March 2, 2005
THE RIGHT MEN AT THE RIGHT TIME FIGHTING THE RIGHT WARS, BUT COINCIDENTALLY:
A Brief History of Lebanon Dispels the Illusion that President Bush Is Driving Events There (Juan Cole, 3/02/05, History News Network)
It is often pointed out that presidents get too much praise and blame for the economy, since the domestic economy has its own rhythms. We are now going to see everything that happens in the Middle East attributed to George W. Bush, whether he had much to do with it or not (usually not).
How about a deal between the Right and the Left: we agree that Reagan had nothing to do with the fall of Communism, nor George Bush with the fall of tyranny in the Middle East and they agree that the coincidence of two conservative whackjobs fighting those evils at the moment they fell demonstrates Providence? Posted by Orrin Judd at March 2, 2005 8:33 AM
It's worse. It's only coincidence when enough good things happen, that they can't ignore them anymmore. Up until then, and even as they adduce "coincidence", every bump on the road was/is/will be an abyss into which the conservative dummy has lead...not, pushed us.
Posted by: Moe from NC at March 2, 2005 9:49 AMWell, at least all can agree that Bill Clinton was responsible for NASDAQ 5000.
Posted by: Tom C., Stamford,Ct. at March 2, 2005 10:36 AMTheir political "just so" story, Marxism, blinds them as surely as their naturalist "just so" story, Darwinism, blinds them. They are loyal to their lore and won't make a deal that compromises it.
Posted by: Luciferous at March 2, 2005 11:15 AMWaiter: "More crow, professor?
Cole "*gag* Yes, please. *gag*"
Who really cares? If Cole wants to attribute events to Anybody But Bush, let him.
Real grown-ups make plans, make contingencies, adjust, keep the goal in sight and get things done. They want the results to speak for themselves and don't make it a point to take the credit, necessarily.
No, it isn't necessarily fair; but anybody expecting fairness from Cole and his ilk is almost as delusional as they have proven themselves to be.
And there can be no doubt that Bush's belief in God and in himself is such an irritant to his critics, who cry out in the night, "Why doesn't he listen to us!!?"
Posted by: Barry Meislin at March 2, 2005 12:09 PMIt wasn't so long ago here that Orrin was saying that the Christians should leave Lebanon.
The rationale behind that was totally obscure to me, but one thing is clear. If Orrin had had his way, this little kerfuffle would never have gotten off the ground.
I don't expect it to fly far anyway, but it wouldn't even have flapped its wings.
Posted by: Harry Eagar at March 2, 2005 2:40 PMNo, they should leave if they can't live under a government that will be Shi'a dominated. The old arrangements will have to be scrapped.
Posted by: oj at March 2, 2005 2:46 PMThe reality is that without Syrian firepower and the presence of the so-called 'Palestinians' there is no one group that can call the shots in Lebanon, certainly none with the kind of power the Shia have in Iraq or the Sunni in Syria. They will either have to fight each other or make a deal. For those who think that Lebanese left to themselves with a little help from the West on the basics, either Christian or Muslim, can't make the deals necessary for some kind of peaceful self-governance to function, they should spend some time in any halfway decent sized 3d World port city in Latin America or West Africa. Also, the Lebanese tried fighting and they ended up as helots for Syria.
Frankly, I was with Orrin, and believed that we should have engineered a mass removal of the Maronites from the region and offer them resettlement in the West. I'm glad it seems I'll be proved wrong.
As for Juan Cole, as long as they keep to plastic utensils in the faculty lounge, he'll be OK.
Posted by: Bart at March 2, 2005 2:59 PMCole is a hard core communist. His only tricks are hating the United States and George Bush and ignoring the fscisim of his Arab friends. Everything else follows.
Posted by: Robert Schwartz at March 2, 2005 6:36 PM