tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3489148.post116581316701104049..comments2023-11-02T04:29:00.742-05:00Comments on Craig Nash: A Letter...Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3489148.post-1166070932587790322006-12-13T22:35:00.000-06:002006-12-13T22:35:00.000-06:00Bah HumbugBah HumbugLukehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04241000222997349261noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3489148.post-1165986233650069062006-12-12T23:03:00.000-06:002006-12-12T23:03:00.000-06:00Luke,You asked me a few weeks ago on a response, n...Luke,<BR/><BR/>You asked me a few weeks ago on a response, now it's time for me to ask you...<BR/><BR/>Why the angst?Craighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18053974401062599296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3489148.post-1165986019154795932006-12-12T23:00:00.000-06:002006-12-12T23:00:00.000-06:00Enough is enough? What exactly is that supposed t...Enough is enough? What exactly is that supposed to mean? One of the things so ironic about much of the opinion with regards to the conflict in Iraq, there seems to be little real analysis. The Middle East is of great strategic importance to the United States. Simply asserting that we should be energy independent for example does not make it so. Any kind of energy independence would take decades. Not to mention the fact that even if we were more...energy independent it would not make us free from the problems created by failed states around the world. It is not in the US strategic interest to see the Middle East have another Lebanon. <BR/><BR/>For those who talk about the current administration as somehow seeking to destroy all that America stands for...I just have no idea where to begin a response. If you want to look at a presidency asserted the power of the executive to unheard of power...look at FDR. Where are the ideas? Nancy Pelosi? Barack Obama? What are they talking about to further the needs of the country? Let's talk with Iran. What if they don't want to talk? What do you do then? Would you really write such a letter to the president? If he read your letter what would he have to say? Okay we lost and then.... game over. It is not a game. There is not an off button. Something has to be done. <BR/><BR/>lukeAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3489148.post-1165945909040251362006-12-12T11:51:00.000-06:002006-12-12T11:51:00.000-06:00Are you still arguing that we went to war to sprea...Are you still arguing that we went to war to spread freedom and democracy? OhMyGosh!<BR/><BR/>I love the values and principles that have defined our country and distinguished our country from other countries. I believe in the supremacy of our system of government.<BR/><BR/>That’s not to say that we’ve been perfect, but I believe our system of government really is a unique achievement in modern political history. That’s because of the values created by the Constitution that the Founders, after a lot of debate, came to embrace. The Founders talk about this in the Federalist Papers - and part of their debates were in the Constitutional Convention. <BR/><BR/>The government our founders created was designed, first and foremost, to prevent any one individual or political group from consolidating unchecked power, and from insisting that the country’s prosperity and its freedom lay in putting the trust in a single individual, rather than distrusting our political leaders and insisting on their compliance under the law in a transparent way. That is really the centerpiece of what our government is – insistence that political leaders always remain limited in their power and subject to the law – precisely because we don’t trust government officials to exercise power properly. That really is how the Founders wanted our liberties to be protected.<BR/><BR/>What we have now is the very opposite of that. We've had a President who is claiming the right to exercise power without any limitations. To me, what a patriot does is take a stand in defense of the principles that have made our country great. <BR/><BR/>Those principles are all under assault by this Administration. The powers they’re insisting on are exactly the powers that the Founders waged the Revolutionary War to get away from. They’re the powers of a king. <BR/><BR/>Anyone who loves the United States and believes in the principles and values that it embodies will be opposed to the kinds of theories of power and abuses of power that this Administration is embracing, regardless of political ideology or partisan allegiance. Those are the values that have always defined what America is.<BR/><BR/>BUT, I do agree with you on something here. Let's bring our troops home now - Enough is Enough!greenISgoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05132919230144704656noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3489148.post-1165878512793935752006-12-11T17:08:00.000-06:002006-12-11T17:08:00.000-06:00Craid, I'm a big enough fan of you as a person, I'...Craid, <BR/><BR/>I'm a big enough fan of you as a person, I'll buy most whatever you say, especially when it's about politics which I know little to nothing about.Mrs. Carn-Doghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14917496428097681875noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3489148.post-1165869272431985272006-12-11T14:34:00.000-06:002006-12-11T14:34:00.000-06:00Dear Craid,Tongue and cheek...no blessing for you ...Dear Craid,<BR/>Tongue and cheek...no blessing for you and no soup for you either.