Pajamas Media

55 Comments

1. jvon:

Good points, but of course it will never happen. We will just have to continue to try to get Republicans out to the polls, like every other election, to counter the effect of freshly minted voters fond of pretty speeches and short on real world experience.

Jun 15, 2008 - 12:52 am 2. Cherokee Jack:

This is pretty hypocritical. If those same teens were mostly voting for Republicans, you wouldn’t be complaining. You’d be praising their youthful insight.

That’s not to mention how arrogant it is to belittle the votes of young people by making broad generalizations and judgments about said youth’s ability to make intelligent decisions. And what’s this absurd idea that young adults who haven’t joined the military have as much right to vote as a dog?

I wonder what you’d think if DailyKos posted an article saying that only seniors vote for Republicans, and suggested that young people were the only voters that count, because they’ve been exposed to less right-wing propaganda.

(I’m assuming that this article wasn’t a joke. Forgive me if I missed the point.)

Jun 15, 2008 - 3:46 am 3. Kirk:

When the leftists suborned the American education system, they changed education into propaganda. It’s not just that teen and young adults are not intelligent, it’s that they’ve been miseducated and indoctrinated. It takes time for experience and exposure for many of them to shake of the “reducation camp” , put down the little red book and start thinking for themselves. It’s a huge roadblock to independant thinking, and it’s there on purpose. I agree with the article on that point. The way to fix those young adults is to get politics out of education and basic skills in.

Jun 15, 2008 - 4:28 am 4. Chelsea:

I got a good chuckle out of this but I have to agree partially with the top. As part of the 18-24 age bracket I personally believe that age isn’t a good voting standard whereas whether or not you’re a liberal is. I propose that all those who go to Dixie Chick concerts and enjoy the talents of Sean Penn, traitor Jane or The Daily Show in general, should not be allowed to vote.

I think other rights should also be contingent on whether or not you find The Daily Show funny.

Jun 15, 2008 - 5:01 am 5. RE:

In general, young people simple do not have enough life experience to vote responsibly. In a more perfect world, they would at least have had to economically support themselves and experience how taxation impacts their lives. But as it stand now, they are largely ignorant of the costs and ramifications of their youthful idealism. ‘I don’t see what’s wrong with that’ is far too common a response from young people. They simply lack the life experience to know any better.

Jun 15, 2008 - 5:05 am 6. huxley:

Cherokee Jack nails it well.

This is a bad, crank idea. Using Prelutsky’s reasoning, why not start trimming the voter rolls from the other end and eliminate anyone over retirement age from voting? After all, they aren’t contributing to society anymore and half of them are on their way to being senile and too many of them vote Republican.

Jun 15, 2008 - 5:13 am 7. Bill in New York:

I agree with Kirk, even going back to my own youth (when dino’s roamed the Earth)… the liberal indoctrination has only gotton worse, and it took me years to come out of the fog. As for begrudging “youth” votes that cancel out your own, tough cookies dude, that’s what it’s all about… if you don’t like it, then try to change their minds with your ideas. The idea that you know better than they do sounds more like the Hollywood/Academia/Politician kind of mindset we (conservative and libertarian) are fighting against… don’t be hypocritcal.

Jun 15, 2008 - 5:16 am 8. Tim:

EXCELLENT! As a (former) college professor, I wrote much the same sort of article before the 2004 election: http://hnn.us/articles/8491.html

Jun 15, 2008 - 5:53 am 9. Ten:

Great idea, author. And while we’re at it, I’d like all chronic welfare dependents and civil employees to have the sense to not vote either. If you depend on the government, stay home.

For that matter, what’s with state employees having lobbies and unions? Or government lobbying itself, as happens to an amazing degree? Judges appearing at legislatures on behalf of lawmaking that serves their ends…and doing so on paid time?

It’s one thing to have a democracy. It’s entirely another to defeat the purpose with conflicts of interest such as these.

Jun 15, 2008 - 6:02 am 10. Marina W.:

That’s exactly what the South Park guys said in the “Douche or Turd” episode when they ripped on Diddy’s “Vote or die”… It was about the 2004 election but it is still actual. Can be down loaded legally on southparkstudios.com.

