Bong, I won't put you on ignore because I don't want to ignore someone I consider a friend. You just happen to be a friend I will never agree with politically. Of all topics, politics requires rational, considered thought. That's the mode in which thinking people must function and debate because rational arguments illustrate actual thought rather than surface one-line, angry emotional reactions. It's terribly easy to borrow other angry people's words like "Liberalism is a mental disorder" or "Screw PC" (my edited version of the F word) or even "We went to Iraq to fight radical Islam." Again, those are the easy, one-liner, feel-good short-and-simple things to say.

What's much harder, requiring far more time and intellectual power, is to examine two or more sides of these issues. To ponder why, if liberalism is such a troubling scourge, so many intelligent conservative Republicans, moderates, libertarians and others also find the justification for this war dishonest. Why our current administration and its Middle East policy has a 72% disapproval rating. Why attempting to inflict democracy on a a part of the world that has never had--and with its tribal, warring history--will never accept it is a futile effort. Why those who tell themselves and others we're simply fighting for freedom in the ME and other parts of the world have precious little understanding of the relationship between democracies (the minority political system, in case you don't realize this) and countries with vastly less free political systems (the significant majority). Why we're not going to triumph good over evil or freedom over repression--and why we're only making the our future outlook more bloody than it was before by lying to ourselves and attempting to do so.

The list goes on and on. But these are the matters that have to be considered and discussed. And that's why rational, reasoned debate is much harder than the easy emotional response. The folks who're willing to work hard at thinking about and discussing these topics--and who do so courteously and with respect (you can call it PC if you prefer; I know that's actually Michael Savage talking)--are the ones who're going to make progress on these issues. They're the ones I happily engage in discussion.
birdgirl73 Reviewed by birdgirl73 on . Ethics/911/The butterfly effect/Etc. Some ideas come in a flash of inspiration, others evolve over long periods. I guess it depends on where you're standing when the shell hits. Unpredictable, in other words. You may ask; "Why here, why now?" I can only say, "Why not?" If this thread develops, it might prove to be long, deep, and, maybe controversial. If not, I wouldn't be at all surprised. In essence, I'm saying that we're not very well tuned in to the consequences of our actions, and that the corollary might be something Rating: 5