<BR/><BR/>anonymousLukehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04241000222997349261noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3489148.post-1165858841864971602006-12-11T11:40:00.000-06:002006-12-11T11:40:00.000-06:00Thanks for the comments. Jen, I can't be totally c...Thanks for the comments. <BR/><BR/>Jen, I can't be totally certain, but I'm pretty sure Luke's post was tongue in cheek. <BR/><BR/>Robyn, I wouldn't be totally upset if the Muslim world, or any other world for that matter, saw us as week. I believe the reason we were attacked on 9/11 wasn't because of weakness but because of a perceived absolute strength. Canada didn't get attacked, we did. But I do agree with your premise, and I think it's an unfortunate truth about the the "Iraq front of the war on terror," which is that extremist Islam has declared war on us, and if it's either going to be fought here or there, then might as well be there.<BR/><BR/>Oy vey, I don't know.Craighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18053974401062599296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3489148.post-1165854860831121452006-12-11T10:34:00.000-06:002006-12-11T10:34:00.000-06:00Wow, you piss someone off and they withhold a bles...Wow, you piss someone off and they withhold a blessing as a result? That's weird, and kind of mean. <BR/>And don't take this the wrong way, but I don't consider you enough of an authority on this topic to wholly influence the opinions of people with minds of their own. It certainly doesn't influence my own.<BR/><BR/>Lose is a weighty word. What did we lose? <BR/>Did we lose our fight to secure a peaceful democratic birth? Well, no democracy is made without tribulation - even if it's bloodless, it's still a trying process.<BR/><BR/>Did we lose our fight to make people get along despite ethnic and religious differences? That's a war we haven't won yet here.<BR/><BR/>Was it our fight to begin with? Depends on what level of responsibility you think Americans (Christians?) hold when it comes to making peace between people with whom they've engaged in global affairs.<BR/><BR/>Should we even be looking at this as a war? Should it have ever been called a war? I do think we got stuck in the middle of something, but I don't see a war here, and I don't believe closing the gate after the horse is out is the answer to what's been done in Iraq. <BR/><BR/>We made a pretty big mess trying to be the big brother of the world. Are we done cleaning it up? <BR/>Is it a loss if we leave before we've cleaned up our mess, or a loss if we've fulfilled our cleaning duty and still people die for supporting us or supporting democracy?<BR/><BR/>I'm all for pulling out now that a government is in place, and I feel the same way about Israelis and Palestinians as you feel about Iraqis.<BR/><BR/>Let them duke it out until they're tired, but what if somebody remembers whose side we were once on and gets ticked and comes over here to lash out? What then?<BR/><BR/>I think if we leave before we've given our best effort to show the world that we leave good things behind - things you can build a new society with - then yes, we've lost.<BR/><BR/>I wish the world knew the good we've done in Iraq. I wish Bush would stop calling it a war.<BR/><BR/>you can have my blessing for your words and wit and honesty<BR/>(though I'm not sure I'm qualified to give any)jenAhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14160467673114640243noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3489148.post-1165849272058836742006-12-11T09:01:00.000-06:002006-12-11T09:01:00.000-06:00Craig,This post is awful. (And I support Ralph Na...Craig,<BR/>This post is awful. (And I support Ralph Nader for president..notice I used the present tense of support). What really irks me about this post is the cavalier approach to a situation that we have an interest and a responsibility to find a solution. I would rather people watch entertainment tonight then our policitical discussion. ET has both substance and everyone knows that it is just about feeding some prurient interest. <BR/><BR/>Have you read the Baker Hamilton report? Do you realize how many college students are influenced by such off handed nonsense? <BR/><BR/>no blessing<BR/>lukeAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3489148.post-1165843335924719342006-12-11T07:22:00.000-06:002006-12-11T07:22:00.000-06:00Morning, Craig. I agree (especially about oil add...Morning, Craig. I agree (especially about oil addiction) more than disagree with this post, but my one concern if we just leave Iraq is that the rest of the Muslim world will view us as weak, which most of them do anyway. Who is to say that if we take our toys and go home, they will not come after us again HERE, on American soil? I am scared for the future of my children. It's a dilemma for sure.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com