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October 22, 2004
Storm before the clouds?
Nick Packwood (the esteemed Ghost of a flea) offers obviously heartfelt words of wisdom for the left as well as for President Bush: So here is my plea to the American left: please, for the love of everything we hold dear, choose the course that takes us to those sunlit uplands Winston Churchill spoke of not so long ago. Pick up some economics, credit the sworn words of our enemies and value the humanity of women forced to live under the burka as much as the humanity of urban North American arts council claimants. There is a conversation to be had with the most strident of your domestic opponents. The most fervent evangelical will never approve of your marriage but he will honestly pray for your soul. The most devout Roman Catholic will never condone your views about abortion but she will do her level best for the lives of children. Believe the expression of these views to be misguided or mistaken but accept them for the best of intentions. Perhaps, just perhaps, our own good intentions will be recognized for what they are and some way forward can be found. On some issues there can seem little room for compromise. But through this odd blogging habit I have discovered even the strongest disagreements need not be disastrous and have learned something of how my own progressive bigotry clouds my thinking, offers an excuse for my own obnoxiousness and denies me the wise counsel of people with differing opinions. My experience this last year has not changed my mind about abortion rights, gay marriage or the war on some drugs. But it has opened my mind to differing opinions and opened my heart to the souls of people who disagree with me.I've had more than my share of disagreements with the left and the right, and I am sure I always will. But the bitter, irrational contentiousness and hatred that's swept across the country in the past couple of years is, I think, based on more than mere disagreement. While the political arguments themselves have not changed, there's now a panic mode which didn't used to be there. Might the collective unconscious share (but be unable to admit) Nick's fear that "we're going to lose a city or two before this is done"? If so, there's a lot to be irrational about! posted by Eric on 10.22.04 at 08:20 AM
Comments
It is not a war on some drugs. It is a war on people in pain. Google - PTSD drug - if you want to learn more. Or try - PTSD drug M. Simon - if you want to know what I have learned. --==-- Islam is not, was not, and never will be at war with the rest of the world. Thus the whole war is illegitimate. I blame it all on Thomas Jefferson and his attacks on Tripoli. Had Jefferson not started this war the Twin Towers might still be standing. Besides - Yasser Arafat the defender of civil liberties has not been to the White House in years. We all know that will change under Kerry. M. Simon · October 22, 2004 03:33 PM |
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But the bitter, irrational contentiousness and hatred that's swept across the country in the past couple of years is, I think, based on more than mere disagreement. While the political arguments themselves have not changed, there's now a panic mode which didn't used to be there.
Speaking from the left, I can say that the panic is due to the fear that I will have to sit down with my grandchildren one day and try to explain to them how we could re-elect a man who took us to war for reasons that we later found were false.