Torpedos Over Tripoli

Sheeeeit . . . De Gaulle died, knowing he personally won WWII.

Delusion is big, over there. Real big.

 

It's a no-win. If Gaddafi had taken back Benghazi, arrested and killed 10's of thousands of people, the world would have decried our lack of action.

Now, maybe it wouldn't have been genocide or ethnic cleansing, but I'm not sure how we could have stood by and witnessed it, knowing we could have prevented it.

Sure, there are other hot spots around the world, but there isn't always such an obvious answer. When the subjects of a murderous dictator like Gaddafi rise up and have the chance to remove him from office and our help will make the difference, I think we have to act.

Especially in a case like Gaddafi, where he has no friends in the region and there is no good case for leaving him in office, we should act.

And, if we can help foster democracies in the region, it's in our long term interest. Democracies are unlikely to make war against one another.

The flame of freedom has been lit. Gaddafi, the House of Saud, Assad, and the Mullah's in Iran are trying to extinguish it.

This is a powerful force, and if allowed to flourish could lead to freedom not just in the Middle East but in China, North Korea, and Latin America as well.

These regimes rule through fear. That fear is what is being eroded. People around the globe want freedom and self determination.

Our risk/reward on this operation is low and the potential return on investment is spectacular. It could reshape the entire world.

 

Watching CBS News break into the tournament yesterday during the first attacks, I realized I probably haven't watched live CBS news coverage of anything since, um, ever. I can't be the only one.

 

I've been following a lot of Middle East people on Twitter for information about what's going on.

It's been inspirational in many instances. The reports from the voting in Egypt yesterday were incredible. It was woefully un/under reported in our media.

But, there's also been a lot of anti-Semitism, misogyny, anti-Shia racism, and anti-Christian rhetoric. It can really be startling.

As ugly as it is, there's also been debate and push back against those expressions. It shouldn't be surprising that in countries that rule through fear and through blaming "external forces" that these opinions flourish. They are pushed through state sponsored media and freedom of speech is not tolerated.

Now, arguments against the discrimination of women, gays, Copts, Shia, and others are breaking out. And, as demoralizing as the hate speech is, this talk is exhilarating.

The younger generation wants an end to the hate and to the ginned up conflict that their rulers have thrived on. And, they're changing the minds of their parents as well.

If you support Liberal ideals (and that's classic Liberal ideals with a capital "L") then you should support the freedom and democracy movement that is sweeping the area.

 

Hmm. What network was carrying the NBA playoffs back during the OJ "White Bronco" chase? If it wasn't CBS, then yeah, I don't remember watching CBS either.

 

Interesting that America has had running Libya troubles for roughly the last two hundred years.

Memorialized in song even.

If the L.A. Times article is right, and I suspect it is, Sarkozy wants to be president again. Nothing like the smell of bombing in the morning to get a re-election campaign going.

 

NBC.

 

That was NBC. CBS also got caught back when the Iraq war started, that bumped a bunch of games to ESPN.

 

And Michael Moore weighs in ...

http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2011/03/20/filmmaker-michael-moore-rips-president-obama-libya/?test=faces

Yeah, I know Mike ... It's a real bitch when the liberal horse you backed decides to, you know, act presidential and show some leadership for a change.

 

I think it is fair to say that the criticism of this action does not split on partisan lines. There are many conservative expressions of opposition/unease as well.
Whether or not one supports this action, you would have to be either a stone idiot or have lived on Jupiter from 1991 until yesterday not to have SOME misgivings about another U.S. military action in the Arab world.

 

I am firmly committed to be cynical. The Conservative misgivings about US military action are wholly dependent on Obama being President. If Obama reduced the National Debt to zero and did away with personal income taxation, the right wing of this country would be in favor of huge deficits and crippling taxes

 

You sure you are reading Twitter and not SportsJournalists.com?