At Nation-Building, I give kudos to the President for what he did right. And I think Obama should check the White House keyboards for missing O keys…
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Defending the liberal tradition in history, science, and philosophy.
At Nation-Building, I give kudos to the President for what he did right. And I think Obama should check the White House keyboards for missing O keys…
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I found your blog post was more rational than what you linked on DKos. Still, it very much appears that all Obama is doing on Afghanistan OR Iraq is following the Bush playbook. Heck, they’ve even admitted that Afghanistan is a tougher nut to crack than Iraq–and their policy recommendations on both Iraq and Afghanistan are not substantially different from the Bush administration’s current policies and plan. I also doubt very much that having to take your shoes off to get on a plane is something that many people find more than a minor nuisance.
As someone who’s quite proud to have supported President Bush, I cannot toast to his administration "finally" ending. I see it as 8 years of extraordinarily brave and visionary leadership. Still, it’s nice to see some folks on the other side at least TRY to be nice about it.
I also doubt very much that having to take your shoes off to get on a plane is something that many people find more than a minor nuisance.
if that was all it was, yes it would be a minor nuisance. But for some of us it is a lot more than that.
their policy recommendations on both Iraq and Afghanistan are not substantially different from the Bush administration’s current policies and plan
I beg to differ – In fact Afghanistan policy is an area I have been following since the Dean campaign. But thats a debate we can have ;later. Im still processing BSG!
Well, the suggestion was that Bush never had to take his shoes off to get on an airplane and therefore couldn’t understand the plight of everyday people. That seems really silly. (And by the way, the President’s taken his shoes off every single time he’s visited a Mosque, which he’s done numerous times as President.)
As for Afghanistan: The Obama people just admitted this week that Afghanistan may be an unsolvable problem, and in any case will take many many many years, likely decades, and that more troops would only make a minor difference. Iraq was not a "distraction," it was simply different. While Afghanistan will get more troops, we cannot expect the same success we’ve seen in Iraq–the circumstances in that country are so wildly different in terms of culture, poverty, terrain, etc. Afghanistan holds promise for the future, but only so long as Americans stay committed to it.
I haven’t seen the new BSG yet, although I’ve got a recording and will be watching shortly.
Ah, profiling. It’s an inevitable argument, one we’ve been dealing with since 2001 (and before), one without a solution that will please everybody.
On the one hand, you can avoid profiling, and inconvenience a broad swath of the flying public (and endure the ridicule due you for rummaging through the bags of little old ladies and making air travel miserable for everybody).
Or on the other hand, you can anticipate this criticism and profile people, giving increased scrutiny to Muslims/Arabs/South Asians/etc. And accept the criticism of “racism” that comes from that, even though you’re only doing what common sense (and the first group of critics) demand.
Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. Both solutions proceed from an earnest desire to prevent more attacks, not to deliberately inconvenience people or to collectively punish Muslims. Yet either way you’re going to end up pilloried in the popular media.
What drives me up the wall more than just about anything else these days is seeing someone get attacked for doing the best job possible under difficult circumstances. DHS has a nigh-impossible row to hoe: they’re trying their damnedest to satisfy everybody; yet they get treated like they’re trying to cause the greatest amount of offense possible.
As I’ve said so many times before: I can’t imagine who would be masochistic enough to want the job of President.
What Brian said.
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