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Common Misconceptions
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Conflict and Conciliation: Faith and Politics in an Age of Global Dissonance
Despite the peaceful foundations of global monotheistic religions, the broad diversity of interpretations can lead to a sharp paradox regarding the use of force. Inevitably, we must ask ourselves: How can those who ascribe to peaceful beliefs suspend their own moral foundation to beat the drums of war? ... read more
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Yet, as sympathetic as I am to the sensibilities of those who want immediate withdrawal, I still have trouble with this. We just marked the 60th anniversary of the partition of India where some 1 million Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs were slaughtered after Britain made a hurried departure from India. Fettweis believes that Iraq could easily descend into a chaos like Lebanon, or pre-war Afghanistan. It seems to me that we have an obligation to prevent that if we can.
Of course, Fettweis ultimately puts the blame where it belongs: "the central lesson of this war, in my view should be, not how it was fought, but that it was fought at all."
For a transcript of the interview see http://fray.slate.com/discuss/forums/41796/ShowThread.aspx
jesus christ, it was a type-o you monkeys-ass! you liberals are all the same, why not focus on the big picture for once. MAYBE it will open your tiny minds.
Are you kidding me? Listen to him! He shuts her down to spout propaganda and refuses to really answer, tells her to 'let me finish' when in fact he is interrupting her and condescending to her. Ugh. I second Natalie Maines, I'm not from Texas but God if I'm not embarrassed he's from America.
His way of getting out of his responsibility TODAY for the hideous debacle he's wrought upon the world is to say that 'History will judge me'. No you freak of privileged cold hearted upbringing....we judge you now!
I give this interviewer great credit for asking the questions not one American media personality would have dared to ask but that little git (Bush) bullied his way through it. I guess I respect her respect for another nation's leader but seeing that a vast majority of his own people do not respect him....she could have gone harder after him and not accepted his bullying tactics.
I'm not blaming her. Just giving her advice for the next interview. I'd send her the biggest fruit basket I could afford if she'd take him on tougher.
Does he really believe that America is the world's most generous country when it comes to wiping out famine and disease??
If he does the man is delusional.
...if you don't mind.
just wow.
As for the Libby pardon, you have a good point I hadn't considered when you say that Libby was pardoned for a crime Bush was complicit in -- it's as if Bush was pardoning himself. Not much precedent for that. I still think it's small potatoes, though, compared to the $275 million a day our treasury is hemorrhaging in Iraq, which currently totals $450 billion, and the 3,400 American deaths, all for a failed policy. Not to mention the number of Iraqi's pointlessly killed -- a figure which, while disputed, is still substantial even by conservative estimates -- and the destruction of that country.
But a long succession of presidents has used the pardon power much more broadly, often generating controversy. Gerald Ford issued an unprecedented preemptive pardon of Richard Nixon for his actions in the Watergate Affair. More recently, George Bush the elder pardoned six Reagan administration officials involved in the Iran-Contra Affair, including Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger.
The most egregious use of the pardon power, though, was Bill Clinton who granted 140 pardons on his final day in office. Particularly troublesome was his pardon of Marc Rich, who some have charged with purchasing his pardon with campaign contributions. Many suspect that others pardoned on Clinton's last day "purchased" their pardons.
Libby is Bush's first pardon in his entire presidency. I think this president has done enough to earn our disapproval, namely his mismanagement of the Iraq war and the total failed response to Katrina, among others. The Libby pardon adds little to this mountain of disaster.
So many who respond are caught up in the politics and seem to fail to question what can happen next? And, can any good come from Libby’s actions?
Thinking back 12 years ago, I would never have considered that I, a competent, well educated man, would be sitting in prison. That was a life educational experience where I learned, really for the first time, that there are consequences to every unethical choice we make. Though one might think that we can avoid the consequences, the reality is that they are unavoidable and certain. We just don’t know how or when we will face the inevitable.
As a former CPA, through a series of bad choices or serious ethics lapses, I became a white-collar criminal. Now, I am an executive in a publicly held company and an international speaker. I now take the time to review my lessons from prison and write about those experiences so that others may gain benefit and perhaps learn from the experience of others. Some of us learn lessons the hard way. Yet, through sharing the experience of my incarceration and return to productivity, others have stated that they’ve been able to look at their choices in a different and more productive way.
This was a very painful time in my life with many lessons to learn. I learned about punishment and self-esteem based on internal validation rather than external validation. I also learned that many people repeat the lessons of family members gone before them and not realizing they truly had other choices. Now, some twelve years later, I find that the personal growth from the prison experience provided a foundation for help to others. The revelation to speak to high school and college students about ethics has manifested through the establishment of the Choices Foundation, which provides a forum to educate young people on the effects of the choices they make.
Perhaps when the dust settles…Libby can use the experience in a beneficial way for others. Or perhaps, skating past punishment will provide a missed opportunity.
Here's the link:
http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=20050228&s=chait022805
The author makes a thoughtful argument that liberalism and conservatism are not parallel, equivalent philosphies. I agree that there are true believers on both sides, who are just the flip side of the coin of the other. But if you look at the broader spectrum, some more fundamantal differences emerge.
For a psychological analysis of differences in liberal and conservative personalities see:
http://psychologytoday.com/articles/index.php?term=pto-20061222-000001&page=1
I'd love to get a hold of that article you were talking about, I think it makes a really interesting point, one that seems to jive with the evidence I've seen over my lifetime of wading the political waters. Though to be fair, I find that there are about 20% of people on both sides who just simply will never change their minds, no matter how compelling the evidence to the contrary.Â
I think that your musings on the difference between liberals and conservatives is interesting and makes some good points. However, I'm not willing to say that liberals represent an evolutionary step forward in human intellect. (I might think it, but I wouldn't say it out-loud). I know too many conservatives who are very bright and can think in abstract terms as well as anyone. If anything, conservative are the abstract thinkers while liberals think in more concrete terms.
I read an article in which the author imagines God appearing on earth and proving definitively that liberal programs don't work, and that society, especially the poor, are worse off because of them. What would happen? The liberal would rethink his programs, and try to come up with something that worked. Then the same author imagines, what if God coming down and definitively showed that conservative strategies like cutting welfare and de-regulation made society worse off. He says some conservatives would no doubt change their minds, but many would not. Why? Because conservatism, unlike liberalism, is more interested in embracing certain abstract principles -- like a smaller government -- than solving practical social problems.
You could probably write a book on the difference between conservatives and liberals and there have been studies examining personality differences. Liberals tend to be more flexible, less dogmatic and more open to other ideas. Conservatives find support from bedrock immutable principles. Studies show that people who study abroad tend to be more liberal.
I have a conservative friend who chides me for not being willing to say that some people, like bin Laden, are evil people. To him, it's very important to know who is good and who is evil. But, I'm not interested in whether bin Laden is evil or not because the answer to that question will do nothing to help address the threat of terrorism or the resolve the tensions between Muslim countries and the West.