Remember scientist David Kelley? Earlier this year the BBC published major stories saying that "anonymous sources" within the government said that Tony Blair and his people were "sexing up" reports of Iraqi WMD capabilities. It turned out that this guy was the only source of that allegation, and wasn't even an expert in all the areas that were being examined by the government. Apparently humiliated when his name became public, he killed himself, and now some on the loony left suggest he was killed for speaking out.
Anyway, it turns out now that he fully believed Saddam was a serious threat that had to be dealt with. Even if he didn't believe the war was the right way to do it.
This is being published in some of Britain's best-known left-wing papers, too.
Yes. Well. So the single person who was "anonymous sources" who wasn't even an expert on most of the issues examined nevertheless thought there was a real threat. So naturally, everything from the Blair and Bush governments was a thin tissue of lies, because... well, just because, I guess.
Well, we all know the case for the liberation of Iraq was air-tight (there was no case for war in Iraq - because Iraq was a mere campaign in the War on Terrorism - and we know there is no need to make a case for that war); it stands to reason that each and every assertion of the so-called "anti-war" movement will be proven wrong as time goes on (heck, most of what they say is proven wrong within minutes of it being printed/broadcast anyways).
Well, we all know the case for the liberation of Iraq was air-tight
It's lines like this that offer air tight proof that critical thinking skills in this country are in serious decline.
I think Mark used plenty of critical thinking skills in that he found a way to avoid a long and tedious re-hashing of the arguments in favor of war by clearly stating his position. Afterall, do you REALLY want him to post pages and pages of discussion about whether or not the case could be made justifying the war in Iraq? That would be a bit redundant at this point.
Personally, I think its a bit tacky (not to mention ineffective) to interject personal attacks into a discussion. People rarely react well to the suggestion that they lack critical thinking skills, i.e that they are stupid. In addition, such comments reflect poorly on the speaker. I don't know Rick Dement, and I know very little about Mark. What was my initial reaction? Certainly not that Mark is stupid, but rather ... Yet, perhaps that is an inaccurate image of Rick as well. Does he really mean to suggest that the appropriate response to someone is "well, you're just stupid and wrong"? Probably not. I suspect he's just a busy man that is tired of arguing his position that the war against Iraq is not a good thing. Perhaps he's even a little bitter that, in general, most people don't seem to agree with him. Perhaps he had an exhausting long weekend doing home-repairs. Perhaps he didn't sleep well. Perhaps he's out of coffee. Perhaps he has an evil neighbor also named "Mark" and is free-associating negative images with the name.
Still, all things considered, it isn't nice to make me read insulting things about Mark that in no way contribute to the thread of the discussion. I don't like starting my day by hoping that Mark didn't take it personally because then he might curtail his writing, and I often enjoy his comments.
Allison,
No harm done - we of the conservative ideology have been called stupid for a couple centuries now and it makes no matter. We've really, really been called stupid ever since Reagan came along...during which time we've won the White House four out of six times and went from a permanent minority in Congress to what seems to be building up to a very long-term majority in same. Not bad for a bunch of people who can't think.
Of course, opponents always like to say things like that - they are so self-absorbed that they cannot imagine anyone else being as smart as they are and not agreeing totally with them. Its all ok, because as long as they think we're stupid, we'll keep rolling up the victory.
Rick,
By the way, President Bush is the stupidest man to ever be elected President...be sure to keep telling all your friends that, will ya?
Thank you, Dean, for putting that Color Me Badd song in my head for the rest of the week.
"I wanna sex you up! Ooo-woo-woo-woo-woo..."
D