I couldn’t help noticing, when we sat down to talk in the dilapidated storefront that houses his Springfield campaign headquarters, that the blue-pen drawing he’d doodled on his newspaper during fundraising calls was a portrait of himself.
Amazing, but even more so is the denial of many of his dwindling supporters about it.
This comes down to national responsibility. Apparently, you don’t believe in it. The resistance didn’t cause the harm, but as victors, they should take on the responsibilities of the whole country.
Parasitic? Let me get this straight: Someone steals your wedding ring, and if you want it back, you’re the parasite? I doubt you believe this, so it just comes down to whether “someone” can be considered a whole country and whether a country’s responsibilities can be wiped away by a civil war.
Are you aware the US Department of Defense offers monetary payment to the families of civilians killed by in Afghanistan and Iraq?
(And this is a non-partisan policy, followed recently under Bush and Obama.) See “Solatium”.
Parasitic? Let me get this straight: Someone steals your wedding ring, and if you want it back, you’re the parasite? I doubt you believe this, so it just comes down to whether “someone” can be considered a whole country and whether a country’s responsibilities can be wiped away by a civil war.
Yes, because you want your “wedding ring” back from a party who didn’t take it. Also because you speak of “need”. In the example above, the wedding ring would not have been needed.
Are you aware the US Department of Defense offers monetary payment to the families of civilians killed by in Afghanistan and Iraq?
Not the same because the DoD is a party partly responsible for the harm caused and has a strategic interest in soothing tempers over its actions. Now, if the US government were overthrown in a bloody civil war in part because of harm it had caused in these countries and the US were to subsequently withdraw, then I wouldn’t expect the replacement government to continue such payments.
About responsibility: *You* didn’t personally cause innocent civilians in Afghanistan & Iraq to be killed, but your tax dollars are paying reparations. Why should your tax dollars be used in this way? My answer is that you should take responsibility for what your country did.
We are responsible for our country in the same way that I am responsible for my daughter. She is my responsibility in the sense that I don’t leave her unattended while she is an infant, and I’ll be responsible for her, in the sense if she vandalizes someone’s home when she is 13, I’ll apologize to the owner, compensate them, and then deal with my daughter separately.) I could whine. I could say “But it’s not fair! I didn’t do it! She’s out of control!” But that would be wrong. It is my job to raise her right, look for warning signs that bad behavior may be coming, get her the love and help she needs in time, etc. But whether I am capable of doing that or not, she is still my responsibility.
If a madman takes over the United States and attacks another country, once we regain control, we should be responsible for the damage. Maybe we could have been more careful about keeping the keys to the country away from madmen. Maybe we’re too stupid figure out how to do that. Either way, it doesn’t matter, it is still our responsibility.
Bobs world view: America as a perpetually irresponsible juvenile. For that to work the majority of her people need continual reeducation of history. And there will always be some of us fighting that. Good luck anyway.
Curt, what exactly are you fighting? Conservatives don’t want government to be a nanny. Why is treating it as a juvenile a bad idea?
Curt, do you think we should pay the families of innocent people we kill in Iraq and Afghanistan? Do you think Willy Brandt, a member of the resistance, should have apologized for his country in his role as Chancellor?
(I’m kidding – it should neither be a nanny or a child. I talked about my daughter as a helpless infant and as an unruly teenager only to demonstrate that responsibility has at least two aspects.)
But I’d be interested in your view on reparations by the DOD and your view on Willy Brandt’s apology.
If a madman takes over the United States and attacks another country, once we regain control, we should be responsible for the damage. Maybe we could have been more careful about keeping the keys to the country away from madmen. Maybe we’re too stupid figure out how to do that. Either way, it doesn’t matter, it is still our responsibility.
Why? If a madman takes over and I help depose him at considerable risk to myself and those I love, then that is the execution of my responsibility. What future obligation exists?