KEEPING THE MILITARISTS AMONG US IN CHECK BY TURNING THE PAGE ON THEM
With a particularly scathing tone, Charles Krauthammer goes for broke:
"God damn America"? Obama's 5,000-word speech, fawned over as a great meditation on race, is little more than an elegantly crafted, brilliantly sophistic justification of that scandalous dereliction.
Did Krauthammer just give a green light to nuclear holocaust, permission for more Hiroshimas and Nagasakis? Afterall, that is the Reverand's stated reference ...
Is that what Charles hears in his house of faith (we know what he hears from the AEI), a green-light on dropping nukes?
Doesn't it take a LOT of pampered patriotism to put the burning alive of hundreds of thousands of civilians in the realm of dereliction...?
MAKING WAR
Fig. 1. Religious affiliation of members of the 102nd U.S. Congress and the likelihood of their pro-war vote. More Catholics voted against the war than for the war. Presbyterians were most likely to give President Bush war powers. [see link, it's good one]
For ages, the militarists among us know that the pulpit is potentially their biggest political stumbling block. This perhaps explains, partly, why Krauthammer appears deeply anxious.
But, there are other, familiar anxieties for Krauthammer, perhaps. One might be the nascent jewish liberation theology. One wonders if his quick-to-the-draw use of "moral equivalence" language doesn't proceed directly from battles with this theology.
BUSH'S MARCH TO WAR - WAS IT GOD BLESSED?
Even this week, Bush (and Richard Perle) continue to emphasize that it was a "right decision" to remove Saddam Hussein.
One might encourage Charles Krauthammer to be careful how much he wants to put the pulpit to a Patriotism test. There are pulpits around the country that will, no doubt, take up his challenge ...
As for the voters, they already know what to do with another term of Bush-related militarism ...
There are reports, however, that Saddam was ready, at the last minute, to accept exile. If so, doesn't that call into question Bush's move to war, especially from a Biblical perspective?As for the voters, they already know what to do with another term of Bush-related militarism ...
Some strains of jewish interpretation suggest that pre-emptive war is obligatory (not authorized). Should we not consider people for advisory roles, based on their religion? Afterall, that position is clearly unconstitutional, if not outright un-American, to get crude about it.
Last, if Bush-Cheney knew or should have known that there was a reasonable doubt about Saddam's capabilities and his willingness to facilitate
al-qa'ida, isn't it true the stated justification for war was ... not at the level required to authorize war? Using Krauthammer's logic, should Bush's Church walk out on him, or expect of him a public truth-speaking, a penance, an atonement before welcoming him back?One might encourage Charles Krauthammer to be careful how much he wants to put the pulpit to a Patriotism test. There are pulpits around the country that will, no doubt, take up his challenge ... certainly on his breathtaking militarism. As for the voters, they already know what to do with another term of Bush-related militarism ...
E.J. Dionne catches up with where this blog was a week ago... Although he's being oh-so polite (too much, I think). He doesn't mention that Bush's faith-based initiatives might well include Trinity Church.
Find more perspective here on Charles Krathammer's selectively sweeping away some history, but not other histories.
Did God Bless all this, too?
Perspective on Krauthammer's "white guilt" low-road nonsense.
