Comments Posted By r4d20
Displaying 41 To 50 Of 53 Comments
I credit you for writing that letter.
Sadly, too many claim that "She doesn't represent conservatives" while waiting in line to get her signature.
Comment Posted By r4d20 On 3.03.2007 @ 23:52
CPAC REVEALS CONSERVATIVE FRACTURES
I'm also tired of seeing so-called "conservatives" copy their tactics directly from the playbook of the "lefties" they claim to oppose.
A small, but recent, example: The concept of an enlightened political "vanguard" is as anti-conservative as you can get, and was an integral part of the political philosophy of Lenin that led directly to the mass executions under Soviet rule. Yet what is the name of the "rightwing answer to MoveOn.org"? Vanguard.org!
Sorry guys. The "vanguard" mentality, with it's inherent rationalization for both ignoring & crushing all dissent, was more responsible for the horrors of the communist regimes than their economic ideas. Sure, their economic ideas were dumb, but it was the belief that the naysayers could, and should, be liquidated that led to the camps and firing squads.
Sadly, too many idiots have let themselves be impressed by the temporary success of the vanguard ideal and have fooled themselves into thinking that they can harness it without giving in to the temptations it brings. They are wrong and they prove it more and more each day.
Comment Posted By r4d20 On 2.03.2007 @ 17:36
I stopped calling myself a conservative around 2003-2004 because of the reaction I got from other "conservatives" to any criticism of the presidents policies - or even to criticism of the ridiculous 24-Cult that elevates a fictional creation of Hollywood writers into a model of counter-terrorist wisdom.
Rick said it well "I am what I am and I believe what I believe" and I wont sellout my principles just to stay on some "team". To paraphrase Tacitus "I am ruled by my party only insofar as I will ever let myself be ruled", which is to say, hardly at all.
Comment Posted By r4d20 On 2.03.2007 @ 17:05
24 completely sucks.
Comment Posted By r4d20 On 7.02.2007 @ 13:36
GOLDBERG ON TORTURE: SOPHISTRY ON A STICK
Goldberg’s arguments go off the rails when he raises the specter of the fictionalized torture portrayed by TV heroes.
THANK YOU.
TV and Movies are not real and anyone who references them cannot be taken seriously.
Comment Posted By r4d20 On 1.10.2006 @ 15:30
US OUT OF THE UN! (YOU'RE KIDDING, RIGHT?)
Andy,
I agree completely. Our current ability to accurately bomb a target far exceeds our ability to find targets to bomb.Check out
Crack in the Foundation for a good argument that we are getting ahead of ourselves.It is further assumed that information superiority will permit “dominant battlespace knowledge†or “the comprehensive awareness of all the decision-relevant elements within a defined battlespace, and the ability to predict, with a very high degree of confidence, near term enemy actions and combat outcomes.â€
When objections are raised to this VERY optimistic assesment, the reply from hardcore advocates of NCW is akin to "future technological advances will make it a reality" and that we should begin to plan for that reality now. The result is that new officers are being trained to operate under this assumption (which can be made to hold true in wargames and excerises) and it is already morphing from the status of an ideal vision of the future into a vision of a current reality.
Comment Posted By r4d20 On 27.08.2006 @ 01:31
Of course, we no longer live in an age where "strength" can be measured purely in terms of firepower and the ability to destroy an enemy on the battlefield, but even in that area the public perception of our abilities seems to be much more optimistic than it should be. I recommend
AFGHANISTAN AND THE FUTURE
OF WARFARE: IMPLICATIONS FOR ARMY
AND DEFENSE POLICY"At Operation ANACONDA in March 2002,an intensive pre-battle reconnaissance effort focused every available surveillance and target acquisition system on a tiny, ten-by-ten kilometer battlefield. Yet fewer than 50 percent of all the al Qaeda positions ultimately identified in the course of the fighting on this battlefield were discovered prior to ground contact. In fact,most fire received by U.S. forces in ANACONDA came from initially unseen, unanticipated al Qaeda fighting positions. How could such things happen in an era of persistent reconnaissance drones,airborne radars,satellite surveillance,thermal imaging,and hypersensitive electronic eavesdropping equipment? The answer is that the earth’s surface remains an extremely complex environment with an abundance of natural and manmade cover and concealment available for those militaries capable of exploiting it."
After 5 years, and even more fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, our enemies have an even better understanding of how to exploit the vulnerabilties of our "light ground forces supported by precision weapons" approach.
Comment Posted By r4d20 On 27.08.2006 @ 00:13
Well, it’s time for them to grow up and realize that it’s all a fairy story, and that they don’t have the power to affect the world situation other than by fixing their own screwed up countries.
Sadly this is the response I have come to expect from people with overinflated notions of what the US has the power to achieve on its own.
In fact, the most likely reaction to such a proclimation would be an increase in their willingness to work together against us - only fools think that there isn't a whole lot more room for it to get worse than it is already - and while we may be stronger than all of them individually we are NOT stronger than all of them put together.
Unfortunatly, that seems to be what is going to happen. Our mouths are going to write a check that our asses are going to balk at cashing once the true cost is known.
But, whatever, it all falls on deaf ears anyways. Its like Thucydides said (quoted, but obviously not understood, by Dan Simmons) - "So thoroughly had the present prosperity persuaded the Athenians that nothing could withstand them, and that they could achieve what was possible and what was impracticable alike, with means ample or inadequate it mattered not. The reason for this was their general extraordinary success, which made them confuse their strengths with their hopes.â€
But, what the hell, this is all going to fall on deaf ears anyway. You want to believe and so you will believe, and you wont stop believing until its too damn late. God help this Country.
Comment Posted By r4d20 On 26.08.2006 @ 23:35
And what’s with this “My ball†business?
Sorry - I thought it would be understood. I do tend to play a bit fast and loose with metaphors.
"Its my ball and I dont want to play anymore" refers to the phenomena whereby a child will get so pissed at being on the losing side (say a game of basketball) that he will take his ball and leave the game, thereby ending the game and forcing the other kids to either give up or find a new ball and start a new game - either way its a pain in the ass and makes them like the person even LESS than they already did. Put simply, its a metaphor for the attitude "If I dont get what I want, I will ruin it for everyone else too".
Right now the UN is the only avenue which many countries have to effect the world. US cooperation allows them to at least feel like they have some influence, an illusion that is actually quite useful to us. If we pull out, not only will our enemies now have uncontested control over the instituion that, like it or not, defines "international legitimacy" (who will veto all those "Zionism = Racism" resolutions then?), it will be a sign of disrespect to every other country, including our current allies, that feel the UN is their only avenue to effect the world situation. We are big, but not big enough that we can disrespect every other country and still expect to get our way through force alone.
YEs, Iran is a problem and we should be preparing to deal with it, but there is no good reason why we can't do both (talk and prepare for the worst) at the same time.
Comment Posted By r4d20 On 26.08.2006 @ 19:23
If Iran can pretend to talk while arming itself for war, can't we be smart enough to do the same thing?
Comment Posted By r4d20 On 26.08.2006 @ 16:00
