tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163441833245663827.post5918613208454366164..comments2024-03-28T10:49:14.510-05:00Comments on Horizons: President Obama's process for making the tough callsNancy LeTourneauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12614317154146836694noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163441833245663827.post-73066264936900574842012-09-16T11:44:20.925-05:002012-09-16T11:44:20.925-05:00I'm not sure I see a big difference between th...<i>I'm not sure I see a big difference between this sort of blindered consideration and the moral/mental gymnastics on display at any of a number of right wing media outlets.</i><br /><br />I totally agree. On the one hand, I despair at the lack of critical thinking that goes into those kinds of arguments. On the other hand, its a vivd reminder to me that I am probably prone to do the same. <br /><br />Over the last few weeks I've been hanging out in the comment threads of Greenwald's new gig at the Guardian trying to see what I can learn via an attempt to engage his followers. That awareness of our own potential for blind spots is my big takeaway. They are so quick to see it in others and completely blind to their own. Its a cautionary tale to me. I suspect we're all vulnerable to doing the same. Nancy LeTourneauhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12614317154146836694noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163441833245663827.post-5944499002343406202012-09-16T10:22:26.924-05:002012-09-16T10:22:26.924-05:00Besides the analyses which are more critical of Le...Besides the analyses which are more critical of Lewis and/or cynical regarding the piece, I'm also seeing, on Booman's site and others, a prevailing blithe dismissal of the Administration's intelligence on the potential for a massacre at Benghazi.<br /><br />The dismissive attitude itself isn't surprising coming from commentors who believe they see each political situation more accurately and astutely than PBO. But I think this bothers me more than it possibly should, because I see a sort of sneering disdain for the moral argument to prevent a genocide from the *same people* who bring exclusively moral objections to the use of drone attacks against al Qaeda principal actors.<br /><br />When they casually discard as "hype" the expectation of 'tens-to-hundreds-of-thousands' of potential victims of Gadhaffi's expressed motivation to collectively punish the rebellion at Benghazi, they also preempt *that* moral imperative as an allowable factor in Obama's decision tree, allowing them to magnify their own preferred high minded general objections to the exercise of American military power. I'm not sure I see a big difference between this sort of blindered consideration and the moral/mental gymnastics on display at any of a number of right wing media outlets.Botelhohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00298073777653875458noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163441833245663827.post-73661233552582864782012-09-16T09:46:29.813-05:002012-09-16T09:46:29.813-05:00Well you're going to have to get better at sim...Well you're going to have to get better at simply stopping in to say "howdy" if nothing else. I WAS beginning to wonder where you'd gotten off to.<br /><br />I read Booman about this - as well as the 2 posts he linked to. Sometimes I think that cynicism too often comes in the DNA of liberals. So much so that when someone writes something about a leader, if it doesn't include at least a nod to tearing them down a bit - it must be "fluff."<br /><br />For example, everything from how Obama runs a meeting like this to how and with whom he chooses to play basketball tells us something about the kind of man he is. Some people would look at those things and call them weaknesses. That Lewis talks about them positively is written off by the very people who value them as fluff. Fascinating!Nancy LeTourneauhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12614317154146836694noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7163441833245663827.post-39385917776891553352012-09-16T09:33:39.847-05:002012-09-16T09:33:39.847-05:00Mo'nin, Ms. Pants
Yes, I'm still here. J...Mo'nin, Ms. Pants<br /><br />Yes, I'm still here. Just been lurking but haven't missed any of your pieces and, often, read any of them multiple times. So it was with this one. <br /><br />Looks like I'm gonna have to read all of Mr. Lewis' piece. It's interesting, from the blog perspective, how Mr. Lewis' piece is being digested. Just for example, you speak to how Lewis goes into detail re: how PBO makes decisions (which, if we've been listening, we have heard before and any number of people say the same thing). Booman, while recommending it be read, defines this as a "fluff piece" and any number of his commentariat seem to think the same. <br /><br />Always good to get a variety of perspectives.Blackmannoreply@blogger.com