I think President Bush and the Israelis understand the same fundamental truth: if your critics are going to criticize you no matter what you do, then ignore their criticisms and just do what you think is right. When there's no way to satisfy the critics, the critics render themselves irrelevant. When you can do no right no matter what you do, then do what you think is right.
I don't think President Bush understands this domestically at all. But when it comes to foreign policy and the war, he understands this.
And I think the Israelis probably invented the idea.
Bomb the puppeteers in Damascus and Tehran, not their catspaws in Lebanon. The proxy wars will never end until they feel some pain in response to the pain they have caused.
Dave, you're right, but if the general wisdom is that the current fighting is "disproportionate", how do you think the average idiot on the street is going to react to that? They'd call it "aggression" - even though Syria and Iran are behind the attacks on Israel.
You just can't win, when the average person is gullible and the media are a highly oiled propaganda machine.
You just can't win, when the average person is gullible and the media are a highly oiled propaganda machine.
To put it bluntly, the average person doesn't matter: Only the extraordinary person does.
The average person doesn't vote. The average person doesn't even take the time or effort to write a letter to the editor. The average person may respond to a question in a poll, but talk is cheap. The average person isn't going to do anything to change the situation.
The extraordinary person, on the other hand, does all of these things. The extraordinary person seeks and finds the Truth for himself.
I wonder, Dave, what the strategic calculus (or the back story) is that counsels them not to do it.
Oh, that's easy. It's a combination of an outdated Westphalian concept of "sovereignty even for those states that are basically thugs repressing, exploiting and looting their people, even when they ignore the sovereignty of others" coupled with the same old "avoid any possibility of war" strategy that puts all the power in the hands of the unscrupulous (i.e., those that don't really care if we have war). It's how Germany re-armed and why Stalin was allowed to build an empire of repression in Europe.
Democracies are always lousy at game theory when opposing dictatorships, because they act with the disadvantage that they can't pretend to be able to make decisions that the people won't go along with: they can neither bluff nor afford to call someone else's bluff, if the potential outcome would be seriously unpopular.
I don't think President Bush understands this domestically at all. But when it comes to foreign policy and the war, he understands this.
And I think the Israelis probably invented the idea.
Bomb the puppeteers in Damascus and Tehran, not their catspaws in Lebanon. The proxy wars will never end until they feel some pain in response to the pain they have caused.
You just can't win, when the average person is gullible and the media are a highly oiled propaganda machine.
To put it bluntly, the average person doesn't matter: Only the extraordinary person does.
The average person doesn't vote. The average person doesn't even take the time or effort to write a letter to the editor. The average person may respond to a question in a poll, but talk is cheap. The average person isn't going to do anything to change the situation.
The extraordinary person, on the other hand, does all of these things. The extraordinary person seeks and finds the Truth for himself.
F**k the average person.
Oh, that's easy. It's a combination of an outdated Westphalian concept of "sovereignty even for those states that are basically thugs repressing, exploiting and looting their people, even when they ignore the sovereignty of others" coupled with the same old "avoid any possibility of war" strategy that puts all the power in the hands of the unscrupulous (i.e., those that don't really care if we have war). It's how Germany re-armed and why Stalin was allowed to build an empire of repression in Europe.
Democracies are always lousy at game theory when opposing dictatorships, because they act with the disadvantage that they can't pretend to be able to make decisions that the people won't go along with: they can neither bluff nor afford to call someone else's bluff, if the potential outcome would be seriously unpopular.