One of my biggest political pet peeves is the certainty with which the average person talks about foreign policy and military operations. The average person simply does not have access to the information that is necessary to make a good decision. Since there are compelling reasons for the government to not broadcast all of that information, sometimes we must simply trust our leaders to do what is best. Our leaders, in turn, ought to assure us that their perspective is circumspect: that they are willing to go to war when it is necessary, not eager to go to war when it isn’t, and open to input from a diverse set of advisors.
But there is also a casualness with which people call for policies that affect us and other countries, including the lives of innocent people. When anti-American violence erupts in the Middle East, we once again hear calls for war–as if there would be no consequences, as if it would be better to lose thousands of lives (“theirs” and “ours”) in a lost cause for revenge than to persist in diplomacy or withdraw or look to other measures, as if only our enemies would be hurt, as if doing so would solve the fundamental problems that fuel the violence, as if we would make no new enemies.
We hear the President denounced for “apologizing” to Muslims for a ridiculous film, as if condemning the irresponsible use of free speech and much more harshly condemning violent reactions to it were mutually exclusive. We hear the President denounced for not openly “taking action” on Iran even as we hear that any operations that would qualify as such should be kept secret: a clear catch-22. We hear that Muslims are all the same, that they hate us because they are jealous that we have freedom but also because they are mindless savages with no reason to resent us.
Perhaps most of this talk is just a way to vent frustration over our inability to resolve our problems. Continued calls for peace can seem weak and ineffective, but we also don’t have the resources, freedom, or skill to simply drop into other countries and eliminate the homogeneous “bad guys” once and for all. It doesn’t feel right to be attacked and be unable to get revenge.
But our diverse and deeply interconnected modern world does not care about our feelings. We are not above it, but a part of it. It is past time to face that reality–and that also means holding back on the irresponsible speech that simply fuels more hatred. We cannot justly condemn others for lacking control if we lack it as well. Sometimes we must put our emotions and principles aside for the greater good. That is not a call for us to imprison the filmmaker to appease extremists, but a call to recognize that every action has consequences and that those consequences do not necessarily conform to our desires. President Obama seems to recognize this; now it’s time for everyone else to recognize it as well.
I respectfully reject your opinion that Barack Obama is doing anything out of greater wisdom than the average person. It is truly abominable that he uses his office to belittle the United States and demean our image around the world. It is completely ridiculous that he chooses people for his administration who would further that campaign. It is dangerous for America that, as a result of our president’s words and behavior, fanatical and maniacal people around the world feel free to assault our embassies and not only kill but demeaningly abuse our ambasssador. It is dangerous for the rest of the world as well. The strength and power of the US have not been used to dominate and oppress the world; this strength and power, until January 20, 2009, stood for a commitment for freedom for all people and was used to protect and liberate people. It is way past time for this inept and ignorant president to close his mouth and pack his bags for some destination where nobody will be able to hear him speak. I don’t support suppression of free speech, so if he continues to ramble publicly after he loses this election, so be it, but I will be glad when he has stepped down from his bully pulpit.
That was a lot of rhetoric with no substance. You offered no specifics and no explanation of what he should have done in this situation. Until you do so, I will only respond to this:
I respectfully reject your opinion that Barack Obama is doing anything out of greater wisdom than the average person.
I said that the average person does not have access to the information that high-ranking politicians and military officers do. That should be uncontroversial unless you actually believe that the government keeps no secrets (for good reasons or otherwise) from us.
However, to the extent that the average person regards these recent events as a cause for war, Obama is indeed wiser–or, at the very least, not nearly so hot-headed and blind to the consequences.
Ryan wrote, “One of my biggest political pet peeves is the certainty with which the average person talks about foreign policy and military operations.”
Qathy wrote… what she wrote. (!)
Self-fulfilling prophecy??
I’m just stunned. Stunned.
Just one gem: “The strength and power of the US have not been used to dominate and oppress the world; this strength and power, until January 20, 2009, stood for a commitment for freedom for all people and was used to protect and liberate people.”
It frightens me to imagine that Ryan’s “average person” might in fact be represented by a person such as Qathy, whose utter and unashamed ignorance of U.S. history and childlike patriotism can poison the conversations we could be having, should be having if we hope to make progress as a society.
Ugh.
qathy also seems to think that Obama is allowing or encouraging extremists to attack our embassies, as if the massive coverage of the Benghazi attack signaled the first foreign attack on Americans under any President. The world, it seems, was created yesterday.