tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post8957863215871648950..comments2023-10-16T07:13:12.123-05:00Comments on A plain blog about politics: Read Stuff, You ShouldJonathan Bernsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15931039630306253241noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-32126432335585063582011-03-21T22:21:40.695-05:002011-03-21T22:21:40.695-05:00The run-up to Iraq was the left blogosphere's ...The run-up to Iraq was the left blogosphere's Spitfire Summer. Locked in single combat with the numerically superior Nazis, the Few, their finest hour, etc....<br /><br />It's not surprising that everything is seen through that axis. <br /><br /><i>The down side is that they haven't really articulated an alternative ideology</i><br /><br />There's a principled case for non-interventionism from a nationalist, Westphalian position, and one from a pacifist, universalist, perspective. They're debatable, but they're principled.<br /><br />What frosts my cupcakes is the argument that from some people that runs more or less "Well, you're not doing anything in Darfur, or Bahrein, or Syria, or Gaza, or Côte d'Ivoire, and if you can't do all of them, you can't do any of them." <br /><br />Oil makes everyone crazy. On both sides.Davis X. Machinahttp://davisxmachina.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-14008647979134612312011-03-21T17:33:01.690-05:002011-03-21T17:33:01.690-05:00I think that the Vietnam War made certain segments...I think that the Vietnam War made certain segments of liberals always associate military intervention with colonialism/imperialism. This is especially true of the liberals that lean closer to ideologies farther to the right. The plus side is that liberals are more skeptical about what the President/Pentagon says. The down side is that they haven't really articulated an alternative ideology that politicians could use without facing the specter or loosing an election because of public disapproval. The people who protested military intervention in Afghanistan after 9/11 haven't articulated a politically palatable alternative.Lee Ratnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08139895689217213860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-17011338776105190632011-03-21T10:04:54.397-05:002011-03-21T10:04:54.397-05:00yeah, I don't think it is so much the spectre ...yeah, I don't think it is so much the spectre of vietnam. It is the spectre of Iraq.charlienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-16398441983165336852011-03-21T09:42:51.482-05:002011-03-21T09:42:51.482-05:00Here's the thing: Liberals have been more righ...Here's the thing: Liberals have been more right than wrong about Vietnam and Iraq, and in each case were often told to sit down and shut up while the grownups took care of business. And even worse, the grownups who were wrong about one or both of those conflicts are often still sought out for TV appearances and other interviewers as if their past advice was so great. (You can say similar things about the financial situation and tax policy) Its almost reflexive to call b.s. whenever our serious, political grownups begin to support something.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com