Krugman wrote: After all, suppose that a politician — or a journalist — admits to himself that Mr. Bush bamboozled the nation into war. Well, launching a war on false pretenses is, to say the least, a breach of trust. So if you admit to yourself that such a thing happened, you have a moral obligation to demand accountability — and to do so in the face not only of a powerful, ruthless political machine but in the face of a country not yet ready to believe that its leaders have exploited 9/11 for political gain. It's a scary prospect.
The New Republic article by Judis and Ackerman that Krugman referred to as “magisterial” is too large to attach and pass through FW’s filter, (I MB) but if anyone wants to read it in a /easy to read/ Word format, (11 pages) please contact me. Otherwise, it’s at http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=20030630&s=ackermanjudis063003 <http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=20030630&s=ackermanjudis063003>.
[snip]
This seems a fine article.
Bush -- who was a young adult during the Vietnam Era, as was I -- probably heard the phrase "revisionist history" at some point back then.
It is ironic that he labels the critics of his Iraq policy "revisionist historians", since, increasingly as the years go by, what was all but treasonable in the late 60s has become History Channel ho-hum stuff (Stalin tried to rewrite history instead of getting people to not care about it).
Krugman calls the New Republic essay "magisterial". That
is an adjective one does not hear much in our post-modern
age ("The earth has become small, and on it
hops the Last Man, who makes everything small...
the Last Man lasts longest" --Nietzsche).I happen to think "magisterial" is a fine word, and that persons need to raise themsleves to the level where they can competently use it.
Back when Bush was in college, a person named D.F. Fleming wrote one of the early "revisionist" histories of the Cold War, a work which probably deserves the designation "magisterial" in my opinion (it's a shame I don't have the leisure to reread it, but the book itself sits in a place of honor in my "tokonoma" AKA study space, and I at least see it every day):
_The Cold War and Its Origins_ (Doubleday, 1961, 2 Vols)
and then there is the other book from that time which stands out in my memory:
Gar Aplerovitz, _Atomic Diplomacy: Hiroshima and Potsdam_
(Pluto Press, 2nd expanded edition, 1994)I think we can never have too many magisterial works -- or even undertakings which "only" seriously aspire to that rank.
\brad mccormick
--
Let your light so shine before men,
that they may see your good works.... (Matt 5:16)Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. (1 Thes 5:21)
<![%THINK;[SGML+APL]]> Brad McCormick, Ed.D. / [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----------------------------------------------------------------- Visit my website ==> http://www.users.cloud9.net/~bradmcc/
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