Patriotism and liberals


There's a terrific discussion over at Legal Fiction about liberal cynicism v. conservative patriotism. Once again Publius shows that he's one of the most interesting, and compelling voices in blogdom. His point is that patriotism still beats in the heart of every liberal - it just needs a compelling reason to be heard, and acted upon. Cynicism is a reaction to the overuse of patriotic symbolism and rhetoric. Bush had a golden opportunity post-9/11 to make patriotism compelling once again, but the former governor of Texas instead used the attack as an opportunity to divide Americans with his bungled war on Iraq.

If that sounds a little too Brooksian for you, neatly dividing Americans into two little piles and then piling on, then read this little gem. It's a comment left by Patrick, who seriously needs his own weblog.
On September 11, I remember hearing the news reports periodically through the day, as I went about my job, which at the time required getting in and out of a truck a lot. So everything was slowly spaced out, piece by piece.

The first report was that a plane had struck the world trade center. No details about what kind of plane, or what circumstances. We figured it was some small private plane, and my coworker said it was a good thing because the pilot was probably dead, after having screwed up this bad. I said that if someone hit the WTC, it wasn't an accident.

Later reports clarified that it was a large commercial jet, that it was a terrorist attack, and that the buildings had collapsed. Every radio report was worse than the last, and we had to dwell on them while we worked. We weren't the sorts of employees who could take breaks to listen to the radio, even under these circumstances. So there was a lot of time to work, and think.

Every time I thought about what the people in the airplanes, and in the WTC must have gone through, I felt sick to my stomache. And when doing manual labor, your mind runs in a certain way- in circles, over and over the same ground.

Even with all of this, I remember thinking about how much things were going to change in this country. I remember thinking that we were in for a dismantling of individual rights and freedoms, in the name of patriotism. And it wasn't much past lunch when I heard the first politician on the radio demanding just that.

I'm not really sure what the point of this story is. My reactions were, in order, suspicion that things were really worse than the radio suggested, misery on behalf of the people killed, and fear of just how much my country would be changed by fear and patriotism. All of these were justified.

I don't know that its really patriotism I despise, although sometimes I think it is. I am currently in law school, and what is secretly the biggest reason that JAG feels like an attractive career choice is that I liked saluting the flag when I was a boy scout. JAG officers get to do that. Putting your hand over your heart has a phony, worthless impression for me, no doubt from having been forced to stand and mumble every morning in grade school. Saluting in the Boy Scouts felt sincere. I did that because I wanted to, not because I'd get a detention if I did not. I'd like that feeling again.

So maybe its not patriotism I dislike. Maybe its just people talking about patriotism, and the way we express it here. I don't know. There's probably an optimistic, sappy patriot in my heart somewhere, but I've got 60+ years expected life span left for the world to kill that sappy patriot for once and for all.

Thanks for letting me ramble.
Not a problem.
1.7.05 03:07


From our Unfortunate Analogy desk


The neo-con blogger formerly known as Will Franklin bravely answer's WizBang's challenge to envision how things might have been had Bush not invaded Iraq, and Franklin comes up with this beauty:
The Bush Doctrine is an Alka Seltzer tablet tossed into the gurgling cauldron of resentment that is the Middle East. It fizzes and snaps and crackles and pops, then, suddenly, the acid is neutralized. Going into the war on terror was never supposed to be easy.
This nifty little analogy also works with Preparation H suppositories. Suddenly, the raw, throbbing veins of Islamofascism magically shrink, allowing for the free movement of oil.

I'l like to see those who opposed the war from the start write more about how the war on terror would look if Bush and his pals didn't lie us into invading Iraq. What would Saddam be doing today if his country wasn't occupied? Would he still be in power, rattling sabers? Would Syria still be in Lebanon? Would the Dixie Chicks be welcomed in Opry Land?

Eric at TIA accepted the challenge, and rightly points out that the US was riding a wave of international support and sympathy after 9/11, and enjoyed wide support for the invasion and subsequent liberation of Aghanistan. But all that was squandered when Bush decided to invade Iraq, a country with no WMDs and no known ties to Islamofascist idealogy that spawned The War Against Terror.

