Spotify just informed me that Vince Gill had listened to Merle Haggard’s “The Fightin’ Side of Me,” and so naturally, I did too. It had been, what? — thirty years? Maybe more than that.
Apart from how Congress votes on Syria, and regardless of what Obama does after that, we are not really in a position to go to war as a nation. Because it is not possible for everyone in a nation to be “in the loop” when it comes to all the reasons that cause a nation to go to war, a national coherence and mutual trust is absolutely necessary. Up to a point, that is natural and right. But past that point, it becomes ludicrous.
But because we cannot verify our leaders’ trustworthiness in multiple areas related to what they hear from the “intelligence community,” we have to go on the basis of what we can see. We have to go on the basis of what we experience directly.
A people who have been abused in multiple ways are not going to respond well when they are asked, as yet another situation like Syria develops — “look, just trust us.” From all appearances, our president couldn’t organize a three car funeral, and to the extent that the feds do exhibit craft competence, it involves abuses of the IRS and dodgy surveillance techniques.
The old order, badly frayed by Vietnam, was nevertheless still visible when Haggard was writing that kind of song. It was still functional, which meant that politicians could abuse it; it means they could still “work it.” But when you get past a certain point, “we have always been at war with Eastasia” doesn’t have the same purchasing power.
If I might change the metaphor, our federal government is bouncing checks in more areas than just the budget.
For once I agree (mostly) with Doug. Despite being an Obama supporter, I think he is dead wrong in wanting to attack Syria, and I hope Congress votes no. I also hope he is then honorable enough to respect the will of the Congress and not launch an attack on his own. In fairness, though, the reason he hasn’t been able to organize a three-car funeral is that the drivers of the cars have mostly refused to be led. The GOP’s strategy for the last five years has been to obstruct, obstruct, obstruct. Not even Jesus was able to lead… Read more »
Just so I have it straight, Obama is Jesus, and the GOP are Pharisees? Got it.
Yeah Katecho, you’re on it, and Jeremiah Wright is John the Baptist!
Who cares, either way? Most of the people in Syria are unbelievers. They serve only as kindling for the fire.
So sayeth the Lord.
So James Bradshaw is indifferent about bombing Syrians, but he’s preoccupied with bombing conversations on Doug’s blog. Oddly, he doesn’t seem to care if his bombs land anywhere near their target. Dropping blog bombs is its own pleasure, apparently.
Bob Loblaw’s Law Blog: Dropping Blog Bombs Since 1974.
James Bradshw, you know not of what you speak. Please take a look at this: Syria’s Christians Risk Eradication A post-Assad Islamist regime threatens to re-enact the Armenian genocide. By PHILIP JENKINS • September 4, 2013 http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/syrias-christians-risk-eradication/ I especially appreciated one comment: “Sadly, most evangelicals I’ve known (of the fundamentalist variety) would not even consider these folks real Christians, which might in part explain the cavalier attitude toward their fate here in the US. … How ironic that our great ‘Christian’ nation would be instrumental in snuffing out the last vestiges of ancient Christianity.” Regardless, I would oppose attacking Syria… Read more »
Ugh! I forgot!! Dear dougwilson.wpengine.com webmaster: Line breaks, PLEASE?!
Amen DW.
Sorry for the repeat hit, just doing this to see if it works: James Bradshw, you know not of what you speak. Please take a look at this: Syria’s Christians Risk Eradication – A post-Assad Islamist regime threatens to re-enact the Armenian genocide. By PHILIP JENKINS • September 4, 2013 http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/syrias-christians-risk-eradication/ I especially appreciated one comment: “Sadly, most evangelicals I’ve known (of the fundamentalist variety) would not even consider these folks real Christians, which might in part explain the cavalier attitude toward their fate here in the US. … How ironic that our great ‘Christian’ nation would be instrumental in… Read more »
Oh well … LINE breaks! LINE breaks!!
No, Obama is not Jesus and the GOP is not the Pharisees. I was merely making the point that even a superlative leader can’t lead if people refuse to follow.
So in other words, Jesus isn’t the right analogy, given “my sheep hear my voice…and follow me” and all. Perhaps there’s a clever counter analogy to be made…but I lack the energy.
Matthias, my major point is that people who refuse to be led can’t be led by even the best of leaders. In the case of Jesus, the fact that the Pharisees weren’t his sheep may tell us WHY they refused his leadership, but it doesn’t change the bottom line that you can’t lead people who refuse to follow.
Eric the Red is right, but not exactly in the way he implies. Thank God for the obstructionist Congress, or conversely for Obama, because the inability of the two to work together means that a stupid war might not happen. Would that we had Obama in the WH in 2003.
Matt, although I’m mostly an Obama supporter, this one time I agree with you that this is not a war we should get into, and I’ve already called my congresscritter’s office to voice my opposition. I, too, hope Congress will turn him down on this one. The merits of this particular issue aside, though, one of the things conservatives criticize Obama for is his alleged inability to lead, which strikes me as hypocritical. They can’t obstruct and then complain that nothing is happening. Or, put another way, it would be one thing if his policies had been implemented and found… Read more »
And on a related note, I think it’s important to point out that in 2012, nationwide, Democratic candidates for the US House received over a million more votes than Republican candidates for the US House, which means that the only reason the Republicans control the House is because of gerrymandered House districts. If we had fairly-drawn district lines, the Democrats would control the House too. Since electoral college math favors the Democrats winning the Presidency in 2016 as well, the Republicans are now trying to gerrymander the electoral college as well by basing electoral votes on gerrymandered House districts rather… Read more »
Red, used to be considered unfair to give welfare recipients the vote, even by such relative liberals as John Stuart Mill and some of Cromwell’s “Levelers.”
The fact that O feels the need to do a national broadcast shows that he doesn’t have the supportof his own party