WELL: The next 48 hours or so are going to be huge. I don't mean to understate here--I doubt overstatement is even possible. This is getting-into-WWII big. I don't think it to be hyperbolic in the slightest to say that the coming war in Iraq (if it comes) will have decisive, long-lasting ramifications. But you all know this.
What I really see coming is a tremendous opportunity for a resurgence of Liberal politics (something I assume everyone who reads this has some interest in)--even a potential renewal for Radical thought and action. The keys to overturning the New Left--critical if anything is to be done--will come from reasoned, personalized debate (not from mass politics--there will be no demonstrations); from a responsible conception of the uses of power (both to strengthen political rights domestically and internationally); most importantly, from an increased respect for the material and spirtual needs of all people, understood without condescention.
"Thou shalt not extinguish thine anger, but shall master it,
that thy conscience may not be blunted by adjustment
to wrong causes."
-The Dutch Ten Commandments to Foil the Nazis
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