“It’s 3:30 pm Eastern Standard Time. Do you know where your jounalist are?”

1)Despite Obama, America is still far from being a tyrannical state
2)There’s safeguards in the Constitution to prevent that

For now.

4)The EU will like dissolve or be limited to economic trade

There’s no reason to believe that. Why do you? If the Lisbon Treaty passes next October (and it likely will) the EU will have even more power over its 27 members.

7)Plato’s Republic is a dry, boring read and his views outdated.

It’s not outdated. On the contrary, his description of democratic man and democratic society in Book VIII reads like a description of modern liberal society. I’m surprised anyone would call Plato dry and boring considering how insightful he is.

This ignores the fact that most people want freedom and to live in a democracy.

It’s not a fact and you can’t possibly know that it is. Communists have won elections in South Africa, Nepal and Nicaragua. Muslims are commanded by their religion to adopt Mohammed’s political system, sharia. Read the Constitution of Iraq.

People living in countries ruled by dictatorships or fascist regimes (as in Islamic or communist nations) simply need assistance from us to establishing democracy and they’ll do the rest of the work.

Some peoples maybe, not all.

That’s a baseless claim not worthy of being taken seriously.

You yourself espoused a desire for a global revolutionary policy of spreading freedom and democracy where tyranny exists anywhere in the world. Irving Kristol has been called the godfather of neoconservatism and is an ex-Trotskyist by his own admission.

thinkagain on July 13, 2009 at 12:46 PM

Correcting a line from Ayn Rand’s quote, which should’ve read:

“Whether a free nation chooses to do so or not is a matter of its own self-interest, not of respect for the non-existent “rights” of gang rulers.”

You’ve got to be kidding. That’s impossible. As Plato explains in The Republic democracies at their most advanced stage degenerate into tyrannies. We can see that happening now with Obama’s America and the European Union.

Your statement is wrong on a number of accounts:

1)Despite Obama, America is still far from being a tyrannical state
2)There’s safeguards in the Constitution to prevent that
3)Current democracies have been free/successful for a long time
4)The EU will like dissolve or be limited to economic trade
5)Democracies destroyed fascism/communism in many countries
6)Democracies offer the greatest individual freedom/prosperity
7)Plato’s Republic is a dry, boring read and his views outdated. lol

For all free nations to exert themselves until the end of time in trying establish democracy in foreign clime would be as laborious as trying to spread Communism all over the world.

This ignores the fact that most people want freedom and to live in a democracy. The US/West is the envy of much of the world. People living in countries ruled by dictatorships or fascist regimes (as in Islamic or communist nations) simply need assistance from us to establishing democracy and they’ll do the rest of the work.

That assistance could include military help to overthrow their illegitimate thug regimes and also provide resources/intelligence to help them establish their democratic institutions. Something akin to Iraq today, but we should’ve went further and abolished theocratic rule (which will inevitably cause Iraq to degenerate into tyranny again).

So this does not require massive cost and effort on our part to spread democracy across the globe. All we need is the confidence to know our socioeconomic system is superior and find partners in other nations to help them democratize their nation.

It’s no coincidence that most neoconservative intellectuals are former Trotskyists. They’ve turned the U.S. into their own personal Comintern.

aengus on July 13, 2009 at 10:25 AM

That’s a baseless claim not worthy of being taken seriously. I’ll leave you with this quote:

‘Dictatorship nations are outlaws. Any free nation had the right to invade Nazi Germany and, today, has the right to invade Soviet Russia, Cuba or any other slave pen. Whether a free nation chooses to do so or not is a matter of its own self-interest, not of respect for the non-existent of gang rulers. It is not a free nation’s duty to liberate other nations at the price of self-sacrifice, but a free nation has the right to do it, when and if it so chooses.’ -Ayn Rand

Will no one rid me of this troublesome cleric?

Figures! Our Ace reporters in the MSM are doing a bang-up job again! these tool have been asleep at the switch for over 2yrs now.

