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"Samantha Power’s Power"

Stanley Kurtz’s deranged unhelpfulness in full bloom.

You know, I can remember when Kurtz was a thoughtful and articulate critic of our friends the Democrats’ well-intentioned (though politically misguided) policies. But I guess there’s simply more profit to be made writing rhetorical stinkbombs that — though perhaps based in fact (personally, I remain convinced that facts that make us look kooky are best left unremarked upon) — are nonetheless not the best way forward for those of us rigorous, nuanced thinkers who wish to see the GOP regain power.

So they can govern as neutered proto-Democrats.

But still, go team!

(h/t geoffB)

49 Replies to “"Samantha Power’s Power"”

  1. lg says:

    I’m not sure why you think this is deranged. Makes perfect sense to me.

  2. Jeff G. says:

    I was being ironic.

  3. Blake says:

    lg, a lot of cocktail circuit Republicans get the vapors and faint at the slightest hint of an uncivilized word from conservatives. In this case, uncivilized is defined as “speaking the truth about progressives.” Cocktail R’s consider it “most unhelpful” when a straightforward observation is made about leftists/progressives. Cocktail R’s want to be loved by the media and distance themselves from thoughtful commentary by calling such comments “deranged.”

    Cocktail R’s lead with the smear, hoping to keep in with the “in” crowd. Just wouldn’t due to be stricken from the guest list for all those delightful DC soirées.

  4. LTC John says:

    Nuanced Jeff, nuanced…

  5. Squid says:

    …there’s simply more profit to be made writing rhetorical stinkbombs…

    I always knew all this droning on about language and metanarratives and whatnot was just so much flim-flammery. You’re really after the mad cash. You feeeeelthy joo.

  6. newrouter says:

    “Cocktail R’s consider it “most unhelpful” when a straightforward observation is made about leftists/progressives.”

    here’s an example from jen rubin today on rand paul making baracky eat his words:

    The motion was a petulant one, quoting the president’s words from 2007: “The president does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation.”

    link

  7. Silver Whistle says:

    I look forward to habibis everywhere providing a line-by-line fisking of Kurtz. Have I got time to make a cup of tea?

  8. B. Moe says:

    Is Jen Rubin really that dim?

  9. Squid says:

    The cynic in me says that this way, we make a prominent reminder of the hypocrisy of the “anti-war” Dems, while still claiming that we’re mostly above that sort of thing ourselves.

    The principled part of me reminds me that cynicism is a big part of how we got to be in the mess we’re in.

    The Indian tracker in me says, “What’s this ‘we’ stuff, Kemo Sabe?”

  10. ProfShade says:

    “There is still a well spring of common sense in America and a desire on the part of many who troll the internet for thoughtful writing to choose reading fact based, reasoned dialectic.”

    ummmm…that well-spring is pretty damned polluted, and under strict mangement of the EPA I think.

  11. newrouter says:

    “Cocktail R’s consider it “most unhelpful” when a straightforward observation is made about leftists/progressives.”

    oh here’s another from today from bushguy petey wehner:

    Yesterday Representative Paul Ryan put forth a policy blueprint that is intellectually serious and extremely ambitious. Today we learned that Glenn Beck, about whom I’ve had several things to say in the past (see here and here), will be leaving Fox News before the end of the year. Let’s call it a very good 24 hours for conservatism.

    link

  12. Blake says:

    I’m surprised Wehner didn’t get the vapors and faint when Rep. Ryan was interviewed by Glenn Beck earlier this week.

  13. bastiches says:

    Known RINO and lover of all things blue-statey sends a bouquet to the teacher unions.

  14. newrouter says:

    “I’m surprised Wehner didn’t get the vapors and faint when Rep. Ryan was interviewed by Glenn Beck earlier this week.”

    petey didn’t listen to a previous interview by beck on the radio with ryan where they discussed progg history vis a vis wisconsin.
    it was vulcan mind meld territory. the neoclowns @ commentary are entertaining to read(jen rube included). credentialed rino losers.

  15. AJB says:

    The UN Security Council is basically an extension of US power, and to a lesser extent the UK and France. So it’s not as if Power’s views are that different than, say, your average PNAC petition signer.

    The only difference between neocons and humanitarian interventionists is the rhetoric. It’s “Democracy, Whiskey, Sexy” vs. “Human Rights, Chardonnay, Sophistication.” Different justifications, same damn imperialism.

  16. Jeff G. says:

    The UN Security Council is basically an extension of US power,

    The Council is composed of five permanent members — China, France, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States — and ten non-permament members (with year of term’s end): Bosnia and Herzegovina (2011), Germany (2012), Portugal (2012), Brazil (2011), India (2012), South Africa (2012), Colombia (2012), Lebanon (2011), Gabon (2011), Nigeria (2011).

    The only difference between neocons and humanitarian interventionists is the rhetoric.

    And the plan. And the desire for a specific outcome. And the idea of American exceptionalism. And about a hundred other things.

    But other than that, point well made!

