I’m a big fan of the Dennis Prager show and listen to it whenever I can. This morning he had a caller from a supposed Republican who is gonna vote Democrat because he is angry about Iraq. Nevermind the fact that the caller had all the Democratic talking points down pat which makes me a bit suspicious.
The answer given by Dennis is superb and definitely one that you will be interested in hearing.
Here is the transcript: (audio here)
Dennis – Bruce in Long Beach California, welcome to the Dennis Prager show.
Bruce – Hey Dennis, always a pleasure.
Dennis – Thank you.
Bruce – Listen, I’m a Republican but I’m one of those who is voting Democratic for Congress and Senate this year because of the war. I mean my feeling is that the President can’t even admit that his information was wrong. That’s not a matter of lying. What was a war against, what I thought was a war against nuclear weapons has turned into a war against Islamic extremists. You know, I do hate Islamic extremists, like everyone else.
Crosstalk
Dennis – Bruce, I just want to tell you a very interesting thing. What was a war to preserve the union turned into a war against slavery. Do you hold that against Lincoln?
Bruce – I don’t see a parallel but I…
Dennis – There is a total parallel. Wars frequently add goals as time goes on.
Bruce – But this subtracted a goal. I mean would you have supported the war had there been no nuclear threat?
Dennis – Well, he didn’t say nuclear, he said weapons of mass destruction.
Bruce – I correct myself, I do mean nuclear.
Dennis – Yeah, but, he didn’t say nuclear. He said weapons of…there are weapons of mass destruction that are not nuclear.
Bruce – Your talking nerve gas and…
Dennis – Yes, exactly. And that’s what I thought, in fact that’s what I always assumed that he talking about in addition because of what turned out to be true that Iraq was seeking enriched uranium from the African country of Niger.
Bruce – Was seeking tho…
Dennis – Yes, your right, but because the man had used those things and he refused unlimited searches by the UN, the vast majority of Democrats as well as Republicans believed that the man was engaged in the production of weapons of mass destruction and had the value system that would have enabled him to use it.
Bruce – Then do you favor a military incursion into North Korea?
Dennis – Wait, wait…the fact that one is in favor of the removal of regime A doesn’t mean one is for the removal of all regimes, I live in a real world. And I know that there are costs that may, there is a cost benefit analysis you have to make. And in the cost benefit analysis, vis-à-vis Iraq, with the hindsight of history, one could make a good case that we should not have gone into Iraq.
Bruce – So what do we do now?
Dennis – But that’s very different then how your voting. What we do now bothers me less then the fact that you would vote Democrat and undermine every other value, or most other values you believe in, cause your annoyed about the war.
Bruce – Well, I’m more then annoyed, I’m worried about more people dying there.
Dennis – Yeah, but more people will die if the Democrats take over. The Democrats are not going to leave if they, first of all they don’t have the power to because, you see, if you tell me your going to vote Presidentially for Democrat in the 2008 election because the Democrat promises to remove troops immediately and you support that, ok, I could respect that view even if I don’t share it.
But your not doing that. Your voting to change Congress. It’s not going to change anything with regard to Iraq.
Bruce – Can’t Congress cut funding?
Dennis – Yeah, but it won’t have the ability to do so. Believe me there are enough Democrats who believe we should not leave tomorrow. It won’t happen. So you are undermining everything, if indeed you are a lifelong Republican or whatever, 20 year Republican, your undermining everything else you care about in America over anger over this war.
Bruce – Well, I do admit its from anger.
Dennis – Your right, ok, God bless you, God bless you, and I mean that. That’s honest, you know I crave honesty.
So my dear friends, I have to tell you, this is the battle that we all wage with ourselves in our lives, in all areas. Do we allow feelings to dominate our mind. There is a mind/brain tension in all of us. Brain is the primitive animal brain, the mind is the God given ability to say to the brain “I know your angry, but you can’t act on your anger….you must act on your mind.
There is so much, if you are a Republican, there is so much that will be undermined in this country that you dearly believe in, that you can’t do that.
What message, do you think the message about Iraq will be sent? What message? The message that will be sent to the Democrats….Hey! For all of our irresponsible positions we have taken we are not punished, we are rewarded. For opposing the Patriot Act, and for opposing the voting registration ID that I just talked about, and for being for race based affirmative action of colleges that so hurt young African-Americans, and for God knows how many other principals, let alone of course tax and spend. For our desire to see the redefinition or at least stand by as marriage is redefined, but because I’m angry with the President over Iraq I’m gonna put that other party into power.
I don’t understand it.
Well, I take it back. I want to be very precise. I do understand. It is anger determining, as a rule I don’t recall in my lifetime when I have allowed my anger to determine my behavior that I was happy about it when I calmed down. I do not recall.
Anger is a staggeringly powerful emotion. It’s as powerful perhaps as love. And it can thwart the mind of the decent.
Dennis, as always, the honesty broker when it comes to these kind of issues.
I do not agree with Dennis on one point though. I do not believe a case can be made that we should not have gone into Iraq. Actually the cost/benefit analysis is much better then any other war. We removed a dangerous tyrant who was thumbing his nose at the world all the while trying to restart his WMD program (as the Saddam Documents show), who supported terrorists in a post 9/11 world, all the while losing under 3,000 soldiers.
Every soldier life lost is sad and upsetting. But look at the casuality rate of any other conflict and the number we have lost is astonishingly low. We have brought Democracy to the center of a region that has always been a threat to us, due to the fanatical regimes. Millions are free and a threat to our safety has been eliminated. The war has caused Al-Qaeda to travel there instead of our shores.
Put all of those things into a cost/benefit analysis and it looks damn good.
But other then that, Dennis was right on.
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