All of those smileys are dedicated to J. Marquis, the defender of all that is Good and Apocalyptic in the Republican Party and beyond this life:):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)...
Speaking of which:):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)...
If you haven't visited Frontpage Magazine:):):):):):):):):):):):):)...News Central for the COMING APOCALYPSE:):):):):):):):):):):):):):):) (why are you smiling, you heretic?:):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)...don't you know that the end is near?:):):):):):):):):):):):):):)...
Sadly:):):):):):):):):)...and HILARIOUSLY:):):):):):):):):):):):):)...
David Horowitz becomes a sad, self-parody of HIMSELF:):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)...
With his new book...that I don't think is SUPPOSED to be a joke:):):):):):):):):):):):):):)...but sure seems like one, nonetheless:):):):):):):):):):)...
The omininously titled:):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)...
THE END OF TIMES...
Now David has TRULY joined the leagues and intellectual circles of Jack Van Impe, Jim Bakker, Jerry Falwell, Jimmy Swaggart, :):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)...
And the fools who fall for this bullshit DESERVE David Horowitz as their half-mad, half-intellectual, half-old-time-preacher, half-megalomaniac heir:):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)...
I'm listening to:
The Beatles...Lonely People (and:):):):):):)...as my good friend, Brian White, would subtitle this song:):):):):):):)...Fucking liberals...fucking liberals:):):):):):):):):):):) (Brian...if you read this:):):):):):)...I just want you to know that I SING THOSE IMPROMPTU LYRICS TO THAT SONG EVERY TIME I HEAR IT SINCE OUR DAYS IN COLLEGE:):):):):):):)...funny stuff:):):):):):)...you may just have to be there for it:):):):):)...
Harry Connick, Jr.:):):):):):)...and his BEAUTIFUL, GORGEOUS cover of "If I only had a Brain":):):):):):):)...I think I'm going to have that song played at my funeral and the lyrics inscribed on my tombstone:):):):):):):)...along with the last 15 minutes of Monty Python's the Life of Brian, of course:):):):):):):)...
The Decemberists:):):):):)...My Mother was a Chineze Trapeze Artist:):):):):):):):):):)...my FAVORITE Decemberist song, I think:):):):):):):):):)...and a DEFINITE MUST for anyone interested in either VERY INTELLIGENT or POLITICAL or FAR, FAR LEFT-WING POLITICAL music:):):):):):):):):) (this song is about some SERIOUS LEFTISTS:):):):):):):)...socialists...communists...something WAY OUT THERE:):):):):):):):):):):)...and it is SO FUN and SWEET and EXCITING to have such intelligent lyrics in contemporary music:):):):):):):):):):)...I patiently seek and await similar REALLY CRAZY AND INTELLIGENT conservative lyrics:):):)...and David Allan Coe, though amusing, DOESN'T COUNT IN THIS CATEGORY:):):):):):):):)...but Rush DEFINITELY WOULD:):):):):):):):):):):):):)...although the last Rush album I saw looked much less libertarian than hippy and liberal, really:):):):):):):):):)...their war protest album, I think:):):):):):):):):)...
...but...for now...Hank Williams Sr. and Little Jimmy's 1952 version of the Old Country Church will have to do:):):):):):):):)...damn, did that guy have a twang, huh?:):):):):):):)...I LOVE IT:):):):):):):)...
OK:):):):):):):)...enough of the music celebration:):):):):):):)...
Onto the show:):):):):):):)...
I dedicate this blog to the wonderful little conservative forum at Ala's ... Blonde Sagacity, which you should check out when you get a chance:):):):):):):)...
The challenge, originally, is from the editors of href="http://www.economist.com">The Economist
magazine:):):):):):):)...
