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History Breeds Futility
Fear is the foundation of most governments.
-John Adams
Friday, November 03, 2006
  WAR CHEERLEADING AIN'T MUCH FUN ANYMORE
OPINIONS OF CONVENIENCE

The latest word on the gum-covered sidewalks of the blogodome is that there is a steady groundswell of Iraq Invasion water-carriers crossing over to the shrill, unserious, unhinged side - the one that believes Iraq to be a grotesque fiasco that must be halted, posthaste. In other words, they are joining with the approximately 70% of the American people who are operating with all cylinders firing. From completely oblivious to believing the obvious in only three years. Slow, sure, but there's always more room at the table.

And while newcomers are welcome, there are a few things to discuss. See, those of us completely unwilling to buy the justifications for the Iraq Invasion from the very beginning, for reasons that were completely rational, have been called traitors nonstop by every mouthbreathing right-wing simpleton for the "crime" of being opposed to an unjust, immoral war of aggression. That kind of smarts after awhile. So we aren't exactly keen on forgiving and forgetting. Forgive, yes, but never, ever forget.

So we have written out a few steps when it comes time to apologizing for being really, really wrong about the Iraq Invasion. Think of these as a way to atone, in a small way, for being duped by the same old jingoistic lies, the classics of saber rattling, the basest appeals to sunshine patriotism.

Answer as honestly as possible. The pledges are there as suggestions.

1. First, some thoughts at where the war currently stands. What, exactly, is your new view concerning the invasion? Was it ever justified? Is a drawdown necessary? How soon should we bring troops home?

2. Second, describe the tipping point for your conversion to a reality-based view. Was there initial doubt that slowly built into greater distrust? Was it an all-at-once moment? If you were conservative, have you changed affiliation or simply re-evaluated your conservatism? If a conservative who backed Bush, you must pledge to never peddle the cheap myth that "Bush is not a true conservative."

3. Direct people to instances where you carried water for the war effort. Do you stand behind your stances at this time or disavow them? Do you feel there was a time when the war was being waged properly? You must pledge to never advocate greater brutality in prosecuting the war, or suggest that an earlier policy of brutality might have led to a favorable outcome.

4. Direct people to instances where you criticized a war critic. Re-evaluate that critic's claims. Do they seem more prescient at this point, or do you maintain that they were in the wrong? Explain why you did not find these critics credible at that point. Are you more inclined to listen to them now?

5. Do you excuse your support for the war due to faulty intelligence which you had no ability to evaluate? Did you seek any contrary claims in the run-up to war, or did you only accept the official Executive line?

6. Have you ever questioned a fellow citizen's patriotism? What about their commitment to the troops? Have you ever labeled anyone a traitor? Will you repudiate those claims, even if they were only insinuated? Pledge to condemn others who make or have made claims of that nature.

7. Identify times when you insisted that everything was going great in Iraq. Find news stories pertaining to the relevant time period that contradicts your claims. Pledge to listen to the truth no matter how terrible.

8. Identify different predictions you made concerning the course of the war or the handling of the war by those in charge. How often were you wrong? How often were you right? If you were often wrong, pledge to preface all future predictions with a caveat pointing out your past misjudgments.

---

It seems unlikely that any of these questions will be seriously considered by any. The corporate media is in dire need of any amount of self-reflection and evaluation, which will never happen.

Nor will it happen to conservatism. Already conservatives are casting out the heretics and re-branding their once-faithful President as a latte-swilling liberal, untaxing and spending us all into oblivion.

So many wannabe-ocons sang the more war chorus with gusto. Some of them are now left disillusioned, after only the most abject and obvious failures have piled up again and again. While they are a start, questions are not enough to make up for their rah-rah toadying to the corporate-military-industrial complex and the Bush cult.

We suggest rosaries, self-inflicted scourging and a lifelong stigma.

-THE MANAGEMENT


Deacon @ 20:25 : comments: 0
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MATTER
The Two Things about History:
1.
Everything has earlier antecedents.

Corrolary: all culture, including religion, is syncretic; there is nothing purely original.

Second Corrolary: there's no question that a historian can't complicate by talking about what led up to it.

2. Sources lie, but they're all we have.

-Jonathan Dresner, "The Two Things"
Just the Other Day . . .
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:: RATIONALIZING WAR FOR IDEOLOGY AND PROFIT
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:: 120 DAYS
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:: SOMEBODY CALL THE WHAA-MBULANCE
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