. . . when we have no other option.
[Joe Dees] The only reason I can think for him to do so is that he can feel
such an unreasoning and visceral hatred of Dubya from many on this list that
he has to be hoping that the sheer emotional intensity of it will override
rational and logical filters and hook this nonsense into a craving cortex or
two. The Fundy Christian Right cannot have hated Clinton more - and we all
saw what wild demon-spawn theories they were subsequently inspired to hatch.
Don't be seduced by raw animus into being unreasoning doppelgangers of them,
on opposite poles but both poles bereft of their senses.
[Jake] Thanks for the reminder, Joe. My "animus" aside, it would be a still
be a severe mistake for the US (even if someone other than Smirk were CiC) to
act unilaterally on invading Iraq. We cannot, however, remain blind to the
fact that his extreme arrogance and stupidity has severely damaged America's
capacity to form a multilateral coalition. While we can cite all sorts of
narrow interests, short term political snarls, and other things to blame
foreign leaders for not getting on board, we cannot ignore the fact that
other presidents have had no problem in the past forming multilateral
coalitions to deal with threats no less obvious than the current one from
Hussein. The only major difference I see here is the guy trying to sell it.
I see from recent news that perhaps he can still succeed - Blair has
apparently made some vague noises that he might eventually come on board
barring some unexpected and unprecedented compliance by Hussein to weapons
inspection. If he is able to finally pull it off (a coalition), I would
probably reconsider my position on an Iraq invasion. I think, however, that
Bush's failure to initially gain any international support for an Iraq
invasion has given Hussein a certain amount of unwarranted optimism that he
can hold out through more rounds of diplomatic gamesmanship. Had Bush not
repeatedly demonstrated his childish incompetence for the world to see, he
would probably already have a coalition ready to act soon.
With this in mind, I agree with your little reminder. Just because we have
to live with a brain-damaged incompetent as president, doesn't mean we should
all likewise act and think as stupidly as he does. I agree that something
needs to be done about Iraq, despite the fact that the president has already
done damage to some of the options.
Love,
-Jake
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