Tuesday, September 14, 2004
Finally!
So Jody Neel has invited me to be a guest poster here on PolySciFi, to which I say "Huzzah!" I'm happy to be here. Who I am and where I'm coming from: I'm a writer and an IT guy in Los Angeles, California. I'm to the left of most people posting here.
I had emailed the following to Jody after his last post, so I'm posting it here:
I think Bush's (or Wolfowitz's) transformative vision of democracy in the
middle east is a great one. I supported the war in Iraq, and not because of
any belief of weapons of mass destruction, but because of my own vision of
foreign policy, which, summed up, is "death to tyrants." I think it was a
little disingenuous of Bush to present this as anything other than a very
long-term move.
War costs money, though, and so does reconstruction. And if we had a
president who was willing to ask America to make the sacrifices necessary to
pay for democracy in Iraq, I could vote for him. But Bush is not that
president. He insists on keeping the tax cuts which were proposed during
record surpluses, now that we're looking at record deficits. And it's not
like he's cutting spending in other areas.
So, okay, I give Bush credit for taking the broader view in terms of foreign
policy, but I think the political expediency of maintaining tax cuts passed
in better times is interfering with his ability to see this through. I
prefer tax and spend to spend and spend, and I don't think Bush is being
honest about what it would and will cost to build a democracy in the middle
east. And I think his political connections are ensuring that our money
isn't being spent as well as it could be over there; that's no place for
no-bid contracts. I think Kerry is a better choice to manage reconstruction
in Iraq, if for no other reason than that the Iraqis don't hate him as much
yet.
And the, "but now the Iraqis will see that in democracies, torturers are
brought to justice" meme is a little much, don't you think? Abu Ghirab is
not going to help our case for democracy. Sending torturers to jail is not
going to impress Muslims used to seeing people beheaded for homosexuality.
And speaking of homosexuality, how about that Federal Marriage Amendment?
Now *there's* a good use of the President's time while Iraq and Afghanistan
are struggling.
And no, there hasn't been a new Gulf of Tonkin resolution, but come on, you
can't seriously suggest that the Bush administration hasn't tried to grab
power from the judicial branch; they've greatly expanded the definition and
use of military detention. Whether they're right to do so (and to some
extent I think they are) is another issue entirely. But that's happening.
And if you don't think Justice is resistant to judicial and legislative
review, than you didn't watch Ashcroft testify before congress.
That's all for now. Hello, Internet!
|
I had emailed the following to Jody after his last post, so I'm posting it here:
I think Bush's (or Wolfowitz's) transformative vision of democracy in the
middle east is a great one. I supported the war in Iraq, and not because of
any belief of weapons of mass destruction, but because of my own vision of
foreign policy, which, summed up, is "death to tyrants." I think it was a
little disingenuous of Bush to present this as anything other than a very
long-term move.
War costs money, though, and so does reconstruction. And if we had a
president who was willing to ask America to make the sacrifices necessary to
pay for democracy in Iraq, I could vote for him. But Bush is not that
president. He insists on keeping the tax cuts which were proposed during
record surpluses, now that we're looking at record deficits. And it's not
like he's cutting spending in other areas.
So, okay, I give Bush credit for taking the broader view in terms of foreign
policy, but I think the political expediency of maintaining tax cuts passed
in better times is interfering with his ability to see this through. I
prefer tax and spend to spend and spend, and I don't think Bush is being
honest about what it would and will cost to build a democracy in the middle
east. And I think his political connections are ensuring that our money
isn't being spent as well as it could be over there; that's no place for
no-bid contracts. I think Kerry is a better choice to manage reconstruction
in Iraq, if for no other reason than that the Iraqis don't hate him as much
yet.
And the, "but now the Iraqis will see that in democracies, torturers are
brought to justice" meme is a little much, don't you think? Abu Ghirab is
not going to help our case for democracy. Sending torturers to jail is not
going to impress Muslims used to seeing people beheaded for homosexuality.
And speaking of homosexuality, how about that Federal Marriage Amendment?
Now *there's* a good use of the President's time while Iraq and Afghanistan
are struggling.
And no, there hasn't been a new Gulf of Tonkin resolution, but come on, you
can't seriously suggest that the Bush administration hasn't tried to grab
power from the judicial branch; they've greatly expanded the definition and
use of military detention. Whether they're right to do so (and to some
extent I think they are) is another issue entirely. But that's happening.
And if you don't think Justice is resistant to judicial and legislative
review, than you didn't watch Ashcroft testify before congress.
That's all for now. Hello, Internet!
|
