Playing currently:):):):):):)...The Decemberists:):):):):):):)...Billy Liar:):):):):):):)...
I need to sleep because I'm going out tonight with a good friend of mine, Deway, from work...and I want to be up and have a good time dancing -- which takes BIG effort to get others to go do with me at other times:):):):):):):)...
I'll have to tell everyone about Deway, at some point (though I will only share what Deway and what I think Deway would feel comfortable with me sharing:):):):):)...but I LOVE this guy:):):) (and not in that way, Deway:):):)...though Deway did give me PLENTY of shit this morning that he thought I was gay...so we're going out tonight to go dancing so I can demonstrate my quite capable heterosexual abilities:):):):):):):)...Deway will ALMOST CERTAINLY attract more women than I will (he is, after all, a pretty amazingly built bad boy with plenty of tattoos and genuine thug attitude after all:):):):):):):)...and plenty of street cred:):):):):):):)...he's also a GREAT GUY:):):):):):):)...who has quickly become one of my closest friends at Amarr:):):):):):):)...
But I think I can hold my own, too:):):):):):):)...and I KNOW that I can DANCE better than Deway:):):):):):):):):):)...
So I've got to get some sleep for the big outing tonight:):):):):):)...
In the meantime...
It's been occurring to me just how LOW a standard we've been holding President Bush to on international policy:):):):):):)...
It occurred to me as I was responding on an international debate forum that I belong to, EZBoard.com's international debate forum:):):):):):):)...
As we're talking about the mistakes of this Administration that President Bush REFUSES to talk publicly about:):):):):):)...
One of the conservative participants started to compare the President's unilateralism to his FAR SUPERIOR, more often than not. predescor -- international and domestic policy matters:):):):):):) -- President Bill Clinton:):):):):):)...
...though George Bush has/has had A LOT of strengths in his Presidency that President Clinton was either not as strong on or which, likely often, were not high priorities for his Administration:):):):):):)...though moral superiority is QUITE DEFINITELY NOT ONE OF THEM:):):):):):):)...
One place of equivocation was one that one of the participants raised...the other place was engaged in by a June 25, 2004 Washington Times article that I was consulting, trying to remember Bill Cohen's (President Clinton's Defense Secretary) last name:):):):):):)...
Honestly...
When I first encountered both of these arguments...that:
1) The Clinton Administration had reserved the right to attack Iraq unilaterally if it was out of compliance with U.N. resolutions concerning access to suspected Iraqi weapons sites...and here is an IMPRESSIVE list of sites/links to information to back up that claim:):):):):):):)...
Washington -- Secretary of State Albright says the United States is prepared to use force unilaterally against Iraq if Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein does not allow full access to suspected weapons sites by U.N. inspectors. "It is our preference...to do everything multilaterally and act in
concert with others," the Secretary of State said at a State
Department press conference January 28 just before leaving on a trip that will take her to Europe and the Middle East. "But I am not going anywhere to seek support. I am going to explain our position. And while we prefer always to go multilaterally and have as much support as possible, we are prepared to go unilaterally."
www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/iraq/1998/98012804_tpo.html
INTRO: PRESIDENT CLINTON SAYS HE WOULD CONSULT WITH U-N ALLIES BEFORE TAKING ANY MILITARY ACTION AGAINST IRAQ, BUT HE MAINTAINS THE UNITED STATES DOES NOT NEED U-N APPROVAL. HE MADE HIS COMMENTS AT THE START OF A MEETING WITH U-N SECRETARY GENERAL
KOFI ANNAN.
www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/iraq/1998/980311-iraq2.htm"
INTRO:SECRETARY OF STATE MADELEINE ALBRIGHT IS PLANNING A TRIP THIS WEEK TO EUROPE AND CANADA TO CONSULT AMERICAN ALLIES ABOUT HOW TO DEAL WITH IRAQ IF THE CURRENT AGREEMENT WITH THE UNITED
NATIONS IS VIOLATED. AS VOA'S RON PEMSTEIN REPORTS FROM THE STATE DEPARTMENT, THE UNITED STATES PLANS TO ACT REGARDLESS OF THE WORDING OF THE SECURITY COUNCIL'S RESOLUTION.
