Balls and Walnuts
more than you ever wanted to know
Friedman’s Op-Ed: Leading by (Bad) Example
Good government and good parenting are not too dissimilar.
Thanks to my dose of the Duggars last night, I’m thinking about child-rearing techniques. Seems to me the most effective technique is to set a proper example for your children*. What are the Duggars teaching their children? The “goodness” of conformity. Yeeech.
Thomas Friedman has written a fine op-ed piece on the Bush Administration’s “do as I say, not as I do” hypocrisy vis a vis Iraq. You can read the full text here, at fbihop. Bottom line: how do we expect to lead the world when the example we set at home is so atrocious?
Okay, folks, I have patients to see. More Duggar goodness later. (Big hair! Ruby lips! Slapstick editing techniques! And more!!!)
D.
*One of the main reasons I’m disappointed that Louisiana or FEMA never tapped me as a volunteer: it would have set a vivid example for my almost-ten-year-old son. I know my willingness to volunteer made some impression on him, but I think the lesson would have been much more memorable if I’d actually done the deed.
K I have to get all foriegn political on you here.
Many, many, MANY, Americans live under the assumption that US federal laws apply when it comes to foreign relations. They don’t. Or if they do it’s some exception clause. Quaint ideals such as democracy and individual rights are a consideration only on US soil.
The US govt also holds itself above world courts (just check out the US’s contempt for the rulings regarding the trade dispute between Canada and the US.) all the while daring to proclaim itself the leader of all that is right, democratic, and good in the world.
I don’t think there’s a single country that has had dealings with the US that hasn’t been screwed. So this problem of ‘do as I say not as I do’, didn’t begin with Bush, not by a long shot.
Iraq was simply so baldfaced, that finally, the American public became aware of how the rest of the world has felt for a very long time about how the US does business.
X
Reminds me of my NiP, Christine. The baddies, who call themselves the Benevolents, are imperialistic jerks. One of their most egregious deals was BAFTA — the Benevolent Almost Free Trade Agreement ;o)