For the most part, the "What If?" game is meaningless. History is driven more by chance events than in a straight march toward some defined objective. Saddam post 9/11 could have been murdered, exiled, put on trial by his own people, or perhaps had a Khadaffi-like epiphany ending in cultural exchanges with the US. But when addressing Bush's ruinous invasion of Iraq, What If? gives liberals an opportunity to nail down a vision of how the US should relate to the Islamic world, both the megalomaniac rulers and the oppressed street. Bush convinced the American people to support his war because he had a vision. A flawed, ingnorant, asinine vision that depended on foreigners acting like Americans, but a vision none the less. Liberals (and some conservatives like Pat Buchanan), could only point to the status quo. But nobody in their right could support the status quo, because it involved maddrasses, Saddam's rape rooms, and wealthy Muslims funneling a fortune to "charities" that were no more than fronts for terrorist organizations. In a war overflowing with ironies, the supreme irony is the "liberal" position for avoiding war in Iraq was really conservative, in that it relied on the validity of the status quo.

It wasn't just liberals in denial about the sleazy status quo. Every American administration, going back to FDR, really, traded human freedom for cheap oil. What really pisses off the middle easterners is the American duplicity of talking about freedom, and advancing it where possible, while supporting tyrants. I wonder if Al Qaeda would even exist if American administrations stopped pretending to be pro-freedom, and just openly announced we're only in it for the oil. Everyone already knows.

Bush and the neo-cons saw an opening: profess to change the status quo. Not only would it get the base excited, affirming such magical thinking as American exceptionalism, but it would put the Democrats on the defensive. Without an alternate plan, running against the Iraq War is perceived the same as affirming the status quo. It worked. Democrats now have no choice but to support the war. Not doing so casts them as traitors, cowards, or worse, anti-military.

So where do Democrats go from here? I have my doubts about setting a timetable for withdrawal. It would let the enemy, whoever that is, wait until the 11th hour to mount a major offensive, thus creating the appearance of a military victory over the Great Satan. Post hoc, ergo proctor hoc. At the same time, Bush has to do better than tell us the war will be over when it's over. How about a list of achievable goals, and a timetable for achieving those goals, sort of like what they teach in MBA school? There's an opening for the Democrats, who probably have a few MBAs in their ranks. Develop metrics that don't involve number of insurgents killed. This has never been a war of attrition, and with a major infusion of additional US troops, we'll never be able to hold all the territory we take. But we can still develop metrics: 200,000 trained Iraqi security personnel, electricity that works 24/7. There's plenty more. The goal is not to recreate Eden, since that's up to the Iraqis. It's to reassure the Islamic world that we don't plan to make Iraq our 52nd state.

They already think Israel is the 51st.
5.7.05 20:42


Out, out, damn meme!



Via Elise at After School Snack
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

Overview: This post is a community experiment with two broad purposes. The first is to create publicly accessible data about bloggers' personalities, which may have sociological value in addition to being just plain fun. The second is to track the propagation of this meme through blogspace. Full details and explanation can be found on the original posting.


Instructions (to join in the experiment):

1) Take the IPIP-NEO personality test and the Political Compass quiz, if you have not done so already.

2) Copy to the clipboard that section of this post that is between the double lines, and paste it into your blog editor. (Blogger users may wish to use 'compose' mode to preserve formatting and hyperlinks. Otherwise, be sure to add hyperlinks as necessary.)

3) Replace the answers in the "survey" section below with your own.

4) Add your blog information to the "track list", in the form: "Linked title - URL - optional GUID".

5) Any additional comments should go outside of the double lines, including the (optional) nomination of bloggers you wish to pass this experimental meme on to.

6) Post it to your blog!
------------------------------------------------------
Survey:

Age: 50
Gender: Male
Location: Milwaukee, USA
Religion: None
Occupation: Writer
Began blogging (dd/mm/yy): 03/20/04

Political Compass results
Left/Right: -3.13
Libertarian/Authoritarian: -4.10

IPIP-NEO results

EXTRAVERSION: 78 (high)
Friendliness 78
Gregariousness 47
Assertiveness 94
Activity Level 60
Excitement-Seeking 68
Cheerfulness 57

AGREEABLENESS: 37 (average)
Trust 10
Morality 50
Altruism 77
Co-operation 2
Modesty 60
Sympathy 79