TEXT: THE UNITED STATES WANTED THE UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL TO WARN IRAQ OF SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES IF BAGHDAD FAILS TO CARRY OUT THE AGREEMENT WITH THE U-N SECRETARY GENERAL ABOUT
WEAPONS INSPECTIONS. HOWEVER, THE AMERICAN POSITION IS THAT A STRONGLY WORDED RESOLUTION IS GOOD BUT THE UNITED STATES DOES NOT HAVE TO RETURN TO THE SECURITY COUNCIL FOR PERMISSION TO USE MILITARY FORCE AGAINST IRAQ IF IT RENEGES ON THE AGREEMENT.
FRANCE, RUSSIA AND CHINA HAVE BEEN TRYING TO WRITE A RESOLUTION THAT DOES NOT MAKE A MILITARY STRIKE AUTOMATIC. STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN JAMES RUBIN SAYS A WEAKLY WRITTEN RESOLUTION SHOULD NOT
MISREAD IN BAGHDAD OR ANYWHERE ELSE.
www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/iraq/1998/980302-iraq-1.htm
Western diplomats said that work was proceeding on a draft resolution on Iraq to be put before the Security Council later this week. While the envoys were reluctant to disclose details, they said it was intended to be a forceful condemnation of Iraq. The diplomats said that Washington and London had not yet decided whether to try to find Iraq in "material breach" of the cease-fire that ended the gulf war, which would give full diplomatic cover for military action. Such resolutions have been passed seven times, and four of those times Iraq has backed down, the officials noted. But they are not sure that Russia or China would vote for a finding of a "material breach" if it is viewed as an open door for an attack on Iraq, which both countries oppose.
www.nytimes.com/library/world/012798iraq-us.html
...and...
2) The Washington Time's June 25, 2004 claim that the Clinton Administration had first linked al Queda and Iraq...
Clinton first linked al Queda to Saddam
...I thought...
These are 2 of the STRONGEST arguments to defend/support the President's policies that I've ever heard:):):):):):):):):)...
Because they deal with 2 of the MOST IMPORTANT criticisms of President Bush's rationales and strategies for going to Iraq:):):):):):):)...
Unilateralism, as a strategy:):):):):):):)...
...and a link between al Queda and Saddam Hussein as a rationale:):):):):):):)...
I first want to give props to the Washington Times and Skyrocket2, of the EZBoard International Board:):):):):):):)...for doing their homework on both of these matters:):):):):):):):):):)...
And I do have to say that these would be BRILLIANT arguments for the Administration to tout if they want to defend their policies in international policy, given what I think is a RESURGENT (and DESERVED) popularity of the Administration of former President Bill Clinton:):):):):):):)...
...who was a FAR BETTER PRESIDENT, by my and, I would bet, most peoples' lights:):):):):):):)...
OK:):):):):):):)...
So:):):):):):):):)...
If President Clinton was such a great President...and his Administration made arguments for the ability to invade Iraq for EXACTLY the reasons that the Bush Administration invaded Iraq...why do I say that we are holding President Bush to such a LOW standard?:):):):):):):):):)...
Well:):):):):):):)...
I want to say, up front, that I hold EVERY PRESIDENT -- no matter party, ideology, politics, ideas, brilliance or lack of it:):):):):):):) -- I hold THEM ALL:):):):):):):)...
To the HIGHEST intellectual, scholarly, experiential, expert, and idea-based standards of international and domestic policy engagement possible:):):):):):):)...
If there is ANYTHING I've learned in my far too short time here on this little planet:):):):):):):)...
It is that when you hold people to the HIGHEST standard:):):):):):):)...with plenty of room for them to live up to LOWER standards...but with accountability to HIGHER and the HIGHEST standards:):):):):):):)...
They are FAR LESS LIKELY to do what the Administration and interrogators in the CIA and the military and their defenders are doing RIGHT NOW:):):):):):):)...
Which is to equivocate...and lame out...and otherwise hold themselves to as LOW A STANDARD AS THEY CAN ARGUE FOR AND GET AWAY WITH:):):):):):):)...
Meaning...the best way to curb UNDERACHIEVEMENT:):):):):):):) (as is occuring by the Administration in this war, too much:):):):):):):):):)...
