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from: David Brooks
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Bush's Use of the Word "Evil," and More on the State of the Union

Posted Thursday, Jan. 31, 2002, at 1:07 PM ET

Who are these people?

Note: The first entry was sent last night.

Dear Joe,

I say that any man who is against overheated and inaccurate chest-pounding is a lily-livered coward, an effete, unpatriotic nattering nabob of negativism and probably not very well endowed in the vital bodily organ department.

OK, I'm kidding. But just for the record, as this discussion proceeds, I reserve the right to sink to repulsive demagogic rhetorical ploys. If we hawks couldn't question the patriotism and manhood of those who see the evidence differently than we do, we'd be unilaterally disarming, which is something we hate. (Plus if you're going to raise the Hearstian, war-mongering charge, I need to keep my quiver full.)

On a higher level, if Saddam is effectively deterred from ever using weapons of mass destruction, why on earth is he building them? Why is he forgoing hundreds of billions of dollars in possible oil revenue so he can keep his nuclear and germ warfare programs? One of the reasons I like Bush's use of the word "evil" is that it encapsulates human potentialities undreamed of by rational-choice game theorists. I think Saddam is evil and is capable of self-destructive acts that he thinks will make him appear glorious.

But don't take my word on it. Take first the Bush Cabinet's. The Washington Post series by Dan Balz and Bob Woodward continues to dazzle me. I'd say it should win a Pulitzer, except I don't think very highly of the Pulitzers. From it we have learned that in the early days of the war, the War Cabinet was against immediately targeting Saddam. Paul Wolfowitz was getting on their nerves by repeatedly making the case. But now they have looked at the evidence and concluded that the war will not be complete if Saddam is in power. Finally, if you want a longer treatment of the argument against Saddam, take a look at this piece by my colleagues, Bob Kagan and the aforementioned Kristol.

Another nice thing about the State of the Union speech was the way it contradicted the polls—which indicated that Bush should focus on the economy. But if Bush wasn't speaking softly and carrying a big stick, he was doing something more appropriate for the moment. He was behaving in a Churchillian manner. He was jolting the country out of a creeping illusion of normalcy. He was giving a blood, sweat, and tears booster shot. He was galvanizing the public because in times of conflict, national morale is the resource the nation must depend on. Actually, by the bloodthirsty standards of most war speeches, I thought his speech was restrained.

A few other things. Today's papers confirm the point I made yesterday, that the days of foreign policy consensus are coming to an end. We are about to have a highly charged political fight over the war on terror. It will cut across party lines, with Joe Lieberman Democrats on the hawkish side and libertarian-tinged Republicans on the restraint side. See this New York Times editorial as early fraying.

Also, did you notice this, that the University of California is going to suggest abandoning the SATs? Those morons have it exactly backward. Colleges should abandon the idea that students have to get straight-A grades, or nearly that, to get into top colleges. All we reward with that is mindless drudgery, kids who can regurgitate well before teachers, regardless of whether they have any passion for a subject, sense of creativity, or any drive to say or do something interesting.

You can guess what my high-school grades were like.

Best,
David

the breakfast table
entries
12345678910111213141516
from: David Brooks
to: Joe Klein

Bush's Use of the Word "Evil," and More on the State of the Union

Posted Thursday, Jan. 31, 2002, at 1:07 PM ET
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David Brooks is senior editor of the Weekly Standard and author of Bobos in Paradise. Joe Klein is a staff writer at The New Yorker and the author of The Natural: The Misunderstood Presidency of Bill Clinton.
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Wednesday Notes From the Fray Editor:

The main topic in the Fray is the State of the Union speech. REW-OEM explains here why he was tempted to join the 84% but ended up in the 16%, and asks "Why is it not possible to respect and applaud President Bush's positively spun and well transformed public demeanor, acknowledge his strength and steadfastness in difficult times, and yet still question the will and wisdom of his plans for our future?" More questions: Anita tries to answer Joe Klein's "how do you convince people that a certain selflessness is good for the soul…?" John-Paul Spiro read "bourgeois democratic nations…don't breed poisonous ideological groups" and wants to ask "What do you call Timothy McVeigh?" Why does Peter Lahey feel like a character from Invasion of the Body Snatchers? Click here to find out.


Reader Comments From The Fray:

What Brooks calls idealism could itself be called, and often has been, imperialism or the spread of global capitalism or an arrogant disrespect for the sovereignty of other nations. To define the "spreading" of any cultural force or view (democracy, capitalism, or hmmm say Christianity) by force as "idealistic" seems on the face of it absurdly ethnocentric and arrogant. One must, like Hegel, be willing to assert that one's culture represents the historical pinnacle and telos of human endeavor--in which case, every other country, including Great Britain (with their nasty socialist ways!) would have to be invaded and made to conform to the US Constitution in the name of American idealism. To suggest, as Brooks does, that bourgeois democracy represents the best that can be aspired to--well, that's a dim thought, made no brighter by being pasted with the shiny label of "idealism."

--J

(To find or answer this post, click here .)

Monday Notes From The Fray Editor:

Always check your quotations or the Fray will get you. All together now: "I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness." (We'll miss out the "starving hysterical naked" bit.) Other phrases that caught readers attention were "by any means necessary" (in regard to questioning suspects) and "congenital DNA" (What other kind is there, asked one poster.) Urquhart says Klein "gets points for use of the word 'dudgeon,' which I've never seen outside of a Wodehouse novel." And there are plenty of discussions on Enron and the economy.


Reader Comments From The Fray:


Klein thinks we should be "interrogating the hell out of them by any means necessary." Does this include torture? I'd like to hear his opinion. And his reference to the nine families who lost loved ones is weak. Yes, we should remember the damage done by the terrorists. But that doesn't mean that every policy argument needs to have the approval of the relatives of the victims.

--Leonard

(To find or answer this post, click here.)


It seems to me the public's indifference about the extent of Enron's dealings with the Bush administration says more about the public than it does about our need to know. I doubt Cheney would risk the potential political damage of a court dispute if he didn't think the contents of his meeting notes were potentially more explosive. If Cheney's right, and this is just Dem hype, then prove us wrong and release the documents. Enron shareholders got screwed, in part, by a lack of corporate transparency. Cheney's claim that disclosing these documents could impair future leaders' ability to consult with corporation without fear of public scrutiny is, at best, disingenuous, at worst, more of the same opaqueness that got us in this mess.

--John Rogers

(To find or answer this post, click here.)


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