![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Election Day
Nov. 7th, 2006 02:40 pmI've mentioned before why I don't post much about politics. I am a middle-of-the-road person. On this morning's ballot, I split my ticket pretty evenly among the contested races. This election I seem to be unable to keep myself out of the debate. I got into an argument over at Bill Roper's blog regarding why we went to war in Iraq.
If you read my previous political post, you know I'm no fan of Bush. Still, I think the argument that "Bush Lied, People Died" is a crock. Bush was wrong about WMD, but "wrong" does not equal "lied." It's a matter of intent, and one must always consider what was known at the time the decision was made. Also, we rarely have the luxury in life of having all the information we want before a decision is made.
Part of the problem with modern politics is the argument has become so extreme. Somebody who disagrees with you isn't just wrong, they're an idiot or evil (or both). My friend Jeff Duntemann has a wonderful post on that subject up today. His chief point is that extremism and lack of self-doubt is very dangerous.
I'm enough of a historian to know that this is not the first era of extremely partisan and bitter politics. The period from 1820 to 1860 was quite vicious, even by modern standards. Of course, considering how that period ended (the Civil War) I'm not sure that's a good sign.
If you read my previous political post, you know I'm no fan of Bush. Still, I think the argument that "Bush Lied, People Died" is a crock. Bush was wrong about WMD, but "wrong" does not equal "lied." It's a matter of intent, and one must always consider what was known at the time the decision was made. Also, we rarely have the luxury in life of having all the information we want before a decision is made.
Part of the problem with modern politics is the argument has become so extreme. Somebody who disagrees with you isn't just wrong, they're an idiot or evil (or both). My friend Jeff Duntemann has a wonderful post on that subject up today. His chief point is that extremism and lack of self-doubt is very dangerous.
I'm enough of a historian to know that this is not the first era of extremely partisan and bitter politics. The period from 1820 to 1860 was quite vicious, even by modern standards. Of course, considering how that period ended (the Civil War) I'm not sure that's a good sign.