Is to hold them accountable to the HIGHEST ACHIEVEMENT/ACHIEVEMENTS/BEST IDEAS in their fields:):):):):):):)...
Best ideas which come from THE BEST international policy thinkers:):):):):):):)...
Like Joe Nye:):):)...and Robert Kagan:):):)...and Madeleine Albright:):):):):)...and Sandy Berger:):):):):)...and Cyrus Vance:):):):):):):)...and Warren Christopher:):):):):):):)...and Henry Kissinger:):):):):):):)...and Paul Wolfowitz:):):):):):):) (who, despite misteps in this war has also had some BRILLIANT ideas along the way, as well, I think:):):):):):):)...and Bill Clinton:):):):):):):)...and Jimmy Carter and his Carter Center:):):):):)...and Bill Cohen:):):):):):):)...and James Baker:):):):):):):)...and President George Herbert Walker Bush:):):):):):):)...and Condi Rice:):):):):):):)...and even Don Rumsfeld and Norman Schwartzkopf (though, I think they are better consulted for their tactical advice than their international policy expertise:):):):):):):):)...
And THE BEST thinkers:):):):):):):)...
Many of whom SUPPORTED/SUPPORT the war in Iraq...
Have, generally, also been VERY CRITICAL/SELF-CRITICAL of it's conduct and policy mistakes...
Paul Wolfowitz, for instance...observed in a speech I watched him give in front of an audience of students shortly after the war was declared...figured out that it was probably a good idea to persuade the world that a major war was a good idea BEFORE you engaged it, to avoid the political backlash that will surely occur should you not:):):):):):):) (smart thinking, Paul:):):):):):):)...
Colin Powell has been apologetic about making a case for the presence of weapons of mass destruction that he argued in front of the United Nations was being stored in Iraq when none were, in fact, found...though Colin has been, generally, in favor of using sticks as well as carrots to persuade dictators like Saddam Hussein to comply with the will of the United States government and international bodies like the United Nations:):):):):):):)...
Joe Nye -- a former American undersecretary for defense and probably the most recognized and certainly one of the most brilliant international policy thinkers in the world -- who originally SUPPORTED the war (and who, I'm sure, still supports, as most reasonable people do:):):):):), military and political efforts in Iraq:):):):):):):) -- has criticized that the Administration has got to pay more attention to SOFT POWER efforts:):):):):):):)...to PERSUADE other nations and Iraqis of the necessity of deposing Saddam Hussein:):):):):):):) (though, as Paul, opined...perhaps that would have been better done BEFORE a war was engaged:):):):):):):)...to avoid all the unnecessary death and injuries and harm to so many people...
Henry Kissinger has seconded Joe's case for the critical need for multilateralism and working collaboratively with European and other democratic and non and less democratic counterparts to engage such SERIOUS efforts as the war in Iraq:):):):):):):)...Robert Kagan, who was a MUCH BIGGER SUPPORTER FOR MUCH LONGER of this war than Joe has also supported many of Joe's ideas...
And the significance of Henry and Robert endorsing Joe's ideas...is that the BULK of the legacy of BOTH of these writers is, very much, in contradiction to Joe's thesis...and very much more in the direction of the current and consistent policies of the President, currently:):):):):):):)...
Sandy Berger -- who proved himself to be a pretty hefty international policy thinker in the Foreign Affairs article that he wrote and I read...long before his slightly kleptomatic fetish for terrorism documents came to light:):):):):):):) -- was also critical of the lack of multilateralism in the Administration:):):)...and the consequences it had for America's relationships abroad:):):)...
And HERE's what strikes me about these folks -- all of whom have PUBLICLY and OPENLY RETHOUGHT, been CRITICAL AND SELF-CRITICAL about the efforts in Iraq...
They OPENLY RETHOUGHT their ideas...they were CRITICAL AND SELF-CRITICAL in ways that reflected critical thought...
They DID NOT -- well, Condi, maybe -- did not defend LESSER IDEAS and LESSER EFFORTS when they were not working...
Because, generally, people who feel accountable to the BEST EFFORTS AND THE BEST IDEAS...
DO NOT SETTLE FOR LESSER IDEAS AND LESSOR EFFORTS...
Meaning...
