Sep

23

Aye, Aye Captain

September 23, 2006 |

as a nation we need to end this argument if we want to get some consensus on engaging the enemy, and the enemy is not Bill Clinton.
captains quarters

Dead right Captain…nor is it Bush pere or fils. The enemy is a disperate bunch of Islamofascists here and abroad.

More importantly though we have to be clear about what we are actually defending which is nothing less than the Enlightenment (and read the comments on the flea’s post…they are perhaps the smartest comments I’ve seen on the nature of the struggle on any blog.) There is an election in the US at the moment and the need to score partisan points in the next month or so will tend to overwelm rational conversation. Static to noise will go way up. But as it does it would be smart to remember what the Enlightenment actually brought us. And who better to remind us than Bill Clinton himself,

To advocate democracy and reform in the muslim world? Absolutely.
I think the question is what’s the best way to do it. I think also the
question is how do you educate people about democracy. Democracy is about
way more than majority rule. Democracy is about minority rights, individual
rights, restraints on power. And there’s more than one way to advance
democracy but do I think on balance that in the end after several bouts of
instability do I think it would be better if we had more freedom and
democracy? Sure I do. …The president has a right to do it? Sure I do. But I
don’t think that’s all we can do in the muslim world. I think they have to
see us try to get a just and righteous peace in the middle east. They have
to see us as willing to talk to people who see the world differently than we
do.
crooks and liars


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