On Sep 12, 2004, at 11:39 AM, Horn, John wrote:
Behalf Of Doug Pensinger
JDG wrote:
It was a clear misspeak and retracted immediately. I amsure that youhave never misspoken... just like you would never questionthe patriotismof *your* political opponents.
It was not a misstatement, he was speaking his mind and in fact agree with his logic (and not with Kerry's.) Furthermore, he did not immediately retract the statement, he did so the next day.
This "misspeak" reminds me of what lawyers do in front of a jury all the time. A lawyer will say something outrageous, immediately get an objection from the other side, which will be sustained. So the lawyer will say "I take that back" and the Judge will tell the jury to disregard those statements. But the damage is already done. The jury has heard the statement and can't possibly "forget" they heard it.
In my mind, that's exactly what Cheney just did.
While you're 100% correct about Cheney (IMO), I think the above discussion is in reference to Bush's statement that we won't win the war. (Taken to mean we won't win in the battle in Iraq.)
The retraction was not immediate in either case, but I believe it *is* feasible that what Bush meant was that we won't really see an *end to* the war on terror.
Which, when you think about it, is a hell of a lot more chilling. It tends to imply that the typical hawkish model -- attack anything we disagree with -- doesn't work, and that the hawks themselves know it, but are fundamentally insane (a good definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing, even though you know that it won't make a positive difference -- to proceed ahead as though there is only one course of action open to you).
Example by analogy: We are never going to win the "war on drugs"; legalizing pot and decriminalizing everything else is the only thing that really makes sense. It'll gut a lot of the illicit income that's flowing in to dealers, and it'll plug a lot of the tax hemorrhages that are diverting funds from arguably more necessary endeavors. We will still be able to cite and round up makers and distributors of the hard stuff, we'll *try* to put users into rehab (which is more sensible than locking them up for years at taxpayer expense), and it's well-documented -- to the point that only seriously blinkered people contest it -- that pot is no more dangerous than alcohol. (It's probably less so -- few people get stoned and then beat the wife or kids, for instance.)
The "war on drugs" does nothing but needlessly stigmatize and ruin futures (youth found guilty of possession can have all Federal college assistance suspended for life), cost you and me a hell of a lot of money annually on pointless and worthless enforcement endeavors, and promote the concept that intolerance of a given behavior is the best response to it, when perhaps a somewhat more compassionate approach would be more sensible. (Not that "compassionate conservatives" would ever consider it.)
I think the "war on terror" is analogous. The way the Bushie hawks are doing it simply won't get results.
There are too many touchy areas going ignored with the Bush "policy". North Korea is a powderkeg. China continues rattling sabers. Pakistan's just waiting for the first domino to topple. Saudi Arabia continues indoctrinating proto-terrorists and pumping money into their training camps. Afghans and Iraqis who never had a reason to hate the US damned sure do now. Palestine and Israel are loci of despair and states all over the globe are siding up on those conflicts.
There's no way that a militaristic, attack-and-destroy attitude can make a difference here. There has got to be a better, cleaner way, and it is the shame of the Bushies that they resolutely refuse to see that. Or it would be, if they *could* see it, but I'm becoming increasingly convinced that they simply cannot.
They just don't know any better; what used to be my contempt for them is slowly turning to pity.
-- WthmO
The best way to be free from religious terrorism is to be free from religion. --
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