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We Stoop to Conquer

Posted by Longplay on Thursday, April 23, 2009 8:46:02 AM
Jeff Jacoby's Boston Globe article discussing the "torture memo" debate got me thinking.

In any war the normal rules of society are for the most part put aside. In wars people are told to kill other people, something unthinkable, and in fact criminal, in "normal" times.   For the greater good, even a "moral" country has to behave in a manner inconsistent with its values from time to time . The real test of a society's goodness, its morality, comes after the extreme situation has passed, after the war is over. Does a society continue with the "abnormal" behaviors, oppressing those conquered, or does it return to it's principles?

To defeat the horrors of the Third Reich, the Allies fire-bombed Dresden and dropped atomic bombs on Japan, all difficult and even regrettable acts. But after the war, the West, especially the United States, proceded to rebuild and make better the countries it had defeated.

The argument of the American Left is usually that "we can't stoop to the level" of our enemies.  But in this fallen world the question cannot realistically be whether to stoop at all but to what level one can stoop before no longer being able to again stand erect.  In times of danger, those who deign to stoop at all will not live long enough to stand erect, and those who live permanently stooped will still be here - and will be in power. 

Pretending that we must a all times and in all situations be pacifists or fight with one hand tied behind our backs is unrealistic and suicidal.
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Call Obama's Bluff on Torture Hearings

Posted by Longplay on Wednesday, April 22, 2009 5:00:00 PM

Following the Obama administration’s release of memos regarding the Bush administration’s use of extreme measures to extract information from terrorists, and Obama’s own hints that he is open to prosecuting the memo’s authors, despite campaign assertions to the contrary, there are those on the right who wonder if Obama realizes that such hearings would expose the complicity of the Democrats currently in power (mentioned in Hugh Hewitt’s conversation with Michael Gerson here ).

My contention is that he does indeed realize this.  Obama and his associates are extremely crafty.  What he has done is throw red meat to the press and to Democrat demagogues, under the guise of the “transparency” he promised, even if it’s only transparency about the previous administration.  All he has to do now is sit back and let the court of public opinion do the work he knows he can’t risk having done in public hearings. 

When the characters have been assassinated, Barack the Merciful will step in and magnanimously refuse to prosecute the “criminals”.  “Move along.  We have more important things to do.  Nothing to see here.”   Yes, nothing but a few ruined reputations and a huge hole in our intelligence service’s ability to do its job of protecting the country.

Perhaps the GOP should call Barack’s bluff and insist on hearings - hearings not just on allegations of torture, but while we’re at it, on Fannie and Freddie, too.  While the Republicans don’t have the votes to combat Obama on legislative matters, public hearings could afford them the opportunity of exposing Democrat hypocrisy, while at the same time tying them up in a distraction.  And if Obama and the Dems refuse the hearings, the GOP can explain to the public exactly why they refuse.

Call their bluff!

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