War! What Is It Good for?

by Little Miss Attila on March 21, 2011

Changing the subject–that’s what.

Since the bombing started, I’ve made a mental note to keep my eye out for my Facebook friends to chime in about Libya. I know they’re not bashful about political subjects; every five minutes they post another link to another story about the plight of those poor teachers’ unions in Wisconsin, or poor, poor NPR and the threat from those GOP meanies. So far, since the bombing started on Saturday, I’ve counted a grand total of one post about Libya, and even it was on the subject of missing journalists. I can barely contain my disgust.

Yeah; I know that story. Same experience, same stats. I’ve heard one objection from among my hundreds of lib/left friends. And one halfassed defense. And a whole lot of silence.

The quote is from a reader at Insty‘s place. Reynolds’ own take?

Watching the people who savaged Bush and called his supporters warmongers and so on now faced with watching the Lightbringer doing basically the same thing, only less competently, is too good a pleasure to forego. Sorry.

{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }

ponce March 21, 2011 at 10:03 pm

Put me down for being against the attack on Libya.

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C Before E March 22, 2011 at 6:27 am

Plenty of leftists are openly dismayed by this decision. Andrew Sullivan, James Fallows, and Josh Marshall, to name just a few.

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Bloodaxe March 22, 2011 at 9:05 am

This whole Libyan thing has sure been a surprise to me. Mr. Khadaffi has been the HMFIC in that barren wasteland for 40 years and no one paid much attention to him until recently. Now, all of a sudden he’s the Devil Incarnate and must be removed.
I think this unprovoked attack has taken everyone by surprise and there’s so much else going on- The earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster in Japan, Iraq, Afghanistan, gas prices and little domestic squabbles like the one in Wisconsin- it all adds up to information overload. Its hard to keep track of it all.

We really don’t need another war. And there’s no telling just who these rebels really are. Mr. Khadaffi is a pretty bad apple but what will take his place? That part of the world is famous for its vile leaders. Maybe this time it’ll be different and an Arab version of Mr. Rogers will take over and everyone will live happily ever after.

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richard mcenroe March 22, 2011 at 12:04 pm

Actually we have a pretty good idea who these people are. That region of Libya has been a major exporter of terrorists for Al Qaeda and other groups to Europe for years now. Not exactly a bunch of spirited humanities majors unexpectedly skillful with AK47’s and RPG’s…

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C Before E March 22, 2011 at 9:25 am

I think you’re right. People are baffled by the Libyan sorties. Obama was elected by people who for better or worse did not want actions of this kind. It’s sinking in.

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Texan99 March 22, 2011 at 10:44 am

At FireDogLake (my usual place to test the fever swamp) they’re mostly up in arms about “blood for oil.” Their attitude for a while has been that Mr. Obama is a huge disappointment, really a crypto-Republican. So this Libyan adventure is just more evidence that all he cares about is protecting the oil supplies.

I’m lost in admiration for people whose politics are so pure and distant that they can’t easily distinguish between Dick Cheney and Barack Obama. They’re definitely onto something, though, when they say they can’t quite decipher what the official policy here is supposed to be.

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DaveO March 22, 2011 at 11:14 am

The proof is in whether the folks, who have maintained consistency in their anti-war activism, work for the POTUS’s challenger during this campaign. Right now it’s safe to be liberal and upset with the POTUS. By the end of summer they’ll either be firmly on board Mr. Obama, or destroyed.

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richard mcenroe March 22, 2011 at 12:06 pm

You don’t get it. It doesn’t matter. They are lefties. They can rationalize anything. If they can’t, they compensate by attacking anyone who points it out. They are going to vote for Obama in lockstep.

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