To be honest with you, I don't give a rip about the Wilson thing--yet. If the WH leaked, find the leaker, fire them and jail them. We don't need lawbreakers in the halls of power. But I'm not holding my breath on that--the Dems have overblown things since before Bush even took office, and I see no reason to expect anything else now. There's probably less to this scandal than meets the eye, though I'm persuadable that it's a big deal if hard evidence leads in that direction.
As for the Japan bit, I only brought it up to point out that we still have strong allies around the world in spite of yet another anti-Bush rhetorical trick. In some cases, such as Japan, our alliance is actually getting stronger with Bush in office because they see him as a strong leader against terrorism, yet the Dems focus on France and Germany and the problems with those alliances. They naturally think it's all Bush's fault, forgetting that France and Germany may have interests that simply don't coincide with our own. That's a kind of national arrogance--our will is supreme, and we alone can fix anything--that the left wouldn't tolerate if righties were using it to bash them.
As for Japan, it is not a trivial country--it's economically larger than France and Germany in spite of the fact that it's smaller and possesses fewer natural resources. It's defense budget is larger than both the French and Germans though it is legally pacifist, and it is a major humanitarian player. It is a serious regional power, closely aligned with the US. Japan's government, which supported the war in Iraq, will be re-elected in November barring some wildly strange event. It is slightly more hawkish on North Korea than is the Bush administration, and having been there recently I can tell you that the Japanese people are for the most part hawks on North Korea too, and tend to see things the way their government does, which is the way the Bush administration does. Modern Japan is in every way a great nation in the classic sense of the phrase--yet we mostly ignore its friendship. I just mostly think that's sad, and a reflection of a kind of historic tunnel vision born of our old relationships with Europe.
The point is, we tend to forget who our friends really are. That seems to be true of the Bush administration which tends to ignore conservatives, and of the nation which forgets friendly states such as Japan.
That's a very sane response to my provocation. Thanks.
On Japan and Europe, points taken. And they are good points. The French are hardly an unfailingly benign international force. And I think you're right that most people don't know what to think of Japan, and certainly don't think of it as a strong and loyal ally.
That said, the part of your post that I quoted was just over the top. "utter moral blindness...complete inability...blame the Jews for everything...the average Dean supporter." That's unfair.
And I was snarky because the post seemed like a bit of misdirection. We obviously disagree on how many facts are available in the Wilson/Plame affair, but time will tell and I don't think we need to argue about that. But dismissing Wilson and segueing into Japan's importance struck me as sneaky. I think your response in the comment here is entirely appropriate: let's figure out what happened and punish anyone if anyone needs punishing. But Wilson's political views are irrelevant to all that.
To be honest with you, I don't give a rip about the Wilson thing--yet. If the WH leaked, find the leaker, fire them and jail them. We don't need lawbreakers in the halls of power. But I'm not holding my breath on that--the Dems have overblown things since before Bush even took office, and I see no reason to expect anything else now. There's probably less to this scandal than meets the eye, though I'm persuadable that it's a big deal if hard evidence leads in that direction.
As for the Japan bit, I only brought it up to point out that we still have strong allies around the world in spite of yet another anti-Bush rhetorical trick. In some cases, such as Japan, our alliance is actually getting stronger with Bush in office because they see him as a strong leader against terrorism, yet the Dems focus on France and Germany and the problems with those alliances. They naturally think it's all Bush's fault, forgetting that France and Germany may have interests that simply don't coincide with our own. That's a kind of national arrogance--our will is supreme, and we alone can fix anything--that the left wouldn't tolerate if righties were using it to bash them.
As for Japan, it is not a trivial country--it's economically larger than France and Germany in spite of the fact that it's smaller and possesses fewer natural resources. It's defense budget is larger than both the French and Germans though it is legally pacifist, and it is a major humanitarian player. It is a serious regional power, closely aligned with the US. Japan's government, which supported the war in Iraq, will be re-elected in November barring some wildly strange event. It is slightly more hawkish on North Korea than is the Bush administration, and having been there recently I can tell you that the Japanese people are for the most part hawks on North Korea too, and tend to see things the way their government does, which is the way the Bush administration does. Modern Japan is in every way a great nation in the classic sense of the phrase--yet we mostly ignore its friendship. I just mostly think that's sad, and a reflection of a kind of historic tunnel vision born of our old relationships with Europe.
The point is, we tend to forget who our friends really are. That seems to be true of the Bush administration which tends to ignore conservatives, and of the nation which forgets friendly states such as Japan.
Posted by Bryan | Link to this comment | 09-30-03 7:55 PM
That's a very sane response to my provocation. Thanks.
On Japan and Europe, points taken. And they are good points. The French are hardly an unfailingly benign international force. And I think you're right that most people don't know what to think of Japan, and certainly don't think of it as a strong and loyal ally.
That said, the part of your post that I quoted was just over the top. "utter moral blindness...complete inability...blame the Jews for everything...the average Dean supporter." That's unfair.
And I was snarky because the post seemed like a bit of misdirection. We obviously disagree on how many facts are available in the Wilson/Plame affair, but time will tell and I don't think we need to argue about that. But dismissing Wilson and segueing into Japan's importance struck me as sneaky. I think your response in the comment here is entirely appropriate: let's figure out what happened and punish anyone if anyone needs punishing. But Wilson's political views are irrelevant to all that.
Posted by ogged | Link to this comment | 09-30-03 8:18 PM
I agree with Ogged. Well posted.
-Magik
Posted by Magik | Link to this comment | 09-30-03 9:41 PM