Who's Out of Touch?
There are two groups out there who are completely out of touch with reality. The first is the obvious one- the dictators of the greater Middle East. Well, the remaining ones, at least. The second are the leftists who can't see the forest for the trees (not that they ever did. But they do like the trees, at least in principle- Could someone tell Greenpeace that the pine cone air freshener smell went out of vouge in the 1970s?).
With the Middle Eastern dictators- Bashar Assad takes the cake. At least the mullahs in Iran are realizing that they're between a rock and a hard place. They're looking to curry favor with Europe, China, and Russia before they do anything else. Its smart compared to what Syria's been up to. The assassination of Hariri in Lebanaon, and the Syrian-backed Tel Aviv bombings are the actions of a brain dead intelligence service, that doesn't realize how dramatically things have changed on the ground. There were very successful elections in Iraq, and there were even semi-free elections in Saudi Arabia (it's a start, I'll give them that). And Hosni Mubarak has ordered the Egyptian Constitution to be changed, to allow for single, secret ballots for presidential elections in Egypt (that might have to do with the growing anti-Mubarak sentiment in his country. Anyone think he wants to end up like Hussein?). In the two weeks since the assassination, the Syrians must know by now that they've bungled badly. It's lit a united front of anti-Syrian Druze, Christian, and Sunni Lebanese against the pro-Syrian gov't in Lebanon, and the Syrian army (plus Hizbullah) in Lebanon. They've gotten a resignation of the Lebanese cabinet in one fell swoop, and have gotten the Syrians to leave ASAP. I don't believe for one second that the Syrians MEAN to leave anytime soon. They're just trying to buy time, to wait for the dust to settle and reassert themselves. I don't think they'll have that luxury. Either the Lebanese anti-Syrians or the American lead coalition (in Iraq) will force the issue. I'd rather see it end peacefully, and see Assad step down quietly from Syria. I DONT want to see a repeat of Tiannamen. Alot of folks don't want to see the Israeli army sitting in Damascus either, but that might be a welcome alternative. But the bottom line is, is that Syria is the poster boy for stupid dictatorial pet tricks. They're so behind the times that their usual "blame it on the zionists! And their American overlords!" schtick isn't sticking. Even in Palestine......where no one was apparently happy with the Tel Aviv bombing.
Then there are the leftists. They are at least admitting that there is a change in the world, that democracy is coming to the Middle East......but they don't want to admit HOW or WHY it is there. There's a New York Times Editorial (http://www.bintjbeil.com/articles/en/020922_keller.html - that's a free link to it, via Roger L Simon) that all but sings the praises of Bush's foriegn policy (ie; Democracy or die) while never admitting that it was Bush, or the Iraq war, that gave us the current domino effect. At least they're admitting that Bush was right, but they're far behind the ball on this (and maybe, just maybe the whole Valerie Plame situation has them praying to GOD that Bush doesn't sue them for all they're worth). Same with Ed Kilgore (http://hughhewitt.com/#postid1416) writing in TalkingPoints Memo. He admits that the Lebanese situation is good, but just wants to paint Bush as being lucky to be in office when everything's gone down. Nice of them to miss the Lebanese opposition directly referencing Bush and the Iraq war/election as reason #1 for being able to have their Cedar Revolution. Same goes for Jon Stewart for pulling the same stunt. And then there's the article of Matt Yglesias (got it at NRO: http://www.nationalreview.com/tks/057265.html where they still haven't stopped laughing) where Mr. Yglesias goes on to pooh pooh Lebanon as not being all that important to American interests. What, that its a giant middle finger to Syria doesn't count? And that this will infinitely make Israeli security easier, with the eventual death of Hizbollah? These guys are at least paying attention to the news, lest they get egg on their face (at least at a further rate than they already DO have). But by ignoring Bush, or his foriegn policy, they're still not understanding the key elements that are at play here. They don't want to give up their motherload arguement- that the Iraq War was illegal! War Crimes! Torture! Bush is a Terrorist! blah blah blah- and realize that they've been playing with the wrong deck of cards all along. They remain petty as hell, and are still putting their hands over their ears like a bunch of arrogant children. This isn't to say that the march to democracy in the greater middle east is going to be a cakewalk- far from it- but this is to say that far too many just don't seem to care about others. And that's the problem with leftists (the majority of the Democratic Party these days), they just want power, and they don't care who gets in their way. If the Lebanese mean more power for Bush- the hell with 'em. If the Iraqis mean more power for Bush- the hell with 'em. If Americans mean more power for Bush- the hell with 'em, too.
