Katrina Vanden Heuvel Attacks Bill Kristrol on Iraq War: ‘If You Feel So Strongly(TRANSCRIPT)

FULL TITLE: Katrina Vanden Heuvel Attacks Bill Kristrol on Iraq War: ‘If You Feel So Strongly...Enlist In The Iraqi Army’

Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor of the liberal The Nation magazine, did her best to attack Bill Kristol, editor of the conservative Weekly Standard magazine, over his continued support for the Iraq war and the need to take action to stop the increasing violence in the region.

KATRINA VANDEN HEUVEL: You do need a legislative branch which asserts its authority. And it’s not to say that one doesn't have problem with executive authority when it comes to drones or NSA surveillance. But the balance is out. The balance is off. For example, the president should go to Congress if he's going to take military action in Iraq. And that was a part of your interview. And I think we're siting here at a moment George where we’re talking about John Boehner. But the central question of war and peace for this country.

There is no military solution to Iraq. And I have to say, sitting next to Bill Kristol, man, I mean, the architects of catastrophe that have cost this country trillions of dollars, thousands of lives, there should be accountability. We should not, if there are no regrets for the failed assumptions that have so grievously wounded this nation, I don't know what happened to our politics and media accountability.

“..and if you feel so strongly about curing cancer, you should go to medical school and become a doctor, and if you feel so strongly about education, you should become a teacher, and if you feel so strongly about high crime, you should become a policeman, and if...”

Sheesh, lady. It’s the kind of argument we expect from a middle-schooler, not a nationally broadcast”commentator”.

So using her own reasoning, Ms. V.D. Heuvel could be called an "armchair abortion rights advocate", right? (At least, I am assuming that she has never either performed or undergone an abortion, but I could be wrong).

I would love to see a comeback like that anytime someone uses the ridiculous phrase "armchair warrior". And yes, it is ridiculous, since being a "warrior" is not something which someone just wakes up one day and decides to do. It is a calling and a commitment, no less than deciding to become a doctor because you either want to heal the sick, deliver babies, or, perhaps, provide give women abortions.

So, Ms. V.D. Heuvel, with all due respect (another ludicrous phrase because what follows is always disrespectful and degrading), if you feel so strongly about abortion rights, then why didn't you enroll a long time ago into a medical school so that you could help women to terminate the lives of their unborn children?

Clearly, not everyone has what it takes to be a warrior or a doctor. And the arguments put forth from people like either Kristol and V.D. Heuvel, who have chosen to be media talking heads, need not be supported by calling upon them to make a mid-life career change. For anyone to suggest otherwise is simply inane, and the absurdity of that line of reasoning should be simply called out by putting the shoe on the other foot. Whether we're arguing over war, abortion, labor, immigration. or any other issues, it is simply ridiculous to suggest that those who, by profession, communicate their analysis and opinions o those matters, must defend their conclusions by giving up their career and getting into the trenches with those who are most involved. Like Milton Friedman once said, if you go to a doctor for cancer, would you require that it be a doctor who has cancer?

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