The Surrender Option - The cry of the Paleo.

National Review Online ^ | 09/12/2001 | John Derbyshire

[E. Pluribus Unum]

[Dr. Thorne]

Go hide in your closet.

[A Navy Vet]

"The paleos are and will continue to be right."

As I've tried to point out to others, THIS AIN'T 1787! Although we've step in some things we shouldn't have, we cannot and must not disengage from the world.

[patlaw_guy]

Ah, yes, National Review, home of the R-flavor War Party for 20+ years! Keep cranking out those editorials equating rational analysis of our foreign policy with "surrender". Maybe some of the sheeple will actually believe it.

[DugwayDuke]

"If Buchanan were president our foreign policy would not be run by a bunch of Zionist neo-cons and the Arab world would have no reason to resent us."

So you would have the United States tuck it's tail and abandon the rest of the world to evil men. Only a coward strikes at defenseless civilians. Those who conducted these strikes, anyone who justifies these strikes, anyone who advocates leaving the world to those who would do such things are evil. Good men everywhere have a responsibility to oppose evil regardless of where it occurs.

We have too many in this forum who would trade the responbility to oppose evil for personal comfort. And, I meant for personal comfort. No matter how much they try to disguise this as ideology, a desire for lower taxes, cheaper oil, or to avoid terrorist attacks - their motivation is their own personal comfort. This is reprehensible, evil, and worthy of condemnation.

[BlueLancer]

"Don't mess with me and I won't mess with you."

Ah, I see ... and that would work ... how? It didn't work back in the times of Thomas Jefferson, when he had to declare war on the Barbary Coast Pirates because they wouldn't leave our shipping alone.

It didn't work during the Quasi-War with France in ... what was it ... 1789? ... 1798? ... when they decided that they just didn't like the fact that we were trading with England.

It didn't work in 1812 when the British decided that they didn't like us trading with France, and when the British Navy decided that they needed the use of our sailores more than we did. So, tell me .. all wise and powerful Oz .. don't you believe that there are people out there who don't like us just because we are Americans? Just because we believe in capitalism? Just because we believe in freedom, liberty, and equality?

If you truly believe that, in the world sandbox, if we play nice all of the others will place nice as well, then it must be very restful in your asylum.

[GreenLanternCorps]

John Derbyshire is right and the Paleos and dead wrong. The United States is the richest most powerful nation in the world. Not because we sought to be but because of the liberties our constitution grants. Because we are so big we will have enemies. The paleos want us to take counsel of our fears and never offend anyone. Never take any action in the world that anybody wouldn't like. Bull****! We are a free republic and have the God given right to help any nation we consider our friend. The paleos on this thread would have us cower behind rocks while the barbarians run rampant over our friends and neighbors. NEVER!!! As a free people we will stand with the other free people in the world, particularly our friends in the UK and Israel against the barbarism of these bast***s who did this.

[Ronnie Radford]

I disagree with you that the US "travel[s] the globe antagonizing other sovereign nations and looking to pick fights."

Our country does make mistakes, and interferes in disputes in a way that is not always helpful, but your characterization is way over the top.

[Myrnick]

oderint dum metuant

Can anyone help me here? "__________ while fearful."

[dighton]

Bump for a good post.

[arcane]

Give 'em hell, Bro. While having foreign agents enter our borders and wreak destruction is distasteful -- I can't fault their targets, the global trade organizations and their lackey interventionist foreign policy enforcers.

[livius]

Thanks, Fury. The odd thing is that liberals and paleos seem to agree on the isolationist thing. All day I've been hearing whining liberal voices saying, "but, oh, you can see why the poor things are justified in being so mad at the big mean nasty US." No, I can't see why they're justified in any way. What I see are a bunch of crazed Islamic fundamentalists who see us as the symbolic and real leader of a way of life that is diametrically opposed to theirs, and will do anything to strike at us. By our very existence, in many ways, we must be an Empire; there's no way for freedom to be a local option. An isolationist Republic would last about 15 minutes against the big totalitarian-filled world.