Jun 15, 2008 - 6:07 am 11. Cindy Sue Causey:

Too funny.. I was with you all the way down the column there.. The celebrity worship, I just very briefly blogged myself, the fear of the power of control high profile celebs’ Life Choices have over their fans was more the intent.. In the latest, it was over the “assisted suicide”/”right to die” [debacle]..

For the longest time, I’ve been actively knowledgeable of that my Vote will be cancelled out, too, by a very young, impressionable first-time Voter.. Here’s the kicker.. You and I are both wasting time worrying about the wrong people…..

*Your* Vote appears to be fixin’ to cancel out mine…..

And versa vice..

Cyber hugs from Talking Rock..

Jun 15, 2008 - 6:14 am 12. Dave:

So, if the were brainwashed in your right wing nonsense then they can vote but if they think otherwise they can’t? I suppose though it isn’t the first time we’ve seen “conservatives” attempt to deny voting rights but it still always amazes me. I could suggest some other countries that your anti-American idea might fly in, perhaps you can move there.

Jun 15, 2008 - 6:33 am 13. Mommynator:

Don’t worry – my 18-year-old will NOT cancel out your vote. \

She’s been raised right.

Jun 15, 2008 - 6:50 am 14. goy:

The issue Burt has so ham-handedly alluded to, but completely failed to illustrate here is pretty simple. So simple, in fact, that – like the controversy over “climate crisis”, the economy, oil, health care and all the rest – a monumental degree of obfuscation has been heaped upon it to make it appear to be far more complex than it is. And it has nothing to do with whether young voters are casting in favor of Republicans or Democrats, Jack. Having covered this before at IMDB, I’ll just quote:

—

“Young voters” – especially contemporary young voters – have absolutely no business whatsoever exercising any voice at all in national or global politics. They have neither the education, experience, wisdom or powers of reason required to make sense of social complexities – let alone to render a rational public opinion on them. Ample proof is right here on this board [note: or any far-left blog/community, like DKos, et al., which is populated primarily by high school and college students... or their adult-aged but intellectual equivalents. -ed.).

Young voters are cultivated - and efforts to lower the voting age are pursued - for a single reason: to support socialist ideology. This is an ideology that the young naturally subscribe to and find comfort in. Why? Because that ideology represents a system where all of their wants and needs will (continue to) be provided for by someone else - absolving them of the responsibility.

This is the "promise" of socialism: cradle-to-grave 'social justice' programs like "universal" health care and social security, aimed at supporting every individual citizen for life... regardless of what that individual actually puts into the system. This is, of course, the only reality that the vast majority of the young have ever known: their wants and needs have been, and continue to be organized, financed and otherwise met not by themselves, but by parents, federal school loans, scholarships, grants, social programs, etc.

Notably, this is also the only reality most academics have ever known - adult adolescents who live in a privileged, tenured world where their futures are guaranteed regardless of what they actually contribute (or destroy). No accountability whatsoever. It's no wonder, therefore, that socialist and marxist ideologues are so well represented among American academics.

As things have evolved, it's no longer even possible to hold a college-age child (or their professors) responsible for their academic performance: grades have been all but abolished and academic institutions (and attorneys) make it virtually impossible for parents to discover and render a judgment on their child's academic record. Constructivist theory in academia has pretty much destroyed education - making the process a group-grope affair where many individuals garner credit from the few who actually do the work, all while the instructor/professor stands idly by as a "guide" - or worse - spends class time bashing the current political whipping boy rather than teaching the subject matter. And guess which way that hot air usually blows...

Socialist rhetoric attempts to hide all this, of course, but the reality is that as a result of the false promise, most truly socialist societies are slowly going bankrupt (or, as in much of Europe, being supplanted by Islamist culture due to their own cultural apathy). And the socialist societies that have [d]evolved into communism ultimately fail completely, with attendant loss of life approaching 150,000,000 people… and counting.

