Comments on: Grab That Cash With Both Hands and Make a Stash

By: Ginny

Ginny — Sun, 16 Jul 2006 02:50:01 +0000

That speech of Bush’s was clearly & self-consciously set in the tradition of Winthrop’s “On Christian Charity.” Of course, it was open in the way a Christian and perhaps not a Muslim would understand, but the verses were from Deuteronomy. This view of the life well-lived helped me to see, then, where and why Bush was headed. It made some of his later choices seem part of that coherent vision, not of the city on a hill but of a city on a hill.

The great irony & tragedy of that speech, echoing Winthrop’s and going to the same Biblical verse was the conclusion of both:

This moment is both an opportunity and a test for all parties in the Middle East: an opportunity to lay the foundations for future peace; a test to show who is serious about peace and who is not. The choice here is stark and simple. The Bible says, “I have set before you life and death; therefore, choose life.” The time has arrived for everyone in this conflict to choose peace, and hope, and life.

Whatever the Puritans faults might be, they clearly chose life. The same does not always seem true of the Palestinians.

By: DirtCrashr

DirtCrashr — Fri, 14 Jul 2006 18:08:02 +0000

Murdoc, you make the Europeans sound so… French. The Germans do so love the French though, and keep trying to join them up in national matrimony.

By: Murdoc

Murdoc — Fri, 14 Jul 2006 11:35:44 +0000

James: Thanks for the link.

While I believe that a bit of scheming would be required for my first crackpot theory (that the US has give Israel the green light to go after Hamas and Hezbollah), I don’t think any scheming would really be necessary for the Europeans to sit back, let Israel do (or at least start) the dirty work against Iran, and then denounce them after the threat is removed.

In large part, that’s what happened during the Cold War. A fair amount of protest to US troops and nukes, but not enough to stop us because they knew we were protecting them. Then, after the fall of the Soviet empire, not only lack of appreciation but they practically deny that the threat was ever really that great.

All that being said, it’s just an idea I tossed out there. I’d like to think we’re being visionary and pulling strings like that, but I don’t know.