Beauty is Imperfection

(Originally posted Friday, June 20, 2008 )

John McCain has recently gone on the attack against Barack Obama, saying his approach to international affairs displays a “pre-Sept. 11” mindset. What exactly constitutes the pre-911 mindset?

–*A mindset in which you did not have to attack any and all neighbors blindly

–*A disposition in which you went after the people who had harmed you rather than dispatching any type of foreigner who fit their description. You know, Sacco and Vanzetti style.

–*A love of Hootie and the Blowfish

–*A mild taste for pesto

–*A belief in the rule of law and the idea that it is only bad guys in the Soviet bloc who torture people

–*A belief that a president’s power should be curbed by either the Constitution or by having criminal Republican mole operatives feeding false information about him to conservative magazines whose readers’ imaginations don’t rise much above the smut level

–*A belief that America should be careful throwing weight around, because even a lightly used bit of American military power usually results in thousands of innocent people dying

–*A belief that health care for every American might be a noble goal to strive for, and that presidents wiretapping your phones might be less than desirable.

–*A belief that large-scale military operations are not perhaps the best answer to terror.

–*A reasonable outlook that says an attack by terrorists is not an act of war but an act of crime since there is no other country involved. Not to mention a reasonable outlook that says those who do call it war are demagogic–appealing only to the emotions of their audiences, who refuse to avail themselves of logic or insight.

–*And the saddest thing about the pre-911 mindset is that all of these are things conservatives used to believe, though I can’t vouch for the Hootie and the Blowfish part.

Do yourself a favor this November. If anybody uses 9-11 to win your vote, regard that person with the same wariness you would a child molester. Their ethics are pretty much the same at this point.