[Peace-discuss] Lesser-evilism

[LAURIE]

My general position is that anyone who runs for public office does not
deserve to get it. But having said that, I have to wonder about your remark:
" Obama is, at least, up to the job, and is aware of the complexities and
side-effects of any action. McCain is not."   While this is essentially a
value judgment based on a point of view and an optimistic hope, the one
thing that you can say about both is that they are successful politicians
who know how to competently play the game  of politics and be successful at
winning; thus, they probably are both up to doing the job whatever the
complexities and  side-effects or their knowledge and understanding of them.
The question is not if they are competent to do the job; but how they will
do the job (i.e., the way in which they will do the job, whose ox they are
willing to gore, or for whose benefit they will be working).  I personally
think that they will both be working for the corporate establishment
primarily each in their own way and according to their own style.  Both will
be practical politicians first and ideological politicians second given the
practicalities and realities of Amerikan politics. Ultimately, I think that
once again, unlike in the current Bush/Cheney era, we will be returning to
politics as usual where the focus and differences will be on the symbols,
words, rhetoric, styles of presentation, etc. of those holding the office
and not on the substantive content to any extent.

> It is not lesser-evilism to vote for the competent candidate and to
> give him the benefit of the doubt regarding his good intentions. It is
> common sense and common decency.

Maybe we have reached a point in our history where we have proceeded beyond
the rationality of exercising commonsense and decency, giving people the
benefit of the doubt, or assuming good intentions.  Maybe we are living in a
Hobbesian sort of state where life is nasty brutish and short and it is a
war of all against all; it may be time to insist on ideological commitments
to the purity of ideas and policies rather than to their practicality and
expediency, to demand good practices and actions and disregard intentions
and abstract promises and generalized policies, to accept only rational
detailed and well reasoned plans and programs; And to stop being so damn
decent, so damned responsible, so damned respectful.  From recent history,
it seems that this has been the new rules of e3ngagemetn under which the
right wing has been playing the game and winning with the tacit if not
outright acceptance of large numbers of the politically active Amerikan
public; maybew it is time for the left to start fighting back and stop being
the nice guy.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: peace-discuss-bounces at lists.chambana.net [mailto:peace-discuss-
> bounces at lists.chambana.net] On Behalf Of Bob Illyes
> Sent: Friday, August 01, 2008 12:23 PM
> To: peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
> Subject: [Peace-discuss] Lesser-evilism
> 
> We have had 8 years of a president who seems to be an idiot and a VP
> who
> seems to be a reincarnation of Dr. Strangelove. US policies seem to be
> driven more by testosterone than by any coherent plan. Obama is, at
> least,
> up to the job, and is aware of the complexities and side-effects of any
> action. McCain is not.
> 	
> It is not lesser-evilism to vote for the competent candidate and to
> give
> him the benefit of the doubt regarding his good intentions. It is
> common
> sense and common decency.
> 
> We can have these arguments forever. FDR gave us the New Deal, which
> opened
> the middle class to many people, but he also badgered the Japanese till
> they attacked us. Was he a good or bad president? The anti-war litmus-
> test
> folks would have to say bad. I would simply say that he was competent
> and
> that he did the best he could. To argue that there is something better
> than
> this is foolish or worse.
> 
> Bob
> 
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