Representative of Republican Thought?

The Third Way [Crank]
A quick thought, to be expanded upon another day: American and European liberals and other international apologists for crypto-socialism have long been fond - particularly during the Cold War - of telling us that they had a "Third Way" striking a balance between capitalist free markets and centrally planned communism.

Well, the whole cartoontroversy just reminds us again that the world is viewing a clash of two dreadfully misguided civilizations: in one corner we have militant, intolerant, aggressive, theocratic Islamism; in the other corner, we have the atheistic, anti-religious, passive-to-the-point-of-defeatist tolerant-even-of-intolerance Europe.

More and more, America - with its vibrant but pluralistic religious traditions married to an open and democratic society, unafraid to defend itself, where we understand that insulting another man's faith is wrong, but violence against mere insults is far more dangerous than the insults themselves - is truly that fabled "Third Way" between oppressive theocracy and the belief in nothing.
Posted at 02/07/2006 12:08:44 PM EST - #

Post-Bush Foreign Policy [Blanton]
Rich Lowry ponders a post-Bush foreign policy and suspects we might soon see the emergence of a "to hell with them" hawk, who has no problem invading and destroying the enemy, but who does not want to stay behind and win the hearts and minds of the conquered.

I'd be lying if I denied thinking this sometimes. We are having great success in Iraq. And, should we wipe out the Iranian regime, I think we'd find the large Iranian middle class quite friendly to us.

But I think it is becoming more and more clear that the general rule of democracies not fighting one another just night not apply to the Middle East, though I suppose one could credibly argue that we have yet to see a genuine democracy in the Middle East other than Turkey, which does fit the rule.

The longer this cartoon controversy goes on, however, I'm more and more in the "nuke Mecca and be done with it" camp, and I regret getting closer to that position -- but I find the hordes of angry Islamists willing to be swept up into a fury over cartoons to be appalling and, most likely, a harbinger of worse things to come.
Posted at 02/07/2006 12:23:57 PM EST - #

Re: BPFP [Thomas]
Well, I've explicitly stated before that I suspect we're heading toward something nasty, like it or not. I'd much rather we keep trying to win hearts and minds (even if we must invade first); I'm beginning to suspect, however, that a solid Sherman's March to the Sea approach may be the best (or, frighteningly, only) solution to the problem presented.
Posted at 02/07/2006 12:30:59 PM EST - #

Re: Post-Bush Foreign Policy [Crank]
Democracy in Iraq hasn't succeeded yet, but it certainly hasn't failed.

I think there's a good case to be made that if we go to war with Iran, we have no choice, militarily, but to take out the regime and then leave after a short occupation dedicated solely to cleaning up any loose nuke components, leaving whatever democratic institutions we can throw together on short notice to fend for themselves. The place is too big, and our Army too small, to occupy.

That said, I'm not ready to lose faith yet. People in the USA have rioted over things not worth rioting over, and we survived.
Posted at 02/07/2006 12:34:26 PM EST - #

RE: PBFP [Blanton]
A "Sherman's March to the Sea" might be what is needed, but it certainly won't happen. Europe would never go along with it. They'd rather bow toward Mecca and slaughter their journalists than ever offend an Islamist.
Posted at 02/07/2006 12:35:00 PM EST - #

Re: BPFP [Thomas]
Blanton, never, ever underestimate the French tendency toward genocide. They may be ugly-girl-home-alone to any group of three or more Germans armed with pea shooters, but they've never really shrunk from trying to eliminate all trace of anyone else. I give France ten years before les beurrs find that country less hospitable by a nasty margin.

Again, I'd like to try to prevent that from happening.
Posted at 02/07/2006 02:35:55 PM EST - #

Re: Post-Bush Foreign Policy [Leon H Wolf]


I confess to sharing Blanton's growing sense of alarm and unease over the Cartoon violence. I think I am most dismayed by the geographical pervasiveness of the riots, and the sheer numbers that they involve. Surely, 75,000 is a small minority of the world's population of Muslims, but for every one that goes out and protests, how many stay home in silent agreement? By any calculation, it's far, far too many. Disturbingly too many.

I'm not ready to throw in the towel on Democracy yet, but the problem is more serious than I think most people have previously given credit for, and this widespread lunacy over cartoons (CARTOONS!) is starting to cause many people (like me) very significant alarm.
Posted at 02/07/2006 02:49:06 PM EST - #

RE: Post Bush Foreign Policy [streiff]

I think the resounding silence here on the part of persons who have a vested interest in at least appearing moderate and reasonable speaks volume to 1) the pervasiveness of the attitude being expressed in the Cartoon War and 2) the power of those rioting and their compatriots.

It is increasingly difficult to see how we can occupy the same planet or why we would let dwellers from their side of the planet into ours.


Posted at 02/07/2006 03:51:51 PM EST - #