The Return of the Axis of Evil: Iran and North Korea
The challenge is issued as such:
If you want a multipolar world, do something
Should either or both of these events come to pass, note please that it is the world and not just America that will have to rise to the challenge. A lot of Mr Bush's critics will not see it that way. They will take satisfaction in his failure to achieve an aim he put at the forefront of his foreign policy in 2002—and they will argue that the
example America made of Saddam Hussein turns out to have fed rather than curbed the nuclear appetite of Iran and North Korea. But that argument is magnificently beside the point. The point now is that both Iran and North Korea are unpredictable regimes whose possession of nuclear weapons would be dangerous in its own right and might also persuade other countries in their neighbourhoods to go nuclear as well.
Whatever can reasonably be done to stop this proliferation nightmare should be done. And this, for all the talk of a unipolar world with one superpower, is not a job that America should have to do, or probably is able to do, alone.
You should DEFINITELY check out the rest of this article which has many important observations about the situation that it wouldn't do much good to repeat here...I'd just check out what they have to say:):):):):) (link above:):):)...
And their conclusions -- in favor of economic sanctions and against the use of force or military threats to coerce less militaristic aspirations of these two countries...and soon -- are GREAT in ONE VERY IMPORTANT RESPECT...they are critical, rightly, of the President's failure to accomplish much and the backsliding of the North Koreans and Iranians in reaction to his most recent moves to threaten military options if the countries do not do as the White House bids...
Let me say, up front, that EVERYONE -- the Administration...the Economist...the New York Times...the Wall Street Journal...the Guardian...the Globe and Mail...the Mail and Guardian...the Times of London...the Financial Times...Pravda...Democrats...Republicans...Tories...Labour...Liberal Democrats...Socialists in France and Spain...and Gualists and Conservatives in both countries...Christian Democrats...Social
Democrats...
EVERYONE...make no mistake about it...EVERYONE:):):):):):)...except for maybe the more militaristic, self-centered, suicidal, and foolish in each of these countries...like the folks over at Frontpage Magazine here in the good ol' U.S. of A.:):):):):):):):):):):)...and, quite likely, in the leadership among Iranians and North Koreans...
EVERYONE ELSE:):):):):):)...EVERYONE ELSE:)...wants to find as peaceful means as possible to prevent aggressive rogue regimes from threatening their neighbors and the world with serious nuclear weapons:):):):):):):)...
Meaning...especially in America:):):):):):):)...I want us to take a deep breath:):):)...exhale:):):):):)...
And remember that WE ARE ALL ON THE SAME TEAM, HERE:):):):):):):)...
And we ALL have an interest in a more peaceful, less threatening world:):):):):):):)...especially from the likes of leftist dictators like Kim Jong Il and Iranian theocrats who control parliament next door to Israel, Iraq, and other places that we need be concerned about:):):):):)...
Which is EXACTLY the point of the Economist editorial, if a bit shrill in its alarm at the situation:):):):):):):)...
As I pointed out in an earlier post:):):):):)...
The Economist, itself, acknowledges that North Korea -- the more erratic of the two regimes, I believe:):):):):)...my conservative friends can nod their heads and say, "But, of course:):):):):)...it IS the Leftist regime, isn't it?:):):):):):):)...why I bet that Bill Clinton and Jane Fonda consumated their secret, traitorous affair right there on the Big Bear Rug of the North's Communist Palace there in the center of Pyongpang:):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)...
Maybe:):):):):):):)...Jane Fonda IS looking sexy, these days:):):):):):):):):):):)...I have to say:):):):):):):)...
The Economist acknowledges that North Korea can flatten Seoul with NO MORE weapons upgrades, whatsoever, at this point...
So...the real problem is CHILLING EVERYONE OUT, right now...including the Economist:):):):):):)...if they can do SERIOUS DAMAGE to South Korea's capital AT THIS MOMENT, it doesn't make much sense getting all worked up about MORE DESTRUCTIVENESS, necessarily...maybe just beginning to deal with the current destructive potential of that regime is enough for us to bite off, right now:):):):):):):):)...
