Two crises

Two crises

By Thomas Sowell

Feb 14, 2006

This nation is facing two crises -- one phony and one real. Both in the media and in politics, the phony crisis is getting virtually all the attention.

Like the French official in "Casablanca," politicians and much of the media are shocked, shocked, to discover that the government has been listening in on calls involving international terrorist networks. Congressional leaders of both parties have in fact known this for years without saying a word.

Only after the New York Times published the news and made a big noise about it have politicians begun to declare their shock.

That is not the only thing that makes this big uproar phony. The same people who are going ballistic over what they spin as "domestic spying" never went ballistic over one of the most gross examples of genuine domestic spying during the Clinton years.

Hundreds of raw FBI files on Republicans were sent to the Clinton White House, in violation of laws and for no higher purpose than having enough dirt on enough people to intimidate political opponents. But domestic spying against Republicans did not shock nearly as many people as intercepting phone calls from terrorists.

The current hue and cry that is being whipped up into a media crisis is part of a whole pattern of short-sighted political obstruction and a futile venting of spleen.

What could have been more short-sighted and petty than the Congressional Democrats holding up the official electoral college vote last year confirming the re-election of President Bush? It was the first time such a challenge was made since 1877.

Democrats knew from the outset that they had no chance of preventing Bush's re-election from being confirmed in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. Moreover, since he was already President, they could not even delay his taking office. It was obstruction for the sake of obstruction -- and to "do something" to appeal to the Bush-hatred of their political base. It was the same thing when the Democrats obstructed and delayed the confirmation vote on Condoleezza Rice as Secretary of State and later the confirmation of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court.

They knew from the outset that these were just futile temper tantrums that would not affect the outcome in the slightest.

One of the ugliest examples of the same mindset was painfully visible at the recent funeral of Coretta Scott King, where a solemn occasion was turned into a series of political cheap shots against a President who had come to honor the memory of Mrs. King.

The truly dangerous aspect of this temper tantrum politics is its undermining the government of the United States in its dealings with foreign powers and international terrorist networks.

There are nations and movements that respect only force or the threat of force. Regardless of anyone's politics, the President of the United States is the only one who can launch that force.

In the early days of the Iraq war, when it was clear to all that American military force would be unleashed against our enemies, Libya suddenly agreed to abandon its nuclear program and other countries backed off their hostile stances.

But when our domestic obstructionists began undermining the President and dividing the country, they were undermining the credibility of American power. North Korea's government-controlled media gave big play to Senator John Kerry's speeches against the U.S. hard line on the development of North Korean nuclear weapons.

Obviously this all-out attempt to damage the President at all costs makes any threat of the use of military force less credible with the country divided.

Whether President Bush will in fact use military force as a last resort to prevent an unending nightmare of nuclear weapons in the hands of Iranian fanatics and international terrorists is something only the future will tell.

It would be far better if the threat of force were credible enough that actual force would not have to be used. But divisive politics have undermined the credibility of any such threat. That can narrow the choices to killing people in Iran or leaving ourselves and our posterity at the mercy of hate-filled and suicidal fanatics with nukes.

That is the real crisis that is being overshadowed by the phony political crisis.

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Cap’n AMatrixca said:

As the spirit of party, in different degrees, must be expected to infect all political bodies, there will be, no doubt, persons in the national legislature willing enough to arraign the measures and criminate the views of the majority. Hamilton, Federalist 26.



This has happened before, this factiousness took in the Japanese too...

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going_long said:

It is not your internal politics that make the threat of force less credible but the very obvious fact that a) the international community would not support you again so you would be on your own in direct controvention of international opinion and possibly law. b) you don't have the money or the resources to do it on your own with Iraq still running c) Your people wouldn't support another military adventure where the motive was unclear and they would face more military casualties.

As for the assumption that other states backed off in the face of awesome US power look again. What these states did was make the right noises, and then waited to see how the chips fell. They now see the US bogged down in a protracted engagement that is costing them billions, made them unpopular at home and abroad and has significantly weakened their ability to carry that sort of operation again.

It has made other countries, like Iran, like Korea, MORE likely to adopt a hostile stance than less...

