country is, and Murtha has given such service in the past. That doesn't give him a free pass to say and do whatever he fancies now.That sounds remarkably as if a military veteran and U.S. Congressman has no freedom of speech.
The Iraq war's divides aren't just to be found in blogs, either. A retired brigadier forwarded an e-mail to me that questions Murtha's credentials and honesty. Whatever the facts are, however objective analysis would influence anyone's views, it's obvious that the subjective divides in Iraq are only growing deeper.
The real shame, of course, is that all these political conundrums, attacks, slanders, misdirections, misinformation and the like will create political casualties that will influence real casualties. While the debate continues, real people on all sides or on no sides of the conflict are dying, while countless others are suffering. These are very real, not theoretical, problems. Here's to hoping some concensus will form, soon, over some good answers.
An aside: A year ago, MeTheSheeple was riding in a car to a gun range with a military veteran. Said veteran had a then-wacky idea: If all these Iraqis are so sure life was much better under Saddam Hussein, why not drop him back in power and then see how the fighting really goes? ... Now, Hussein himself seems to think maybe the Americans have that idea. Yeah, OK, he's more than a few fries short of a Happy Meal ... but as the months go by, I wonder if that family friend wasn't maybe on to something.
What was that old line? "There's a time to think and a time to act. Gentlemen, this is no time to think!"
posted by MeTheSheeple at 7:16 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home