Eye on the Watcher’s Council

As you may know the members of the Watcher’s Council each nominate one of his or her own posts and one non-Council post for consideration by the whole Council. The complete list of this week’s Council nominations is here.

The Glittering Eye, “A Sort of Haunted Look”

My submission for this week muses on the consistency in U. S. foreign policy over the years with a brief digression into old television.

The Colossus of Rhodey, “SciFi Channel: Humans as Invaders”

Hube wonders whether any species with sufficient technological development to cross the enormous distances involved in interstellar travel would have the desire to conquer other species, other planets. I can’t speak for other species but I don’t believe that my own human species is perfectible. There will always be people who desire to dominate others and to take things they haven’t worked for. The “invasion from outer space” sub-genre of science fiction goes back to H. G. Wells’s The War of the Worlds or earlier. I believe there was a fairly well-developed genre of “invasion literature”, which speculated about invasions by other, earthly countries (usually Prussia, China, or Japan IIRC). Here in the workaday world there seems, unfortunately, to be little relationship between technological and moral or social development.

Done With Mirrors, “Back America”

Callimachus wonders about the nature of an activism catalyzed by the press coverage of the Starr Report. One does wonder what such an activism would take America back to.

Soccer Dad, “Abbas Over Easy”

Soccer Dad, commenting on a column by Charles Krauthammer, is suspicious of whether supporting Mahmoud Abbas is worthwhile.

‘Okie’ on the Lam, “’Life With an Old Dog’—Hard Lessons Learned”

Okie is reeling from the death of his beloved dog, a companion of 14 years. Damn.

Bookworm Room, “A Stunningly Dishonest Piece of Advocacy Writing About the Supreme Court”

Bookworm isn’t happy about an article in The New Yorker by Jeffrey Toobin and I can’t say I blame her. The part that upsets me is Toobin’s egregiously incorrect characterization of present law. As a lawyer himself he should know better.

When did coverage of the courts, particularly the Supreme Court, start being about sides? Brown v. Board? Has it always been that way? I’ve always favored a lot less judicial activism, even when justice is clearly served, and a lot more legislative activism. I can see how legislators, who are required to stand for election, can see it otherwise but Congressmen are elected not just as clerks but as leaders and leadership sometimes requires that you do something that might cause you no to be re-elected.

Rhymes With Right, “Is Tinker Dead?”

Greg comments on the recent Supreme Court decision in Morse v. Fredericks, the student drug use advocacy/First Amendment case. Greg is concerned that the decision may be used as a justification for suppressing freedom of speech on all sorts of issues on the part of students. I can’t express an informed opinion on this other than to speculate that this may be an extremely narrow decision. Again, I don’t have an informed opinion on this.

Big Lizards, “Dividing and Conquering, or Dancing With the Devil?”

Dafdd ab Hugh considers the wisdom of forging a relationship with the Muslim Brotherhood. His conclusion is that it may be worth a try (even if the Muslim moderates aren’t nearly as moderate you might like) since otherwise the prospects are pretty darned limited:

• The “Realism” of Kissinger and Scowcroft, which cuddles up to Arab strongmen to maintain order and security;
• Incessant military intervention in every potentially troublous Moslem country;
• Or cowardly and foolhardy retreat to “Fortress America” to contemplate domestic policy and our navels.

I think that the list above excludes some even less appealing but increasingly likely alternatives.

The Education Wonks, “The NEA: Boondoggle or Money Well Spent?”

EdWonk reports on the increased funding for the National Endowment for the Arts. I can’t think of a better example of a national disagreement on means as opposed to ends than the NEA. The question is less whether the arts should be supported but how they should be supported. The problem with government-funded arts programs is that all of the alternative methods of administration seem to be absurd. Do we really want either a technocratic (give the money to artists and let them decide among themselves how it should be divvied up), a bureaucratic solution (fill out the right forms, follow all the procedures, and you get your grant), or a political approach (know the right people, push the right buttons, grease the right palms and you get your grant)?

Cheat Seeking Missiles, “The Most Ridiculous Story of the Year (2)”

Laer fisks an article by Steven Simon and Ray Tayekh in The Washington Post that I commented on myself. A key problem with a “carrots and sticks” approach is that, when you’ve already conceded the you won’t use a stick under any circumstances and you really, really, really don’t want to offer any truly juicy carrots (or you have none to offer), the policy is actually quite limited in its effectiveness.

Joshuapundit, “General Petraeus: Fighting on Two Fronts, Winning…and Playing for Time”

Freedom Fighter comments on the progress of Operation Phantom Thunder and the likelihood that whatever gains are made on the ground in Iraq are likely to be lost in Washington. I’ve thought for some time that the only real prospect for preventing unmitigated disaster in the Middle East (and not just in Iraq) was by resigning ourselves to the prospect that we’d be in Iraq for the foreseeable future. I continue to wonder how the Democratic candidates for the presidency will unsell what they’ve been selling if they actually get into the White House. That doesn’t mean they won’t try.

Right Wing Nut House, “Tinkering With the Immigration Bomb Will Only Set It Off”

Rick Moran comments on the need for immigration reform. I think we’re a long way from where securing the Mexican border is a serious concern. Prospective terrorists can just fly in on planes carrying British, French, or German passports. Why should they bother with the rigors of the Mexican border?

Well, I’ve decided which posts I’ll vote for this week. Which posts would get your votes?