Current Events — HabitableZone

Current Events » in reply to Good post.

Thank you
Robert — (archived)

I guess where I am on the spectrum of tradeoffs is that I think that these values are a source of strength, so perhaps it's less of a leap of faith for me to believe that, for example, vigorous political debate even in a state of emergency will make us stronger and not weaker.

Perhaps the inconsistency and apparent unreason, and the tactic of taking positions the opposite of enemies, is simply an angry reaction to being told to shut up? You know Americans can be cantankerous and even perverse that way. It sure got my dander up to be accused of "treason!" for speaking my mind; multiply my reaction by many million. Back in the late '90s, at about this stage of the cycle, Republicans went similarly insane...do you remember any of that?...in case it's a blur, basically the amount of irrationality grew as people ran out of concrete things to justify their outrage, and had to manufacture more and more reasons to be mad. The polity is like that, get 'em mad to the point of critical mass, and the rage becomes self-sustaining. A pissed-off electorate can't be talked down; they need electoral blood sacrifice. (Ring any '90s bells?)

You're just seeing a normal phase of the cycle. Republicans are being shown the door exactly the way Democrats were shown the door as Clinton's terms ended. It'll pass eventually.

I've tended to stay away from the Darfur arguments because I see it as a truly difficult problem, and people have a way of projecting ideological solutions onto the blank slate of a problem with no clear answer. Still, I would interpret the message "U.S. Out Of Iraq and Into Africa." as asserting that the resources currently being poured into Iraq could be better spent on humanitarian missions like helping Darfur. There's a rational argument there, Tom, in so far as it's a debatable proposition. Not really bizarre at all.

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