With these realities in evidence, it’s no wonder why vacuous socialists like Barack Obama (and to a lesser extent, Hillary Clinton – and that solely because of her waffling on the war) appeal to young voters, academics and the “braintrust” of the overwhelmingly Democrat-registered media and entertainment industry. Obama provides “hope” via empty platitudes and promises of “innovative solutions” while never specifying any details of what those solutions will involve. The reason is that he doesn’t have any details. He doesn’t understand human nature, or the real problems facing humanity, any better than his marxist father did, or any better than his America-hating religious mentor does.

—-

Jun 15, 2008 - 7:49 am 15. Typewriter King:

That last line was golden, but otherwise this was a dull op-ed. The references to the Dixie Chicks and Sean Penn as teen idols make you sound dated, and this topic is begging for a classic Starship Troopers allusion. Service guarantees citizenship, and the franchise!

I treasure my civil liberties, but I don’t see the universal allocation of the franchise as necessarily sacrosanct. It’s all very well and proper to talk about other means of sharing the duties of governance. We can talk about whether it’s best to have proportional representation, direct democracy, representatives, or more self-governance (more responsibilities falling in the sphere of the individual).

Off topic, Cherokee Jack stylistically writes like a woman, meaning Jack’s actually a Jill.

Jun 15, 2008 - 8:08 am 16. Rationalitate:

What do you think about Ann Coulter’s proposal to stop women from voting, too? And I don’t think you guys are going far enough – blacks (I’d assume) vote for Democrats in far higher proportions…wouldn’t it be a better use of your time to advocate disenfranchising them, rather than teenagers? Or is that too politically unpalatable, whereas attacking teenagers with the sort of “get off my lawn” mentality that everyone over the age of 25 seems to fall into is an easy shot that won’t get you in too much trouble?

Jun 15, 2008 - 10:05 am 17. Rationalitate:

If if takes a certain degree of gullibility to believe plutocrats like Soros and the Clintons (who all earned their money), doesn’t it taken an even greater degree of gullibility to believe plutocrats like Bush (who was born into money) and McCain (who married into money)?

Jun 15, 2008 - 10:08 am 18. jvon:

Well, one of these things isn’t like the others: nobody’s ever voted for George Soros. I certainly would not.

I did however vote for Bill Clinton, in 1992. I was 21 years old and took the things he said about “reinventing government” at face value. I thought it was a great idea. It was obvious to me that the way the government worked was broken and honestly thought he intended to fix it.

Of course, it was just a line (one suspects he’s a man with a lot of them), and we never heard a thing about it after the election.

Jun 15, 2008 - 10:48 am 19. David Thomson:

I long ago concluded that Democrats rely on the stupid vote. Many of their supporters possessing advanced credentials behind their name are pseudo-intellectuals. Their degrees are often as fraudulent as a three dollar bill. Grade inflation at our major universities is now the norm. It is indeed very fair to begin describing the Democratic Party as the “Stupid Party.” Republicans are generally far better educated.

Jun 15, 2008 - 11:02 am 20. A.M. Mallett:

You want the young vote? Promise to eliminate income taxes on everybody under the age of 25 and pass out 25 cent beers while doing it.

Jun 15, 2008 - 11:31 am 21. Fat Jolly Penguin:

I’ll be turning 18 about 2 weeks before the election, and I can guarantee that my vote won’t cancel yours out.

Jun 15, 2008 - 11:53 am 22. CaptDMO:

Oh those crazy impressionable school kids!

Hmmm….makes one wonder about the recent attempt in New Hampshire, I’ll let the peanut gallery deduce which party brought the proposed legislation to the floor.
(paraphrase)If a citizen is going to be 18 at the time of the actual election, (Nov 4) then they should be made eligible as registered party members, and vote in all the primaries as well, despite their age of 17.”

Defeated without a whole lot of fanfare.
…bullshirt walks!

Jun 15, 2008 - 1:13 pm 23. Tim:

Typewriter King,
I brought up exactly that “Starship Troopers” citizenship-post-military-service argument in my linked article.
I actually think the voting age should be about 30.
AND there should be a rudimentary intelligence/awareness test (now the Lefties can start screaming “poll tax” to their bleeding hearts’ content).

