More of this please

By BJ

I can't really add much to what's being said about Bush's "appeasement" comments in Israel, but I will note that to some degree, I like that he said it.

Why? Because McCain was willing to jump in and agree "wholeheartedly" with Bush. The more Americans see McCain jumping up to enthusiastically embrace Bush's positions the more likely they are to realize that, well, he enthusiastically embraces Bush's positions. There is a reason Bush is the most unpopular US president in modern history. His foreign policy is a big chunk of it, and the more McCain shows people that he shares Bush's vision, the more likely it is that America winds up with a Democratic president.

So, carry on. Let your true colours come out for all to see.

And while we're on the topic, I wanted to point to this excellent post at Rational International:

I would like to respectfully request that statesmen, political scientists, pundits and analysts the world over stop making historical analogies to the Munich conference, and to the supposed universal folly of "appeasement." Any benefits of Munich as an instructive historical precedent are now far outweighed by the analogy's power as an intellectually lazy rhetorical cudgel that is too often used to bludgeon any diplomatic initiatives that are, well, diplomatic. Not every autocratic country is Nazi Germany. Not every foreign dictator we don't like is Hitler. Not every threatening situation is most appropriately handled by eschewing diplomacy in favor of a "firm stance."

There's more worth reading there, but I have to end with Chris Matthews doing a wonderful, painful, job of showing just how much of a "lazy rhetorial cudgel" Chanberlain and Munich has become for the Republican base.

Awesome. The guy clearly doesn't even know what he's talking about, and Matthews hammered him for it, even brought up "the press secretary who does not know what the Cuban Missile Crisis was." More of this would be nice too.

Comments

[geoff]

I watched the clip for some light entertainment and was again stunned by what passes for "news", "comment", "analysis" in the US of A. How do you stomach these laughing stocks? Silly question. I'll watch the Bill Moyers' show tonight to help restore my sense that maybe there are still some traditional media people that don't endlessly play to the people in the pit.

[BJ Bjornson]

geoff,

While I do get the puppet theatre via sattelite, I very rarely watch any of it, so stomaching it isn't too much of a problem. Small doses and all that.

Still, I couldn't help but find that bit entertaining, like if buddy could just yell "appeasement" a few more times it would drown out his own ignorance. Classic.

[anderson]

That was great, especially his continued yowling in the background off camera. This is only one reason I don't have a television, but it is good to see just how little I am "missing."