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Monday, June 05, 2006

Hmmm...

Your therapist's goals.... for you. Tommy has VERY helpful advice. Sound. Solid. And nobody does the headlines like Tommy. Iowahawk. The two-minute snark is exactly what we are seeing played out right now in response to the Canadian arrests.

Okay, AJStrata's post isn't funny. But one of the comments is hilarious:
Although the 17 men in Canada may have been conspiring to commit dastardly acts, how many people are unjustly imprisoned every day because of our obsurdist laws? Until we realize that any form of surveillance is tyranny, the federal government will continue to cease power in the name of freedom, and in doing so, squeeze every last ounce of our freedom right from under us.
Soooo.... Like, is the theory that people acquiring a few tons of explosive should be left to explode where they want to in the name of freedom? 'Cause otherwise we are all doomed? This really isn't funny. We are seeing people prepared to believe the worst of their own government and more than the best possible of those frankly expressing murderous intent. As Pedro writes, the perfectionist fallacy has become all-engrossing. Once you accept the idea that we must be perfect, we automatically realize that we must become passive.

The shrinks try. Shrinkwrapped writes:
In the most remarkable information ju-jitsu, the cause of terror in the West becomes the West's Islamophobia and mistreatment of Muslims.
...
Meanwhile, rather than see each other as allies in a War that threatens to destroy our civilization (and I might remind those who hate the present administration that another 9/11 is almost certain to cause a significant diminution of all of our civil liberties), we have Kevin Drum, in a review of Peter Beinart's book, The Good Fight, which called for liberals to join in a bipartisan fight against Islamic fascism, state that he would remain silent out of concern that any support he offered would help George Bush.
Dr. Sanity writes:
So much of the last three years has been wasted and frittered away by the left with their constant carping about and undermining of Bush's strategic ploy. The continual appeasement, encouragement and cover given to those who would destroy us without mercy, has markedly diluted what we might have accomplished up to now with our aggressive pursuit of the YES Strategy.

As Dalrymple suggests, it may come down to all or nothing for Islam.
That would be a tragedy for the imprisoned Egyptian bloggers, the Iraqi policemen and military trying to defend Iraq, the protesters marching in Iran and the journalists who have lost their lives across the ME. People are people. Most people aren't buying the strange apocalyptic vision of the Islamic nihilists (that is what they are). And mostly, the Islamic nihilists are killing Muslims. It ought to be obvious that the bombings and threats are turning people off rather than on, and that the Islamic nihilists are fouling their own nests. Sure, we are caught in a grim process of attrition. Is there another possible strategy?

SC&A can ask us to think about the implications of the Canadian arrests, but that's the one thing those caught in the perfectionist fallacy cannot do. So we're stuck in a Manichean divide in the west, and from here on out it is simply going to be a contest to see which group can prevail at the ballot box.

I can't imagine what the personnel of the Armed Forces are thinking.


Comments:
The Kevin Drum comment reminded me of what Andre Maurois wrote about his talk with Paul Reynaud in 1940. Reynaud had just become Premier of France, and the topic was the fierce rivalry between Reynaud and Daladier.

"Nevertheless," (Maurois) said, "Daladier is certainly a man who loves his country."

"Yes," Reynaud said, "I believe he desires the victory of France, but he desires my defeat even more."

This is probably unfair to Daladier (as Maurois notes) but unquestionably the emphasis on internal political feuds over national security had a lot to do with the fall of France in 1940.
 
Yes - when you reach that point, you are primed for bad events. You are not paying attention to the basics any more, because you are too deeply impressed with the idea that your opponent is the most dangerous enemy.

Very good quote. I don't think I'd ever run across it before, although I am familiar with the political situation in France in the 30's.
 
As a vet of 22 years military service i can say what a lot of military members are thinking. How can i arrange for a firm discharge date of Jan. 09 if a dim-wit is elected and still manage to stay in for another 4 years + if an American patroit (republican) is elected?
 
Anon, thank you for your service. I cannot blame you for your outlook. What makes it worse is that there is no way to do what you know you should do.

I am so possessed by a sense of shame that our country is betraying our military that I am too ashamed to read military blogs very often at the moment. All I could do is grovel and apologize. So here's your grovel.

What's going on in the media and in political circles is terribly wrong. We all know it down here. They appear to be engaged in a dedicated war of attrition against our own forces.

No matter how often I send money to military and vet organizations, I know that what I am doing is not enough. But I can tell you this - I will never vote for anyone who I feel will hang our military out to dry like these people want to do.

And we do know what is happening here at least. We do know that every dour article about the "failure" in Iraq is fueling attacks against our soldiers in the field. We do know.

We do know that nothing will be reported about your self-discipline, your uncomplaining sacrifice, the immense discipline and the immense accomplishments of our troops - we do know that none of that is printed. BUT WE ALSO KNOW THAT IS THE TRUE STORY.

We know, and we support you.
 
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