For some reason that I cannot ascertain, cursedby11 wrote:The way I see it, the earth is like a teenager's pimpled face.... by suppressing a war here, another one will pop-up somewhere else.

But then, whiskerando in response wrote:i don't think that is how acne works.

This response is so beautiful and perfect as to make me laugh very much and almost to cry.

There could not have been another answer. Such beautiful work, whiskerando.

Such beautiful work, whiskerando.

grazie.

cursedby11 wrote:

It's a tired analogy, but it holds true, that responding to 9/11 by attacking Iraq is like responding to Pearl Harbor by attacking Mexico.

I guess we should have stayed out of WW2 then, just like we should be staying out of the middle east right?

No, you missed it. We were right to fight WW2 because it was a war that was started against us. We would have been wrong to invade Mexico, because they didn't start a war against us. We were wrong to invade Iraq because they didn't start a war against us. It's not complicated.

Plenty of positive changes have been wrought in this country and elsewhere by people who stood up, by themselves or in groups, and did some of the very activities you belittle. If you don't want to participate, fine. I don't participate as much as I could myself. But your cynicism isn't supported by the facts.

fair enough, but people should strategize a new way to impose their ideas on the US. It doesn't seem to be working does it?

If you compare the laws of the US today to those of, say, 150 years ago, things are, for the most part, better today. So, I guess I would say that yes, it is working.

There will always be wars as long as people disagree. The way I see it, the earth is like a teenager's pimpled face.... by suppressing a war here, another one will pop-up somewhere else. That's why socialism doesn't work.

Socialism doesn't work? Please alert Canada and most of Europe. I mean, they've got their problems - who doesn't? - but they seem to be doing pretty well for themselves. Also, please alert my grandparents and every other senior who would have either starved to death or died of treatable illness were it not for the traces of Socialism that we've allowed into this country. Also alert my in-laws, and everybody else who relies for their well-being on the fact that, nearly a century ago, a bunch of starry-eyed idealists decided that organized labor was something worth dying (yes, dying) for.

The world will continue in this international anarchistic state until it ends; That's reality.

That's a prediction. Saying "the future will be like the past because it always has been before" is a circular argument. Note - I'm not saying your prediction is wrong; I'm saying we can't know.

Bradley R. Weissenberger wrote:

For some reason that I cannot ascertain, cursedby11 wrote:The way I see it, the earth is like a teenager's pimpled face.... by suppressing a war here, another one will pop-up somewhere else.

But then, whiskerando in response wrote:i don't think that is how acne works.

This response is so beautiful and perfect as to make me laugh very much and almost to cry.

There could not have been another answer. Such beautiful work, whiskerando.

Sentasi, sentasi! Having read the perfect response by whiskerando, I was completely unable to address this surrealistic analogy myself. Salut!

Linus Van Pelt wrote:We were right to fight WW2 because it was a war that was started against us. We would have been wrong to invade Mexico, because they didn't start a war against us.

I would go see a band called The Zimmerman Note.

Yes, I would.

Since people don't know the pimple expression i'll rephrase by saying "If you pop a pimple here, being a hormone crazed teenager as you are, another pimple is bound to appear." Sorry for the confusion. And you all think war can be eliminated from the world all together huh?

No, you missed it. We were right to fight WW2 because it was a war that was started against us. We would have been wrong to invade Mexico, because they didn't start a war against us. We were wrong to invade Iraq because they didn't start a war against us. It's not complicated.

You missed my point, Japan attacked us, we initially went after the Nazi party. We didn't exactly go after our attackers then either.

Japan attacked us, we initially went after the Nazi party. We didn't exactly go after our attackers then either.

They were allies in a declared war against us(among others.) Iraq and al Qaeda were not in league, by most accounts they were of contrary opinions as to how things in the world should progress.

hussein was and is an asshole, just about everybody who wasn't him or his sons is better off for his absence but going after Iraq after september 11 was like worrying about drowning while you're being chased by a shark. to carry this analogy, we had bigger fish to fry and still do, we went to afghanistan, things seem to be improving there. we should continue to work there and continue to dismantle al Qaeda, a task which is much harder while carrying on a full-scale military operation in Iraq.

Bradley R. Weissenberger wrote:

Linus Van Pelt wrote:We were right to fight WW2 because it was a war that was started against us. We would have been wrong to invade Mexico, because they didn't start a war against us.

I would go see a band called The Zimmerman Note.

Yes, I would.

I would too, if it weren't a metal band, which it is, so I wouldn't.

I'm not sure if you scored a hit there, Bradley, as I'm not sure what bearing the Zimmerman telegram of 1917 had on World War II. I picked Mexico as "random country not allied with Japan as of December 1941". Mexico may have been a bad choice for the analogy; how about Outer Mongolia?

Socialism doesn't work? Please alert Canada and most of Europe. I mean, they've got their problems - who doesn't? - but they seem to be doing pretty well for themselves.

Europe seems to be doing fine......... they also seem to have an employment rate of about 12-13%.

cursedby11 wrote:Since people don't know the pimple expression i'll rephrase by saying "If you pop a pimple here, being a hormone crazed teenager as you are, another pimple is bound to appear." Sorry for the confusion. And you all think war can be eliminated from the world all together huh?

I don't recall anyone saying anything to suggest that this was likely. But would you interpret Christ's "The poor will always be with you" as an excuse not to try to alleviate poverty? I feel that war will probably (but not necessarily) always be with us, but I don't think that's an excuse to not oppose warmongers.

No, you missed it. We were right to fight WW2 because it was a war that was started against us. We would have been wrong to invade Mexico, because they didn't start a war against us. We were wrong to invade Iraq because they didn't start a war against us. It's not complicated.

You missed my point, Japan attacked us, we initially went after the Nazi party. We didn't exactly go after our attackers then either.

What whiskerando said.