And Iran is a VERY DIFFERENT CASE, I believe, that should be treated, differently, I believe:):):):):)...the MOST IMPORTANT DIFFERENCE, being, of course, not only that Europeans were briefly persuasive in getting Iran to hold back on its nuclear plans for about 6 months (an important success to build on:):):):):):):)...
But MUCH MORE IMPORTANTLY:):):):):)...Iran is a DEMOCRACY...and one that recent dealt with a MILLION PLUS protest in its capital against the current leadership:):):):):):):)...a theocratic leadership that has proved itself to be TERRIBLY manipulative in its pursuit of power in Iran, including a slightly ramped up version of Pope Benedict's somewhat similar moves at power in the Catholic Church, purging moderates who veer from the leadership's view of Iran...in the Pope's case, his power is -- LUCKILY -- limited to the archaic institutions of the Catholic Church:):):):):):):)....in Iran's case, the conservative leadership purged moderate candidates who might have unseated them in periodic elections:(...
But Iran is a democracy, nonetheless...allowing for more openness to change and shock and adaption to circumstances and ability of the electorate to have influence --as it recently did in a MUCH, MUCH LESS democratic Lebanon -- that a more straightforward autocratic dictatorship like North Korea does not share with its autocratic democratic world neighbor:):):):):):):)...Islamic theocrats look more like their Christian theocratic brethren here in the States, in many ways, than they do the ugly and parasitic dictatorship of North Korea...
My friend, Kenny, has a REALLY WONDERFUL suggestion, I think...
In the case of North Korea and Iran, the President could start by de-linkinng the two countries, which are very different...
He could then pursue non-threatening bi-lateral and multi-lateral talks with them that don't take already paranoid actors and have them ambitiously pursue nuclear materials because they are afraid that you might invade and they clearly want to keep you out, making them MORE DANGEROUS, as the Economist points out, rather than LESS DANGEROUS,
which, if you take a moment away from just defending the President and his actions and just look at what they are doing in response to the President's actions...which is REALLY THE GOAL, isn't it?...I'd also -- in this case and with Iran, specifically -- build on MANY, MANY STRENGTHS in this Administration...including:
1) A SERIOUS respect for Islamic religion, cultures, and institutions...is EVERYONE losing their minds on this story TOTALLY forgetting how much effort the Administration and the military went to avoid hitting Islamic mosques in Iraq and rebuilding ones that got caught in crossfire or where fighting couldn't be avoided?...I would add a serious respect for the constructive priorities of leaders in
Iran and North Korea, including a vague desire to care for the needs of their peoples...given...it's a STRETCH of a compliment:):):):):):)...but I think this is a better start than just criticism alone:):):):):)...which gets us to the SECOND important strength of this Administration, I think:):):):):):):)...
2) President Bush's forthright criticism of autocracies and rogue regimes...this is where I and many of the President's critics in the media SERIOUSLY DISAGREE...I DO agreee with many folks -- and the bulk of the international policy scholarly community...conservatives -- like Henry Kissinger and Robert Kagan -- AND liberals -- like Joe Nye and
Thomas Friedman...that the President should stop trying to bully the world and should work WITH multilateral institutions, like the United Nations and NATO, and with democratic and non-democratic partners to engage such issues...with open and honest disagreement, to be sure...but not trying to win the upper hand, politically, and not expect consequences that none of us want, on the back end...
And I think that trying to SCARE North Korea and Iran into giving up their pursuit of weapons is CLEARLY NOT WORKING BY ANY OBJECTIVE MEASURE of the situation, which is EXACTLY why the Economist is so
RIGHTLY critical:):):)...
