Hippies still trying to ruin the country

This is hysterically funny. From the Lexington Herald-Leader courtesy of AlterNet:

America won't win another war until the 1960s flower children are pushing up petunias.

Radicalized, the flower children morphed into lefty loonies who now masquerade as social progressives. No matter what they rename themselves, however, their agenda hasn't changed.

They still want utopia, and it wouldn't be worth mentioning except that their naivete has aged into a persistent denial of reality that may have devastating consequences.

And

To renounce their military fictions would mean facing bigger, more important truths: Marxism doesn't work. Love is not all you need. Western culture is worth defending because it protects freedom, tolerance and the greatest material good for the greatest number. Government can't solve every problem. The American taxpayer has no obligation to support the rest of the world's exploding population.

Without the military-industrial complex to blame for humanity's ills, the lefty loonies lose their basis for faith in a socialist utopia. Terrorism is tortuous for them only because it forces them to pursue the political goals that will allow them to redistribute America's wealth by pulling the nation together and relying on the hated military for protection.

And

Is it possible to protect non-combatants, given modern weaponry in total war?

Are people who make weapons innocent citizens of their warring governments, or integral non-uniformed soldiers and legitimate targets?

Must we surrender our country to our enemies because our weapons are too terrible to use?

Whose life is more important: the 12-year-old Iraqi firing an Uzi or a soldier from Kentucky?

Which is more sacred: a mosque hiding a weapons cache or a plane of tourists?

Do we want a military strong enough to protect our homeland? Are we willing to pay the price of survival?

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Apart from being so funny because it is so utterly divorced from reality, this essay reminds me that I've been wondering lately what conservatives fed by Bill O'Reilly and Rush Limbaugh, which, I might add, includes my father, must think about the left. That is, from time to time I listen to the conservative radio nut fringe talk about liberals, and, usually, what they say about us bears little resemblance to my own personal experience. If this essay is typical of such opinion, it's no wonder that political discourse in this country is so fucked up.

I mean, I don't even know where to start rebuffing this thing. We're losing the war in Iraq because of incompetent planning and leadership, not because of opposition at home--that doesn't even need support at this point, it's so obvious. And I don't know any liberals who think utopia is even remotely possible; I think it's fairer to say that liberals simply want to improve the lives of average, ordinary people. Further, this writer will get no argument from me that Marxism doesn't work: indeed, I'm pretty much of the opinion that all economic orthodoxies, such as the "free market," are recipes for disaster. Also, I agree that love is not all we need; we need food, clothing, shelter, and health care, too. Likewise, I agree that Western Culture is worth defending for her stated reasons. And on and on.

You know, I've just got to try my hand at answering that weird list of questions:

1. No, which is why waging war should only be a last resort, after a long and torturous debate, with real information, not that bogus shit we got about Iraq.

2. This question is something of a set-up because it only offers two choices for answers. I'll defy the set-up and offer my own answer. It's more complicated than the question would suggest. Generally, people are just trying to earn a living, and working in arms manufacturing is no different, so while such laborers are technically guilty of aiding a war effort, they're really just trying to live their lives. In some circumstances, these weapons plants simply must be fair game in warfare, but then, it's the United States that makes more guns and bombs than any other nation on the planet...

3. No

4. Again, an unfair set-up question. Here's my own choice: both lives are equally important. And, just because I'm curious, where the hell did this Iraqi get an Israeli-made Uzi? It's far more likely that he's using an AK-47, instead.

5. Obviously, the mosque, being a holy place, is more sacred. However, I'm of the opinion that all human life is sacred, so it's absolutely horrible to destroy a plane filled with tourists.

6. A double question. Answer A: Yes, but what we have now is far stronger than that. What we have now is an imperial military, designed to project US power into regions far away from our borders. Answer B: Give me liberty or give me death!

Man, this is just fucking stupid, which is why I rarely even try to refute conservative babblings like this one. Of course, this one sets a new standard for stupidity, so it was hard to resist. Anyway, it's fair to say that, overall, there are some excellent conservative challenges to liberal points of view. It's such a shame that I rarely hear them.

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