Jun 15, 2008 - 5:16 pm 24. Quincy:

How can you complain about the younger generation if this is how you stereotype us all? Yeah, telling youths to NOT take the time to make an informed decision and vote is the way to build the future of our country… How do conservatives expect to win the youth vote with rhetoric like this? I’m disappointed.

Jun 15, 2008 - 6:39 pm 25. John Moore:

The 18 year old voting started as a response to “If I’m old enough to be drafted, aren’t I old enough to vote?”

Now we don’t draft ‘em, so let’s not let ‘em vote either!

BTW, I was first eligible to vote after I was a Vietnam Veteran, and had little problem with the voting age then.

Jun 15, 2008 - 10:30 pm 26. huxley:

How do conservatives expect to win the youth vote with rhetoric like this?

Beats me. I’m a 9/11 Democrat. I find center-right a sensible place to be, and conservatives generally more interesting than the liberal left. My impression is that Prelutsky is just beating his own curmudgeonly drum and is not typical of conservatives.

Jun 15, 2008 - 10:31 pm 27. Gozer the Carpathian:

*Chuckles*

I’ve had similar thoughts in the past. In a few of the stories I write I tend to go toward the “Starship Trooper” style idea of “Service Breeds Citizenship.” Basically if you don’t serve you don’t vote. (Though I count Fire, Police, Ambulance, Peace Corps, things like that as well as the military)

Maybe after a major revolution or something you could institute this kind of thing but not in today’s USA.

Jun 15, 2008 - 11:10 pm 28. Mighty Joe "Young":

As a young college kid who voted in ‘04 I think this article is rather nearsighted. Burt is asaulting uninformed/impressionable voters everywhere. But the argument should be figure things out, think about the issues, learn about what this country needs and why; not don’t show up at the polls because you’ll screw it all up.

This primary season I watched Mike Huackabee, a man who should never be mentioned in the same sentance as the words “President of the United States”, win Iowa. The people were charmed by his populist appeal and folksy talk but he has no idea on foreign policy and not the foggiest on ecconomic issues.

When in came to Iowa voters I was, in a word, disapointed. But they still deserve to vote, the issues still affect them. However, they should have figured everything out first and not allowed themselves to be moved by populist opinion.

This concludes a lengthy analogy for myself and other young voters and heck the rest of you too. If you’re going to vote study the issues. Figure out what is best and which canidate will do what. Because if you aren’t willing to do the homework we don’t want you at the polls.

Jun 15, 2008 - 11:15 pm 29. Dan:

My parents are immigrants who consistently vote Democratic, I’m from San Francisco, and I’m eighteen years old. By all means, I should be voting for Barack Obama this Novemember…But I’m a conservative, so I won’t be. What the conservative movement needs is someone who speaks to the groups it ignores or is perceived to ignore, not by dismissing them and saying, “Oh well…we sorta tried that time.”

That means speaking to youth voters. See, we’re not dumb, we’re just naive. We watch The Daily Show and think that, hey, if we vote Democratic, we’re enlightened, we’re fighting the Good Fight; if we vote Republican, then we’re Stephen Colbert’s caricature of conservatism – dumb and ignorant nationalists. What conservatism needs to explain to its potential converts is that liberalism is the epitome of Hell and the Road of Good Intentions that leads there. The right to bear arms, for instance, is routinely and effectively criticized by liberals in the media. Conservatism needs to defend itself. It needs to explain that it’s not merely gun rights but the idea behind them – that our government entrusts in us the right to bear arms, and the tacit permission to rebel if governmental authority is abused.

I’ve been in plenty of debates with my classmates. What I’ve realized is that most of the kids defending liberalism can’t explain why they’re defending it. If the conservative movement had something like a more substantive Daily Show, an honest dialogue with youth voters, then it could break some of the barriers it’s placed on itself.

Jun 15, 2008 - 11:23 pm 30. Cherokee Jack:

“Off topic, Cherokee Jack stylistically writes like a woman, meaning Jack’s actually a Jill.”

Chauvinist! There are no literary differences between females and males! It’s a vile construct of the patriarchy!