I have a better idea for the Democrats, and their far leftist leaders. See that dodo? Follow it.
With the Middle Eastern dictators- Bashar Assad takes the cake. At least the mullahs in Iran are realizing that they're between a rock and a hard place. They're looking to curry favor with Europe, China, and Russia before they do anything else. Its smart compared to what Syria's been up to. The assassination of Hariri in Lebanaon, and the Syrian-backed Tel Aviv bombings are the actions of a brain dead intelligence service, that doesn't realize how dramatically things have changed on the ground. There were very successful elections in Iraq, and there were even semi-free elections in Saudi Arabia (it's a start, I'll give them that). And Hosni Mubarak has ordered the Egyptian Constitution to be changed, to allow for single, secret ballots for presidential elections in Egypt (that might have to do with the growing anti-Mubarak sentiment in his country. Anyone think he wants to end up like Hussein?). In the two weeks since the assassination, the Syrians must know by now that they've bungled badly. It's lit a united front of anti-Syrian Druze, Christian, and Sunni Lebanese against the pro-Syrian gov't in Lebanon, and the Syrian army (plus Hizbullah) in Lebanon. They've gotten a resignation of the Lebanese cabinet in one fell swoop, and have gotten the Syrians to leave ASAP. I don't believe for one second that the Syrians MEAN to leave anytime soon. They're just trying to buy time, to wait for the dust to settle and reassert themselves. I don't think they'll have that luxury. Either the Lebanese anti-Syrians or the American lead coalition (in Iraq) will force the issue. I'd rather see it end peacefully, and see Assad step down quietly from Syria. I DONT want to see a repeat of Tiannamen. Alot of folks don't want to see the Israeli army sitting in Damascus either, but that might be a welcome alternative. But the bottom line is, is that Syria is the poster boy for stupid dictatorial pet tricks. They're so behind the times that their usual "blame it on the zionists! And their American overlords!" schtick isn't sticking. Even in Palestine......where no one was apparently happy with the Tel Aviv bombing.
Then there are the leftists. They are at least admitting that there is a change in the world, that democracy is coming to the Middle East......but they don't want to admit HOW or WHY it is there. There's a New York Times Editorial (http://www.bintjbeil.com/articles/en/020922_keller.html - that's a free link to it, via Roger L Simon) that all but sings the praises of Bush's foriegn policy (ie; Democracy or die) while never admitting that it was Bush, or the Iraq war, that gave us the current domino effect. At least they're admitting that Bush was right, but they're far behind the ball on this (and maybe, just maybe the whole Valerie Plame situation has them praying to GOD that Bush doesn't sue them for all they're worth). Same with Ed Kilgore (http://hughhewitt.com/#postid1416) writing in TalkingPoints Memo. He admits that the Lebanese situation is good, but just wants to paint Bush as being lucky to be in office when everything's gone down. Nice of them to miss the Lebanese opposition directly referencing Bush and the Iraq war/election as reason #1 for being able to have their Cedar Revolution. Same goes for Jon Stewart for pulling the same stunt. And then there's the article of Matt Yglesias (got it at NRO: http://www.nationalreview.com/tks/057265.html where they still haven't stopped laughing) where Mr. Yglesias goes on to pooh pooh Lebanon as not being all that important to American interests. What, that its a giant middle finger to Syria doesn't count? And that this will infinitely make Israeli security easier, with the eventual death of Hizbollah? These guys are at least paying attention to the news, lest they get egg on their face (at least at a further rate than they already DO have). But by ignoring Bush, or his foriegn policy, they're still not understanding the key elements that are at play here. They don't want to give up their motherload arguement- that the Iraq War was illegal! War Crimes! Torture! Bush is a Terrorist! blah blah blah- and realize that they've been playing with the wrong deck of cards all along. They remain petty as hell, and are still putting their hands over their ears like a bunch of arrogant children. This isn't to say that the march to democracy in the greater middle east is going to be a cakewalk- far from it- but this is to say that far too many just don't seem to care about others. And that's the problem with leftists (the majority of the Democratic Party these days), they just want power, and they don't care who gets in their way. If the Lebanese mean more power for Bush- the hell with 'em. If the Iraqis mean more power for Bush- the hell with 'em. If Americans mean more power for Bush- the hell with 'em, too.
I have a better idea for the Democrats, and their far leftist leaders. See that dodo? Follow it.
posted by Fafhrd1 | 11:22 AM
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