It's good to see this finally starting to happen, but at the same time, it's a bit telling that this is where the line is drawn now. How much raw evil does it take, in 2023, for *some* of the Left to finally say "this is too much, we can't support this"? The answer would appear to be "a war of genocide."
Those of us trying to understand how our society got to this point — where many of our young people, their teachers and professors, and a sizable portion of the press, entertainment industry, and many others, not only accept and embrace evil and barbarity, but in many cases celebrate it — have probably reached our conclusions or at least formed strong hypotheses. I favor the “Long March” theory espoused by Christopher Rufo, Ted Cruz and others, but I’ve read other convincing conjectures as well.
The big, ugly question remaining is “what do we do about it?” When I see or read about the “protests” and demonstrations, Bruce Cockburn’s 1984 song “If I Had a Rocket Launcher” comes to mind. Satisfying as that may be to think about in the moment, it is not, of course, remotely realistic.
What do we do? Round them all up and deport them somewhere else? Put them in re-education camps? Of course not.
Do we learn to live with them and adjust our worldview to accept theirs and maybe meet it somewhere in the middle? Again, of course not. We can’t do that and remain who we are as a people.
Do we try to educate those who can be reached? Maybe. What about those who cannot? Do we ostracize them, “cancel” them, make them internal pariahs? Maybe.
I truly don’t know what we do to recover the souls of those people. Intellectually, I know we have to try something, and soon. In my gut, though, the rocket launcher sure is appealing.
I reluctantly watched Hillary's View comments (Bari Weiss suggested it.). She seemed to suggest that Hamas could be removed, and the Palestinians could improve their lives.
There are lessons from WWII about this, I suggest that only a complete defeat and occupation would achieve this.
Both Japan and Germany were defeated to the point where their citizens were literally starving.
Then an external force had to force a deep rooted cultural change. Because the citizens of those countries were invested in their culture. There were still committed Nazis, but they kept a low profile because they had been cancelled.
Even if the Israelis took the conflict to that point, they could not be the occupying force that drove a deep rooted cultural change.
One last thought, in Japan, we won the war - but MacArthur won the peace.
PS - You might notice that I've gotten better at using commas.
Senator Fetterman --and this is the first time I've written those two words together -- has been the biggest surprise to me. This may well be the only issue we agree on, but I concede he has been fearless in his position. That alone is worth respecting.
While I can understand your gratitude for the condemnation of Hamas by members of Congress from the leftist cancer that is the Democrat Party, heaping praise upon the likes of Wasserman-Schultz, Torres, Fetterman, and especially Hillary Clinton is like patting a rabid dog on the head for it only biting you instead of ripping your throat out. These people only take a moral stand when it favors their personal enrichment.
Profiles in Courage from Left of Center
It's good to see this finally starting to happen, but at the same time, it's a bit telling that this is where the line is drawn now. How much raw evil does it take, in 2023, for *some* of the Left to finally say "this is too much, we can't support this"? The answer would appear to be "a war of genocide."
Those of us trying to understand how our society got to this point — where many of our young people, their teachers and professors, and a sizable portion of the press, entertainment industry, and many others, not only accept and embrace evil and barbarity, but in many cases celebrate it — have probably reached our conclusions or at least formed strong hypotheses. I favor the “Long March” theory espoused by Christopher Rufo, Ted Cruz and others, but I’ve read other convincing conjectures as well.
The big, ugly question remaining is “what do we do about it?” When I see or read about the “protests” and demonstrations, Bruce Cockburn’s 1984 song “If I Had a Rocket Launcher” comes to mind. Satisfying as that may be to think about in the moment, it is not, of course, remotely realistic.
What do we do? Round them all up and deport them somewhere else? Put them in re-education camps? Of course not.
Do we learn to live with them and adjust our worldview to accept theirs and maybe meet it somewhere in the middle? Again, of course not. We can’t do that and remain who we are as a people.
Do we try to educate those who can be reached? Maybe. What about those who cannot? Do we ostracize them, “cancel” them, make them internal pariahs? Maybe.
I truly don’t know what we do to recover the souls of those people. Intellectually, I know we have to try something, and soon. In my gut, though, the rocket launcher sure is appealing.
Good Morning Robert,
I reluctantly watched Hillary's View comments (Bari Weiss suggested it.). She seemed to suggest that Hamas could be removed, and the Palestinians could improve their lives.
There are lessons from WWII about this, I suggest that only a complete defeat and occupation would achieve this.
Both Japan and Germany were defeated to the point where their citizens were literally starving.
Then an external force had to force a deep rooted cultural change. Because the citizens of those countries were invested in their culture. There were still committed Nazis, but they kept a low profile because they had been cancelled.
Even if the Israelis took the conflict to that point, they could not be the occupying force that drove a deep rooted cultural change.
One last thought, in Japan, we won the war - but MacArthur won the peace.
PS - You might notice that I've gotten better at using commas.
Seriously now, is the Left's moral bankruptcy really surprising to anyone?
Am I wrong to think that Adam Schiff should have voted for the resolution? There are others.
Senator Fetterman --and this is the first time I've written those two words together -- has been the biggest surprise to me. This may well be the only issue we agree on, but I concede he has been fearless in his position. That alone is worth respecting.
While I can understand your gratitude for the condemnation of Hamas by members of Congress from the leftist cancer that is the Democrat Party, heaping praise upon the likes of Wasserman-Schultz, Torres, Fetterman, and especially Hillary Clinton is like patting a rabid dog on the head for it only biting you instead of ripping your throat out. These people only take a moral stand when it favors their personal enrichment.
I believe he is enjoying this! His depression seems gone!