To Supersoulty and John Ford

[dazzleman]

MarkDel,

I hope you will reconsider your decision to leave the forum.  You've been one of the more fun guys around here, and of course it helps that I agree with most of what you say.

I share your low regard for the Democratic party.  But we need intelligent and articulate spokespeople for the opposing point of view to be out there engaging people, rather than sulking.

Have a drink on me, man.

[dazzleman]

I agree, Akno. If America is going to be destroyed, it would be by big money more than anything...see my first post in my thread about "Why I'm a Democrat". Sorry I keep referring people to that thread in others, but I wrote so much there that it covers a lot of ground.

Democrats actually want a morally consistent foreign policy that opposes ALL dictators, not just those that big business deems worthy of going after. We want a foreign policy that does not coddle some dictators while going after others.

Well, at least I do....

I think your view is overly simplified.

First off, it has seemed to me for a long time that Democrats don't really have a problem with dictators, as long as they are anti-American.  Liberal democratic fawning over Fidel Castro is a perfect example of this.

Even if we forget that for a moment, some people don't like to acknowledge that the choices available are often between two poor options, and while we must pick the least bad (rather than best) option, even the least bad option will have some disadvantages.  This was the case with our support of the Mujahedeen in Afghanistan during the Soviet occupation, and is the case with our continued support of, and "alliance" with, the Saudi royal family and the Pakistanis.

I don't suggest that Democrats or Republican have ever made all the best choices, but I don't think we can pretend that a blanket platitude of opposing all dictators equally is going to lead to the best results.

[dazzleman]

I think the pro-America democrats like Nym and a lot of others here want to beleive that their party hasn't been taken over by crazies.  I don't know how to tell them this, but that just isn't so.

The Democratic party was taken over by anti-American elements in the 1960s.  They have since learned to shave and put on a suit, but their underlying push for destructive radical change at home, and weakness and military vulnerability abroad, has not changed.

[dazzleman]

I don't see how Nym is "pro-America" and the "crazies" aren't since he's not much less liberal than me and I'm assuming I count as one of the "crazies", even though I don't hate America, I just hate most pro-America dictators since they are most right wing. All right wing dictators must be destroyed. I'd like to see the Sultan of Brunei's head on a pike and the Saudi Royal Family lying on top of each other dead.

But I take it you have no parallel concern about left-wing anti-American dictators like Fidel Castro?  And would you prefer a fundamentalist regime, like the Iranian regime, to replace the Saudi royal family?

Many liberals said the same thing about the Shah of Iran, but look at what we got in his place.  The funny thing about "right wing" dictators who are pro-American is that they tend to leave their neighbors alone, while anti-American dictators, like the Iranian and North Korean regimes, are aggressive and cause severe problems.

To say that you have pro-American dictators, but support anti-American dictators who are even more repressive, is plainly anti-American, whether you wish to call it that or not.