Progress In Iraq Continues...

[MMMMMM]

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The only other thing I would say to the original post is that it is interesting that the propaganda machine "analysts" spend more energy in attacking (what they call) the Left rather than actually analyzing or even conjecturing what the actual impact of the recent events is likely to be.

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Well isn't it obvious that the impact of recent events is a plus for the Iraqi people and a negative for the terrorists?

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Forgetting, in this instance, that the war is opposed by people across the spectrum, and at this time supported by mostly those who wish to parrot the Republican line.

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The Left almost ALWAYS takes a disparaging tone about any good news or improvements. One even might go so far as to say that the Left's perpetual stance is commiserating in a rain storm while sharing an umbrella;-)

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Unfortunately, 6M frequently trots out these apologists writing as "analysts" from frontpage, worlddailynet, etc.

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Because they're more often correct than the more "sophisticated" liberal elite. It's quite odd, really. I think it has something to do with the fact that many otherwise intelligent people believe in things that "seem right" in theory--such as communism, postmodernism, multiculturalism--but just don't work in the real world.

You'd think that the most educated people would typically be the best at making general political assessments; but peversely, the opposite actually seems to be true. The simpler and plainer the view, the more likely it is to be correct, generally speaking; whereas the more "sophisticated" the view, the more detached from reality it often is--especially in the realms of politics and social matters, and international affairs. In my opinion a midwestern dairy farmer is more likely to hold a realistic political view than is a professor of political science on one of the coasts.

[Exsubmariner]

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But if we listen to our government, we hear only those for whom success in Iraq would confirm their world views and preconceived opinions. Many in the Bush administration, as you know, had long called for regime change in Iraq, well before 9/11. So to admit to any problems or difficulties would be to shake their world views and preconceived notions.


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You said it there.

Honestly, Andy, do you really expect Ceaser to admit Ceaser may have been wrong?

X

[andyfox]

"do you really expect Ceaser to admit Ceaser may have been wrong?"

No, of course not. A politician's whole livelihood depends on him never admitting being wrong.

MMMMMM said that for critics of the administration to acknowledge any good happening in Iraq would be to question their world view and preconceived notions. But surely the administration has more at stake. And the evidence shows that their world view and preconceived notions on Iraq were on record long before 9/11, long before the war on terrorism. The administration will put the best face on everything. It's up to those outside of officialdom to point up the counter-arguments.

[andyfox]

"The simpler and plainer the [political] view, the more likely it is to be correct, generally speaking."

I disagree. My sense is that the simple and plain political views, occasioned as they are by patriotism, superficial knowledge of facts from the mainstream media, love of country, willingness to assume one's government is usually right, and even when not right, wrong for the right reasons, are usually wrong. Political common knowledge and political common sense are rarely knowledgable or sensible.

[MMMMMM]

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MMMMMM said that for critics of the administration to acknowledge any good happening in Iraq would be to question their world view and preconceived notions.

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Not quite. I didn't refer to critics of the administration but rather to most leftists. I also parceled the fight against terrorists in there too.

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The administration will put the best face on everything. It's up to those outside of officialdom to point up the counter-arguments.

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What should be up to those outside of officialdom is to analyze in the most accurate manner possible. That means analyzing developments based on their own merits, not analyzing through a lens of pro or con administration.

[MMMMMM]

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"The simpler and plainer the [political] view, the more likely it is to be correct, generally speaking."

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I disagree. My sense is that the simple and plain political views, occasioned as they are by patriotism, superficial knowledge of facts from the mainstream media, love of country, willingness to assume one's government is usually right, and even when not right, wrong for the right reasons, are usually wrong. Political common knowledge and political common sense are rarely knowledgable or sensible.

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Interesting that you appear to view all those things as the chief representative components of common views. I don't.

Simplicity (as opposed to simplemindedness) is generally a virtue, not a curse. Plainness, too, is generally more true and attractive than are fancy gewgaws of dress, speech--or thought.

[andyfox]

Andy: The administration will put the best face on everything. It's up to those outside of officialdom to point up the counter-arguments.

MMMMMM: What should be up to those outside of officialdom is to analyze in the most accurate manner possible. That means analyzing developments based on their own merits, not analyzing through a lens of pro or con administration.

Putting the best face on everything means analyzing things in one of the least accurate manner possible. I know you don't agree with everything in the article you cited, but certainly it doesn't meet the criterion you have set for analysis. So why cite it under the title "Progress in Iraq continues"?

[andyfox]

What would be an example of a simple and plain political view?

[MMMMMM]

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I know you don't agree with everything in the article you cited, but certainly it doesn't meet the criterion you have set for analysis. So why cite it under the title "Progress in Iraq continues"?

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Because progress in Iraq IS continuing? And because the article describes some specific examples?

Or is that somehow too "simple" for you, Andy;-)?

[MMMMMM]

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What would be an example of a simple and plain political view?


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That everyone should mind their own damn business.