Point, Counter-Point on Iraq Reconstruction (and more)

First the serious with some excellent points though certainly with a caustic, anti-Bush slant -- then the caustic points with an excellent slant ;/

And of course, as I pointed out in a previous post, we have been here before. If you would have asked Roosevelt before the war what the plan was for reconstructing Europe you would have gotten either an acid stare or a raucous laugh.

For a while now, I have been less than impressed with the CPA (Coalition Provisional Authority for Iraq) -- I think it probably is the "C" team to a large extent. We have become a soft and complacent nation -- our best people are rewarded very well to take cushy positions. Why risk your life and possibly not seeing your kids for a long time -- or ever -- when you can assign the "new hires" to work on it? (I don't mean to disparage the many fine individuals who are risking all to go over there.)

And make no mistake, our entire system operates on an exquisitely fine balance to deliver the standard of living we have. We could move Iraq along much faster if we raided a large number of the best minds in the country to do it. But then we'd be talking about sacrifice and public service and actual bravery.

We'd build a Peace Corps that had both compassion and smarts -- and guts and muscle when it became clear they were taking undeserved crap. But then we'd need the best of both ends of the political spectrum to actually compromise and work with each other -- and contribute some of their best people.

For instance, the left would have to say to the right: OK, if you give us legal rights for gay marriage then we'll stop trying to destroy traditional families and we'll help you go after the NAMBLA people like they were the KKK reincarnated.

And the right would have to say to the left: OK, if you stop the nonsense with attacking capitalism by pandering to envy, then we'll make sure that corrupt rich folks get mandatory minimums measured in decades -- and not in "nice" prisons either.

And the left would have to say to the right: OK, if you slow down the focus on techno-war, we'll stop eviscerating any possibility of building up a competent "human intelligence" capability by harping on unrealistic "human rights concerns".

And the right would have to say to the left: OK, if you admit to the brutal ignorance and anti-semitism that infests the Middle East, we'll work with you to choke off all the tyrannies there as well as the retirement gravy trains they bribe our government officials with. Maybe even make government work pay enough that corruption wasn't a constant temptation.

You should get the idea by now...

Sadly, I doubt this will happen until something really nasty happens -- and believe me, since 911 hasn't done it, it's going to be bad.

Oh yeah, see my previous post about why the Euros are very, very far from our "betters" on this topic either...

More in the future about how our "first past the post" political system has helped get us in this uncompromising mess...