This is what’s getting me. You would think Andrew Breitbart would have something up on Drudge about this. By sheer odds, someone should have something. So far, I have only found three websites, all blogs, that mention this.I would like conformation from some other site, preferably a news orginization. I pray this is correct, but since I don’t read Farsi, I am still skeptical.

Like who?

Well I don’t keep a list or anything but off the top of my head: Irving Kristol, Gertrude Himmelfarb and Christopher Hitchens. If we were to generalise and say former liberal/leftist then basically all of them. Admittedly ome neoconservatives are former Cold War liberals in the Truman/JFK vein.

Maybe we should “meddle.” Sub rosa, of course.

coldwarrior on July 13, 2009 at 9:41 AM

Isn’t it… interesting… that for years the Bush admin had millions of dollars a year going to promote Democracy in Iran… mainly used for pro American media…

and Bambi cut that this year…

And now, when it could really do some good, its not in place?

Why does your second paragraph necessarily follow the first?

JD,

thinkagain said “that it is the duty of free nations to eliminate tyranny and evil anywhere in the world.” [emphasis added] That is hardly possible. Islam by itself is a permanent bulwark against a global democratic utopia.

Perhaps the exhaustion of democracy in mature societies requires that some new place be fertile ground for it.

Yes, I suppose so.

Its too wonderful.

no religious merit…

That block of text is the pin coming out of an atomic grenade. Pretty much he just described every muslim theocracy. Thats how they rule.

The consequences of this fatwa may be far greater than anyone suspects.

BigRichardSmall on July 13, 2009 at 10:14 AM

Figures! Our Ace reporters in the MSM are doing a bang-up job again! these tool have been asleep at the switch for over 2yrs now.

It’s no coincidence that most neoconservative intellectuals are former Trotskyists. They’ve turned the U.S. into their own personal Comintern.

aengus on July 13, 2009 at 10:25 AM

Like who?

Mr. D on July 13, 2009 at 9:33 AM

Bingo! This is dead on, he is the most venerated figure in Shi’ia Islam. He is Iranian and an alumni outta Qom.

How Iran plays out will have ramifications throughout the region, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria & Gaza. Sistani’s creds carry weight and have affect in all.

You’ve got to be kidding. That’s impossible. As Plato explains in The Republic democracies at their most advanced stage degenerate into tyrannies. We can see that happening now with Obama’s America and the European Union.

For all free nations to exert themselves until the end of time in trying establish democracy in foreign clime would be as laborious as trying to spread Communism all over the world.

Why does your second paragraph necessarily follow the first? Perhaps the exhaustion of democracy in mature societies requires that some new place be fertile ground for it. England passes the torch of W. civ to US. We better pass it to somebody before we succumb.

“In the event of a breach of any article of the contract between the two sides – namely [the contract] between the position holder and the people, who appointed him – the people may remove the position holder from his post.”

This doesn’t sound the same, but it’s a pretty strong declaration of the natural rights of man. Montazeri is basically saying that government operates only through the consent of the governed, and that a government who breaches the social contract is illegetimate.

So much for the whole “Arabs are incapable of grasping liberty” theory.

Would that our American legislators displayed a similar understanding of our God-given rights.

Personally I’m of the view that it is the duty of free nations to eliminate tyranny and evil anywhere in the world. We shouldn’t be spectators in life-we as a nation should work to spread freedom and democracy.

You’ve got to be kidding. That’s impossible. As Plato explains in The Republic democracies at their most advanced stage degenerate into tyrannies. We can see that happening now with Obama’s America and the European Union.

For all free nations to exert themselves until the end of time in trying establish democracy in foreign clime would be as laborious as trying to spread Communism all over the world.

It’s no coincidence that most neoconservative intellectuals are former Trotskyists. They’ve turned the U.S. into their own personal Comintern.

It’s not like the Cath. church. There’s no Pope. There are competing authorities, as in Judaism. Frankly, that’s why there are Shi’a and Sunni. (same as Protestants and Catholics)

JiangxiDad on July 13, 2009 at 10:00 AM

Makes sense…