My Pledges and Promises to the President

Now that President Obama is sworn in, how should conservatives act? I have posted about this previously. I obviously think that we need to be adult about it. By the same token, we should not roll over and die.

Someone named Andy Levy, who I admit I never heard of before, set forth a list of "Don'ts" for conservatives in the Age of Obama that should be required reading for all on the right.

And after looking at the celebrity pledge*, I decide I too would make a list of pledges to President Obama.

• I pledge I will be adult and principled. If you propose something I can agree with, I will support it. If you propose something I disagree with, I will oppose it but based on principles, not narrow partisanship.
  
  
• I pledge that I will ignore every silly conspiracy theory regarding you (including but not limited to, theories that you were born in Kenya, that Malcom X was your father (yes, someone is actually claiming that), that you are a secret Muslim, and any other crazy theory that ends up in my e-mail in box).
  
  
• I pledge that I will not engage in "assassination porn."
  
  
• When you prepare to send troops in harm's way,** I pledge I will look at the evidence with dispassion.
  
  
• If Congress approves sending troops into harms way based on "conventional wisdom", even if I opposed it, I pledge I will not accuse you of lying.
  
  
• If you send troops into harms way, even if I opposed it, I pledge I will support victory. I know that the quickest way to get the troops home is through winning. I also believe that once American arms have been engaged, places where we were successful*** are generally better off than places where we were not.****
  
  
• On the off chance that you and I ever meet, I pledge that I will be respectful, even though I may ask you a question that you find "hard." Please note that I am not being disrespectful, I just have a question.
  

In short, I promise not to act for the next 4-8 years like those on the unhinged left acted for the past 8. I also promise to chasten those on the right who act unhinged.

I also promise not to be your servant. You are mine. I promise not to make you forget that.

I also promise to pray for you.


* Some friends and my wife objected to my description of the video as creepy. If you watch it without feeling the same way, no matter your politics, you have a stronger stomach than I do.

** And you will. The last president not to send troops into harm's way was, I believe, Herbert Hoover, but even he inherited a few occupations.

*** For example, Western Europe, the Philippines, Japan, South Korea, Grenada, Panama, the Balkans.

**** For example, Vietnam, Cambodia, Lebanon.

This guy is usually right

And I would be remiss if I did not give a shout out to commentor Bill Barker, who started (finally) his own blog Usually Right.

Good luck Bill!

Strange Comments

I have gotten two strange comments over the past few days (no Rodak and Bill, it was not you). The first was a comment from an Indian blogger (which I have kept on). The second, was in Chinese in response to my post on SVU's increasing preachiness. That has been deleted.

Will the election crash the internet?

Elections are the type of thing the Internet was made for. It allows everyone to be a pundit or a reporter and get their ideas out there. Of course, it seems that quite a few sites are getting hammered by heavy traffic.

This site unfortunately is not one of them!

With all the complaints about media bias, I tell my fellows on the Right to deal with it. Do not be a general fighting the last war. The Internet can overcome your complaints. Look, we can see anyone with a camera interview people, report on issues, and babble on about whatever they find important.

So even if the Fairness Doctrine comes back or ACORN is given control over t.v. licensing, do not fight it. Fight instead to keep the Internet as free as possible from regulation.

Someone agrees with me on NATO

This may be a first, someone agrees with me on NATO. The comments I think does a good job explaining the pros and cons of continued US membership in NATO

Non-Interventionism v. Isolationism

Is non-interventionism the same as isolationism? Kirk Johnson, fellow DC United fan, on his Bosnian blog sort of equates the two. And I can understand why. But I wonder is that is really the case?


I was something of a neo-Wilsonian when I was in college but then I began to drift toward non-interventionism. (9/11 changed stopped my drift for a while, but I have since continued drifting that way). But I do not think non-intervention is the same as isolationism. I do think the US has a role to play internationally. I believe for example that the US should take the lead in fighting piracy.


