tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8776899.post4105769709006654934..comments2024-03-06T03:15:58.539-05:00Comments on <b>THE NEW REFORM CLUB</b>: Pacifism Against A Sinful PeaceHunter Bakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14961831404331998743noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8776899.post-8685552782134251882016-03-03T18:23:01.011-05:002016-03-03T18:23:01.011-05:00The process produced the candidates, so disliking ...<i>The process produced the candidates, so disliking the nominees is also an expression of dislike for a process that can produce such candidates.</i><br /><br />That invalidates the process by definition since the process will invariably produce someone you don't like.Tom Van Dykehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8776899.post-59963753633985243702016-03-03T11:36:40.207-05:002016-03-03T11:36:40.207-05:00I am not aware of any formal objections to Trump&#...I am not aware of any formal objections to Trump's candidacy, or Clinton's -- unless, that is, she is convicted for her wrongdoing as secretary of state. Their repugnancy is not equivalent to invalidity. The threat is not that they would hold office merely, but that they propose to use it for evil ends. <br /><br />That said, I am genuinely at a loss over which is worse. In absolute terms, Trump might be less bad on the two issues that matter most to me -- abortion and judges. But the signaling effect cannot be ignored: four or eight years of a "Republican" president talking about the "great work" done by baby-part suppliers risks permanently losing the cause of life as any credible part of the party's platform. Likewise, adding hundreds of pro-eminent-domain, pro-libel-plaintiff, pro-government Trump judges will derail the conservative legal movement's effort to restore the rule of law and originalism to the bench. <br /><br />In both instances, stipulate Hillary's actual policies and appointments would be worse -- but they'd be perfectly predictable. Trump, however, would ruin the GOP brand on two issues where it's made the most headway in the past quarter century. Tim Kowalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02196125161888520769noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8776899.post-27530882986372741732016-03-03T10:34:31.879-05:002016-03-03T10:34:31.879-05:00The process produced the candidates, so disliking ...The process produced the candidates, so disliking the nominees is also an expression of dislike for a process that can produce such candidates. If the candidates are invalid (and who really wants to argue that either of the Democrat candidates or Trump, the current front-runner, are actually valid candidates) then the process that produced them is, at least in some aspect, invalid. <br /><br />Non-participation in war as a conscientious objector has, to my knowledge, never stopped a war or shortened its duration. But it may have saved the soul of the one who objected. When it comes to objecting on the basis of conscious, the details can, and do, matter. Steve Kellmeyerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07509461318016670424noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8776899.post-63228368139576534492016-03-02T23:30:35.232-05:002016-03-02T23:30:35.232-05:00Contesting the validity of the process needs more ...Contesting the validity of the process needs more than disliking the nominees. For that matter, protesting the validity extends further than merely refraining from voting, but withdrawing from or standing against the entire government. <br /><br />Refraining from voting, or better, voting a third party, can be a meaningful signal. But it is inadequate, by itself, as a means of protesting the process.Tim Kowalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02196125161888520769noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8776899.post-72250229955632575802016-03-02T22:15:29.680-05:002016-03-02T22:15:29.680-05:00Not Athens, Stalingrad.
Given that both president...Not Athens, Stalingrad.<br /><br /><i>Given that both presidential candidates are evil, I am not required to sell out my principles in order to support the most popular of the two.</i><br /><br />Then you use Stalin to stop Hitler. It's not a perfect solution, but neither is doing nothing.<br /><br /><i>"The death of Churchill is a healthy reminder to academic students of political science of their limitations, the limitations of their craft.<br /><br />The tyrant stood at the pinnacle of his power. The contrast between the indomitable and magnanimous statesman and the insane tyrant—this spectacle in its clear simplicity was one of the greatest lessons which men can learn, at any time.<br /><br />No less enlightening is the lesson conveyed by Churchill’s failure which is too great to be called tragedy. I mean the fact that Churchill’s heroic action on behalf of human freedom against Hitler only contributed, through no fault of Churchill’s, to increase the threat to freedom which is posed by Stalin or his successors. Churchill did the utmost that a man could do to counter that threat—publicly and most visibly in Greece and in Fulton, Missouri. Not a whit less important than his deeds and speeches are his writings, above all his Marlborough—the greatest historical work written in our century, an inexhaustible mine of political wisdom and understanding, which should be required reading for every student of political science.<br /><br />The death of Churchill reminds us of the limitations of our craft, and therewith of our duty. We have no higher duty, and no more pressing duty, than to remind ourselves and our students, of political greatness, human greatness, of the peaks of human excellence. For we are supposed to train ourselves and others in seeing things as they are, and this means above all in seeing their greatness and their misery, their excellence and their vileness, their nobility and their triumphs, and therefore never to mistake mediocrity, however brilliant, for true greatness."</i><br /><br />http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2015/01/leo-strauss-on-the-death-of-churchill.php<br /><br />And then, some 25 years after Churchill's death, the Soviet Union fell as well. Hey, you muddle through.Tom Van Dykehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.com