Random notes
Sometimes I wonder what
people are thinking. These folks have been working for a few years on the pro-life side, but their love of cute names is going to destroy their chances of success. Calling an organization "National Association for the Advancement of Preborn Children" (NAAPC) is cute, and makes a point to the converted. Naming the symbolic plaintiff "Jane Scott Doe" is also cute. (Dred Scott! Get it? Get it? Tain't funny, McGee.) But judges, even those who might not be entirely pro-death, are entirely elitist. Today's elites are marinated in Identity Politics, and will be deeply offended by the attempt to steal a Holy Name for Unauthentic Purposes. I'm not elite, and I'm bothered by the cheapness. It's like a Hong Kong knockoff product: Bardie Doll, Lindows XP, Nickey Mouse. Better to make up an original name, even if it's dull.
-----
The paleocons and economoids, who think we should never fight a war under any conditions, are advancing one particularly sneaky false argument. We shouldn't have fought WW1 because we didn't understand the consequences. We shouldn't have fought in Korea because we didn't understand that the Chicoms were helping N. Korea. We shouldn't have fought in Vietnam because we didn't understand the strength of the Cong. We shouldn't have fought in Iraq because we didn't understand Saddam's fallback plan.
See the common pivot? These aren't arguments against fighting, though there may be other good reasons. These are arguments
for improving our intelligence.
Why didn't WW2 suffer from the same problem? Because we didn't have an incompetent intelligence service. Why was that? Because we didn't have an intelligence service. We had to rely on the Brits, who were competent and ruthless. Most importantly, the Brits have always tried to understand their enemies in a non-idealistic way. When we try to "understand" our enemies, we always start with the assumption that they're just like us, and want the same goals.