CONSCIENTIOUSNESS: 15 (low)
Self-Efficacy 17
Orderliness 39
Dutifulness 69
Achievement-Striving 32
Self-Discipline 1
Cautiousness 11

NEUROTICISM: 84 (high)
Anxiety 93
Anger 84
Depression 69
Self-Consciousness 41
Immoderation 67
Vulnerability 89

OPENNESS TO EXPERIENCE: 63 (average)
Imagination 74
Artistic Interests 88
Emotionality 10
Adventurousness 53
Intellect 56
Liberalism 58


Track List:
1. Philosophy, et cetera - pixnaps.blogspot.com - pixnaps97a2
2. Lawyers, Guns and Money
3. After School Snack
4. Heraldblog

______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

Doesn't it seem like these memes are getting more and more complicated?
6.7.05 02:47


Next up: Professional wrestling is fake!


Kos says that Islamofascist killers are intolerant, religious bigots worthy of liberal scorn! Gee, can't he get kicked out of the liberal club for saying that?

I mean seriously, isn't this something that Kos, Atrios, Willis et. al. should have been writing since 9/12? No wonder Rove can go to New York City and convince half the country that liberals want to sing Kumbaya with Mullah Omar.

Jeez.
6.7.05 16:19


'You will fail'


Major hurrahs to London Mayor Ken Livingstone for his stirring message to the people of London, and, more importantly, his warning to the Islamofascists who murdered 50 or more Londoners in yesterday's attacks.
"I know that you do fear you may fail in your long term objective: to destroy our free society. And I will show you why you will fail. In the days that follow, look at our airports, look at our seaports and look at our railways."

"Nothing you do, however many of us you kill will stop that life ... where freedom is strong and people can live in harmony ... whatever you do, however many you kill, you will fail.”
Let's see Karl Rove twist those words.
8.7.05 13:35


Brits rock


From livejournal, a collection of humorous and inspirational posts by Brits and others in the aftermath of 7/7:
These terrorists are rubbish.

They'll be caught next week, having successfully demonstrated that the British react to terrorism with indifference. We grew up with it, you see. What with this being a civilised country, they will not receive the death penalty, but be locked up for the rest of their lives, to be regularly sodomised by other inmates while they slowly realise that their interpretation of their religion is a pile of old hokum. Whoops. Meanwhile, I'll be out in London, partying.
________

On days like this, the music radio stations play sad music - if they play any music at all. I turned on the radio in the bathroom when I was taking my shower just now, and they were playing "One" by U2.
HAVEN'T WE SUFFERED ENOUGH?
________

During the second statement by Blair, he was surrounded by the various heads of state and representatives to the G-8 gathering. And there stood ol' W, with the usual confused look on this face - likely wondering who had his copy of "My Pet Goat".
________

"Terrorists -- Dude, London?! WTF were you thinking?! XRef: Blitz, IRA, Ru Paul."
________

To quote an old Londoner who lived through the blitz and got caught up in the Canary Wharf explosion: "I've been blown up by a better class of bastard than this!"
________

"We took on the Romans, the Saxons, the Danes, the French, William Wallace, the Black Plague, the Roundheads, the Great Fire, Napoleon, the Nazis, and the Blitz, and we're still here. You terrorists are bloody amateurs."
________

"I'm vague on Muslim theology but the asshats responsible need to go to a "special paradise" where the virgins won't put out."
_________

"They did their worst, and they managed to disrupt our transport network and get fatalities in the low double figures. That happens on a fairly regular basis anyway, you twits. What's your next trick - a fiendish weather control device which makes it rain on a bank holiday weekend?"
Glad to see our English cousins are facing the terror with a sense of humor.
9.7.05 15:04


Joe Wilson and courage


The noose that slowly tightens around Karl Rove's worthless neck is figurative, but the noose that Joe Wilson once wore was very real:
Wilson's most famous moment-the one that got him in the headlines around the world-came in late September 1990, after he had received a diplomatic note that threatened execution to anyone harboring foreigners. Since Wilson himself had put up about 60 Americans at the ambassador's residence and other places, he gave a press briefing during which he wore a noose he'd asked one of the embassy Marines to prepare that morning. "If the choice is to allow American citizens to be taken hostage or to be executed, I will bring my own fucking rope," he said.
No wonder the Bushies hate Joe Wilson. He has guts.
13.7.05 13:32


 [next page]