I have a problem when it comes to a debate between Gergen and Bill Kristol. Gergen seems to have no political principles at all, and no discernable intelligence, but I'm still upset with Kristol for his sycophantic support of John McCain (and I'm even more perplexed by his recent bellicose stance, which seems to be so at odds with that, though it could be because he's Jewish).

Anyway, they're on Greta's show, debating the appropriate tactics for the Mideast.

Gergen is taking the typical media idiotarian viewpoint that we have to resolve the situation in Israel/Palestine before we can take on Saddam. Worse, he ridicules the notion that installing a democratic regime in Iraq will improve things--he thinks that it will raise a new generation of terrorists. He said "this notion that winning will make us popular is ridiculous..." (quote from memory, but it's essentially correct). As I said, idiot.

David, remember the weeks before we started the campaign in Afghanistan? Remember all the marches in the streets of Peshawar, with the crowd waving posters of bin Laden and Bert? Now, do you remember what happened to all of those crowds when the Taliban collapsed like tissue paper, and the Afghan people started playing music, and flying kites, and stopped pulling their women's fingernails because they had some color on them?

Kristol has it right, as I've said in the past. Israel is just another front in our war with Wahhabism and fascistic Arab nationalism. To allow ourselves to be distracted by what's going on there right now, waiting for a "peace process" that will never occur while the Arab world is funding Arafat, is pointless and delusionary. The Israelis are our allies, and they can handle that front just fine, as long as we let them.

As idiotarians have said, we must seek out "root causes." Not poverty. Not Israeli "aggression." Not McDonalds and Britney Spears. The root cause is an evangelistic and fanatical hatred of our religion, our culture, and our freedom. Those that promulgate it must be defeated, and to do so will not "create another generation of terrorists." It will create the first generation of people in that part of the world who will appreciate the opportunity to live in the twenty-first, rather than the twelfth century.

Bravo! Well said sir.

You can't say that Kristol is hawkish on Israel because he's Jewish. In fact, Kristol's been taking a pretty soft line on the whole situation until recently. He was also until-recently convinced that Bush's demands for an Israeli retreat were all for show. I've had a lot of fun pointing out his flip-flops in several recent posts over at my site.

re."Presidents" on the History Channel: "Ronald Reagan"--
David Gergen when asked what he thought of Reagans's presidency, Gergen the milque-toast of all the administrations he served under, stated that Ronald Reagan was "not the brightest".... I just about about convulsed. I have wondered how it is that so many presidents hired him. He is as capable of saying nothing as any person in politics that I ever watched on tv. I am glad that Harvard has him--he will be in no danger of communicating at all as he has no opinions at all--except this one opinion to put in his portfolio after all these years--and I guess he might be right. Reagan did hire him. No bright person would hire a man who is capable of having made no statements of significance nor of having a single opinion in a lifetime of public service.What an insulting thing to do on a program like Biography.What a place for a guy his age to display to the whole viewing public what kind of man David Gergen is and has been all this time.