Friday, May 26, 2006
Small Talk
I've been receiving a newsletter from a company named Smalldog.com. They sell Mac stuff — I purchased an item a long time ago from them. There was always something off-putting about this “happy face” company — a manipulative cutesy commercialism that most beseiged consumers recognize easily and disdain. They are dog lovers so you are supposed to like them and buy stuff from them. The logic escapes me.
The merry crew at Smalldog had in their recent newsletter of Mac related information a gratuitous political rant (if you go to the latter forum link, check out the cogent reply posted at the bottom of the page).
If you aren't interested in the details, the rant boils down to the moral equivalence argument: Israel, the US, presumably any democracy, is the same as Iran, North Korea — why should we have nuclear weapons when they can't? The US is hypocritical. We should deplete our arsenal — that's Don Mayer's answer. Also as usual, the logic is identical to that of the enemies of the US and Israel. The rant then devolves into the usual sanctimony about nuclear disarmament with the predictable callous disregard for details and realities.
Here are some comments about the bloviations of Don Mayer at Smalldog.com…
Don Mayer wrote:
…in the Middle East we have an undeclared nuclear power in Israel. I completely understand how some might look at our stand with regard to Israel's nuclear weapons and contrast that with our stance versus the Iranian nuclear development program and wonder about the consistency of our moral pronouncements. I understand that Israel's very right to exist is still in play, but turning a blind eye to their nuclear weapons in the Middle East while ramping up for confrontation with Iran over these same weapons is difficult to fathom.
It really isn't difficult to fathom at all. Trying to deflect criticism by the disingenuous use of the word “understanding” is equally transparent. Here is what Don doesn't understand: Israel is a deeply egalitarian democracy fighting for its survival. Iran is a theocratic dictatorship whose leaders are redolent with the hatemongering of mid-20th century Europe.
… An isolated North Korea sees nuclear weapons as essential to their security, an embattled Israel likewise sees defense of their country demanding a nuclear arsenal. I can name a dozen other countries that may soon feel that their are compelling reasons to make a bomb, countries such as Brazil, Venezuela, Turkey, or Saudi Arabia.
Moral equivalence and moral retardation are cousins. Because a country sees “compelling reasons” doesn't mean you have to buy those reasons, or ignore the nature of the regime. Israel is surrounded by dictatorships deflecting from their illegitimacy by targeting Israel. Poor “isolated North Korea …likewise sees defense…”?
…mass destruction from falling into the hands of terrorists and yet the only weapons of mass destruction used or discovered in the [Iraq] war were our own. We talk about Iran destabilizing the Middle East and the administration floats the notion of using nuclear weapons to destroy Iran's nuclear weapons. That is the height of hypocrisy…
Bill Clinton bombed Iraq because of their efforts to develop nuclear weapons. (“Significant issues regarding Saddam's nuclear-weapons program remain unresolved…prudent assumption for the IAEA should be that Iraq's nuclear weaponization program continues, and that Iraq may now lack only the fissile material.”) Iran has stated it wants to destroy Israel. Iran has expressed its hate of America; Iran has been identified as the world leader of state sponsored terrorism. Shocker — we want to destroy Iran's weapons before they can use them — Iran's stated intention.
Our policy should be to create a world free of nuclear weapons and we should be setting the example by taking the first step and dramatically reducing our insane stockpile of nuclear weapons.
Let us applaud Don Mayer — he is for mom and apple pie. I'm not sure how that supports sanctimonious platitudes unrelated to the issues, or preening “goodness”. The world a better place if democracies didn't have nuclear weapons? The world a better place if democracies don't act to prevent terror states from acquiring instruments of mass murder? Iran shocked into pacifism by a step-down of the arsenals of democracies?