Glenn Greenwald's post today is a must-read.

Read it here.

War-cheerleaders often appear to be looking in a mirror and I've always regarded it as a tragic failure of imagination, that the people who call for the death of their enemies can be recast as calling for their own elimination with just the slight shift of perspective that comes from applying the Golden Rule.

The tragedy is compounded further when you consider that some of these death-merchants self-identify as Christian.

I often wonder......

How much effect the advent of television and movies has had on our (as a culture) willingness to engage in warfare. While people often credit TV (Huntley-Brinkley-Cronkite) for helping to end the VietNam war by delivering the reality of the carnage to our living rooms, at the same time, we are subject to an endless series of fictional scenarios in which, with the sacrifice of sencondary and tertiary players in the game, the heroes ALWAYS win in the end.

That would certainly help explain the chickenhawk mentality. The problem isn't that they haven't experienced actual combat and warfare. The problem is that they've experienced an idealized and unrealistic version instead. That's why they keep on insisting that we clap louder. They actually believe that that's the key to victory. It also helps explain all this claptrap about "giving comfort to the enemy". They actually believe that cheerleading helps us win.

Scary......

Among the things I wish I had said...

The sooner we realize that military force is a blunt instrument, rather than a fantastically supple collection of hyper-qualified diplomat/soldier/thinker/humanitarian/civil servants, the better off we'll be.

Ezra Klein

The Constitution Test

It used to be that you couldn't graduate high school until you demonstrated a passing knowlege of the US Constitution. Nowadays that lack won't even keep you out of Congress!

from poputonian at Digby's

Read it and weep!

When in doubt - quote myself.....

The sad part of this whole thing, is that the country isn't divided into those who desire war and those who oppose war. It's divided into those who favor effective action versus those who favor blundering around like a drunk with a revolver.

That's why Bush supporters hate the CIA. They represent the folks who are actually interested in the REAL war on terror.