tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11363027.post953199831980488391..comments2024-03-28T16:26:28.642-05:00Comments on driftglass: David Brooks: Conservatism's Red Right Handdriftglasshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09379167083253389153noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11363027.post-79016449697515743852014-12-13T23:34:46.566-06:002014-12-13T23:34:46.566-06:00I know it's baffling to the Brookses. When pe...I know it's baffling to the Brookses. When people are evil, sometimes they're opposed by people on the other side of evil. Partisanship!steevehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12620735494191381865noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11363027.post-87567855893059224272014-12-13T20:54:00.293-06:002014-12-13T20:54:00.293-06:00The most interesting defense of torture that I hav...The most interesting defense of torture that I have seen recently rests on the repeated bizarre non sequitur: First he thumped his chest and bragged about not losing his sh*t over 9/11 like those cowardly liberals, then he blamed the liberals for the Iraq invasion on the grounds that they did not work hard enough to stop Bush if they thought it was such a bad idea, then he whined that if you are OK with invading Iraq and with drone murdering innocent babies you can not turn around and get all pissy about lawful interrogations.<br /><br />Despite everything, I have to marvel at the mind that came up with this chain of assertions. Just like Brooks he has his role in the conservative drama.<br /><br />Regards, HoraceMike Lumishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14083545582415707582noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11363027.post-36872649465889312922014-12-13T20:00:35.971-06:002014-12-13T20:00:35.971-06:00I'm not sure how you can even watch PBS when t...I'm not sure how you can even watch PBS when they bring on Brooks and Shields (and sometimes Ruth Marcus to balance it with a woman's perspective!)<br />PBS News does do some great sidebar stuff, but their whole news organ has been castrated. Whenever this duo appears to tell us peasants what the week's news means (no matter what the subject) I grab my remo and flee to the closest nature or reality show!wagonjakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15955702903050695770noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11363027.post-60117300038587182122014-12-13T19:46:59.941-06:002014-12-13T19:46:59.941-06:00I just want to pause to point out a logical error ...I just want to pause to point out a logical error in that Carlson-Brooks exchange: drones are not an alternative to torture.<br /><br />The Obama administration is not raining down bombs from pilotless aircraft on the people the Bush administration tortured. The Obama administration is trying to figure out ways of getting those people out of detention, except Congress keeps trying to stop them from doing it. <br /><br />The targets of drone attacks are the people the Bush administration tried to kill by other means. Drones are an alternative to killing people with piloted planes or ground troops. (Or not killing them at all, which I would certainly prefer, but I don't think that's what Carlson and Brooks have in mind.)<br /><br />What we instinctively don't like about drones is that they are cowardly, especially in war-romantic cliché belief, because the pilot is at a computer console, perhaps thousands of miles away, and incurs no danger. <br /><br />But the other side is that drones kill fewer people (including pilots) and especially fewer innocent civilians. They are better than conventional killing, in the way the guillotine or lethal injection is better than public hanging. Torture, in contrast, is the absolute worst thing in its category. <br /><br />There's no way in which you could legitimately say drones are "worse than torture" unless you have some scenario in mind where you would be choosing between them.<br /><br />I say no war and no capital punishment is better, and I think nobody should ever be detained for interrogation if they can't be charged with a crime. That would be a lot better than drones and torture. But the tu quoque argument Carlson and Brooks are using is too facile and stupid for words.Yastreblyanskyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08335868257729063363noreply@blogger.com