  17. newrouter says:

    “The only difference between neocons and humanitarian interventionists is the rhetoric. It’s “Democracy, Whiskey, Sexy” vs. “Human Rights, Chardonnay, Sophistication.” Different justifications, same damn imperialism.”

    ajb: please it is neoclowns.

  18. newrouter says:

    “And the desire for a specific outcome.”

    well neoclown billy kristol is all for the “freedom agenda” currently running amuck in n africa. me i’m a islamisolationist.

  19. LBascom says:

    That was scary stuff from Kurtz. Presidential adviser. Transnational progressive. Pragmatic radicalism. Post America perspective. Anti-capitalist, Marxist admiring, redistribute the wealth type. Determined to subordinate America’s national sovereignty to an international order.

    Attempting to accustom us to a whole new way of thinking about war, and about America’s place in the world.

    Takes credit for the advice on opening not only a third military front, but one with a whole new mission unrelated to the other two, essentially a new war without any national interest.

    Stop me when I get to treason…

  20. newrouter says:

    “Stop me when I get to treason…”

    cass sunstein’s wife

  21. bh says:

    49.99% of Wisconsinites are just about as fucked up as AJB. Yay.

    (Yes, I do assume the winning margin will come from fraud. Who doesn’t?)

  22. Blake says:

    AJB, why don’t you just admit you’d rather the US Constitution be replaced by the UN charter and the US Congress superseded by a UN council.

    That way, we can dispense with anything else you might have to say.

  23. McGehee says:

    Blake, I’ve been disregarding AJB just because it’s AJB. Nobody told me I needed any other reason.

  24. newrouter says:

    “AJB, why don’t you just admit you’d rather the US Constitution be replaced by the UN charter and the US Congress superseded by a UN council.”

    i’m with ajb on this:

    “The UN Security Council is basically an extension of US power, and to a lesser extent the UK and France. So it’s not as if Power’s views are that different than, say, your average PNAC petition signer.”

    the neoclowns are dangerous. see neoclown bill kristol for more of the “sharia agenda”

  25. newrouter says:

    billy kristol, billy keller neoclown losers. throw in brooksy and jen the rube of wapo name. where’s colon foul?

  26. Jeff G. says:

    Yes. Bill Kristol = Gabon and Colombia and China.

    Next!

  27. newrouter says:

    “Yes. Bill Kristol = Gabon and Colombia and China.”

    over my head on that one but how’s gitmo doing?

    In his “You’ve come a long way, baby” post Monday night, Kristol praised Obama for his address to the American people about the action he took against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. On Wednesday’s “Red Eye” on the Fox News Channel, Kristol took things a step further and declared Obama “a born-again neo-con.”

    Host Greg Gutfeld asked Kristol how he felt about Obama coming to him for help (reportedly the president had met with him and others prior to his Monday night address).

    “He didn’t come to me for help, of course,” Kristol said. “I’m not going to acknowledge that. He came to me to make sure I was supporting his sound policies. Of course, since his sound policies are more like the policies people like me have been advocating for quite a while, I’m happy to support them. He’s a born-again neo-con.”

    link

  28. Jeff G. says:

    Bill Kristol should read Mr Kurtz. Still in all, he isn’t a transnational progressive, and he doesn’t believe we need to get permission from the UN before we act.

    His fault is he’s an optimist.

  29. bh says:

    I assume that Kristol thinks he does more damage to Obama by calling him a fellow neo-con than he would by speaking the truth.

    I don’t agree with that assumption. The left doesn’t care. Obama is not Bush or next week’s media-created monster. That’s good enough for them.

  30. newrouter says:

    “His fault is he’s an optimist.”

    no i would say his “fault” is that his neoclown philosophy dove tails so neatly with a leftist kook like samantha powers.

  31. bh says:

    You’re stealing a base here, nr. How does the neo-con philosophy dovetail with leftist ideology? We can’t just grant that’s true without some evidence.

    Individual neo-cons (to be honest, I’m not even sure who fits in that category half the time) can have their faults, sure, but you’re asserting a good bit more than that.

  32. newrouter says:

    “How does the neo-con philosophy dovetail with leftist ideology? ”

    via beck

    Power generalized from her Balkans experience to become an advocate of American and NATO military intervention in humanitarian crises, a position which became known as being a “humanitarian hawk.” She began to see war as an instrument to achieving her liberal, even radical, values. “The United States must also be prepared to risk the lives of its soldiers” to stop the threat of genocide, she wrote. She condemned Western “appeasement” of dictators. She believed that “the battle to stop genocide has been repeatedly lost in the realm of domestic politics.” In her mind, domestic concerns like discrimination and unemployment were secondary to foreign policy crises, a common attitude in the national security circles she was entering.

    link

  33. Danger says:

    From the Moran link:

    “I can be as hard and as tough on the left as anyone – and I have about 3,000 blog posts to prove it. I’ve even resorted to polemics on occasion – just to show that I can be as unreasoned and illogical as Goldstein or any other right wing blogger out there.”

    The writer equivilant of my Dad is tougher than yours.

