No, F*** YOU!

I don't usually get involved in name-calling, but this is outrageous (via Atrios and Orcinus). Let's see, war veteran, President, builds houses for the homeless, has conducted dozens of elections all over the world, vs. who? Some blogger? Doesn't he work at a bank or something? To claim that Carter is a traitor because you don't like him is really beyond the pale.

I have just finished taking this crap from Republicans. I love my country. I love my country about as much as I love my family. I'm as ardent a nationalist as you can be while still having your head screwed on straight. I grew up off an Air Force Base in the Deep South, for the love of God! I concede not an inch of patriotism to anyone.

In fact, if anybody deserves the term "traitor," it is today's neofascist right. They are the one who is trying to subvert the democracy, who have no respect for the Bill of Rights, and who have no real belief in equality of opportunity. Not enough for you to call them Anti-American? While how about their support for the Confederacy? My friend calls the Confederate Flag the "traitor's flag." Don't you find it interesting that the right has such an affinity for the people who tried to secede from America?

Okay, I feel better. Rant over. On a more substantive note, Instapundit claims that the left is in a quandry because it looks like Bush's gamble in Iraq may pay off. To this I have three replies. First, it remains to be seen if Iraq will succeed. Analysts have been concerned not about the election or how things are while the U.S. is still there. What we are worried about is the outcome when we leave. Will Iraq become an Iranian client state? Will another dictator emerge? Will there will a civil war? Will the Kurds secede, sparking a war with out NATO ally Turkey?

Second, just because a gamble succeeds doesn't mean that it was a good idea to make it. We don't praise people who bet their children's college fund on a turn of the roulette wheel in Vegas, not even if they win. Some gambles are simply not worth taking.

In Iraq, there were no weapons of mass destruction and no links to terrorism, and Saddam Hussein was safely contained. The invasion has resulted in the deaths of thousands of civilians and gravely compromised America's standing in the world. Sorry guys, but even if Iraq turns out well (which I still doubt), it still wasn't worth it. If it does, that's great, but we still should never have done it.