Comments on: Onward Christian Warriors!

By: angrymob

angrymob — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 03:29:35 +0000

Things could always be worse – you can always add in demons or comet-strike if you need to; we gain little by pointing that out. More importantly, I fail to see how we should accomplish the things I want to accomplish – dire things that affect the health of our country, the world, the planet – by staying silent and letting Obama drift further to the right. If we speak up, perhaps you’re right – there is the outside chance that it will somehow, paradoxically, empower the right, but if we say nothing, then their victory is assured.

This isn’t a contest; I am not merely interested in my “side” remaining in power. I have real goals: I want a sensible health care system in this country that reduces cost and provides universal coverage. I want a sound energy policy and environmental responsibility, and a strong commitment to fighting global warming. I want an end to foolish and needless wars and occupations of other countries. I want capitalists reined in before their folly destroys the edifice of our economy completely. If the guy in charge isn’t doing accomplishing things, if he is in fact enabling their defeat, what makes him, in any way, my ally?

By: adelena

adelena — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 17:08:55 +0000

Vis a vis the Roman Empire. No one should be required to go to war that does not own property. If we started with the richest, put them on the front lines first as a matter of duty and honor, and worked our way on down to the regular plebs, there would be very few wars I believe.

By: racetoinfinity

racetoinfinity — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 21:52:13 +0000

Good comment!

By: stevelaudig

stevelaudig — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 11:15:30 +0000

The Who called it: “New boss, old boss. Old policy, new packaging. O is just a happy mask on the old ugly interventionist face. I’ve quit listening to his speeches. I read them now. there is more truth without the Happy Face.

By: wrf1984

wrf1984 — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 18:22:28 +0000

And guess what, Matt? No military service for this chicken-hawk! True, he is/was Canadian, but this chest-thumping, might-is-right-for-Americans interventionist is (as are so many others) perfectly willing to send our youth in harm’s way but couldn’t find time to serve himself. Welcome, Mr. Brooks, to the Dick Cheney (5 deferments in VN) world of war-mongering.

By: s2buell

s2buell — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 18:18:31 +0000

I didn’t realize I was being an apologist. But I do believe that every time someone on the so-called left piles on Obama for not writing the health care legislation, or making timetables or not meeting timetables etc etc is just fueling the right. They get off on knowing that all these disenfranchised Democratic voters won’t show up at the polls next time and they’ll swoop in and take over again with their base of tea party thinkers. I’m just asking for a little reminder that things could be worse – they were worse with the GOP in charge. I don’t want that to happen again especially since we aren’t any where near paying for their last mistakes.

By: presumptuousinsect

presumptuousinsect — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 16:04:01 +0000

Woops. That’s not Brooks. Who can keep track of these shitheads? There are so many of them.

By: cliveshome

cliveshome — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 07:57:43 +0000

Evil must always be talked off, don’t allow evil to triumph… twitter word on i follow: writtenviews on twitter

By: michaelsfb

michaelsfb — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 03:57:53 +0000

Well Walther,
You’re asking me to have a lot more balls than many of the people who comment here have to actually put out an opinion about content rather than lacing it all with sarcasm and venom. Furthermore you’ve treated my efforts here as something that you want to attack and now you’re saying you want hear my opinion? For what purpose? As fodder for another sarcastic put down? Do you have the balls to state an honest opinion here that isn’t a sarcastic putdown?

But since I’ve taken it this far let me say that I have two ideas that are potential solutions to the problem that Matt outlines, which is that people who don’t have a stake in the losses of war, celebrate and/or make decisions that effect those that do.

1) If we are going to continue to provide “armed services” to places like Europe or the middle East, i.e. be the world’s gendarme, we should bring back the draft for which there are no exemptions (maybe a national service with some equivalent level of exertion for C.O.’s). This is one way to make the chickenhawks of the world experience or at least know people who will experience the consequences of American military adventurism
2) Better yet, scale back the military adventurism and redefine what it means for the US to be strong and secure. Redefine the purpose of the military and then scale back the military using a number of realistic scenarios about potential future conflicts. We need the money, frankly, for other purposes including re-fitting our domestic infrastructure to address climate change etc.

There you go….there’s an opinion. What do you got?

By: walterbithell

walterbithell — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 03:24:21 +0000

You keep saying you are all about the content. So, let’s see it. What do you think about the content? We all know what Matt said and we really know how you would paraphrase what Matt said. Do you have anything regarding the content that you thought of yourself? A counterpoint? Go for it. Further the debate on the content. We are all waiting.