Hi!
Posted on 02/18/2005 5:29:28 AM PST by SJackson
I'm not sure that freedom from tyranny was ever a core conviction of the left. Their core conviction is anti-capitalism. How can we forget their suppport of Stalin, Lenin, Castro, their love affair with Che, etc?
Their support for the oppressed has been trumped every time by their support of socialism.
You illustrate well what the problem is with our country in that you present leftism as a disease (as I have seen people on the left present the rightist view). In the end, the truth is in the middle.
Did we go into Iraq to make Democracy? No. If that were true, we'd have gone into a horde of other countries long ago.
Is it good that the Iraqis are freed from the power of a brutal dictator? Maybe. We won't know the outcome of this for years, but I'm optimistic, even as one of those diseased leftists. They may turn into a realtively free country, or they could balkanize, and be ruled yet again by dictators.
Does one vote change everything? No. If the government can take that ball and run with it, and bring real improvement in the lives of Iraqis, then we'll have something. There is ample historical evidence that Democracy is not a cure all (Zimbabwe, Haiti, etc).
Have our efforts created a breeding ground for terrorists? Yes.
The Iraq war is not simple enough to exalt as a success or condemn as a failure on the basis of what has happened so far. What the US did was set a lot of pieces in motion, and I don't believe that anybody could predict where it would go. It may turn Iraq into a beacon of hope for the rest of the middle east, or it could devolve into a region-wide conflict.
Only time will tell.
Red Diaper Doper Baby
"Radical Son" is a great book and one of the leaders into the what was a new genre at the time, "conservative books". It was widely understood by the New York publishing industry that Republicans were all stoopid and did not reed books.
Did Bush and company lie? Not precisely. I do think they honestly believe, as many did, that Saddam had some sort of weapons program. However, their belief was so strong that they ignored the evidence they had in their hands that indicated he didn't. They did exaggerate the evidence they had to make their case though. They did knowingly ignore contradictory evidence.
Excellent article. "Radical Son" should be required reading in every college US History class. I don't think anyone really understands the US in the 60's without that perspective.
I was just having a discussion with a leftist this week... they don't just deny reality in things politics, they truly do live in their own little entitlement world.
Brief story, They are tryign to sell their house, its an ok house, fixed up really nice, but its the only single family house on the street and its oddly shaped/looking, surrounded by businesses and apartment buildings... the house is priced as the 2nd highest priced house in the neighborhood, and of course its not selling.
They are adamant they aren't going to take one dime less than their new reduced price (they decided to come down 10k.. still leaving it the 2nd most pricey house in the neighborhood, and its the agents fault its not selling.
Now please keep in mind, at the price they are asking you can buy houses in the neighborhoods old millionaires row, not the only single family amoung apartment and commercial buildings. But they are going to sell it for that, period.
(as though they can force a buyer to show up willing to pay it).... Fact is simple, its not going to sell for anything near their asking price...unless they get extremely lucky.. but its not their fault for overpricing their house.. its the agents fault for not getting people into it and the markets fault for not recognizing their house is a great house.
They need that for the house, and they aren't coming down, and its not overpriced, just that the agent isn't working it. (Sorry guys, anyone lookoing for a house in that price range is going to turn onto that street and say NO... I don't care if it has italian marble and gold faucets, thats reality... they'll go over to millionaires row and buy a house thats in a residential street with other high end homes.)
Lefties... gotta love em.
It is so nice to know that one is not alone. My family didn't condone communism but they are socialist. As a child I was taught that the world should be run by Unions. My brother is a shop steward for the railroad where he works.
My father is getting way up there in years and it is doubtful that he will ever change his political beliefs. I do give my Dad credit for the fact that he says while he doesn't agree with my political beliefs he is proud of me for speaking out.
Hi!
Sort of a "False but accurate" kind of thing?
Hi, Spiff...
I was a leftist. In my late teens and early twenties I was a registered Democrat, I voted for Michael Dukakis, I supported socialized medicine, I thought former California Governor Jerry Brown would have made a great President, I hated America for dropping the A-Bombs on Japan, I liked Ted Kennedy, I was a member of Nuclear Freeze USA, I donated money to Greenpeace and Amnesty International, I thought that "choice" was a good thing, I kept a copy of the Communist Manifesto on my desk (I was a federal employee during the last years of the Cold War) just to enrage people, I thought that communism was OK but that it hadn't been done correctly yet, I liked organic foods, I hated Ronald Reagan for putting missiles in Europe and for invading Grenada, I thought the "Sanctuary" movement which smuggled illegal aliens across the border was nifty, I liked to browbeat people who were "bigoted" against gays, I railed against the prudishness of America, I wanted drugs to be legalized, and my thought process on any chosen political issue was no deeper than the last bumper sticker I had read.
Thank you Rush Limbaugh, Ezra Taft Benson, Cleon Skousen, William Norman Grigg, William Jasper, National Right to Life, Phyllis Schlafly and especially Jim Robinson and Free Republic for helping me through the painful process of awakening to the lies I had been told and for helping to set my mind straight.
place marker for later
Yeah, that's what happened.
WTF are you talking about?
Do you like cheese?
*************
You do like cheese.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