I do not, however, have much faith in most international institutions. For example, on Darfur, I have not had much hope for the UN, and would have preferred that the US (and West) properly fund an African solution to the problem. But I also believe that if the US and other western nations get too heavily and directly involved, the situation turns from one of humanitarian concerns into issues of power politics between nations. With China feeling her oats and Russia trying to maintain some influence, those two may oppose anything the US and the West suggest.

Yes, I am opposed to Georgia and Ukraine joining NATO. But that is not due to wanting to isolate myself from the troubles of that region. Rather, I believe that Western efforts should be spent on trying to reintegrate Russia back into the West. I think that will do more to protect Georgian and Ukrainian sovereignty than threats of NATO membership at some future time. And that definitely is not isolationism.

Even my feelings about winding up NATO are not driven by isolationism but by a desire to see Europe take more responsibility for its own security. As the Bosnian crisis showed, Europe will not take anything seriously as their leadership knows that they will be able to rely on US security guarantees. In the end, all US intervention in Europe continues to do is subsidize the European welfare state.

But Kirk has a point. At its extreme, non-interventionism does become isolationism. But until that point is reached, I would argue the terms represent two different foreign policies.

The Old America no Longer Exists

Bruce Bawer, author of "While Europe Slept" wrote an essay on Pajamas Media about being away from America for 10 years, and about how the America he knew no longer exists. This lead to some rather pointed comments about "Bawer's choice" as it were.

Mr. Bawer has made it clear in most of his writings that his move to Europe was primarily due to his sexual preference -- Norway recognizes his relationship while the US does not. Hence, he can live in Norway, but his partner cannot live in the United States. Personally, if I were gay, I would prefer New York to Norway, but so be it. He has never stuck me as a “citizen of the world” type.

And I can understand wanting to experience something foreign. If all goes as planned, I will be moving to Europe next summer for an extended work assignment. That will not make me less American.

As for lamenting the passing of an old America, that is a normal aspect of getting older. I used to laugh at my parents complaining about the old America being gone. They grew up very poor, in a Catholic immigrant family at a time when Catholics were viewed in this country with suspicion and the country of their parents was actually at war with the United States. Their first memories were of the Great Depression and World War II. I could never understand how they missed that old America.

Yet, entering my forties, I too find myself lamenting the passing of what I think of as America. It is natural. Things change and you reach a point when change is not easy anymore. I think in Mr. Bawer’s case, living abroad, it is just more pointed a feeling, given that he feels the shock of the unfamiliar whenever he returns home.

The Balkans

I have been somewhat down on US involvement in the Balkans. Though I agree with the change of regime and think intervention was warranted, I think we should not have been involved, that in taking the lead, all we did was further delay Europe taking responsibility for its own defence.

Michael Totten is in the region now and as always, writes intelligently. As an aside, I believe that independent journalism such as practiced by Totten and Michael Yon is the future of Internet reporting.

Also commenting on the region is Kirk Johnson's excellent Balkan blog. While I do not agree with everything he says, he thinks long and hard about the issues facing that region and take the time to really educate himself.

Oil in North Dakota?

There seems to be a lot of excitement in the blogosphere over this press release, claiming that there is a large oil field in North Dakota. From the looks of the map, I wonder if the field is some sort of extension of the tar sands in Canada.

That said, the release claims the oil is difficult to extract, and that only now, with prices as high as they are, is it economically viable.

If true, this would be great. However, like the occasional shale oil boomlet, I will believe it when I see oil coming out of the refineries.

Living Lent

The Anchoress notes that, by happy circumstance, Ash Wednesday is the day after Super Tuesday. So I guess that means I will gorge myself on Tuesday night, while watching election returns and then begin the time of penance. As usual, I will give up ice cream.

But The Anchoress believes that is too easy and we should use the period of Lent for greater reflection. Hence, that most political of Catholic bloggers is considering giving up political talk until Easter. While I will not follow her example, I think she is right that Lent must be a time of self examination.

Stimuli!

Or is it stimuluses? I was never very good at Latin.

In any event, the folks at IMAO have the inside scoop on what the package entails.

