by hilzoy
John McCain:
"In the 21st century, nations don't invade other nations."
I'm sure the Iraqis will be so relieved to learn that it has all been a bad, bad dream.
« This is a Parting, Some Separation | Main | Losing His Base »
The comments to this entry are closed.
I think you got this one wrong, hilzoy.
You see, when McCain said "nations" he obviously was excluding the U.S. because the U.S. is not a nation but really a collection of independent states in a federalist system that have agreed to act together on certain matters under a binding contract called the "Constitution" that sets forth the obligations of the parties and the mechanisms and entities, called "legislative" "executive" and "judicial", that will carry out the purposes of the contract; any of the states are free to terminate their participation in the contract at anytime so long as doing so doesn't violate the contract's terms, which was why we had the civil war.
So, you see, you are completely wrong.
Posted by: Ugh | August 13, 2008 at 05:19 PM
mmm. smell that Exceptionalism!
Posted by: cleek | August 13, 2008 at 05:25 PM
You forgot the Cheney branch.
Posted by: KCinDC | August 13, 2008 at 05:30 PM
Two (non-mutually-exclusive (no, really!)) points:
1) America didn't invade Iraq, it liberated it.
2) It was all a dream!
Posted by: Nombrilisme Vide | August 13, 2008 at 05:31 PM
Yeah, you can't really count Iraq because our troops were greeted as "conquering heroes" once there.
Posted by: Mrs. Holden McGroyen | August 13, 2008 at 05:57 PM
The 21st Century began sometime in 2004, or places north, south, east and west.
Posted by: ThatLeftTurnInABQ | August 13, 2008 at 06:03 PM
And he would have to say it in a week when neither Have I Got News For You or Bremner, Bird, and Fortune are on.
Damnit.
Posted by: Jesurgislac | August 13, 2008 at 06:12 PM
FWIW, initially, Russia's move into Georgia had more legitimacy than our move into Iraq. Of course, then they had to go and overreach which blew it all to hell. And of course, it would never have been presented accurately anyway.
Posted by: john miller | August 13, 2008 at 06:14 PM
Maybe I missed something, but didn't the US also invade Afghanistan? It was provoked, certainly, and few people argue we weren't defending ourselves, sure, but that only further complicates McCain's statement.
Posted by: Adolphus | August 13, 2008 at 06:22 PM
Only empires do.
Posted by: Michael Drake | August 13, 2008 at 07:10 PM
Iraq wasn't a nation. It was a cesspool of terra'rists.
Posted by: Ara | August 13, 2008 at 07:18 PM
McCain isn't an imperialist and exceptionalist, he's just a deconstructionist practicing absurdist performance art while pretending to be a senator. Words mean whatever he decides they mean, and those meanings shift, because like all great artists he toys with audience expectations. After all, it wasn't long ago he claimed he didn't say "timetable" and then re-invented what "timetable" meant in the context of that discussion. And who can forget his masterful re-working of what "surge" meant? If you enjoyed this routine, wait 'til you hear his set for Minnesota! I hear it's a killer!
Posted by: Batocchio | August 13, 2008 at 08:54 PM
I hear it's a killer!
i hear it's an Andy Kauffman rip-off: he stands in front of a screen showing a Reagan speech, miming the applause lines but otherwise standing stock-still.
Posted by: cleek | August 13, 2008 at 09:05 PM
McCain in the WSJ today:
For anyone who thought that stark international aggression was a thing of the past, the last week must have come as a startling wake-up call.
The man is a moron.
He also calls again for admitting Georgia and the Ukraine into NATO, and tells me I'm a Georgian.
Posted by: Ugh | August 14, 2008 at 09:16 AM
I've argued with people who objected to using the word "invasion" to describe the deployment of troops to Iraq. This was back in early 2003 or thereabouts, when military engagement seemed imminent but not inevitable, so there was a lot of effort on both sides of the debate to frame it in terms favoring their side. So when a dove described Bush's plans as "unprovoked aggression", the hawk's response was that it was in fact merely the continuation, after a lengthy truce, of hostilities started by the invasion of Kuwait in 1990. And, well, sometimes this line of argument got overapplied, used as objection to any terms with negative connotations, even those (such as "invasion") that were technically accurate.
My response at the time was to point out that no one objects to the phrase "the allied invasion of Normandy in WWII".
Posted by: baf | August 14, 2008 at 01:30 PM
"Why of course the people don't want war. Why should some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece? Naturally the common people don't want war: neither in Russia, nor in England, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country."
- Hermann Goerring
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind. And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry. Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded by patriotism, will offer up all of their rights unto the leader and gladly so. How do I know? For this is what I have done. And I am Caesar."
- Julius Caesar
Posted by: jon, Huntsville, AL | August 18, 2008 at 03:02 PM
"Julius Caesar"
You're very gullible and don't know how to fact-check.
It's Hermann Göring, by the way, not "Hermann Goerring."
But I'd like to correspond with you. Greeting in the name of the lord.I am delighted to write this letter to you hoping that you will understand my predicament and
respond. I am Dr (Mrs.) Mariam Abacha, wife of the late Nigerian head of state, General Sani Abacha. I am in possession of US$50.5 Million, which I want to invest in your country. For clarification purpose, this money, enclosed in three boxes; is deposited with a security company disguised as a family treasure. It is not an ill-gotten wealth rather; it was generated from my organization - family support program (F.S.P.)
Write me!
Posted by: Gary Farber | August 18, 2008 at 03:14 PM