I think we should focus on bilateral and multilateral talks...and in doing what the President and John Bolton have SAID, recently, that they want to do with the U.N...which I think would be encouraging if they are being sincere...which is to ENGAGE it...to recognize and acknowledge it's value...as the President does so well with, say, American businesses...but which he needs to do better, I think, with the U.N...AND to criticize it...especially its record of allowing serious human rights abusers tell the rest of the world what constitutes a human rights abuse...I am ALL ABOUT INCLUSION as a means of engaging aggressors in a democratic context -- as has CLEARLY been a success in Great Britain with the IRA and the Ulster Unionists -- but there also needs to be voices of reason who say that Syria is not the best country to tell ANYONE what is constituted in a human rights
abuse:):):):):)...and out of that democratic engagement, I think, we give autocrats experience with the BENEFITS and HONESTY and GOOD FOR THEIR COUNTRIES AND FOR THE WORLD that come with democratic engagement, which is EXACTLY why Gerry Adams -- a spokesman for a former terrorist group now-turned-political-party -- worked so hard in the last couple of years to KEEP THE PEACE IN IRELAND ON TRACK, a REMARKABLE development, to say the least, from a time when Gerry Adams and Sinn Fein RATIONALIZED murder for political ends...
So...there is MUCH PRECEDENT to believe that such a strategy could besuccessful...as well as the Europeans BRIEF success in squelching the Iranians' pursuit of nuclear weapons which was SADLY COMPOUNDED by a boisterous U.S. threatening war with it...what a foolish mistake:):):):):):):)....
And...it's just a mistake:):):):):):):)...and...like
Newsweek:):):):):):):)...the quicker the President recognizes that:):):):):):):)...the quicker we get to BETTER solutions:):):):):):):)...
3) The President's and the Administration's GENUINE concern for America's interests in global affairs:):):):):):):)...and their hopefully moving past the illusion that somehow their just going to be
able to BEAT world opinion in their direction:):):):):):):)...a foolish bet, that's for damned sure:):):):):):):)...and the Administration's willingness to point out the shortcomings in international institutions like the U.N.:):):):):) (though I somehow doubt going after Kofi Annon will do very much more, at all, than increase the shrill of Bush sitting for war-crimes talk amongts liberals:):):):):):):) (which is a pretty serious risk for the President who DID violate international law over the course of this war:):):):):):):)...I don't think it will go this way:):):):):):):)...but going after Kofi Annon will surely INCREASE that likelihood, rather than decrease it:):):):):):):)...and likely do NOTHING to promote the welfare of those hurt by the mistakes in the oil-for-food program -- except bring general awareness of the issue -- and do MUCH to undermine conservative credibility on the issue, as it already has with me...
4) Making the case that though America's willingness to lead military efforts when they are needed might, at times, make them a bit TOO EXCITED to take on such missions:):):):):):):)...that the resistance to sharing the burden equitably on such missions by the Japanese and Germans and French, etc., undermine THEIR CREDIBILITY AS WELL:):):):):):):)...a truism that gets MUCH DISCUSSION in the U.S...especially amongst conservatives:):):)...but less and needed discussion in places like the U.N.:):):):):):):)...
...and saving the talk of militarism for when it is more useful...like
in the case of a REAL IMMINENT THREAT from the North or Iran on Seoul or Israel...like if North Korea or Iran is OVERTLY THREATENING IMMEDIATELY OR VERY SOON TO RAIN NUCLEAR IN SEOUL OR TEL AVIV...or to otherwise attack, with missile technology or ground troops, their more democratic neighbors:):):):):)...
5) Sanctions will almost inevitably beconsidered...and the Administration will almost inevitably support them (though they have PLEASANTLY SURPRISED me at times...as with their pleading with Ariel Sharon to back off more aggressive moves in Palestine)...so I have to include them...I don't have much hope that they will work, given what we know about the psychology of the insular, paranoid, seriously-controlling and repressive, militaristic, and seriously manipulative leadership in both Tehran and Pyongyang...Iran is democratic and, thus and on its own merits, less dangerous, I think, than the megalomania of Kim Jong Il...and has fewer capabilities to threaten democratic countries than does the North Korean leadership, according to this Economist article...
Though the Economist suggests them...they will likely have a similar, less serious consequence as the current policy, I'm afraid (I would love for them or war or ANY POLICY to work, frankly...but they just aren't likely to, I'm afraid, given who we are dealing with...and with human nature's tendency to DEFEND itself from perceived attacks, for good or for ill:):):):):):))...