This President is ONE HELL OF AN UNDERACHIEVER...
And I, for one, am tired of having to equivocate just how little curiosity, intelligence, interest, and accountability he feels to and for serious international policy, security, defense, and military efforts:):):):):):):):):):):)...
Granted...as Dean Mundy pointed out:):):):):):):)...LUCKILY:):):):):):):)...
The President has consulted with eminent and one of the best, frankly, American military historians, James McPherson, recently, to plan for post-occupation Iraq, using the precedent of the post-Civil-War South to avoid mistakes in occupation and democratic transition efforts:):):):):):):)...
But, I have yet to hear the President ONCE...just ONCE...just ONE FUCKING TIME...
Do what I would expect even the WORST graduate student in any subject -- nevertheless any study of policy -- to do in any class situation where they are presented with a problem that does not fit their interpretation of events...
To rethink it...
Openly...
In front of the whole class...
So that we can all learn from the exercise...
And, as a consequence...
In contrast to the FAR MORE BRILLIANT leadership of President Bill Clinton...
The international class on international policy that we are ALL ENGAGED IN THESE DAYS...
Is being DUMBED DOWN in a SERIOUS WAY by the ONE GUY WHO GETS TO MAKE ALL THE MAJOR DECISIONS...
AND WHO IS CURRENTLY ARGUING THAT WE SHOULD TRUST HIM TO BE ABLE TO ENFORCE ALL OF HIS MAJOR DECISIONS ON THE WORLD, in so many ways (though, I must admit that it is the President and not Congress who is arguing that dues should not be withheld from the United Nations if U.S. demands are not met)...
...that this guy can't ONCE...ONE TIME...say, "I think there were a lot of things, going into this war that we just didn't anticipate...and here's what I'm thinking ont this"...or...more to the point..."I want to apologize to all of the thinking people in the world, today, who think differently about this issue than I do and who I've basically told to fuck off...I'm not interested in discussing this issue with anyone except for me, myself, and I and the very small circle of people whom I will choose to consult or not consult to help me make critical international and domestic policy decisions, many of which I am VERY POORLY prepared to make on my own or even in concert with such a small pool of thinkers/advisors on the matter:):):):):):):)...
President Bush is so LAMELY DUMBING DOWN politics, right now, that it is all that conservatives who FOOLISHLY follow his leadership can do but to just DUMD DOWN WITH HIM...
And what REALLY PISSES ME OFF ON THIS...is that the President is both reinforcing his own poorly-understood or thought out or challenged or developed ideas on important matters to the United States and the world...
But he's leading a lot of really FOOLISH and NOT VERY WELL EDUCATED people down a very bad road, as well...
Now...
Everyone is responsible for their own behavior:):):):):):):)...
If you want to follow this fool down this very foolish road of self-righteously defending bad and/or mediocre and/or poorly-thought-out and/or uncritically examined and/or not discussed publicly thoughts and ideas...instead of openly acknowledging weaknesses and strengths and considering alternatives and creatively developing options and ideas and brainstorming through different ideas...
Then by all means -- you foolish, foolish dumbasses -- you go right the fuck ahead...
And just so you know...when people FINALLY DO THINK these things through better and more thoroughly -- as they assuredly are doing now and will be doing for a good long time:):):):):):):)...
You'll be wondering why you SO WASTED SO MUCH OF EVERYONE'S TIME AND ENERGY DEFENDING BAD IDEAS rather than DEVELOPING BETTER ONES:):):):):):):)...
And in the meantime:):):):):):)...
This President just occupies such a LOWER STANDARD of leadership than we have experienced in the past and that we deserve for the future (Bill Clinton was a great President...but there are greater Presidents yet, still:):):):):):):)...and now is our chance to prepare them for a democratic discussion with MUCH HIGHER standards:):):):):):)...
That sometimes I just have to take a step back and remember...
Just because the world is full of dumbasses who want to defend their dumbassishness...
Does not mean that this is where the BEST IDEAS or BEST PLANS are found...
And the cynical low expectations that both the President has had for himself and that others have had of him to preserve their own low expectations for themselves (it's like a conspiracy of dumb students in a classroom with no teachers:):):):):):):)...
REALLY piss me off...and disappoint me...
And leave me perpetually wondering?...
