Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Men are from Mars, Neocons are from Neptune

Yglesias lampoons Steven Hayes for saying that the prisoner release gives the DPRK a "lifeline":
Think about that metaphor. Does Hayes really think that Clinton going to Pyongyang or not is the difference between the DPRK collapsing or not? Why would that be? I suppose this is consistent with the general neocon belief that symbolic, expressive activity on the part of Americans is the key factor in determining events abroad but it seems like a mighty extreme version of it.

My observations have led me to believe that the neocons only have an operative vocabulary of about 200 words, and a successful diplomatic mission by a less-hawkish president makes them sputter all of them. One of Matt's commenters nails it:
Obviously a much better idea would have been to let two American citizens
rot in North Korean labor camps just to teach the government a lesson.

The Man, The Myth, The Bio

East Bay, California, United States
Problem: I have lots of opinions on politics and culture that I need to vent. If I do not do this I will wind up muttering to myself, and that's only like one or two steps away from being a hobo. Solution: I write two blogs. A political blog that has some evident sympathies (pro-Obama, mostly liberal though I dissent on some issues, like guns and trade) and a culture blog that does, well, cultural essays in a more long-form manner. My particular thing is taking overrated things (movies, mostly, but other things too) down a peg and putting underrated things up a peg. I'm sort of the court of last resort, and I tend to focus on more obscure cultural phenomena.