Proslogion
Ok, so I lied. I actually spent Thanksgiving in Baghdad with the troops.
I caught up on some news last week and there's a lot to say. Far more in fact than is contained in this rambling polemical post.
Hey, how can November be the "bloodiest" period in the war when the war's been over for six months? I suppose we can create a timeline of the war and its subsequent occupation around key Presidential photo ops: Landing on an aircraft carrier to announce that major combat operations are over, Secretly flying into Baghdad to reassure everyone that it ain't over till its over.
I like how all of the administration's arguments justifying the war since its "conclusion" are ontological. This is what I call the Bush Prosologion. The Bush team regularly employs two argumentative strategies with great success:
One is the fait accompli: the Bush presidency? Inevitable. The War with Iraq? Inevitable. Tax Cuts? Inevitable.
The other is ontology: The fact that terrorism exists justifies going to war. The character, causes, sources of this terrorism are irrelevant. The fact that Iraq has a dangerous and threatening climate today justifies the actions of yesterday.
It's an outstanding argumentative trick because the logical flaws are in the presuppositions, not in the argument itself where people know to look for them. And what would you do about it anyway? Roll back the treads of time? Drop everything and leave the project incomplete and the country in chaos?
A lot of people have been stumbling on acb with the google search: chomsky charlie rose which are words that have never before appeared here together. But, I may have found what they came for, so I linked it to the left.
And finally, I leave you with this quote from a column in Ha'aretz about Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon:
"For Sharon religion is simple: Bush is God and Condoleeza Rice is his prophet."
Yes, I'm sure we all feel that way.
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