War and Politics
June 25th, 2006Before I post on a number of things going on today, I’d like to reflect on a few things, and the first was the last paragraph of A Modest Proposal. “You must mull it over, Mr. President, and when you do, tell Karl he’s got himself a war cry, and we’ve got ourselves the key to all of the world’s problems, and an end to War as we know it, as well as a beginning to War as we don’t.” I supported the War in Iraq, but I’m not a believer in the doctrine of Pre-Emptive War. I was merely considering whether or not Bush has ever re-considered pre-emptive war, and then thought of it as I wrote in those italics, because that’s one of the things on my mind and it’s quite a thing to ponder, and I think he should ask himself, “What have I done?” both because he’s failing in Iraq, as shown in the Khalizad Memo, and because he’s unleashed a new form of war upon humanity. I merely supported the war, I didn’t order it, and it’s bothering my conscience. But, if I had to guess, I’d say that Bush doesn’t do reflection, bubba. He does and moves on.
The military has begun projecting troop withdrawals, starting this September and through next year, and I’m not sure how I feel about it. I do know that I’ve lost all faith in the Bush Administration to competently handle a toaster, let alone a Warzone, and I can’t say that I think it’d be a good idea to leave soldiers in Iraq until another man becomes President who can better handle it. Perhaps, at this point, it’s best if we withdraw and leave the fighting to the Iraqis. I do think it’d be better if we withdraw once their Government asks us to, rather than just because we can’t trust ourselves to handle the War, because we’ve abandoned the Iraqis before (1991, the Kurd-gassing) and I don’t want to repeat that, ever.
It’s a moral dilemma for me, and an intellectual one.
On the subject of Iraq, let’s move to the politics of the matter. Newsweek reports that DailyKos, the famed Liberal blogger who once said “Screw them” to news that American contractors had been burnt to death and then hung from a bridge, believes he can “shape” the Democratic Party using Iraq, and that angers me, actually. I’ve never met Kos, and have never been able to get any sort of response from him whenever I’ve emailed him, but I find him to be a hack, pure and simple. He’s a Liberal Karl Rove, a nasty little man who turns on Democrats that don’t support his view of Iraq, of politics, and he is trying to “take power from the elites” in the Democratic Party. You know who he is? He’s George McGovern on the Internet, and I cannot believe that Senate aides would spend their time talking to him about policy.
He has, from the beginning of his Blog, been a proponent of changing the Party — as long as it’s in his direction, to a “net-roots oriented” standard. Well let me tell you something: campaigns are still won through hard work, canvassing, and old-school grassroots politics, something that Karl Rove simply schooled us on in 2004. If Kos believes that sending mass emails and posting on a blog will lead to a new Democratic Party, or that that’s the “future” of politics — as former Howard Dean advisor, Trippi, does, too — then they’re ridiculous, and on the path that Senator Kerry is on. Kerry, if you didn’t know, has three million people on his email list. That, of course, makes him a formidable candidate. And if you believe that, I’ve got a “new way to do politics” to show you.
If we’re going to talk about changing the party, it shouldn’t be in a purge, like what Kos would have us do — and let’s be straightfoward. If Kos had his way, there’d be no dissenting views on Iraq, no pro-life people in the Party, no Harry Reids or Bill Clintons. If Kos had his way, we’d all toe the same “intellectual” line and that’d be that. He’s the Bob Shrum of “netroots” political workers, and if anyone is paying any attention to him, they’re in for the Shrum treatment.
Besides, Daily Kos’ wing of Liberalism is a combative, angry one. It’s furious Conservatism, as practiced by so many Republicans in today’s day and age, reversed into Angry Liberalism. A reactionary hatred of the opposition and inability to work with our opponents is what he advocates — and if it’s not what he explicitly says, then it’s what all of his actions signal — and that is not a path to fixing any political party.
If we’re going to “fix” the party, it should be by fixing our grassroot methods, as Dean has been advocating and doing. Remember, the 2004 election was won by a better prepared grassroots operation by Karl Rove — and that includes just about everything they did, because they did it all better than we did. Howard Dean understands that, and that’s why he’s been focusing on providing money and aid to every wing of the Democratic Party in every state. He is an excellent DNC Chairman and political strategist. Daily Kos? Not so much.
And his dear friend Arianna Huffington is a hack, too.
To round this post out, I re-direct you here. You see that article? It’s written by Richard Perle. Perle is a War profiteer of the worst kind, as is chronicled in Al Franken’s books as well as several news stories. Why would any newspaper run his opinion? It reminds me of the time that the Wall Street Journal was running Ahmad Chalabi articles at a time when he was being investigated for giving our secrets to Iran.
Such is the media, for you.