Hello Rasheed and Erin,
RASHEED:
You misquoted me; I never made the comment deploring
the 65% voting rates, it
was someone else. I argued against that comment,
pointing out that it is
every citizen's right not to vote.
PACO:
Sorry, I was cutting and pasting too many posts. My
new Email provider is really difficult to work with.
RASHEED:
And I actually gave credit to Bush for
what his "Axis of Evil" speech ostensibly accomplished,
I was only making fun
of his 3rd grade mentality in crafting the phrase "Axis
of Evil." Isn't that
a sort of essentialization?
PACO:
Clarity isn't the same as immaturity. I respect your
views on the issue, but a lot of really bright people
found this clarity to be brilliant. Others (equally
bright)didn't.
RASHEED:
There has to be a more intelligent way to view
other nations than going through the list and
marking "good" or "evil" for
each one.
PACO:
If it ended there I would agree. It was one cut of the
intellectual blade. Just one. Obviously some feel it
was a poorly chosen cut, others feel it was with a dull
blade. But I suggest he was shooting for moral clarity
in a sea of relativist moral confusion. The fact that
we are still talking about it seems to me to be one
sign of it accomplishing its goal.
RASHEED:
If you read Davor's post in response to mine, you will
see that he
destroyed my claim that Bush's speech pushed N. Korea
towards
democratization.
PACO:
Again, a lot of Americans are relieved to find a
President with the moral clarity to use America's
power, influence and moral vision to influence the
world as opposed to follow the misguided dereliction of
the UN (check out the moral credentials of the current
Human Rights Commission) or of Radical
environmentalists (as opposed to environmentalists, of
which I am one). I do believe that there is a current
conflict going on between the US's vision, and an
opposing vision that is often represented in UN or
other organized forums for world opinion. Personally,
I lean to the US's vision and track record, but I know
the US is often wrong and that the conflict of ideas is
incredibly healthy.
RASHEED:
And I didn't understand the following comment regarding
my
reluctance to support a hard-line Israel-backing
candidate: "Most of America
is apparently way too moral to support terrorist thugs
with or without Nobel
Peace Prizes." Please explain that to me.
PACO:
Most Americans view the Palestinian conflict as one
with a clearly more moral side. It isn't the side
intentionally blowing up innocent teenagers, it is the
side that is willing to donate the organs of the
murdered teenagers to needing recipients regardless of
nationality. I doubt most Americans view it as Black or
White, but they certainly understand which side is
trying (frequently poorly) to achieve peace, and which
side is trying (again poorly) to exterminate the other.
RASHEED:
As a sidenote, if you think Al Gore's "I invented the
Internet" statement was
bad, listen to Bush's response: "If Al Gore invented
the Internet, then how
come every Internet address starts with 'W'? Not
one 'W,' but three 'W's!'
You can like Bush or not, you can admire his
forthrightness and his simple
messages ("I'm a uniter, not a divider"), you can agree
with his foreign
policy and dedication to homeland security, but you
can't tell me the man's
intelligent.
PACO:
I never said he was intelligent. And his quoted
response was quite witty. My guess on the matter is
that he is indeed smarter than either one of us. Not
smarter than Erin, of course. But of either of us.
Paco
PS -- I was the artistic inspiration -- I mean
insiperation -- for "Revenge of the Nerds"
PPS -- Perhaps Britney will grow up and become a famous
diplomat someday like Shirley Temple. Britney for
President! At least we don't need her to be smart --
the bar is apparently low enough for just about anyone.
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