What If The Liberal-Left Got Its Way?

The Washington Dispatch ^ | Feb 27, 2003 | Frank Salvato

[The Rant]

I went to bed last night like most of you, unsure of what will eventually happen with the situation in Iraq, wondering what the anti-American protesters are thinking and what they are going to do next and wary of anything that has to do with the liberal-left and the mainstream news media. It seems people like you and I have a lot on our minds these days. But I laid down my head knowing in my heart that supporting the President was the right thing to do being the modern day patriot that I consider myself to be. But hours later, as I opened my eyes, that sinking feeling of victimization started to set in. It had nothing to do with anything that I had been thinking about but it had everything to do with what I dreamt about. I dreamt that France, Germany and the American liberal-left had gotten what they wanted and Saddam Hussein was allowed to remain in power in Iraq.

The feeling was hard to shake until well into the morning and then I started thinking, what would it really be like if they did get their way?

Well, for starters, the world would be a much more dangerous place than it is today. If Hussein were to stay in power it would not only invalidate the threat of force were it sponsored by the United Nations in response to rogue leaders and their threats of genocide but it would effectively render the entire idea of the United Nations useless. Going the wayside of the League of Nations, the loss of even the idea of a United Nations would leave the world’s less influential countries without a forum to express their concerns and they would effectively be forced to side with one of the stronger nations of the world community. Using the theory of “trickle-up” economics in the geopolitical realm, it would only be a matter of time before a few stronger nations stood poised, with their aligned Third World supporters in tow, on the brick of another cold war between superpowers. This would be coming just a little over a decade since the fall of the Soviet Union.

Another thought that struck me is that if Saddam Hussein is granted a reprieve and is allowed to stay in power it will only go to prove to him that he can manipulate the world community and get away with it. By being less than honest about the weapons that he has, omitting documentation from critical reports and creating moving laboratories for his chemical weapons programs he will have proven to the world that by being persistent with his subversion of the truth he will have outlasted the will of the world community. He will have found a way to continue on his quest to develop and possess weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weaponry, without being found out by the world he intends to unleash them on.

If that weren’t enough, with these actualities in place the people of the United States would have to continue to live under the threat of attack at any time. Our once proud nation that embraced the freedom of wills and ideas would suddenly find itself having to look over its shoulder all the time in fear that people with less than grand intensions would be setting up to slaughter another three-thousand plus innocents on any given day. It would become a way of life. To some extent we are seeing that now but if they had their way it would be much worse. We would essentially become the land of the free as long as we lived within the constraint of fear.

But perhaps the most frightening thing that would come to pass if the liberal-left got their way would be that it would become status quo to give in to those who are in the minority but scream the loudest. We would be teaching our generations to come that it really wouldn’t matter what the facts of any given situation were, what would matter is if it were presented in such an overwhelming fashion that the illusion of majority were portrayed. We would be teaching them that telling the truth and standing up for what is right looses out to organizing a vocal minority and packaging it correctly; that it is all about winning, no matter what the cost, ethically or financially. In essence we would be teaching our future generations that what our Forefathers envisioned and what so many brave men and women fought and died for was simply naïve.

So, while the catalyst for all of these thoughts was simply a dream, the reality of the matter is we are much closer to the nightmare than we ever should be.

We, as Americans, must stand up for what is right. We must stand up and fight for the oppressed that cannot fight for themselves and at this moment in time we are poised to do it for the subjugated people of Iraq. The United States should take its rightful place as a world leader and take whatever action is necessary to right the wrongs in the world we are partners in. We should do this no matter what the French and German governments think. We should do this no matter what some spoiled Hollywood brat who hasn’t taken the time to weigh all the possibilities thinks. We should do it because it is the right thing to do. We should do this because we ARE Americans. We should fear nothing that is evil and we should be able to sleep without having nightmares about the future.

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Frank Salvato is a contributing writer to The Washington Dispatch, a freelance writer and a common man from the Midwest who has spent time traveling throughout the world while going about his life. His views are entirely his own. He can be contacted at TheRant@attbi.com. His writings can be seen at www.TheRant.us.

[Blood of Tyrants]

There has already been a book written about this very topic. It is called Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. It should be required reading for all college freshmen.

[Tripleplay]

But perhaps the most frightening thing that would come to pass if the liberal-left got their way would be that it would become status quo to give in to those who are in the minority but scream the loudest.

The nadir of liberalism. Tyranny of the minority!

[Tripleplay]

But perhaps the most frightening thing that would come to pass if the liberal-left got their way would be that it would become status quo to give in to those who are in the minority but scream the loudest.

The nadir of liberalism. Tyranny of the minority!

