good post from the sometimes infuriating chris roach, comparing kerry's current promise to make america "respected abroad" again to bush's 2000 promise to set a new tone in washington:

"The problem in both cases is that the acrimony and resistance do not stem from individual personalities but rather from structural factors. Democrats and Republicans want to pursue different policies; there is not some "right" or pragamtic policy that both sides are ignoring out of partisan reasons. This is why they disagree and do not cooperate. Likewise, Germany and France oppose the U.S. on Iraq because they perceive it to be in their interest; they have neither the forces nor the political will to send troops to help the U.S., regardless of how many passages of Malraux Kerry can quote at dinner parties."

he's right of course. deeply entrenched disagreements usually come about from clashes of interest (or perceived interest). people generally don't go out of their way just to be mean; if they're working hard to thwart your aims, it's probably because they disagree with your aims or don't find them in their interest. i often think of this when people start railing about media bias or corporate oppression; they're businesses and they go where the money is. if it were in their financial interest to agree with whatever your position is, you can bet they'd be shouting it from the rooftops. ascribing it all to personal preference or shadowy evil is just silly.

August 30, 2004 03:36 PM
Categories: politics
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