I beg your pardon? I think my pidgeonholing you would be exactly what you are doing WRT to "the Left": wrong.
You listed your points of argument. Here are my reactions. Please note how they may differ from the Berkeley faculty you write about with such distaste:
1. Blame us: The people who were injured and died on the eleventh of September are innocents. The 19 Islamic terrorists, those who aided them, and the extremist culture from which they spring are to blame.
2. It's oil and capitalism: IMO, there's nothing wrong with capitalism. However, to refuse to look at how the US uses its considerable might in order to fullfill our need for oil is to ignore the circumstances which may well have contributed to the rise of Islamic extremism. Do I think we should seriously try to reduce our use of oil? Yes. Do I think we should use our own oil reserves in Alaska? Yes.
3. Look at the reasons we are hated in the Islamic world: Sure, why not? Is it not important to know our enemy? Perhaps if we had given more credence to bin Laden's escalating screeds in the six months prior to the attack, we could have avoided some or all of the damage done and lives lost.
4. Let's quit supporting Israel: I've felt for some time that we need to re-examine the depth of our financial and diplomatic support of Israel. Subsrcibing to the "Palestinians bad, Israelis good" view does not to justice to the complicated nature of the situation there, particularly if we position ourselves as the Emcee of the peace process in the region.
No, it's not that I don't like your posts. I do disagree with them, but I'm frustrated by your making statements and backing them up with more personal opinion rather than facts. And I find the diatribes about the Berkeley faculty to be tiresome, outdated, and of little import to this thread.
As to whether I can answer your posts logically, you may remember that I wrote in my last post to you a few days ago that there are indications that the political feelings of college students is shifting, due to increased interest in working for the FBI and CIA. I heard nothing from you which was responsive to that information.
you want Faultline to ban my posts. Why don't you just call my posts "Hate Speech"? That is the method used to get rid of opposing points of view on campus today.
Where did you get the impression that I wanted Faultline to ban your posts?
Where did you get the impression that I consider your posts "hate speech".
I am a middle aged lady long past my college years, trying very hard to make my point to you that your characterization of my views, and those of many liberals, is incorrect. You are jumping to unfounded conclusions and making disparaging characterizations about me which are out of line. |