When will this President bottom out?...
When will he and his supporters wake up from the self-induced slumber and self-defense that they've been engaged in to protect their whiny, fragile little egoes?...
When will they figure out that you can't get out of an honest intellectual argument by just ignoring intelligent arguments that you don't like?...
When will they figure out that doing so is ARROGANT...and FOOLISH...and just makes you DUMBER, rather than SMARTER?...
I don't know...
But it REALLY PISSES ME OFF:):):):):):):)...
And it is humility that the President and an awful lot of his supporters need to learn AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE...
For all of our sakes...
One tip to the President and the President's defenders on both counts of what I think, SADLY, are the strongest arguments to defend the President's efforts in Iraq...
The secret to a GREAT INTERNATIONAL POLICY is not EQUIVOCATING with the mistakes of other Administrations...
It is to RETHINK mistakes to keep building a better and still better international policy...
Rather than doing what I suspect the President is doing right now...
Quietly and to himself, repeatedly muttering...
"Bill Clinton thought the same thing...doesn't everyone know that...Bill Clinton thought the same thing...why does everyone just hate me?...Bill Clinton though the same thing"...
Mr. President...
Please get over the bullshit and begin to LEAD the country and not just indulge it's and your's whiny, self-centered, less thoughtful, less considered, less open and creative minds and hearts...
And LEAD, goddamnit...
Lead with a BETTER EXAMPLE for the legions of whiny, self-centered, self-indulgent conservatives and others who all want to reinforce your pathetic self-image -- FALSELY -- by telling you that you're doing better than you really are...
Goddamnit, Mr. President...
Be a goddamn man, for God's sakes...
Take responsibility for your mistakes...rethink your choices...openly...and out loud...and often...and with plenty of curiosity and thought...
And stop being such a whiny, cowardly little bitch...
Goddamnit, George...
Have some courage, man...
This has nothing to do with elections, George...
This has to do with the fact that YOU ARE THE ONLY GUY WHO HAS THE JOB, right now...
And goddamnit, George...
WE ARE ALL COUNTING ON YOU...
Fuck...
It's like trying to get someone who's feeling depressed to get out of bed when there's a fire in the house...
No offense...
But get off your fuckin' ass and LEAD, Mr. President...
And stop whining so goddamn much...to yourself...and, consequently, for the rest of us...
By the way, George:):):):):):):)...
I love ya, Mr. President:):):):):):):)...I love ya now...I'll love ya if you keep disappointing me on this one...even if you keep disappointing me on this one for the rest of your life, Mr. President:):):):):):):)...muttering to yourself under your breath:):):):):):):)..."Bill Clinton thought it too":):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)...
Mr. President...I'm behind you...the American people are behind you...even as they criticize you...sometimes FAR TOO HARSHLY (though I have genuinely TRIED to be very fair about my criticisms, Mr. President:):):):):):):)...
So please...
I'm asking you nicely, here:):):):):):):)...
LEAD, Mr. President:):):):):):):)...
Lead all of us...especially conservatives right now:):):):):):):)...
AWAY FROM THE ABYSS:):):):):):):)...
Your conservative colleages in international policy circles have already lead in that direction, Mr. President:):):):):):):)...
And now it is your turn to take their lead:):):):):)...to heed their better wisdom in these matters:):):):):):):)...
And to move away from the cliff, Mr. President:):):):):):):)...
Stop going down such a cynical, stupid, and sadly self-fulfilliing prophecy of self-pity reinforced by every person in the country who has ever thought themselve stupid and dumb or not smart enough who want to believe that THEY TOO can make decisions that -- honestly -- they are NOWHERE NEAR THE HIGHEST STANDARDS of intelligence and understanding and wisdom and leadership and social or rhetorical or critical thinking skills to do very well...
The people who know this best are the same folks who shy away from political leadership, often, because they are more interested in ideas than in power:):):):):):):)...LUCKILY:):):):):):):)...
And Mr. President:):):):):):):)...
YOU NEED TO FOLLOW THEIR LEAD:):):):):):):)...
I'm going to make a peanut butter sandwich and shake my fists in frustration at the world, right now:):):):):):):)...
I hope everyone has a great day:):):):):):):)...
Love,
Ben
