Progressives and the Great Pumpkin

'I was hoping that a magic genie would be found in Baghad [sic] that would create a situation where Bush's policies didn't work but with no loss of life, damage to property, expense or harm to our nation's reputation.'

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lee-stranahan/why-limbaugh-is-right-to_b_170815.html

Perfectly encapsulated, the world view of the progressive.

Waiting on the magic genie.

Ask the people of Darfur about the magic genie. Ask the people of Rwanda about it. Ask the people of the Congo about it. Most pertinently, ask the people of Iraq.

Try getting rid of dictators and murderous bands of thugs with a genie.

Confusingly, this genius then continues:

'The problem is - I'm not Bobby Jindal so I don't believe in magic.

So I repeat - damn right I wanted the Iraq war to fail.

Not because I hate our country or hate the troops but for the exact opposite reason - because I love my country and I value the lives of the people sworn to protect it.'

How often we have heard that argument. I love our soldiers so much, I don't want them off fighting actual wars. Armies are for fighting, dipshit. Not only that, if you can't get on board with a war to rid the world of a textbook villain complete with moustache and handy pile of corpses, what war could you EVER support? A war on turtlenecks and bell-bottoms? A war on split-infinitives?

Sadly for the 'progressives', Darfur actually started DURING the Iraq intervention. It took immense amounts of bald-faced cheek and outright lying to triangulate support for intervention in Darfur DURING an intervention in Iraq which you didn't support.

'I wanted the Iraq war to fail because I love my country'. In no possible reality of which I'm aware does that statement mean anything credible. A beaten, humiliated United States would achieve what in the world? How would it be good for America or Americans? How would it be good for Iraq or Saudi Arabia or Jordan or Egypt or Israel? To make statements like that, you have to exclude, deny or never learn about vast numbers of things which are true. In this instance, about how the Middle East works and what Americas role is.

Have you noticed how at one moment progressives are internationalists, comparing the US unfavourably with Europe (especially Sweden for some strange reason. Highest suicide rate in the world anybody?); and then the next, they are the fieriest patriots upholding ancient American rights and traditions against the fiendish Republican amoralists. Trouble is, when you have no fixed foundation of belief, when the overall structure of your political philosophy is to hate whatever is established and entrenched, its very difficult to be persuasive. The progressives don't have any evidence to support their assertions of patriotism. Or indeed of being morally superior.

"I wanted torture to fail because I can't bear the idea of a world where America tortures people because 'it works.' That's not America to me."

America tortures people 'because it works'? I thought it tortured people so hundreds, maybe thousands of innocent people didn't die in horror.


"I assume Rush Limbaugh feels the same way, more or less, about the President's economic plan. I bet he simply can't bear the idea of a world where massive government spending is effective and therefore popular because 'it works.'"

But that last sentance really did for me- "he simply can't bear the idea of a world where massive government spending is effective and therefore popular because 'it works.'" Thats an enormous hostage to fortune you got there bud. And the 20th century track record of 'massive government spending'? Did you check that out?

Oh, and Rush Limbaughs speech? Not the greatest speech ever, like some people are saying. In fact, the guy really needs a public speaking tutor. There were more diversions from the road than the Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy. But as a plain exposition of what conservatism offers the world (not just the United States, although I don't think Rush cares that much about the rest of us) it was superb. Look around the United States, and see what hard work, fair dealing and capitalism hath wrought. And look me in the eye and say you don't want that for your own family.