I think bilateral and multilateral talks and inclusion of these countries into institutions like the United Nations are MUCH MORE LIKELY to create changes in their leaderships' behavior (with a VIGOROUS AND ENGAGED debate and discussion about the direction and purposes of the United Nations and other international institutions by conservatives, liberals, and even rogue regimes...this doesn't mean that Kim Jong Il's philosophy of democracy is equally as valid as that of democratic countries like the U.S. OBVIOUSLY:):):):):):):):)...it just means that, like Gerry Adams...the more he's TALKING AND THINKING about democracy...the more he absorbs its values...and the better for ALL OF US, as a consequence...as the truism of contemporary political science that the President has been repeating to President Putin and his neighbors, recently...the more democratic countries are...the more likely that they DON'T go to war with one another...and that they act less aggressively with one another...which, at its root, is the FUNDAMENTAL PURPOSE of our policies towards Iraq, Iran, and North Korea...not declaring war...or imposing sanctions...these are only tools...that either get us CLOSER to that goal...or, as is the unfortunate case today, get us FARTHER AWAY from that goal...
6) The VERY SAVVY and IMPORTANT work and suggestions of the brains behind much of the work in Iraq, right now, that I'm ashamed that I forgot about when I posted very similar versions of this writing on
Ala's blog...
Paul Wolfowitz...
Very soon after the commencement of the Iraq war...As Paul was -- FAR AHEAD of the pack of the very reflective re-thinking of the war going on inside the Administration:):):):):)...ahead Condi's VERY POIGNANT rethinking:):):):):)...and Don Rumsfeld's second thoughts:):):):):)...and Colin Powell's and Tom Ridge's and Richard Clarke's POST-CABINET re-thinking that would have been FAR MORE EFFECTIVELY ENGAGED if it would have had an audience while they were STILL WORKING FOR THE PRESIDENT:):):):):):):)...
Very soon after the war started, Paul suggested that Americans support more open, democratic, and liberal -- "small l" classical, free-thinking, free-expressing liberal, in this sense -- values by financially and otherwise supporting SCHOOLS in Islamic countries like Afghanistan and Iraq to support the nurturing of these kinds of VERY IMPORTANT VALUES in Islamic cultures...
And that suggestion is not only a BRILLIANT ONE -- which the Administration, generally, and Paul, specifically, deserve much credit for:):):):):):):)...
But it is one that should be extended, as much as possible to autocracies and dictatorships like Iran and North Korea:):):):):):):):):)...
This would make an IMMENSE DIFFERENCE, if it were possible to implant these institutions in places like North Korea and Iran...But they will ONLY BE POSSIBLE if these states and cultures DO NOT FEEL THREATENED by the Administration and the Western and civilized and democratic world...
A VERY, VERY, VERY good reason to NOT ENGAGE IN A POLICY THAT EMPHASIZES THREATS TO SOLVE PROBLEMS IN THIS OR OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD...for goodness sakes:):):):):):):):):):)...But THAT IS OK:):):):):):):):):):):):):)...because MISTAKES GET MADE:):):):):):):):):):):)...and that is the nature of international and domestic policy:):):):):):):):):):):):)...
It is not only OK that mistakes get made over the course of these very difficult policy choices...it is COMMON and NORMAL in ON-GOING AND NEVERENDING learning curve of international (and domestic) policy:):):):):):):)......and acknowledging that instead of assuming bad faith is MUCH MORE CONSTRUCTIVE, I believe, to preventing similar mistakes in the future than trying to get folks' heads...
For the President:):):):):):):)...and for Newsweek:):):):):):):)...and, this time, the President needs to follow this media organization's lead, I think:):):):):):):)...
That would be THE MOST IMPORTANT SUGGESTION I would have for the President...it's not his strength, unfortunately...and, as I've written earlier, it is VERY DIFFICULT to do, publicly...so I TOTALLY feel for George in this respect:):):)...but I'd do it anyway...