[harrowup]

Presumably you have some definition for the liberal left that would only box in a modest percentage of the population here in the United States. Let's ignore the French, Germans and others who seem to be getting under your skin.

That said, your hypothesis is based on fear of what could happen if the President decides not to blow up some more chunks of Iraq.

Fear no more. We are living in a world which celebrates the carnal and viscious. We sing songs of praise to wife-beaters and summary executioners (aka murderers). We are occupied by drug pushers, pimps, whores (Wall Street Analysts, NYT, WSJ, GE Jack and countless other yuppies from Boston Consulting and McKinsey & Co) who siphon off vast resources without leaving so much as a thank you tip...even as we pick up the tab.

We are also now and always will be surrounded by stupid bastards who don't give a damn blowing themselves up as long as it takes a few of us with them. They mostly have nothing to lose (thanks to the whores and perverts over the centuries) and they won't have anything to lose after Saddam Hussein in gone in peace or in pieces.

The only difference is that they will have different paymasters and rabble rousers.

Whether the left gets its way as you profess or not is immaterial, son. This is an ugly world. Some of us would like to beat up folks quietly and kill them slowly. President Bush and most assuredly, Donald Rumsfeld prefer bigger bangs for their buck. While I prefer a more clandestine approach I don't care anymore. Blowing up every creep who qualifies as a thug is ok by me. Let's start with organized crime in this country and the less organized street pushers and move on to the thieves at Enron, Worldcom and K-Mart and Tyson and all the Masters of the Universe out in the Hamptons and Corfu and Aspen and Park City.

Fear no more. Once you start killing everyone who pokes you in the eye, eventually there is no left except you and your neighbor and he has a bigger gun and is just a tad bit crazier.

In other words, if you are a conservative, get off your self absorbed pity pot and recognize that you are blaming me for human nature and I'm not even objecting to an Iraq adventure...it will make it easier to teach Syria a lesson.

[Billthedrill]

The identifying characteristic of the liberal left is that its constituents live in a fantasy world - an extension of a misdefinition of "idealism" which is romanticized and has persisted for decades, indeed it may be as old as the human condition - in which theory always is sound and their recommended courses of action always have the intended results. When they do not, that is to say, nearly always, it's somebody else's fault for not understanding the world properly as they do.

What will happen is obvious - things will continue as before, the people of Iraq will continue to groan under oppression and die in droves. The left will be blameless because it did nothing; the right will be held to blame because it did nothing. It's an easy game to play once you know the rules.

[Billthedrill]

Harrowup, welcome back! Been awhile...

I think you are right to be concerned that this sets a dangerous precedent, especially with North Korea looming on the horizon. Dangerous for us, certainly, inasmuch as if the bar is lowered sufficiently we'll be intervening in situations where it may not be appropriate. But dangerous for our enemies as well, who have come to accept our reservations in this regard as a weakness to be exploited. That isn't an altogether bad thing.

The question then is one of control. We can't steer this beast by locking the wheel down with policy statements in the form of "we will never do X" or "we will always do Y" - this is fine when expressing ideals and standards but it doesn't do when we have enemies who use that form of rigidity against us in a sort of geopolitical judo. There can be peace between two potentially violent entities, there cannot between one such entity and one that refuses to consider violence as an option, only slavery. Where ALL entities refuse violence as an option peace is possible. There we've reached the fantasy land I was talking about. Ain't gonna happen.

[harrowup]

... it's somebody else's fault for not understanding the world properly as they do.

Oakey doakey, you've just described yourself without fault.

Now, how about putting a label on me?

[Billthedrill]

Well, I would have said "civil" but now I'm not so sure.

Does this not move you at all?

[harrowup]

Oh, brother...I have been trying since 9:34 am PST to get back to you and apologize for my uncalled for snarlyness. Some mornings when I know I am cranky I should let the CPU cool off from whatever business email set me off.

There was no excuse for being so rude and failing to even read your complete message is utterly contemptible. I wish I could take it back and rejoin a civil discussion since we seem to be on the same page with different perspectives. I am actually afraid to go to your link just in case I am not capable of eating my ego...give me a hint please.

[buffyt]

Excellent Book!!!!!

Every time I hear the LOOTERS cry out for MORE MORE MORE and the PRODUCERS are forced to GIVE GIVE GIVE I think of that wonderful old book.

[Billthedrill]

Don't be silly - we both go back way too far to let a little FR snarling come between us. It's this horrible slowness today that's making us crosspost - don't give it another thought. I should have realized it as soon as I saw the times.

I want to state publicly that I respect your point of view in this matter (and in all others) and I am not taking the issue of war lightly. We can discuss this some other time when the delays aren't killing us.

My very best and it is good to see you posting again!