Tim Blair -- Prayers and good wishes, but no head tilt

Australian blogger Tim Blair is probably one of the blogsphere's greatest. His blog, while focusing on things Australian, has given the world the "Gore Effect" and "Blair's Law." Blair also unleashed the progressive "head tilt of compassion" on the world. His blog is witty and irrevenent, even by Australian standards.

Which is why many in the blogspehere are saddened today that he announced he has abdominal cancer.

So Tim, here are prayers and good wishes. But no head tilts for yoy!

McCain Victory 08

Want to help John McCain but don't know how? Not in Iowa or New Hampshire?

Brad Marston has started a blog specifically for you --

McCain Victory 08!

Drunk Blogger on the Democratic Debate

Stephen Green, aka the Vodka Pundit, has a great way of watching the debates -- drink vodka and they all start to make sense. His drunken take on the Nevada debate was spot on.

I have never met him, but he has been a great influence on me and a major part in how I will survive the soon to be Clinton presidency.

Blog McCain

I am still holding out hope that John McCain will be the GOP Nominee. I think he is the best suited to address the current world crisis and is the most honorable person of either party in Congress. He has an uphill battle, but I hope when the time comes to actually vote, GOP primary and caucus voters will put aside past squabbles and do what is best for the country.

A blog has been established to discuss ways for pro-McCain bloggers to help the campaign. My idea -- why not a "money bomb."

What's Your Inner European?

Mine is no surprise

Your Inner European is Italian!

Passionate and colorful. You show the world what culture really is.

Who's Your Inner European?

(HT - The Anchoress)

Libertarians and libertarians

Libertarians have always been divided into BIG L libertarians (i.e., members of the Libertarian Party) and small l libertarians (i.e., believers in libertarianism as a philosophy). Most libertarians are found outside of the Libertarian Party for several reasons. Most importantly, the Libertarian Party is extremely ineffective and is the province mostly of people who place ideological purity over getting things done.

Thanks in large part to the fusionist movement of Frank Meyer and the early National Review, libertarians are usually associated with the conservative movement, and hence the Republican Party. I for example, have only rarely voted for the Libertarian Party, and usually because the GOP candidate was extremely odorous.

Steven Green of Vodka Pundit (who I suppose will be dealing with the upcoming Clinton Administration the way I plan to) blogged on why he is no longer a Libertarian (though presumably still a libertarian). Glenn Reynolds noted the essay on Pajama Media and pretty much said he felt the same way. This leads to a bunch of other confessions, and Andrew Sullivan blame the lot of them for destroying liberal democracy in America by supporting Bush (OK, maybe a slight exaggeration). Green posts his reply, explaining the difference between Big and little "l" libertarians.

I have always been a Republican, even as my political philosophy has drifted. I have never been a member of the Libertarian Party. While I wish them well, I view them basically as an out for people like me to indicate my displeasure with the GOP. My main problem with the Libertarians goes back to college. It seemed that self-described libertarians were more interested in fighting arcane inter-fraternal philosophical battles rather than discussing real world policy choices. It is like when back during the Nixon Administration, Milton Friedman found himself in conflict with libertarian leaders such as Karl Hess III because Friedman was more interested in guiding policy than fighting losing battles.

The GOP Debate -- Best Soundbite Ever!

For someone who considers himself a political junkie, I have missed just about every debate. Today I have a good reason, I am at my mother-in-law's house and unable to watch. Stephen Green, as usually, has the best liveblog.

The best soundbite though seems to be this one, from John McCain, regarding fiscal responsibility and the Woodstock Museum:

Why is this man NOT president of the United States?

Blogging from the Airport

This is awesome!

A Second Look at Mike Huckabee

Or maybe it would be your first. But if you have the chance, listen to Glenn and Helen Reynolds' podcast interview of former Governor Huckabee. I do not agree with him entirely, but what politicians do you ever agree with entirely? While I doubt he will be the nominee, he is someone people should be listening to seriously.

As I have said before, he is definitely NOT your father's evangelical conservative Republican.