esrosedotblog

The liberal wolves are howling over the NSA policies. I am with Feinstein.

Feinstein’s Support for N.S.A. Defies Liberal Critics and Repute

She thinks Snowden acts are treason too. Me and Diane.

Let me tell you about me.

I am a progressive or like to think so. I am also a liberal.

And I will use those words out loud and repeat them and repeat them.

Now, let me add a little phrase.

I am a progressive and a liberal and I stand as a supporter of a strong military and, yes, intelligence system.

I find nothing dissonant between these positions. None.

I do have to ask myself why as I seem to often stand alone.

Let us skip the crap about loving America. I think we all do.

I grew up in the beginning, middle and end of WWII. I lived through "duck and cover", the cold war and intransigent foes who had no limitation on their acts of espionage against the US, anytime, anywhere.

I honor Roosevelt and Truman.

I volunteered to be in the USArmy ROTC. No scholarship. No support other than the belief that I had an obligation and I wanted to fill it in the best way.

My education as a "soldier", albeit, a kind of soft shouldered one in the Quartermaster Corps, included a healthy dose of belief in the military system, the military point of view and a keen sensitivity that the US does, indeed, have committed enemies who must, at least, be neutralized.

I learned about good intelligence being a ward against some of the horrors of war. The ability to see and hear the enemy or potential enemy's plans, more often than not, could make the difference between winning, or worse, bogging down in endless combat. Indeed, good intel can forestall combat and save lives entirely on its own.

I am for the last, hope for the first and abhor the idea of the second. The bog down.

I am inspired by my father who hated the war but went to serve. He did not have to. He risked his life. He lived, as did we, a terrible period of deprivation and hardship to win WWII. I learned to honor the service of such men.

Yeh, I know, the platitude about honoring but it is empty when the idea is betrayed by soft thinking. The peacenik. The hippie. The person who is happy to sit behind the lines and criticize.

We liberals mock the conservatives who are hawks for war who did not serve their time. Look inward. There are many liberals who dodged the draft, stood back when they found themselves facing the reality of life in the modern world and so on. Armchair critics.

Another thing.

I also have some strong dissonant beliefs about such things as atomic warfare and its horrible necessity. I believe that Harry Truman did the right thing.

Close up, I can say, that if he had not, I would likely be an orphan. Further back, I believe the war would have dragged on and on. The Japanese were a zealous and skillful people.

Dresden? Yes. I respond with "London".

But those are old times, old wars, old conflicts, old enemies.

Here we are now.

Do you think for a minute that Hamas or the remnants of the Bin Laden crowd or, worse, the scary individual actors we have seen come on the battlefield, do we really believe that an "ethical war" or peaceful acts will neutralize them?

I respect people who differ with me on these points. Enough not to stoop to the name calling they indulge in.

The people who think that Snowden is a hero, that Assange is a selfless true believer, that Bradley Manning is a saint, ought to take an aspirin and settle down. They need to become a little more cynical or whatever it is, a little less rabid, and think this through.

Do I trust the government unreservedly? Of course not.

But I do trust FISA and the system of overview.

I am happy to have the questions being raised out there for us all to think about.

But partisan thinking is partisan thinking and I choose not to have someone who has no experience in these things talking for me.

I voted for and support Obama in the belief that when he heard the news in his early days of briefing, he made some good "liberal" judgments about what he heard. So did his people.

I trust my country to make the right choices even when they are "wrong". I vote for America.

There are many many arguments to be made and heard about all of this. Ancillary discussions which lead to twisted paths which are difficult to find in the forest/tree muddle.

I suppose I should also say that, on this and not a lot of other things, I support Feinstein's commitment.

Labels: democratic whack jobs