    “If Goldstein actually believes that McCain lost because he wasn’t tough enough on Obama, he proves himself not much of a political analyst. Every time McCain went brutally negative – Ayers, socialist, Wright, etc. – his numbers dropped like a stone. Despite what many conservatives might believe, McCain’s team were not a bunch of dummies. They won the nomination for God’s sake. That puts them more than a leg up on the critics accusing them of not being tough enough on the opposition. It bears repeating – slowly for those with a reading comprehension deficit – McCain’s margin of defeat would have been larger if he had gotten “tough” on Obama.”

    Hey Ricky,

    Try checking the poll #s at three points. 1. After the selection of Sarah Palin for V.P. 2. After Gov Palin ripped Obama a new one during her convention speech and 3. The day after tough guy McCain panicked and suspended his campaign to bailout Fannie and Freddie Mac.

  34. newrouter says:

    “just to show that I can be as unreasoned and illogical as Goldstein ”

    terry moran bro’ of abc news says:

    i gotta fit in with the dc “news” clique

  35. bh says:

    Part of the problem here is that “neo-con” is a very loose label, nr. Means different things to different people.

    When I think of a neo-con foreign policy I consider national interest being a top priority. Hence, Iraq wasn’t about oil (though that’s in our national interest) or humanitarian concerns, it was about fears of WMD and democracy promotion to decrease their antipathy to the democratic West.

    So, I don’t see this as a match. Let’s say, in this instance, that Kristol supports the Libyan action in the democracy promotion sense (not that I agree with that, we controlled Iraq from the ground, we don’t control Egypt or Libya)and Powers supports it in the humanitarian sense, does that mean that their philosophy’s match or merely that — in this instance — their recommendations match?

  36. bh says:

    philosophies, not philosophy’s

  37. newrouter says:

    “Powers supports it in the humanitarian sense, does that mean that their philosophy’s match or merely that — in this instance — their recommendations match?”

    the neoclowns “powers/kristal” want to exercise national power. powers does the “lefty” thing kristal the “righty”. they are both wilson proggs using the us gov’t to assert their progg schemes. me eff the muslm world. outside of oil they don’t produce anything except misery.

  38. serr8d says:

    I sauntered into Moran’s Meltdown via your posted linky; checking his later posts, I found this …

    Since this blog has always been an aid to self-examination, I thought I would put to words the utter helplessness I feel about the turn that conservatism has taken and how just now, at the very moment that the United States needs a rational, deliberate response to the radicalism of the Democrats and Obama, the right has flitted off into NeverNever Land on the wings of conspiracy and unreasoning hatred.

    …right above a paragraph where he links Andrew Sullivan.

    I disavow Moran’s claim to conservatism. Or mine, whichever you like. I just know that I’m not like him.

  39. Jeff G. says:

    Yes. Moran is right. This turn conservatism has taken toward demanding the Constitution be followed is irrational and hate filled. And Harry Reid has never done a damn thing to deserve anyone’s animosity. Nor has Barack Obama! Or Nancy Pelosi! And hey, it’s not like Obama ever fell sway to the influences of those who taught him and nurtured him — be that Ayers, or Wright, or the Cooper Union socialists, or the community organizers…

    Why, even suggesting such is the worst kind of unreasoned inference drawing. The facts are a conspiracy theory! And if that’s the case — best to throw out the facts! Lest we look kooky, and Moran despair.

    Ayep.

  40. Pablo says:

    Moran is John Cole with a tie. But at least he can’t lock anybody up, so we can comfort ourselves with that.

  41. newrouter says:

    “I just know that I’m not like him.”

    or brooks, kristal(commentary crowd include jen rube), douhat, or the juice boxers like ezra. what a cabal of eff heads.

  42. newrouter says:

    hey petey wehner i say you. obguy. (obama/bush). eff you’ll

  43. Mike LaRoche says:

    Here’s another bit from Moran’s meltdown:

    Sarah Palin is a master at tapping into the resentment against a changing America whose demographics are getting less white, less rural, and relatively poorer. And more tolerant. In this, the right is being left behind…

    He sounds just like nishi. Good grief, he should just re-name his blog “Leftwing Nuthouse”.

  44. bh says:

    Good catch, Mike.

  45. Jeff G. says:

    Moran is part of a “conservatism” whose demographics are getting less conservative, less classically liberal, and far more intellectually accommodating of big government progressivism. And more “pragmatic.” In this, the inside-the-beltway gang and their blogospheric wannabes are being left behind.

  46. Mike LaRoche says:

    Good catch, Mike.

    Thanks, bh. Kinda sad to see another formerly good blog go bad. I wonder what gets into some people.

    Moran is part of a “conservatism” whose demographics are getting less conservative, less classically liberal, and far more intellectually accommodating of big government progressivism.

    I see a collaborative project with Conor Friedersdorf in his future.

  47. Danger says:

    Also from Moran’s link:

    “Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.”

    Nice to see that he has the courage of his convictions.

  48. Blake says:

    Mike,

    Nice to know Moran is concentrating on the important things like race rather than the trivial issue of the US heading toward the largest financial failure in the history of the world.

Comments are closed.