Playtime with Jack
Admittedly the topic of Afghanistan is becoming a bit of the proverbial dead horse, but it continues to weigh heavily on my mind. This is probably because the position of Taliban Jack and his band of merry persons bothers me so. In short, I think he's a fool but at least I can rest assured knowing that the NDP will never come to power in this country.
Without getting into too much detail, I will make one quick observation about the whole inconsistency of what the NDP is proposing. I'm sure most political observers can remember how uppety the Dippers got when Stephen Harper said that they would have another vote on the issue of same-sex marriage. To this we heard much wailing and gnashing of teeth in the way of "we can't have another vote because it's already been decided! You have to respect the will of parliament!"
Now Jack has done the ol' switcheroo. Now he is the one asking, nay demanding, yet another debate and/or vote on whether we should remove our troops from Afghanistan. How convenient for him to ignore the fact that parliament voted to extend the mission into 2009. He's become, although not surprisingly, just another political hypocrite, which has been the very thing he has prided himself and his party on not being.
Granted, I believe that more could be done to clarify a few of the details. But at the same time, can you really plan to the letter just how a military mission will play out? Last I checked, war was unpredictable. Nothing ever goes exactly according to plan in battle simply because people are random. Sure, we have rules and strategies to help bring a little order into chaos but long-term success will come not only from having clear objectives, but by adapting to the continual changes and pressing forward.
It's one thing to raise questions about what we're doing. That's one of the beauties of democracy. But it is becoming increasingly apparent that Jack is doing all this for Jack. No one can argue that the Conservatives are taking their particular stand for a few easy political points. The Tories have taken a stand that they believe is right, something hard to do in many modern democracies. I applaud them for having the guts to stand their ground despite an increasingly frantic and illogical opposition.
Update: Just when I thought he couldn't get any nuttier, comes this little nugget from Layton Land, which I guess is really the happiest place on earth. Hat tip to Daimnation.
Without getting into too much detail, I will make one quick observation about the whole inconsistency of what the NDP is proposing. I'm sure most political observers can remember how uppety the Dippers got when Stephen Harper said that they would have another vote on the issue of same-sex marriage. To this we heard much wailing and gnashing of teeth in the way of "we can't have another vote because it's already been decided! You have to respect the will of parliament!"
Now Jack has done the ol' switcheroo. Now he is the one asking, nay demanding, yet another debate and/or vote on whether we should remove our troops from Afghanistan. How convenient for him to ignore the fact that parliament voted to extend the mission into 2009. He's become, although not surprisingly, just another political hypocrite, which has been the very thing he has prided himself and his party on not being.
Granted, I believe that more could be done to clarify a few of the details. But at the same time, can you really plan to the letter just how a military mission will play out? Last I checked, war was unpredictable. Nothing ever goes exactly according to plan in battle simply because people are random. Sure, we have rules and strategies to help bring a little order into chaos but long-term success will come not only from having clear objectives, but by adapting to the continual changes and pressing forward.
It's one thing to raise questions about what we're doing. That's one of the beauties of democracy. But it is becoming increasingly apparent that Jack is doing all this for Jack. No one can argue that the Conservatives are taking their particular stand for a few easy political points. The Tories have taken a stand that they believe is right, something hard to do in many modern democracies. I applaud them for having the guts to stand their ground despite an increasingly frantic and illogical opposition.
Update: Just when I thought he couldn't get any nuttier, comes this little nugget from Layton Land, which I guess is really the happiest place on earth. Hat tip to Daimnation.
posted by Jason at 9:23 p.m.
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