Letters to the Editor
-
Apologies to Glenn, Jordan, Cocktailhag etc.
I'm getting back to the thread late so you may not even see this. I certainly didn't mean to hijack the thread with comments on gender slander. The only reason it came up is because every time Glenn calls one of these guys on their lack of credentials some idjit will chime in with, "Yeah, and they're a bunch of pussies too!" I think, as a community, we are much too creative to allow ourselves to slide into knee-jerk caveman rhetoric like this, even if "the dictionary says it's ok".
From now forward I shall refrain from addressing the cavemen, and their backwards vocabulary, among us. Promise. ;->
-
Kovie
A belated thanks for posting the Youtube segments with Foxman and Mearsheimer. Very educational. I wonder if Foxman is even aware of how pompous and bloviating he appeared?
-
WT
At first I agreed with what you said, then I couldn't help but think of the young Cheney and the young Rove along with Lee Atwater, or Ralph Reed, and I guess they have been on the horizon all along. Since we had absolutely nothing in common, its not surprising that we didn't notice them until much later.
-
WT
Sorry, I hit publish instead of preview.
Just wanted to say a personal thank you for all your antiwar work during the Vietnam era. Your efforts may have saved untold lives and shortened the war. You should be lauded publicly for what you did. As a Vietnam veteran who shed blood (not willingly), I thank you.
-
Which page was that on again?
A belated thanks for posting the Youtube segments with Foxman and Mearsheimer. Very educational. I wonder if Foxman is even aware of how pompous and bloviating he appeared?
-- Pedinska
-
Pedinska
Nevermind, I found it.
-
Leaving Iraq & blood and treasure
Matt Yglesias' background is, I believe, philosophy. I've been following his "take" on leaving Iraq for about the last 6 months. He's about convinced me that the 'conventional wisdom' regarding a blood bath is, just that, conventional wisdom. We assume it to be true. He argues the possibility of an alternative - although he'd be the first to assure you he has no crystal ball. http://tinyurl.com/233ra4
... it's noteworthy that the more dire gloom-and-doom scenarios for an American departure from Iraq seem to assume that this is what will happen -- even though every single one of Iraq's neighbors has an interest in Iraq being stable and, failing that, has an interest in containing the chaos, we're supposed to believe that they would all act incredibly irresponsibly and disaster would strike. But while that could happen (anything's possible) there's no reason to regard it as likely....
I'm not so sure, the anticipated blood bath in Iraq (if/when we leave) isn't one of those unknown unknowns which, if repeated often enough, becomes 'truth.' It is a civil war. We are occupiers. I don't think anyone knows for sure what would happen to the 'body count' if we leave. And, most importantly, I don't think anyone has defined what 'precipitous' means. As in, what would be the earmarks if a withdrawal were not happing precipitously?
As for the origin of "blood and treasure," folks tracing its provenance have taken it back to the Monroe Doctrine, a 1774 resolution of the Continental Congress, and Aristophanes' Lysistrata, in the Manifesto of the Women of Athens, among others. In more modern (I use that term advisably) times, I've most frequently encountered in in the various treatises of those olde tyme economists in my history of economics text books. Used there, it, generally, refers to human capital and fungible resources.
-
hey! we're makin' real progress
at conducting an idiot census around the country. and they are plentiful.
-
@ Jim Montague
Or perhaps this goes back even farther than we realize. It does seem to have become more virulent in recent decades, though, perhaps because the rewards have temporarily outweighed the sanctions.
I honestly believe that only those who feel victimized themselves will accept such jerks as their champions; if so, the bad news is that we've bred a race of victims. The good news is that thinking of yourself as a victim is a dead end, as is trading the victim's whine for the bully's armband.
These two faces of the same moral affliction are emblematic of a highly unstable form of socialization, and can't remain dominant for long precisely because they're ultimately so self-defeating. If I'm right, we may not have long to wait before the Rush Limbaughs of the world lose their apparent élan vital, and are revealed to be the pitiful adolescents which they actually are.
-
Betting on Iraq
As for the corporatist take on Iraq, one might want to take a look at this piece also from Salon, today:
Are bond traders betting against the surge?
The latest statistics tell us that since the beginning of the "surge" in Iraq, civilian fatalities have fallen. The rate at which coalition forces have been dying or injured has also dropped. Oil production is down, but electricity generation appears to be up. Some brave souls have begun to suggest that the relative decline in mayhem can be taken as evidence that the surge is "working."
But the bond markets aren't having any of it. Ever since the surge began, the value of Iraqi state bonds, measured in terms of the likelihood of default, has been declining. For Michael Greenstone, an economist at M.I.T., the verdict of bond traders is a clear indication that the surge isn't working, insofar as it is likely to contribute to the future stability of the Iraqi state.
If shooter is betting with the market, he might want to begin hedging those bets.
-
@ondelette
You are right. That has looked like the most likely path for at least two years. This is why it is so important for the administration to keep people thinking like shooter, and why so many are paid to write like Lowry.
-
since were off thread
I saw this in the Post yesterday and found it fascinating. It seems the government has developed microbugs to spy on war protesters or have decided it is the best control group to experiment on. Either way, its a brave new world and not far from reality.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/08/AR2007100801434.html