(You’re wrong, by the way)

Jun 15, 2008 - 11:46 pm 31. Dave II:

Want to see some young supporters of Obama and their totally inane answers about why they’re voting for Obama? Of course, we all know about the Obama girl and her “crush” on him, but that’s really just the tip of the iceberg with these UNINFORMED and just plain ignorant “answers” for supporting Obama. (Some are just plain wrong factually, and missing ANY real background info about the guy.)

It will make EVERYTHING in this column a reality for you…and you’ll either be laughing out loud or want to get the barf bag ready. Sad, really…just sad….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zug_1xXSFBk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzwsbEyIMyk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoNsFrly9I0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4Pm2vPjhaA

http://youtube.com/watch?v=AfooxdRYeJU

There’s more I could pick from, of course. These are just ones I saw in a quick search.

Really, Gen X and Y….do the country a BIG favor and stay home!!..and stay in school and learn A LOT more about history and economics, and don’t be so “brainwashed” by someone’s ability to give a speech or how he shakes your hand. Incredible!

Jun 15, 2008 - 11:52 pm 32. WASP:

leave it to conservatives to spout half truths and opinions and claim it as facts. turning lead into gold just isnt happening. theres not much to say but enjoy closing your eyes and blindly following those in front of you. maybe its time for the neo-cons/cons to finish their GEDs before they make a ruckus.

Jun 16, 2008 - 1:08 am 33. Foxfier:

As one of the young people who shouldn’t vote until they’re living on their own….

I (somewhat) agree.

Partly because I just got a letter from my insurance company saying they now cover “minor children” up to age 25, if they’re not married; partly because “children” up to age 25 are still a liability to the parents if they default on college; partly because after I joined the Navy, I found out that the folks I thought were a little bit unrealistic were actually dangerously naive–and that meant about 45% of my classmates, at the very least.

If you want to control the country, you should at least be able to *pretend* to support yourself.

Jun 16, 2008 - 2:36 am 34. Kathy:

Just came across this website which is providing CMS based Free Campaign websites for Contesting Candidates

http://www.ezcampaigns.com/free-campaigns-sites.html

Jun 16, 2008 - 3:37 am 35. huxley:

Look. We’ve got Paul Volcker, former head of the Federal Reserve, and most of the entrepreneurs in Silicon Vally voting for Obama for vague, uninformed reasons (”new ideas”, “new leadership” etc.) that sound little better than twenty-somethings on YouTube.

And we’ve got a candidate who’s done little more with his life than manage to get elected to the US Senate and now believes he’s ready to run the country, in spite of his historical illiteracy that also leads him to believe that American forces liberated Auschwitz and that JFK’s meeting with Khruschev was a diplomatic triumph.

These are real problems, but the solution is not to figure out how to jimmy the voter rolls so that young people can’t vote.

Jun 16, 2008 - 5:53 am 36. Boris:

This was perhaps the stupidest thing ever posted on this site. Congrats!

Jun 16, 2008 - 6:23 am 37. Boris:

Hey, peaking of uniformed, ignorant voters, which party’s voters believe that Iraq had WMD and Saddam had strong links to Al Qaeda? I forget…

Jun 16, 2008 - 6:47 am 38. Misanthropicus:

RE: Boris: [...] Hey, (s)peaking of uniformed, ignorant voters, which party’s voters believe that Iraq had WMD and Saddam had strong links to Al Qaeda? I forget… [...]”

Not so fast, Boris boy – I (and probably many others who supported the Iraq war) was never convinced that Iraq had WMD. However, after considering America’s long term interests, then reviewing Hussein’s habits and situation (remember, intelligence has shown that he was ready to launch another war, and this for the simple reason that he was aware that he was riding a tiger which needed bleeding – the Iraq army), I found that war on Iraq was simply an ugly yet necessary choice. And it looks that history, rather sooner than later, will confirm this.
Further on the Iraq WMD as “casus belli” – in a matter with potential for so much destruction, strong suspicions based upon a consistent record of deliquency should always make one err on the aggressive side.
To close – now compare the deck Bush had in 2002 with the one the winner of 2008 election will have when dealing with Ahmadinejad & his cohorts. Not an elating situation.

