Two nights in a row I am bested by Mr. Marshall. I was going to post something almost identical to his earlier today but my four year-old son was absolutely intent on nothing of the sort happening.
This line: . . . Enshrining the neurotic nonsense that negotiation equals appeasement" is a great quote that I would not have come up with on my own. And it goes to the heart of much of what the Bush administration has done wrong in so many instances. They go to ridiculous lengths to avoid any kind of treaty commitments of any sort. I bet most of you didn't know that the Bush administration pulled out of the Vienna Treaty of 1969 a few months ago. I'll post more on that later to tell you why it is important. But trust me, it is a huge deal.
This kind of screw up is deadly in international affairs. And I mean deadly. You never, ever, never, ever make a threat and not keep it in international affairs. It destroys that elusive quality that Liberals love to deride and Conservatives love to talk up: credibility.
What I find most humorous is that the Bush administration has always prided itself on being more tough-minded than the Clinton administration but have now backed away from one of Clinton's toughest policy stances. (And do not try to spin this by saying Clinton made a promise everyone knew he'd never keep--that's tripe of the worst kind and you know it.) Incidentally, it was a policy partly crafted by Colin Powell. Yup, that's right. He who said, "we'll turn you into charcaol briquet" if you use nuclear weapons." The irony here would be laughable if this weren't such a serious crisis.
So now we are basically pursuing a policy that is weaker than Bill Clinton's. How many conservatives are going to apologize for this about face? Or will they spin?
Since when did the truth become tripe?
Clinton could and would say anything and not care if he was going to follow through.
If and when Bush says something you can bet he is serious.
