On 11/9/06, jdiebremse <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Yes, I understand that you have absolutely no interest in being constructive on a difficult issue like Iraq. Rather, you are much more comfortable just engaging in partisan criticism, without having to offer any constructive suggestions for what an approrpriate Iraq policy/strategy would be.....
If my house is on fire, I don't develop a personal strategy for putting it out, I turn the problem over to the people whose job it is to deal with the emergency. It is constructive to know that when a brush fire becomes a conflagration, the firefighters' strategy isn't working and a change needs to be made right away. When our pipes are leaking, I don't have to know how to do plumbing to see that the guy I hired is making it worse when the water level rises even faster. When my country is off course, I don't have to come up with a political plan, I only have to elect better leaders. I don't have to do it all myself or have strategies for all of it, thank God. That's what it means to be a team player, even in a democracy where the team chooses the leaders. How handy for you that arguing for a new direction for our nation is "non-constructive." The war is destroying Iraq, bloating our national debt, making the world less safe, killing our loved ones, but it is "non-constructive" to argue that we need a new direction unless I know exactly what that direction is? And I'm sure you know that I don't, so I'm not going to play along and come up with it so that you can knock it down. I vote for the people who are responsible to come up with a new direction; I'm not running for office. Non-constructive? Convenient that you're tossed my suggestion that our war strategy should be one of triage. And all the discussion of military v. police actions. And the historical examples of peaceful regime change. I voted for the best people who I believe can take us in a new direction -- and without fantasizing that they'll find a "good" solution because I don't believe there is one. And I guess it's non-constructive to argue, as I have here, for funding the Veterans Administration properly, since that's measuring the effectiveness of an organization by how much you spend on it. I know this -- keep cutting its budget and at *some* point it is clear that you just don't care about it. Part of our war strategy must be to leave no veteran behind at home. Meanwhile, I'll continue to participate in political discussion without fantasies about who I am, campaign for the candidates I believe in, visit the wounded, comfort the bereaved and all my other stupid, liberal non-constructive behaviors. What is your argument for why I should have the solutions to every problem I can see? I believe God can do that, but nobody else. I may not know what it right for Iraq -- who does? -- but I believe that what we are doing is wrong. The best we got from the leaders we've had for the last six years was not good enough and I have faith that we can do better. Time for a new direction. Nick -- Nick Arnett [EMAIL PROTECTED] Messages: 408-904-7198 _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
