What I Meant about Murtha

I'm always surprised that small political comments tend to generate more feedback (blowback) than large economic and financial analysis. I guess it's because politics is so emotional. I also think it's because the Left has triumphed in the last fifty years by successfully politicizing everything! It is easier to have a political position on the war in Iraq or Darfur than it is to say, love your neighbor as yourself.

Anyway, what did I mean saying that Murtha is an idiot? Well, I should correct myself. Murtha was quoting a poll in which those surveyed indicated that the U.S. presence in Iraq was a greater threat to world peace that North Korea or Iran. The article I linked to didn't quote Murtha as saying this himself, so I shouldn't have concluded so based on that article alone.

What I was objecting to is general tenor of the comments about the U.S. in Iraq. Clearly it's something there needs to be more serious public policy discussion about. But third-grade level logic and name calling doesn't help. We are in Iraq, for better or worse. Should we stay? What are we trying to achieve by staying?

And fair enough, if people really believe the United States is more a threat to world peace that North Korea, they can believe that. But I don't really care what anyone believes. I want to know why. I want to hear arguments, see proof, listen to reason. Everyone is entitled to an opinion. But some opinions are absolutely worthless and don't deserve respect. It's the job of critical, thinking people to sort out what opinions matter and which are petulant self-expression.

It may be that the American experiment in representative democracy has run so far off the rails that it is impossible to distinguish the actions of the Bush administration and Congress from Kim Jong Il and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. But I'm not prepared to say that. I think it's a load of relativist crap spoken by people who fail to appreciate the success of Western culture.

For one, the U.S. government does not use hunger as a weapon against its own people. And for another, we aren't executing homosexuals for being homosexual. The authority of the law and of the government to govern are not based on the worship of one specific god or on the idolization of one specific man and his kin. They are based on the rule of law, even though there are people constantly trying to usurp that legislatively and judicially.

Sure, there are other creeping conflicts between the government and "the people" that undermine American liberty. But it is a cheap rhetorical trick to say that we are no better and probably much worse than North Korea and Iran. One of the great virtues of Western culture is its openness which allows for self-criticism and accountability. But that's only useful to the culture if the criticism is thoughtful and authentic, and not an attempt to score cheap political points at a kitchen table argument.