Options
The Shrubbery keeps saying that “all options are on the table” and some Democrats are parroting that phrase. It’s a lie, and everyone should know it. The only “options” the Shrubbery is interested in is killing more people and blowing things up. The option that never seems to appear on his table is real diplomacy – talking to people.
Telling people you won’t talk to them until they agree with you is not diplomacy. It shows no respect for your adversary. Setting pre-conditions for talks defeats the purpose of talking. It’s like having a debate where both sides must agree to the proposition before the debate would be held.
The US has not, in point of fact, agreed to talk to Syria and Iran. The US, at most, is agreeing to attend a multi-party conference to which Syria and Iran have also been invited.
The recent agreement with North Korea has told Iran and Syria that they must possess nuclear weapons before the US will talk to them. That is the message. The US didn’t talk to North Korea until North Korea conducted a nuclear test. That is not a good message to send.
3 comments
Getting nukes lets you sit at the big guys’ table, every tinpot dictator can see that. But they should also be extremely careful where they purchase their equipment….we have a way of giving countries weapons and then invading them because they have weapons….
And Bush has always done that ‘I won’t play unless you let me win’ thing his entire life. Maybe he thinks he can yell ‘Do Over!’ after we lose in Iraq?
“It’s like having a debate where both sides must agree to the proposition before the debate would be held.”
But this EXACTLY the only model this President understands. I really think this the worst side effect of the 2000 election debacle – that it has created and perpetuated this unaccountable Frankenstein’s Monster of an unrestrained (and unable to be open to real debate) executive. That he was able to *win* that issue not based on any merits – and against all the legal precedents, case law and constitutional controls – had given him the view and license to believe he CAN act any way he wants to with NO repercussions.
I really shudder to think where we will be at the end of the reign of mis-rule and damage done world wide by this cretin of a CIC.
The problem, Ellroon, is that the only exception is a nuclear weapon. Nuclear weapons are dangerous, even if they aren’t used. They are poisonous if just stored. My Dad worked with nuclear warheads at the end of his career and the procedures are nerve-wreaking because any mistake in handling and storage can kill people, even if there is no event. The problem has never been an accidental detonation, it is radiation contamination.
Karen, the Shrubbery feels that he is “entitled” to be right, that no one can question any decision he makes because he made it. I don’t question his “judgment”, because I don’t think he has any. He is an example of pure self-delusion, a living parody of a character in a fable about the hubris of the “leader”.