Jun 16, 2008 - 7:50 am 39. huxley:

Boris — Most of the world’s leaders, including those of the Democratic party, believed that Hussein had WMD. In fact small amounts of WMD were found in Iraq, large amounts of WMD chemicals that Iraq admitted to possessing were never accounted for, and it was concluded that Hussein had kept his options open with dual-use facilities so that he was never more than 4-6 weeks away from having fresh WMD to use.

There were links between Hussein and al-Qaeda. How strong they were and what they meant is another question. I recall a Pew poll of Republicans showing that many believed in some such strong link. They are probably mistaken, but you know what — I’ll take them over the loudmouth nuts in generous abundance on your side of the aisle who believe that the Bush administration was responsible for 9-11.

Jun 16, 2008 - 10:58 am 40. Boris:

No, guys, the majority of people who vote Republican STILL BELIEVE that Hussein had WMD. Still. Yes, the 9/11 conspiracy theorists are annoying and idiotic, but so are the global warming conspiracy theorists, so there you go.

Jun 16, 2008 - 4:33 pm 41. BC:

Gawd…. Look, let’s make this very clear: if you voted for Bush in the last election, you have no business being near a voting booth on the next go round, never mind saying clueless things about young people voting. Your average 30 or 40 something Republican meathead who relies on the likes of Fox News and these moronic blog sites for information would lose out on a standardized test to a doorknob.

Just the comments here regarding Hussein and his supposed WMD’s and ties to al-Qaeda show how absolutely disconnected so many Republicans are now from reality: the Iraq invasion was never more than an implementation of a then standing braindead PNAC policy desire, with 9/11 used vilely and cynically as just a murderous excuse. The overwhelming evidence piling up in the months before the invasion was showing neither active WMD’s, ties to al-Qaeda, nor even any ties to terrorist organizations outside of the Palestinians. But thanks to the “enabling” corporate media, not only people bought into Bush’s lying ass claims and reasons, but at one point, nearly 70% of the US population were thinking Hussein had something to do with 9/11!

The bottom line is that if you still to this day think that the Iraq invasion was and is something more than a massive, deadly clusterf*ck of lies and incompetence, and that global warming is some sort of liberal conspiracy, do this country and the world a huge favor and don’t go anywhere near a voting booth come November 4th. Seriously.

Jun 16, 2008 - 5:45 pm 42. Javelin:

Don’t stop at young voters, let’s repeal those pesky amendments that let blacks and women vote too. That should gut the Dem’s base and guarantee a McCain landslide. This is one of the most contemptible, anti-democratic, anti-intellectual self serving columns that this neo-con drivel site has hosted yet. But when you have a man who made his name kowtowing the rich and famous, this is what you get.

Jun 16, 2008 - 9:26 pm 43. Javelin:

here is a little survey about the Iraq War i’d like people to answer:
The reason I suported the war from the start was:
1. I believed Saddam was behind 9/11 and ready to attack us with his Al Qaeda allies.
2. The thought of his WMD’s made me lose sleep.
3. I love the Iraqi people and wanted to bless them with democracy.
4. I love war, especialy when I don’t have to risk or sacrifice anything, and get a tax cut to boot.
5. I hate Arabs, and attacking one or another Arab country makes little difference cause they are all potentially Al Qaeda.
6. I was a firm believer in Bush/Cheney and their honesty and competence.
7. The liberal wimps, gays, and French didn’t want war, so it had to be a good idea because ticking off liberals is my definition of good conservative values.
8. I really never thought anything out, I just went along with Bush and my favorite bloggers and talk show hosts cause they are so much better than the dreaded MSM. Basically, I am just a mindless hound who trails along with the pack.

Jun 16, 2008 - 9:36 pm 44. Believer:

Well, I, for one, have no problem with this proposal. In fact, it was my idea that Ann Coulter stole.

At some point in the 90’s – when I learned it was the women’s vote that had elected Slick Willy – I told all my friends that I would be willing to give up my vote so long as all other women had to as well.

And this from one who celebrates her birthday on August 26 — the very day women’s suffrage became law!

