David Sirota: Toward a New Washington Consensus
David provides a new perspective on NAFTA, economics and foreign policy.
"You've probably heard that John McCain once said, "I know a lot less about economics than I do about military and foreign policy issues." This line is regularly referenced by Democratic television pundits as evidence that McCain is unprepared to lead the country during a recession.
"The criticism is certainly valid, but it ignores something more troubling. It's not that politicians like McCain "need to be educated" about economics, as he admitted. It's that they do not comprehend how economics impacts international affairs.
"Behold McCain at a recent town meeting.
"We need our Canadian friends, and we "
http://www.creators.com/opinion/david-sirota/toward-a-new-washington-consensus.html
A different way to look at NAFTA, and other political disagreements.
http://www.redstate.com/stories/elections/2008/can_america_win_the_war_yes_we_can
Just my opinion
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Jim, Thanks for posting the link.
Good back and forth in the commentary.
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I read the Sirota Nafta article again. I don’t get it. Either he’s a lot smarter than I am, or he has a convoluted way of trying to make some obscure political point.
This article brings to mind something I heard in a Hal Holbrook depiction of Mark Twain. Presenting as Mark Twain in 1905, Holbrook spoke words that applied then and now. One thing he remember is that the worst kind of lie is when you take part of a truth and call that the whole truth.
Suppose that Tom Brady or Peyton Manning said that they were not as good at quarterback sneaks as they were at getting first downs or throwing touchdown passes. Does that mean they are terrible at quarterback sneaks and their coach should not let them try one. Nope. It’s just that they are better at some other things.
Now comes a quote from the Sirota piece. “ "You've probably heard that John McCain once said, "I know a lot less about economics than I do about military and foreign policy issues." This line is regularly referenced by Democratic television pundits as evidence that McCain is unprepared to lead the country during a recession. “
By reading carefully, if an objective reader can conclude that Manning and Brady are not terrible at quarterback sneaks, it is also a stretch to conclude, from his statement, that McCain is unprepared to lead the country during a recession. By the same logic as with football, it’s just that he is better at some other things.
By Mark Twain’s criteria, using part of the truth as the whole truth is the worst kind of a lie.
Similarly, when Michelle Obama said she had never before been proud of America, she was called anti-patriotic, elitist and ungrateful. She clarified her statement to say she was proud of a new way of politics and of her husband. Some still persist in the anti-patriotic talk. Again, using part of the truth as the whole truth.
Another instance is when John McCain said that we may be in Iraq for 50, or maybe 100 years. In context, he was thinking about a presence similar to what we have done in Germany, Japan and Korea. His opponents, undoubtedly knowing this nuance, still insisted that he wanted a war that would continue for 100 years.
By Mark Twain’s criteria, using part of the truth as the whole truth is the worst kind of a lie.
And that is one way we get our polarized politics. Instead of listening and trying to understand the words of others, we listen only to find ways to discredit others and to turn their words against them.
Just my opinion.
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