The United States is in the grip of a certainty crisis

The Times ^ | March 7, 2003 | David Brooks

[daviddennis]

I have to disagree with the otherwise excellent article on one point: Evil is a pretty simple thing, at least when you consider Saddam's case.

Does he order the gassing of his own people?

Does he kill anyone who dares to disagree with him?

Does he engage in horrible tortures, without mercy?

Well, yes.

Therefore, he is evil.

That's not so complex, is it?

D

[blam]

"I want to tell you something I just heard on CNN Headline News.....they just said they have unconfirmed reports of a firefight in Quetta, Pakistan."

What do you think, OBL?

[Dog]

I'm not sure.. but if not him....Zawarhri.

[Dog Gone]

How odd that we see this piece in a British newspaper, while we have posters at Free Republic, of all places, posting vanities about how uncertain and cautious Bush is.

It would be funny, except that they need a good punch in the nose before I laugh.

[Lando Lincoln]

Bookmarked!! This eloquently captures the "sophisticated" snobbery of the intellectual elite.

Clarity, purpose, vision, perseverance, patience, decisive - all qualities that, save for a few, are lacking in most leaders. Thank God GWB and Blair have them.

[wimpycat]

Heh heh heh!

[wimpycat]

I think the author means (rightly) that to appreciate the implications, nature and depth of evil isn't easy to do or simple to understand.

[AFreeBird]

Thanks Ivan. BUMP 4 L8r

[jiggyboy]

The holy texts that Bush cites do not divide humanity between good and evil, but emphasise the sin, temptations and goodness entwined in each soul...If they think evil is simple, haven’t they at least read Dostoevsky?

Or seen that Star Trek episode where Captain Kirk gets split into a Good Kirk and an Evil Kirk? We aren't, as a group, as literate as the Brits, but we learn the lessons in our own way.

[Chi-townChief]

bump

[Wphile]

The leading Democratic presidential contender, John Kerry, has become the political standard-bearer of the high-toned, agnostic and incomprehensible. He begins his speeches on sunny days and under crisp skies and proceeds to lay down such a miasma of equivocation and on-the-other-hands that the sun is blotted out and you can’t see the question marks as they fly by in front of your face. The fog of peace is thick indeed.

This is such a perfect discription of Kerry! He is the king of "on the other hand." God, he's nauseating to watch.

[reformedliberal]

Ivan, thank you so very much for bringing the thinking Brits to our attention.

Real Americans are not risk adverse. That is not the same as being reckless. And real Britons appear to be the same.

[Democratshavenobrains]

And this prompts a question in their minds. Why does George Bush breach educated class etiquette so grievously? Why does he seem so certain, decisive and sure of himself, when everybody — tout le monde! — knows that anxiety and anguish are the proper poses to adopt in such times.

Its a good think President Lincoln wasn't as sophisticated as the modern day media. Can you imagine him asking "what the definition of seccession is"?

[Bob J]

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[agincourt1415]

BUSH could really have some fun here with the UN and that would be a simple YES or NO vote by the UN Security Council.

No resolution needed, simply, IS SADDAM in COMPLIANCE with UN Resolution 1441? (or has Saddam DISARMED) Show of Hands YES, Show of Hands NO.

No ifs, ands, or buts, allowed.

No vote on a deadline, we chose the time and place to use Force.

[WoofDog123]

Does he order the gassing of his own people? ""

He considers the Kurds 'his own people' the way we considered the american indians 'our own people' while expelling them from almost all of the US east of the Mississippi, and quite a bit of it to the west as well. The 'his own people' thing is a soundbite which doesn't address underlying social and ethnic reality. He thinks of the kurds as 'his own people' the way the turks do, though to their credit the turks haven't gassed them.

Does anyone think the Kurds think of themselves as 'iraqis,' or 'saddam's own people?'

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Now it is true that Bush values what Shirley Robin Letwin called the vigorous virtues: “upright, self-sufficient, energetic, adventurous, independent-minded, loyal to friends, robust against foes”. But the main difference between Bush and his critics is that he is in a position of responsibility and they are not. On the colloquium couch, everyone can show off their full appreciation of the strategic ambiguities. In the parlour of intellect, timing is never a problem, because battle plans never have to be made, actions never have to be put in train.

Ahhhh....that's better. (^;

[Mudboy Slim]

"In the parlour of intellect, timing is never a problem, because battle plans never have to be made, actions never have to be put in train."

The EffeteElite in its IvoryTowers is being displayed fer all to see as feckless and ineffectual and IRRELEVANT to the Debate...ain't it GREAT?!

FReegards...MUD

[MeekOneGOP]

Thanks !!