What Promise, Chuck
I stand by my earlier statements about 2008, including the fact that it’s way too early to start speculating about who our next president is going to be in any meaningful way. But it’s not too early to take an interest in the potential candidates.
And I guess it would make sense to start with a Republican I like, since that’s an endangered species and I try to be fair and balanced.
There has been some talk about a Chuck Hagel run in 2008. If we absolutely must have a Republican candidate, I think we could do a lot worse.
I particularly like how he’s willing to go on the television and say things like this:
SCHEIFFER: Let me ask you this, Senator. Vice President Cheney says this sort of thing undercuts the troops. What’s your response?
HAGEL: Let me tell you this. I served in Vietnam in 1968. Others did too. Jim Webb, John McCain. John Kerry. Other members in the House. In 1968 when I was there with my brother, worst year, deaths, I would have welcomed the Congress of the United States to pay a little attention as to what was going on. I would have welcomed that. That is complete nonsense to say we’re undercutting the support of the troops. What are we about? We’re Article 1 of the Constitution. We are co-equal branch of government. Are we not to participate? Are we not to say anything? Are we not to register our sense of where we’re going in this country on foreign policy? Bottom line is this: our young men and women and their families, these young men and women who are asked to fight and die deserve a policy worthy of those sacrifices. I don’t think we have one now.
It’s rare to find a Republican willing to be vocal in opposition to the policies of the Bush administration. And he’s been willing to do that for some time now. In other words, he is willing to put country over party.
Now, you shouldn’t take this as an endorsement. There’s no way I could vote for him. He’s still a Republican and he votes like one. But I do think he has wisdom and integrity. And those are two important things we’re lacking in our present-day leadership.
But what kind of president would he make? There’s no way of knowing. The owl of Minerva spreads its wings only with the falling of the dusk.
January 25th, 2007 at 11:49 am
You know it’s actually not so rare these days to find Republican opposition to the adminstration. They’ve been quite the “cut and run”ners of late. It’s hard for me to admire any of them for that. They’ve coddled the neo-cons all the way to disaster for 7 years. Actually I e-mailed the following yesterday to some pals – I submit for your consideration as well:
Speaking of Bush, The Rapture, & cognitive dissonance – the following definition of GroupThink could be the textbook definition of the current administration, no?
Symptoms of groupthink
Irving Janis devised eight symptoms that are indicative of “groupthink”:
– A feeling of invulnerability creates excessive optimism and encourages risk taking.
– Discounting warnings that might challenge assumptions.
– An unquestioned belief in the group’s morality, causing members to ignore the consequences of their actions.
– Stereotyped views of enemy leaders.
– Pressure to conform against members of the group who disagree.
– Shutting down of ideas that deviate from the apparent group consensus.
– An illusion of unanimity with regards to going along with the group.
– Mindguards- self-appointed members who shield the group from dissenting opinions.
January 25th, 2007 at 5:54 pm
I agree that Republicans who have done a turn-about with the polls don’t deserve any love from liberals. But Hagel has been willing to speak his mind, regardless of whether or not he agrees with the administration, pretty much the whole time. I’ve always admired him for it. I just didn’t have a blog before. And I don’t agree with him on most of the issues, so I wouldn’t vote for him, or ask anybody else to. But I do respect him, and I wanted to be on the record as having at least one Republican that I like, so I can’t be accused of hating all Republicans when this blog goes where we all know it’s destined to go.
Love the application of groupthink to the Bush administration. I assume the part about Bush, the Rapture, and cognitive dissonance was part of a larger conversation. But I’ve heard some suggest that President Bush’s policies on energy, the national debt, and protecting the enviornment are based on the coming of the Rapture and the End of Days.
I can’t describe the degree to which I hope that’s not true.