Apologize...
Apologize to the world for trying to make it do your bidding just because you say so...and because you're arrogant enough to believe that you know what's best for the world without consulting it...Apologize to Iraqis and American soldiers and international relief workers and other service-people, Iraqi law-enforcement, non-profit workers, commercial workers, and to the families of those whose lives were lost over the course of this world...whose lives were ALL put in FAR TOO MUCH UNNECCESSARY RISK, as a consequence of the President's arrogance to believe that forming substantial international coalitions
and consensus did not/do not matter...for disregarding international institutions, like the United Nations General Assembly and Security Council...as well as important NATO allies, like France and Germany:)...
Apologize to the North Koreans -- the leadership and the population -- as well as the Iranian leadership and people for persistently THREATENING them, militarily, to get our way on a whole host of matters
-- specifically, the renunciation of nuclear programs -- that has CLEARLY BEEN COUNTERPRODUCTIVE to anyone REALLY CONCERNED WITH DEALING HONESTLY WITH THIS THREAT...and not just defending the President and his mistakes...a policy of threats that leads those cultures, populations, and states to CLOSE DOWN, DIG IN, and PREPARE FOR BATTLE...not the state that you need so same folks in to learn and
support and nurture the values of free and open and liberal ("small l" classical liberal ) and democratic cultures:):):):):):):):):):):):)...
And apologize to the American people...for both giving deceptive reasons for going into Iraq...and for not being more thoughtful about how such a war might be engaged to ensure that many, many, many fewer American, Iraqi and other lives would be lost over its course...and to American liberals, in particular, for treating them like opponents, at worst, and less than equitable partners, at best, when developing international and domestic policy:):):):):):):):)...
I would then work with international relief organizations, fundraising, and other groups to fund emergency food relief for North Koreans, specifically, during bilateral and multilateral talks...to make clear that such talks and efforts in the region are AUTHENTICALLY about how much Americans CARE about the North Koreans -- and about themselves -- and not about how they want to SCARE or REPRESS THEM STILL FURTHER THAN THEY ARE ALREADY REPRESSED (learning the lessons from the very serious problems we've encountered in Iraq:):):)...
I would also continue to offer up as much free and paid for and otherwise supported access to both Iranians and North Koreans (there is more precedent for Iranians enjoying American culture...but if there's a way to get it to North Koreans, then I am all for it:):):):):) to products and media of American culture:):):):):)...the pink fashions and rap music that Iranians have, reportedly, been indulging in:):):):):):):)...and rebelling against their parents and their parents' generation with:):):):):):):)...the access to American, British, South Korean, Egyptian, Iraqi, Japanese, French, German, Spanish, Scandanavian, Swiss, Italian, Nigerian, Kyrgyz, Russian, Christian and other missionary (my South Korean friends tell me that Christian missionaries have been VERY IMPORTANT ambassadors to South Korean culture from America...and might have similar influence in the North, though, as with China, with significantly more risk, I'm sure, in a Communist dictatorship...and other more democratic media, movies, music, books, scholarship, and more open culture:):):):):):):)...
As Joe Nye -- the Dean of the Harvard School of Government and my FAVORITE international policy scholar -- makes clearer in his most recent works:):):):):):):)...
While hard power -- in the form of military and economic force and sanctions -- can be useful in international diplomacy (and I would add...for some purposes...that have important tradeoffs with other purposes...meaning they are discreet tools for certain efforts -- like limiting regimes' access to weapons of mass destruction -- while distorting relationships needed for other efforts -- for democratization, for instance...or for extradition of or for reducing or removing support for terrorists....or for trade...or for improving openess and linkages for American and Western and democratic and non-democratic media, music, books, scholarship, internet, etc...or for solving A WHOLE HOST of serious international problems...that require
STRONG OVERALL RELATIONSHIPS, first and foremost, to tackle so many important and necessary issues, simultaneously, without trading off issues of importance with one another...rather than DISCREET and often COUNTERPRODUCTIVE efforts at forcing regimes' hands on issues that are not of immediate and truly imminent threat, as I see no evidence, thusfar, including from this Economist article, that Iran or North Korea really are...
