The dearth of outrage.
Matthew Yglesias, reacting to the latest repudiation of earnestly made promises by the Bush administration, says, “Clearly it’s going to take some real pressure from the public to get the administration to stick to its original promises on this point. Pressure I wish liberals were more interested in organizing….”
Screw that.
The profoundly obvious inability of the Bush administration to do the right thing in Iraq is one of the keystones of liberal opposition to the war. This is so much a matter of record that I don’t feel too terribly bad about being pressed for time as I write this, and so only have a smattering of links gleaned from a quickie Google search: Hitch-wannabe Nick Cohen calling this coming betrayal back last summer; the Village Voice with a breakdown of all the spoils-to-be; Madeleine Albright warning us last fall, “It is wrong to suggest democracy and Islam are not compatible… We are not concerned enough about what creates this anti-American feeling. [Americans need to] let them know we support their aspiration for freedom.” —I suddenly feel like I’ve been told I give more of a shit about Augusta than the Taliban. Mattie. Baby. Maybe we’re a little distracted by all the Shock and Awe, and maybe our nuanced arguments about how this war is nothing more than an excuse to replace an old, worn-out strongman with a fresher, newer, more pliable model get lost in the sea of “Attack Iraq? NO!” placards, but trust me. We’re down with the pressure. We’re on message. We’re good to fucking go. We aren’t the problem, here.
What I want to know is, where’s the right?
The principled right, who told us all that this was about bringing democracy? Who tell us that we must strike a blow against Hussein for his oppression of his own people? His gassing of the Kurds? Who tell us that we on the left, marching against this war, are Stalinist stooges standing up for totalitarian regimes and betraying the liberty and self-determination of the Iraqi people? I’ve never taken these arguments seriously—no one with an appreciation of recent American history would—but they’ve always had the fig leaf of the Bush administration’s promises and stated intentions. This latest of many repudiations finally strips that fig leaf away, shreds it, lights it on fire, and stomps the ashes into the dust.
That’s the outrage I’m looking for. The noise that needs to be brought. Left and right standing up together: if this 12-year-old shadow war is finally going to slouch into Baghdad under cover of the greatest powers of darkness, we must make certain that what’s left standing in some small way begins to atone for the horror that’s been wrought. —We both want ballots. We always have. You said it would take bullets. We said there were other ways. But we both agreed on the ballots—and instead, we’re only getting bullets. Bullets on out, as far as the eye can see.
Well?
(I’d even take a touchingly naïve epiphany, like Julian Sanchez’s. —Hell, I’d even take ol’ Ronnie Reagan, at this point.)
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Very well put, Kip. Can we reload and use some bullets for Bolton, too?
I'm afraid the right is too busy quaffing root beers of victory over the likelihood of war, reminiscing about their old days of soldiering, when they slogged through the muddy blogs to bring pseudo-democracy to Iraq, while denying the real stuff to France, Germany, Bulgaria and the US.
It's too bad, really, Some of them were okay before they got too comfortable with their Stepford Lives.
Can't argue with anything you are saying. The only thing to do is keep screaming and kicking. If all of the Whos make enough noise, the Wickersham brothers in the White House may be forced to listen.