When it all gets boiled down, and all of the other superficial and substantive issues are peeled away – this is the choice that this country will be making over the next decade. Not just now – whether to (gulp) pursue impeachment charges against Cheney, Gonzalez or even Commander Guy himself, but also in 2008 and beyond.
There are a number of differences – some very stark differences – between those of us on the left (and the sane ones among us who may not be “on the left” per se), and those rabid chest thumping not thinking past the words coming out of their mouths chickenhawk fingerpointing bloviating warmongering blowhards who are all about “staying on offense”.
Even with the differences in the approach towards education, religion, healthcare, the environment, reality (sorry, trying to be nice here) – the biggest life and death issue – one where people are sent off to kill and die, and whose actions cause others to kill or die as well as die by virtue of displacement, starvation or whatever other means – is that of war.
Or bombings, military action, surgical strikes, shock `n aweTM, “keeping all options on the table” – whatever you want to call it.
You would think the answer is obvious. A full two-thirds of Americans want a troop reduction in Iraq. And regardless of what anyone’s opinion is of whether Iran has a right to a nuclear program, Iran apparently (once again) is looking to have a meeting of the minds. Throw in the little petrol rationing in Iran and the blowback there, and it is pretty safe to say that chief saber rattler Ahmadinejad is looked about as highly upon in Iran as Bush is here.
Yet, Bush is still pressing for a missile shield in Europe which pissed off Putin and Russia. And Rice has to deny that Cheney wants to bomb Iran. Over in Afghanistan US led airstrikes (always a great way to fight an insurgency) killed dozens of civilians.
Always most dangerous are those who are backed into a corner when their cover is blown (and yes, that is for you Yoda fans out there).
Of course, we can’t forget the next crop – McCain talking about military options on Iran (after his unforgettable Beach Boys impression). Rudy’s “stay on offense” line of crap means that he completely misunderstands the dynamics of Islamic fundamentalists, why we were attacked (in the city he was in charge of) and why invading other countries won’t make things better. And there is Fred Thompson and his gem of a comment regarding those Cuban’s with suitcase nukes.
Um, is this what we have to look forward to for another eighteen months? Who can try to be tougher but actually out-dumb the rest?
Even Democrats are forced into talking tough, even though some may actually like it. But do you think that anyone dared think to ask John F. Kennedy if he would “take any options off the table” with respect to Russia and Cuba? I think not. Yet, instead of issues and talking in terms of reality, the debate is shifted to “how willing are you to bomb the shit out of another country if it looks at us funny?”
I was away on vacation this past week, and got to watch some BBC News, as well as a whole lot more CNN than I would have liked to (but there was nothing else on in the airport today). And the whole mentality of the US – especially in comparison to the UK – the country who was impacted these past couple of days was stunning. Some talking meatstick even asked Gordon Brown why he thought that London was targeted instead of Washington DC or New York. Is it ALWAYS about the US? Did this idiot feel jealous that it was the UK and NOT the US?
It is obvious that this administration has no clue (willfully or not) what it is doing with respect to Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, North Korea or just about anywhere else. It is evident that chest thumping words (remember “bring em on”?) only cater to the morans. However, the morans have been in charge for way too long.
It’s time to change the debate. No more of this “yes, I would never take any option off the table” nonsense. No more “we must stay on the offensive”. No more hypocrisy. No more horseshit.
It is much more simple than all of that. This country does not like the “war” in Iraq. This country is even wary of going to war with Iran. This country is starting to realize that “the other war” in Afghanistan is going real poorly. This country is starting to realize (other than those who knew all along) that our military is at a breaking point and that war not only isn’t working but really sucks.
That is where the debate should be. Does this country want to remain at war or in ill-advised major military conflicts indefinitely? Does this country want to risk nuclear war by continuing its aggression in all corners of the globe?
I don’t think the country does. And if that is the case, there is only one road to go down. Now, next year, and over the next decade. The choice couldn’t be clearer.
also in orange
long-term strategy? I think the Rovian-Republican strategy of invoking fear in Americans from/against all kinds of evil bogeyman has paid off well in the last few elections. However, I do not believe that people like to constantly live in fear. Sooner or later they realize that the party in power is either not solving the fear generator problem or the party in power is crying WOLF too often. Therefore, in a two party system, the only alternative even for many Repubs, is to oppose the fear mongering generators after all this time. Maybe that is equivalent to your forever war scenario.
How do other feel about the chances that Repub constant fear mongering can still be effective now after 6 years of the war on terror with no signs of it ending under Repub rule?
All it will take is some blonde bombshell blown up in a giant mall to perpetuate the docile behavior engendered in the last 25 years of neocon political control.
Do we really think China, Japan, et al., holding our debt, will let this perpetual war go on and on without their just rewards? To me, this is the big issue beyond 2008. In fact, if Cheney declares martial law and suspends the elections, will the US become a renegade nation and refuse to pay it’s debts? We are a very powerful lynchpin in the global economy. If it is pulled for any number of reasons, 194 national economies go down with ours, in varying degrees.
With an education of a 7th grader amongst average US citizens who are basically isolationists/narcissists, can we expect the country to rise up against it’s 1% and take the reigns of government? Will Big Media loosen it’s grip on news and inform rather than entertain? I think the answer to these questions is NO. It’s a bleak future. We’ve been hearded like beef to the slaughter with the “free market” rule of law that has superceded all government, and we’ve spread it across the globe. Unrestricted capitalism/free market thinking has become the immoral Beast, one not easily slayed.
The hope is in unifying our consciousnesses on the Doctrine of Sharing. To share our wealth and graces will transform this utter pig mess into some coherence. Our planet is suffering gravely, and that will be the finale of our selfish materialism embodied in “free market” thinking, when CO2, sea level and weather changes completely disrupt the normal rhythms of our civilizations.
The country’s not being asked to commit to perpetual war, we’re being asked to commit to perpetual war for NOTHING.
Tragically, I suspect there are likely to be tens of millions of people here in the US who do in fact welcome perpetual war. Militia-minded nutbirds and other small groups of ignorati make up part of this group but I believe the biggest segment of those who support onging war are in fact the Armageddon enthusiasts in the evangelical zealot movement. For them ‘perpetual’ means from now until Armageddon and Rapture and whatever other fantasies are part of that skein of looney beliefs come to fruition.
These nuts by no means represent the majority in this country, but given public apathy in general, the idiocy of the “American Exceptionalism” meme which has enbled a certain form of arrogant selfishness to pervade and corrupt our national identity, extremists of this sort do seem to be able to gather more power and influence to themselves that one would think, and as such they remain quite dangerous despite being as transparently wacky as they are.
Separately, where the author of this diary refers to
as a point of information, the leading casue of premature death for citizens of the US is medical mistakes in our healthcare system, and the greed and shameless exploitation endemic to this industry certainly rivals that of the warmongers in its ugliness and destructive power.