Still dissecting Bush's awful speech

Richard Haass knows a few things about realities in the world. A former official in the Bush State Department, he's speaking out.

Freedom Is Not a Doctrine
Richard N. Haass, washingtonpost.com

"Trade-offs for the United States are unavoidable. President Bush's statement Thursday that 'America's vital interests and our deepest beliefs are now one' doesn't hold up to careful scrutiny. The United States has a vital interest in China helping to eliminate the North Korean nuclear program, in Russia helping to eliminate the Iranian one, in Pakistan going after al Qaeda, in Israelis and Palestinians making peace. We may prefer that China, Russia, Pakistan and Palestine also be democratic, but a preference is something markedly less than a vital interest. The United States simply cannot afford to allow promoting democracy to trump cooperation on what is truly essential."

I like this article. But I do wish that he had tossed all of this idiocy right in the laps of the West Wing neocons. They are first to overlook the world as it is with their myopic focus on their "mission do democratize the world."

In my book, neoconservatives will always be wayward liberals going full circle. If we don't get their fangs out of our necks soon, I think they'll eventually destroy American conservatism - suck the life right out of it. Then, conveniently, they'll get over their shock at having been mugged by reality and wander back around to hang out with the rest of the decaying old hippies.