Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Iraq
I guess the issue that weighs most heavily on me, and on all of us, is the war in Iraq. Full disclaimer: I'm a supporter. Have been. Will be. My endorsement was never predicated on weapons of mass destruction, although I was certainly concerned about Saddam having some.
As you might be able to tell from the title of the blog, I'm a liberal. I believe in equal rights for all, I believe in human dignity, I believe in the state existing to protect the individual from the majority. There was a time - not all that long ago, I believe - when liberals believed in engaging the world in an end-all-be-all struggle to unseat power anywhere it didn't promote the ideals I just described. And so, when Bush and company started talking openly about overthrowing Saddam, I listened. I haven't agreed with the tactics, or with the planning, or with the lack of planning, but I cannot ingore the quiet nobility of an army of volunteers sacrificing from their own lives, or sacrificing their lives, for the lives of others they have never known and would never know otherwise.
So, when I hear the Democrats speaking of withdrawl I get upset. And I get more upset than I do when I hear Republicans spouting their "follow the leader and ask no questions" nonsense. As far as I'm concerned, the GOP partisans are a lost cause. But the Dems... they're like family, and when I see family going astray I become saddened and angered. This "War on Terror," or whatever it is, is nothing else if not a brilliant opportunity to assert and reassert the principles and ideals that have sustained liberals and liberalism for decades and even centuries. And, instead, we hear Howard Dean speaking of how unwinnable our current fight is, and how we should retreat and focus on our problems hear at home. Whatever those problems are, they pale in comparison to the problems we could be working on elsewhere.
As you might be able to tell from the title of the blog, I'm a liberal. I believe in equal rights for all, I believe in human dignity, I believe in the state existing to protect the individual from the majority. There was a time - not all that long ago, I believe - when liberals believed in engaging the world in an end-all-be-all struggle to unseat power anywhere it didn't promote the ideals I just described. And so, when Bush and company started talking openly about overthrowing Saddam, I listened. I haven't agreed with the tactics, or with the planning, or with the lack of planning, but I cannot ingore the quiet nobility of an army of volunteers sacrificing from their own lives, or sacrificing their lives, for the lives of others they have never known and would never know otherwise.
So, when I hear the Democrats speaking of withdrawl I get upset. And I get more upset than I do when I hear Republicans spouting their "follow the leader and ask no questions" nonsense. As far as I'm concerned, the GOP partisans are a lost cause. But the Dems... they're like family, and when I see family going astray I become saddened and angered. This "War on Terror," or whatever it is, is nothing else if not a brilliant opportunity to assert and reassert the principles and ideals that have sustained liberals and liberalism for decades and even centuries. And, instead, we hear Howard Dean speaking of how unwinnable our current fight is, and how we should retreat and focus on our problems hear at home. Whatever those problems are, they pale in comparison to the problems we could be working on elsewhere.
Wow
Wow. It has been a while. But I've decided to at least try and start writing again - on a semi-regular basis. I'm busy with work during the day, and like to run at night. I also have a bad, though very profitable, poker habit which more than augments my meager salary and pays my obscene DC bills. So I don't know how much time for this I'll have, but hopefull some. Hopefully enough to keep some people coming back.