There are some sacrifices Patriots – such as I – are willing to make.

Jun 17, 2008 - 1:41 am 45. Scott:

this is a pretty weak article.

But, my favorite quote in regard to this is:

Democracy means simply the bludgeoning of the people, by the people, for the people.” — Oscar Wilde

Jun 17, 2008 - 5:14 am 46. misanthropicus:

For: Boris, BC, Javelin & Cie.
From: Oliver Kamm/guardian.co.uk/ 06-17-08
RE: Iraq War, Bush, etc.

Bush made the world a safer place. We may jeer him and tell him to go home, but America’s allies continue to benefit from some of George Bush’s decisions
Jimmy Carter was cheered when he visited Newcastle with Jim Callaghan. Bill Clinton was lauded in Northern Ireland. But it is more usual, at least with more consequential holders of the office, for American presidents to be told by European demonstrators to go home.

The postwar history of our continent would be different and less benign if the United States had heeded that message. His office, and the system of collective security from which we benefit, would be justification enough to welcome President Bush’s visit to London this week. But there is an additional reason peculiar to the Bush presidency. For all Bush’s verbal infelicity, diplomatic brusqueness, negligence in planning for post-Saddam Iraq, and insouciance regarding standards of due process when prosecuting the war on terror, the world is a safer place for the influence he has exercised.

When Bush ran for president in 2000 he was an isolationist advocate of scaling back America’s overseas commitments. But after 9/11, he was right in not interpreting the attack as confirmation that America was stirring up trouble for itself. The theocratic barbarism responsible for the attack on the Twin Towers was driven not by what America and its allies had done, but by what we represented. In the words of Osama bin Laden, illegitimately appropriating for himself the mantel of Islam, “every Muslim, the minute he can start differentiating, carries hate toward Americans, Jew, and Christians”.

The most fundamental decision in western security policy in the past seven years has not been the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. It has been the recognition that the most voluble adversaries of western society are not merely a criminal subculture, and still less an incipient liberation movement. Rather, they are a reactionary, millenarian and atavistic force with whom accommodation is impossible as well as intensely undesirable.

The grand strategy pursued by the US under Bush has overestimated the plasticity of the international order, but it has got one big thing right. There is an integral connection between the terrorism that targets western societies and the autocratic states in which Islamist fanaticism is incubated. Bush is culpable for much that went wrong after the overthrow of Saddam, but the outlook for Iraq has changed fundamentally owing to his decision to appoint General David Petraeus and pursue a confrontational strategy with al-Qaida in Iraq.

Bush was wrong, in his 2002 state of the union speech, to speak of an “axis of evil” connecting Saddam, Iran and North Korea – not because he overstated these actors’ malevolence but because they were not a homogeneous threat. Two of them remain potent and unresolved problems. But little can be accomplished in restraining North Korea’s bellicosity without the active support of China, and at least the Iranian regime has faced a united international front in constraining its nuclear ambitions. Whoever succeeds Bush as president will benefit from some decisions well conceived if often badly executed. So will America’s allies.

Misanthropicus comment to Boris, BC, Javelin & Cie.: QED.

Jun 17, 2008 - 7:26 am 47. Believer:

And my favorite quote is:

“The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter.” Winston Churchill

Jun 17, 2008 - 10:20 am 48. Javelin:

Believer
maybe your patriotism would be better suited for a benevolent depsotism? I am glad that the average voter is too ignorant and shallow to understand your deep semantics. I have some laundry to be done and dishes to be washed, wanna come over and help after you disenfranchise yourself?

Jun 17, 2008 - 2:18 pm 49. Horatio:

Try this one on for size: Only honorably discharged military veterans should be able to vote. This is based upon the premise that if you’re not prepared to put your life on the line for the nation-state of which you are a citizen, why should you have any say in how it’s run?

A hat tip to the late great Robert A. Heinlein in his novel “Starship Troopers”

Jun 18, 2008 - 10:54 am 50. locomotivebreath (by God!) 1901:

Way to go, Burt!

And thank you.

