I have to agree with Holly and others upthread who point out rightly that The Bush Doctrine, like most other "doctrines" before it, is nothing more than, dare I say, putting theoretical, faux-intellectual lipstick on the same old greedy, imperial, BS-laden pig it's meant to justify. Ex post facto, to boot.

Bush, the worst and most despised President ever, uses such pabulum to sanctify what he planned to do anyway only because he wants "history" (buried, naturally) to look on his pathetic and vile tenure as, if a bit disastrous, at least Significant.

But what Patrizio fails to grasp, despite the efforts of Glenn, DCLaw, and others to patiently explain, is that there are differences in both kind and degree between targeted bombings in a remote, barely controlled border area, and flattening the Capitol and infrastructure of a country, occupying it indefinitely, and installing a puppet government.

This is what the slapdash and mendacious so-called "Bush Doctrine" seeks to institutionalize, and precisely what has made both Iraq and Afghanistan such debilitating, permanent disasters for all involved.

It's the idea that the US, possessed as it is by a whitish population with enough bloodlust and room on the credit card to go around knocking over smaller, darker countries of our choosing, just because we can and it suits the electoral calendar, that Obama has repudiated and MCCain/Palin have embraced.

Is that so difficult to understand?

You do have a point, Rupert c, in mentioning that Biden et al all use language that thinking people ought to find belligerent and disqualifying. But the sad fact is, is that war, fear, and the idea of the world as a gladatorial contest that "America" must "win" is so institutionalized, and the meme that the Democrats are insufficiently bloodthirsty to do so, is just a fact in these dreadful times. I, personally, would agree wholeheartedly that such claptrap ought to be blown out of the water, but it's just not going to happen.

Unfortunately, for the last 50 years or so, permanent war, excessive military spending, and malignant exceptionalism have utterly overtaken any rational discussion of priorities, and the only rationale for pulling this back that seems to work is that as a country, we can't afford it any more. That day is pretty much upon us, though, and the choice of the moment is whether we choose an administration that will throw us down the toilet eagerly and immediately, or one that might at least ask a few questions before flushing.

PS... Jack Hughes had me in stitches much earlier with his GOP spin chorus and its stanzas, and I'd like to add some of my own...

1) We don't torture...

2) They deserve it anyway...

and

1) Iraq collaborated with Al Queda...

2) Well, now they do...

and

1) We're not in a recession...

2) We need to cut taxes because we're in a recession...

I think that What Constitution and Kitt are onto the juiciest development unfolding here, which is the Right trying to bury the Bush Doctrine, using trolls and mouthpieces the way a cat uses kitty litter. The steaming pile in question just needs to be covered up, and quick.

Though we're all drearily familiar with rote talking points rolled out simultaneously, and the RWNM singing the same arias in perfect harmony like a choir of angels, what's different is the cash-and-carry trolls all saying the exact same thing, and on the same day.

Clearly, the Nuremburg trials laid to rest any international acceptance of a travesty like the Bush Doctrine, and this bunch has decided, as a final backstop in the case of likely defeat to plant some preemptive/preventive memes in advance. (forgive the pun...)

Everything the rapture right has done, from thumbing its nose at the ICC, abrogating treaties, and fighting seemingly counterproductive court and legislative battles in the early days, to its current, final, and flailing efforts at vote-caging, lies, court-packing, and politically motivated prosecutions now, in its final throes, have been in service of one goal. Getting what they want, and staying out of jail.

Aside from neocon/wingnut welfare "journalists" like Krauthammer et al, none of the actual perpetrators of this suddenly "nebulous" doctrine have ever specifically articulated its true meaning, beyond fear-mongering speeches and windy platitudes.

Coincidence? I'm not so sure now. Two, say, more one-hit wonder troll posts, though, and I'll be pretty sure not.

In my ongoing search for righty piecework trolls, I did exercise due diligence and went ahead and looked up the erudite and scintillating Ron Mexico. Unless he works for Halliburton, this bird doesn't fly.

Sometimes it's heartening to know that my ideological opposites have writing skills and a grasp for the English language that would get them bounced into special education if they were 2nd graders; other times, it's just depressing.

To make the age-old plea, "Better trolls, please," in this case is woefully inadequate.

But you have to admit, his self-confidence and pluck are something to behold.