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.

Boycott the Mouse

It's bad enough that 700 Club still airs but this is ridiculous.

ABC Entertainment president personally attacks Sandy Berger, says error-riddled "Path to 9/11" was totally true

Hope springs eternal....

In case anyone needs any more evidence that the war-r-us crowd is painting themselves into a tight little corner of irrelevance I present you: The NRSC Pledge

I wrote USA Today....

Albert Einstein famously defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Likewise, the gambler's fallacy is the belief that a run of bad luck will portend a turn for the better in the near future. I fear that both these thought processes infuse our current Middle East policy.

The American people have made it abundantly clear that they are ready for a change in course but it seems that all we're being offered is more of the same, the only difference being a raise in the stakes that higher troop levels represent. I urge all our Congressional Representatives to make clear to the administration that the AUMF was not a blank check and that its time to re-evaluate what can realistically be acheived in the Middle East and to move toward a policy based on reality rather than wishful thinking.

Bucky posted this comment at Glenn Greenwald:

What if there is a well defined mission in Iraq, but the leadership can not share it directly with the American people? What if the mission is simply to destroy the Arab states of the middle east? If it is, then we are doing "the job" and the speeches are just to cover up the real mission.

I added:
You're probably on to something important. pretending for the sake of argument that the #1 US goal is to prevent a nuclear device from being used on us and the second most imnportant goal is to maintain control over the oil supplies. Since our soldiers have sufficient weaponry to operate in a war zone, even if they are unable to control events on the ground or prevent the civil war from proceeding at its current deadly pace, by simply remaining they are accomplishing their mission, and any talk of democracy or stability or and end game of any kind is just sugar coating for the folks back home (and the parents, wives and friends of the soldiers in question).Same deal if we go into Iran. Stability is not required. A freindly regime is not required. Chaos is fine as long as it keeps our "enemies" unable to operate freely.

Joshua Micah Marshall has more:

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/011888.php

A comment on the wisdom of invading Iran....

Its EASY to believe things that are true and apparent and visible.To believe something that is absolutely and utterly wrong, false, clearly mistaken and borderline insane on the other hand requires great faith, strength, stamina, resolute determination and courage.

From Americablog

For a long time, perhaps roughly 2003 to 2005, there was a disturbing edge to discourse in this country, and I think our society will eventually look back upon this time not unlike we now do the McCarthyist years: as a shameful period in our nation's history, one in which the prevailing powers made the inappropriate common and the opposition was eventually proven both right and righteous.

http://americablog.blogspot.com/2006/12/dixie-chicks-movie-great-and.html

I actually feel this is an understatment. Insofar as a nation can be spoken of like an individual, in March 2003 we were batshit insane. Jes sayin'.........

Quick note

Of coures, in my view, anybody whose idea of the Creator of The Universe is so limited that they can imagine that said creator fails to regard all humanity equally and instead differentiates between those who face Mecca when they pray from those who face an altar, then you too are a victim of the blindness that drives most of the clearly irrational conflict in the world

Lifted Directly from Digby.....

I do know that when someone speaks like a fool and acts like a spoiled child and appears to be "intellectually uncurious" and has never done anything in life that would give you a clue that he knows how to govern or lead -- well, it's not a good idea to make that person the most powerful person on the planet. If we've learned nothing else, I hope we have learned that.......
The past six years have been a tragedy and we desperately need some thoughtful, intelligent, competent leadership to set this right.

Read it all

Once again, the easiet way for me to come up with new posts is to cut'n'paste my own comments elsewhere!

I like the fact that the word "christianist" exists (even if I'm unlikely to use it with the precise meaning that Sullivan intends) because I think its important to differentiate between what Christianity means as expressed in the Gospels and what Christianity means as expressed in current public discourse.

One of the overriding themes of the New Testament is that of hypocrisy. Judge not, lest you be judged, when you pray, pray in secret, render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's, don't speak of the speck in your brother's eye when you have a log in your own..etc.

The degree to which politically active Christian sects stray from these ideals is the degree to which I want a label to separate their beliefs from my own.

Call me selfish but I hope that "christianist" makes Oxford's English within ten years.

A response to a comment at GG's

Where do you find support for the idea that "training the Iraqi army" is a feat still within our grasp?

Who'd's response actually brings to light one of the more serious problems affecting us as Americans.

Contrary to some of the accusations levelled by the more serious, libelous warmongers, Americans feel at home travelling anywhere in this country and have no trouble understanding that our loyalty and the "providing for the common defense" that we all share operates on a national level. I can fly to Birmingham, Alabama one day and Chicago, Illinois the next and while I might feel uncomfortable getting into serious political debates in barrooms in those places, I can reasonably expect to come away from such a conversation alive.

In Afghanistan and Iraq, however such confidence is totally misplaced. Tribal/Religious identity trumps nationalism and we as Americans just don't get it.

That's why Who'd and others who think similarly think that "a sovereign Iraq able to truly act like one, including quelling sectarian violence, and resisting the influence of Iran is actually achievable. Nothing in their immediate experience suggests otherwise.

That's why I pray vigorously that at some point in our near future, we can put adults in charge of our foreign policy and give the frat-boys a well deserved time-out.

Revisionist History

I recently had the opportunity to visit the Nixon Library.

I learned two things.

1: The truth is whatever someone is willing to say it is.

2: Or not.....

Thank you

I'd just like to take this opporunity to thank American voters all over the Country for restoring my faith.

Quoting Myself:

I happen to be old enough to remember when the stakes in the nuclear stalemate was the survival of the entire planet. It almost seemed like we were given a puzzle. "Can the human race figure out a way to get along without anhilating the entire planet." Facing such choices we nevertheless (except for a few zits -J Edgar Hoover, Nixon - Kissinger) chose to keep the Constitution of the United States intact and if we did engage in horribly unethical behavior (blind LSD trials, sensory deprivation research) we at least had the decency to PRETEND we weren't doing it. Besides we had a monolithic scary enemy to point to to justify the actions.

Fast forward to 2006:

We are now so afraid of 15 guys armed with box-cutters, that we're completely trashing the Constitutional protections that have served us so well these last 200 years and were openly declaring our willingness to use the same techniques which justified our outrage in years past. In other words we are becomming our enemy.

Just for the record....

While I'm enjoying watching the Congressional meltdown over the Foley thing, I still think that the willful destruction of our Constitutional guarantees of freedom is a more important issue...jes sayin'

from the NYT

They’ll know that in 2006, Congress passed a tyrannical law that will be ranked with the low points in American democracy, our generation’s version of the Alien and Sedition Acts

From me:

The problem is that once this law is on the books, it's not going to go away and "who has purposefully and materially supported hostilities against the United States" is sufficiently vague that a few years down the line it can be used to mean just about anything. Like perhaps giving money to PETA or Greenpeace.

This has to go down as the worst legislation ever passed in my lifetime and certainly an indicator that morality and human decency has fallen victim to political expediency.

It is a sad day in America.