Tell me, Senator McCain – since you’re profiting off of the conflict – why is Russia’s invasion of Georgia so wrong?
McCain’s answer – “In the 21st Century, nations don’t invade other nations” – reeks of hypocrisy, and is the sort of amateurishly simple statement that I’d expect of, well, a blog.
*Ahem* By which I mean, a bad blog. Unlike this one.
Making such categorical statements – interestingly, a statement that he’s openly defied – suggests to me that McCain doesn’t really understand foreign policy. There are reasons to invade other countries. Our invasion of Afghanistan to unseat the Taliban redefines “ius belli”: they harbored our enemies, and they were evil. Too bad we’ve since so tragically dropped the ball in that war (a problem that, I hasten to remind you, the allegedly inexperienced candidate recognizes and wants to fix).
More importantly, though, this little blurb suggests to me that McCain hasn’t thought through exactly what distinguishes the war in Georgia from our war in Iraq, or that he isn’t willing to set into words the distinction he sees between the two. Certainly there is a distinction – the war in Georgia was at least provoked by Georgian incursions into Russian Ossetia, whereas any provocation in Iraq was a manufactured lie – but that distinction suggests the precise opposite of McCain’s position.
Maybe the distinction is that Saddam was evil. That’s fair. But then McCain’s statement reduces to “in the 21st Century, nations don’t invade our friends.” He should come out and say that, or risk proving to us all that fighting in a war doesn’t make one qualified to lead one.
Cross-posted at “Yes to Democracy”
Every now and then I get a little preachy. This is one of those times. The new movie, “House Bunny,” really annoys me. Aside from celebrating ignorance and entrenching female stereotypes (flighty dumb blonde), I had thought that this genre (sorority girl/frat boy/zany college comedies) was dead, aside from spoofing in Futurama. Wasn’t it better off that way?
Earlier this week, I urged Obama to call his vacation short and go do something – anything – to help the Russia/Georgia situation, or at least look like he’s trying to do something. Well, Obama stayed on vacation. And coverage like this is what happened. When you’re weak on “experience,” the last thing to do is give the other guy a chance to strut his stuff. Let’s pray this doesn’t become 2008′s “windsurfing.” I guess Obama doesn’t read our site… *sniff*
Filed under: Author - ACG,Politics,Religion,Science | Tags: Creationism, Politicized Science
We get a lot of negative (and idiotic) comments on how evolution causes the Holocaust, genocide, etcetera, etcetera… but rarely any praise for the animating, positive spirit of science, the profound belief in humanity’s ability to better itself. Cheers to the New York Times for this unfortunately rare, and profoundly important, praise:
[T]he most important thing about studying evolution is something less tangible. It’s that the endeavor contains a profound optimism. It means that when we encounter something in nature that is complicated or mysterious, such as the flagellum of a bacteria or the light made by a firefly, we don’t have to shrug our shoulders in bewilderment.
Instead, we can ask how it got to be that way. And if at first it seems so complicated that the evolutionary steps are hard to work out, we have an invitation to imagine, to play, to experiment and explore. To my mind, this only enhances the wonder.
So many bemoan science for “spoiling the mystery” of creation. For shame. Just the opposite, it deepens the wonder of the universe, and encourages us to create knowledge to better ourselves, mentally and physically. Conflating religion and science encourages us only to limit ourselves, and satisfy ourselves with pleasant but empty platitudes.
Filed under: Author - ACG,Culture,Politics,Religion,Site News,Talking Points | Tags: BPSDB, Law, Politicized Science, Religious politics
“Christian education” has fallen from its former medieval grandeur – where Christian research of the classics was the only education – to become little more than a way of training the next generation of culture warriors and attaching the appropriate intellectual blinders, rather than broadening students’ minds (intensely footnoted… starting here). ((As Hanna Rosin demonstrated in her documentary book on Patrick Henry College, the training of the culture warriors specifically ignores any practical knowledge of the real world.))
The University of California system – wisely sensing this problem – recently refused to give college credit for classes at “Christian” secondary schools that focused . Unsurprisingly, they (the Association of Christian Schools International, and Calvary Chapel Christian Schools) sued, claiming violations of various first amendment freedoms. This past week, they lost, to the chagrin of many.
Here’s why, and here’s what the judge got right. ((Read the opinion.)) As always, skip to the rant if you please.
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