I (and so many others on the Internet) am of such a leftish and/or libertarianoid bent that sometimes I find myself engaging in the same unthinking criticism of conservative types that I risk falling into the the trap of Ann Coulter-ism. Almost. But sometimes one finds truth among the trash. Or maybe it's just a case of a broken clock being right twice a day. Or maybe I'm just so desperate for signs of hope in the US that I'm hallucinating.
Once again, Pat Buchanan (of all people) has nailed it as to what the hell is wrong with neocon foreign policy, and does so in a way conservatives can appreciate.
By now you've heard this from Colin Powell:
"What is the greatest threat facing us now? People will say it's terrorism. But are there any terrorists in the world who can change the American way of life or our political system? No. Can they knock down a building? Yes. Can they kill somebody? Yes. But can they change us? No. Only we can change ourselves. So what is the great threat we are facing?"
Buchanan translates this into terms the average conservative can empathize with:
"Consider: Between 1942 and 1945, Germany and Japan, nations not one-tenth the size of the United States, saw their cities firebombed and their soldiers and civilians slaughtered in the millions. Japan lost an empire. Germany lost a third of its territory. Both were put under military occupation. Yet, 15 years later, Germany and Japan were the second and third most prosperous nations on Earth, the dynamos of their respective continents, Europe and Asia."
"Powell's point is not that terrorism is not a threat. It is that the terror threat must be seen in perspective, that we ought not frighten ourselves to death with our own propaganda, that we cannot allow fear of terror to monopolize our every waking hour or cause us to give up our freedom."
Okay... it's not exactly Pat singing "Give Peace A Chance." But it's a huge breath of fresh air from the conservative end of the spectrum. My God... can you imagine a world that is a better place than it is today because Pat Buchanan won in 2000? The mind absolutely boggles.
And as for other conservative-types that I despised yet (as time goes on) I can (ulp) respect more and more... despite more and more fascists, greedheads, and loonies adopting that label??
"The greatest honor history can bestow is that of peacemaker."
-Richard Nixon
In the meantime, New York continues to welcome tourists... unless your last name is Ahmadinejad, and once-honorable conservatives like John McCain want to use force to keep you away.
I think I need to lie down.
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