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Ishmael said:

And the North Koreans with the Senates "line in the ocean." But they always have 20/20 hindsight. Amazing.

Ishmael

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going_long said:

It is not your internal politics that make the threat of force less credible but the very obvious fact that a) the international community would not support you again so you would be on your own in direct controvention of international opinion and possibly law. b) you don't have the money or the resources to do it on your own with Iraq still running c) Your people wouldn't support another military adventure where the motive was unclear and they would face more military casualties.

As for the assumption that other states backed off in the face of awesome US power look again. What these states did was make the right noises, and then waited to see how the chips fell. They now see the US bogged down in a protracted engagement that is costing them billions, made them unpopular at home and abroad and has significantly weakened their ability to carry that sort of operation again.

It has made other countries, like Iran, like Korea, MORE likely to adopt a hostile stance than less...

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Cap’n AMatrixca said:

Oh yeah, and the dams, take out the dams...

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Cap’n AMatrixca said:

No, the North Koreans will eventually piss off and scare either Japan or China or both into taking action; there's an interlocking dance of death between those three older that the Sunni-Shi'ah split...



And South Korean is nervously trying to whistled several anthems at the same time in a highly organized yet innefficient manner; in short, same-oh, same-oh and you never know when they're going to do something rash; groupthink is like that.

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Cap’n AMatrixca said:

Sorry, I wasn't as focused as I should have been; they should have bombed the bridges...

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Ishmael said:

All good points until last week. I don't think you'll find Europe anywhere near as reluctant as it was in 2003.

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Cap’n AMatrixca said:

You gotta fight to win; stalemates just leave you bloody...

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Cap’n AMatrixca said:

Just the surgical removal of the Irano-Iraqi Airforce, the air-defense grid, the power grid, maybe water, oil if we really mean to end their asperations, and then we'll leisurely drop the biggest baddest mutha-fucking bombs the world has ever seen on anything remotely resembling a nuclear or scientific outpost and then turn to North Korea and say, now sit down and shut the fuck up...

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going_long said:

Personally I think you overestimate the importance of the whole cartoon demo situation. Particularly here where we had far larger and more violent protests by supporters of fox-hunting(!). It was blown out of all proportion by the media and will subside just as quickly. My opinion.

I also think you misread Europe's realationship with these people. Europe has a large Islamic population and is generally much more integrated and tolerant than you might believe.

Where Europe has a problem is in it's relationship with the US. All the while America continues to threaten to attack Islamic states and lump all Muslims and terrorists into one pot, Muslim communities will understandably feel threatened. All you are seeing, across the world is a response to that feeling. When America felt it had come under attack it fought back. These people are doing the same.

Yes they are being misguided by religious bigotry in a lot of cases but without fuel the flames of extremism can't flourish and you just keep heaping wood on it.

As long as European governments are seeing to support US policy then Europe has a problem with dissaffected Muslims within their societies.

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Ishmael said:

I have to take it that you're in the UK. If that is true, then you know that you aren't quite European. Never have been and the continentals have never really thought so either.

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Ishmael said:

Regardless, I think you underestimate the effects of last week. The 'integration' you speak of is NOT as effective as those countries have been leading others to believe. While there has been some success, it hasn't risen to the level of success we've had over here. For the most part the European does treat the immigrants like second class citizens and they resent it. One of the reasons for the French riots and the fact that Europe is a prime recruiting ground for the Islamo-Fascists.

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Ishmael said:

The Europeans are trying to make nice-nice because they're scared shitless. They know they have some very hard choices to make in the near future. Based on recent elections I'd have to conclude that the indigenous population is nearing the end of it's tolerance as well.

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Cap’n AMatrixca said:

As the spirit of party, in different degrees, must be expected to infect all political bodies, there will be, no doubt, persons in the national legislature willing enough to arraign the measures and criminate the views of the majority. Hamilton, Federalist 26.



This has happened before, this factiousness took in the Japanese too...

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going_long said:

Ah yes... and let me guess... once it's bombed back to the Stone age then they will be grateful for the massive US corporations who will take over all of the rebuilding contracts.

Or maybe not as they will be so pissed at the US for destroying their country it will become yet another part of the world where being an American will be a death sentence!

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