Jun 18, 2008 - 10:59 am 51. BC:

To misanthropicus: sorry, but under no scenario, real or imagined, has “Bush made the world a safer place”. Not only have worldwide terrorism rates gone up, but the Taliban are back, bin Laden still out somewhere making threats, and Iran no longer has to be preoccupied with Hussein. In the meanwhile, Americans have seen their privacy and liberties erode away with worthless crap like the Patriot Act and ever increasing domestic spying in general. Not to mention the joy brought by airport security checkpoints and visa restrictionst, especially in the context of our laughably porous borders. And I’m sure the latest news that the torture used by the US actually went a wee bit beyond waterboarding may perhaps give more than a little bit of aid and comfort to our enemies about the justness of their cause.

As I said earlier, Gawd….

Jun 18, 2008 - 8:07 pm 52. Heather:

Instead of age, consider “federal income tax paid.” The 40% of Americans who pay no federal income tax should not be allowed to keep voting for the fools who hand them everyone else’s money–call it “no pay, no say.”

Jun 19, 2008 - 8:53 am 53. Ragnell:

The under 21 crowd are easily manipulated by several factors. Their addiction to left-wing entertainment, their status as captive audiences of their teachers and professors, and their addiction to cliques on facebook and digg.

The age group most influenced by their peer groups and the most naive. The list goes on– this age is not ready to chose a president.

Jun 19, 2008 - 4:31 pm 54. Ragnell:

Clarification: Education is wonderful, but most college students are restricted to listening to left-wing academic arguments. They haven’t had the opportunity to hear both sides of so many conflicts.

The same goes for their adoration for whatever their favorite rock or movie star (usually lacking a college degree)has to say about very complex political events.

I weary of having some silly 19 year-old quote what an equally silly 20-something actress has to say about world affairs.

Jun 19, 2008 - 4:44 pm 55. seeker:

Exercised not to vote? Are you naive?

Young Democratic Socialists and Young Communist League and socialist professors in the universities and colleges have long trained the Young People, especially the Generation Y, of voting to the Democratic Party, the home of all the socialist and communist third parties.

Harrington of CPUSA has long foreseen this and is now the modern prophet of Socialist America.

You see the brainwashing there?

Check out the principles of Communism and Socialism in the websites of Communist Party of USA and Democratic Socialist of America and you will find out why they are really targeting “Generation Y” of today.

- anti war; war is evil. CODEPINK and MoveOn. Reasons why many Democrats are winning.
- pro-poor; militancy of the poor against the rich; class war. ACORN, all UN-NGOs in New York fighting poverty at the expense of America; see Obama’s Poverty Act.
- equality of gender, race, sexual orientation; militancy of gays/lesbian, black radicalism, arab radicalism, and women’s lib. Civil rights, Rainbow/ Push, Women’s reproductive rights (aka abortion rights), AAAN, all black progressive groups.
- profit parity to workers; labor militancy. AFL-CIO (will be endorsing Obama for the Nth time)
- anti capitalism; corporate profits is evil. Obama’s hitting oil companies (without checking investment). Forgetting that America’s corporations are hurting – see Stock Market.
- Community Organising. Why they are succeeding.
- Freedom of/from Religion. They would opt for “no religion”. But some are still religious and racist, would go for “of religion” for the mean time.

How can you therefore say NO and argue to this people. Sadly, they missed the following ingredients:
- Patriotism. See CODEPINK accusing the entire marines as murderers.
- Love of Country. They call it narcissistic; because they are blinded by the idea of one global government that will restore peace and address terrorism. DNC Howard Dean hosting a feast of socialists in Washington in 2006 saying its only about “progressive parties” but the center of invitees was the Party of European Socialists, member of Communists International?

100% COMMUNISTS AND SOCIALISTS ARE SUPPORTING OBAMA. THAT’S A FACT.

Democratic party of JFK is long dead. Republican Party is dying.

By November, Obama’s win would be the 100% victory, a major milestone… the birth of Socialist America.

Welcome to the new Generation Y of America.

In the end, JFK and Reagan failed. Check out California now authorising Communist Party to be registered… their justification? Communism is dead after Cold War… What the heck?

Jun 19, 2008 - 11:43 pm

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