As Joe makes clear...
Soft power -- or more direct diplomacy, study abroad programs -- especially programs that allow young folks from these countries to study in America in AS BIG A NUMBERS AS POSSIBLE and that sharing and genuine exchange of our more open culture and even others' more closed cultures -- are FAR UNDERVALUED in the current context...and need to be revisited by American and world leaders, generally...but definitely in situations of the most serious risk of escalation, as Iran and North Korea and Iraq are proving to be:):):):):):)...
And soft efforts to encourage, teach, share, and otherwise nurture democratic values in these countries...through schools -- as Paul Wolfowitz, the current World Bank chairman and one of President Bush's most important intellectual advisors over the course of this war in Iraq suggested VERY, VERY, VERY WISELY in Islamic countries...like Iran, say:):):):):):):):):):):):):):)...through open and as freely accessed as possible...internet...press...and other news media (the Economist making its premium content freely accessable is a WELCOME AND WONDERFUL MOVE IN THIS DIRECTION:):):):):):):):):):)...I've been waiting to brag on them about this ever since I encountered it:):):):):):):)...music...movies...television...advertising (as much as this just PISSES OFF LIKE ALL HELL traditionalists in developing and autocratic and repressive cultures:):):):):):):):):):):):):):)...fuck 'em, I say:):):):):):):):):):):):)...I don't have ANY FUCKIN' PROBLEMIN THE FUCKIN' WORLD with Islamists and Communists and various autocrats and dictatorships and closed and more traditional cultures being pissed off with Americans and others using and celebrating their First Amendment Rights:):):):):):):):):)...I also happen to think that Afghanis can learn to tolerate desecration of the Koran, as well, by the way:):):):):):):):)...even as Americans also learn to respect, preserve, and appreciate the Koran, Islamic tradition and culture, and Arab and South Central Asian cultures, generally:):):):):):):)...but that's for another post:):):):):):):):)...
And if we NEED to use weapons and sanctions...We can still do so when we might think we might need to...but not LEAD with such a policy, thus playing trump cards that we cannot quickly replace or get back and, in doing so, at each turn, REVERSING a VERY
IMPORTANT GAME called, "How to facilitate ALL OF HUMANITY adopting the HIGHEST VALUES of ALL OF HUMANITY":):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)...
I am listening to Rachel Yamagata's I Want You, by the way, which is REALLY, REALLY FUN, by the way:):):):):):):):):):):):):)...especially for Rachel, who is, generally, so MELANCHOLY and MAUDLIN:):):):):):):):):):):):):)...definitely check her out:):):):):):):):):):):)...
I'll keep working on it, everyone:):):):):):):)...
I'm sure everyone is TERRIBLY RELIEVED that I am on the case:):):):):):):):):):):)...who else could write and talk about the possibilities of nuclear capacity with so many GODDAMN SMILEYS, YOU SMIRKY, DISRESPECTFUL, RECKLESS, YOUNG SUM BITCH:):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)
:):):):)...
Yup:):):):):):):):):):):)...
That's me:):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)...
International policy scholar/problem solver/swiss army knife of intellectuals extraordinaire:):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)...
If you got to the end of this post, by the way...
I REALLY ADMIRE YOUR TENACITY:):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)...and DETERMINATION:):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)...
To get to solutions in tough international and domestic policy and people issues:):):):):):):):):):):)...
Just like me:):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)...
If you've never heard the Walela Cherokee drum version of Amazing Grace, by the way:):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)...
You are REALLY MISSING OUT ON LIFE:):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)...
Have a OUT-OF-THIS-WORLD DAY, EVERYONE:):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)...
Love,
Ben
