The Boundless Heart

Michael Barone.

Go look at Barone's 'thumbs up" blog roll. If he represents USN&WR, without a doubt I will never again subscribe or purchase that magazine. I will not read its website, and the only time I will read USN&WR articles is when they are posted as part of the work of someone I respect, in some forum OTHER than USN&WR.

To quote TBogg quoting Orwell, War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength.

To which I add, Barone is a Pundit.

To argue thus: Vietnam and Watergate were arguably triumphs for honest reporting. But they were also defeats for America--and for millions of freedom-loving people in the world. They ushered in an era when the political opposition and much of the press have sought not just to defeat administrations but to delegitimize them.

If an administration - this one or any other - acts in illegitimate ways, then it IS illegitimate. It is not knowledge of that illegitimacy that is the problem. Barone clearly cannot see that.

What ,then, can he see?

USN&WR should stop publishing Barone. That would indeed be a service to the citizens of this country, and a blow for freedom.

Jake

PS - kudos to TBogg

I read a post by Linda Hirshman on Prospect writing wrt women in the work place. I have read only a small sampling of her work, but I get the sense from that sampling that she feels that women should work because they may provide higher value to society as workers than as stay at home mothers.

My thoughts are, why would anyone do anything for society? Men don't. They work because they must. They must for economic reasons and for personal validation reasons. But I don't think men work for the good of society. Why should women?

Women are an underutilized resource. I am convinced of that. But if a woman can stay home because that is what she wants to do, who is to say she should do something different?

Frankly, if *I* didn't have to work, I wouldn't, and to hell with society. :)

I suspect she gets so much anger from the mommy brigade because her language threatens the societal validation of their choice. Without that validation, they would feel forced into the work force - and time and choice would disappear for most of them, just as it has for most men.

Better would be to argue for flexibility for both men and women, not a single minded devotion to working for the good of society. Hell, she might as well shill for the "selfish gene" if she is going to make society the ultimate good.

The fact is, just as in biological evolution (or at least so I speculate), society is advanced when the collective choices of individuals, acting in their own best interests, aligns with the interests of all. You really can't have one without the other.

Not for long, anyway.

Jake

Betrayed by close associates and killed by 500 lb bombs. I wonder how it will affect the civil war in Iraq. I hope it signals the beginning of the end.

No doubt the administration will take this as proof positive that we are doing well in Iraq.

Not counting Zarqawi et all, at least 19 people were bombed into an early afterlife today. I'd say that counts as a mixed message.

Well, I AM glad he is dead. I don't take pleasure in his death. I can only imagine that Iraq is a better place without him. Heck, the WORLD is a better place without him.

It's not too much of a stretch to say the Iraq, and the world, would be better places without GWB as well. He doesn't have to be dead, just gone. Gone from the presidency, gone from public life and influence.

Although how much influence he has even now is a good question.

Bill Kristol of hte Weekly Standard says Haditha isn't the evil in Iraq, it's reporting on Haditha that's evil. How twisted is that? And he is supposedly one of the bright ones. I can't speak to his wit, but as for wisdom, I don't see any.

Jake

I am at a total loss to understand people, friends, who say Iraq is not a debacle. Putting aside Haditha, how can anyone look past the horrific loss of life that is now the norm in Baghdad and many other parts of Iraq and think things are going "ok" in any way? I just don't get it.

I don't get how people who are caring and compassionate in their personal lives somehow do not see how terrible life in Iraq has become. Would they be "ok" with things if it were their children at risk everytime they went to school, or to take a test, or almost anything else? Even staying at home is dangerous.

There is no government in Iraq. There are no liberties or freedoms, except to die, and the Iraqis had that even before we invaded. No one can speak freely, gather peacefully, or petition the government without fearing for their life, often fearing the government itself, or at least specific arms of the government.

Less electricity, less clean water, fewer doctors and engineers - how is Iraq better now than before? Is it enought to say that now the country has a chance at a democracy, even if it is one that appears to embed Sharia in the legal system? Is the chance any greater now than it was under Hussein?

I don't think so. Change would have come to Iraq anyway, sooner or later.

This change is not an improvement.

Jake

And things are going very well. I have time to think about things, and things to think about. How great is that? :)

I have been given the opportunity to work at the one thing I do well - generate ideas. Now I need to turn opportunity into success. Which can be fun, too.

At least I think it can be fun. I don't exactly have a ton of experience with success. LOL!

Jake