New frontiers in civility

From the first Republican campaign ad of the new season:

“Some are now attacking the president for attacking the terrorists.”

Just one question: Who, precisely, has been attacking the President for attacking the terrorists? I can think of several people, including Wesley Clark, who have been attacking the President for failing to attack the terrorists and conquering Iraq instead, and I can think of a bunch of libertarians and others who have been attacking the President for attacking civil liberty and the principles of constitutional government in the name of attackign terrorists, but I can’t think of anyone to the right of Noam Chomsky who actually disapproves of attacking terrorists.

As I’ve noted before, in wartime false accusations of disloyalty are profoundly unpatriotic. That’s one difference between GWB and FDR: once WWII had started, FDR never tried to suggest that his Republican opponents, even those who voted against all of his pre-war measures, were pro-Hitler.

Author: Mark Kleiman

Professor of Public Policy at the NYU Marron Institute for Urban Management and editor of the Journal of Drug Policy Analysis. Teaches about the methods of policy analysis about drug abuse control and crime control policy, working out the implications of two principles: that swift and certain sanctions don't have to be severe to be effective, and that well-designed threats usually don't have to be carried out. Books: Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know (with Jonathan Caulkins and Angela Hawken) When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment (Princeton, 2009; named one of the "books of the year" by The Economist Against Excess: Drug Policy for Results (Basic, 1993) Marijuana: Costs of Abuse, Costs of Control (Greenwood, 1989) UCLA Homepage Curriculum Vitae Contact: Markarkleiman-at-gmail.com

One thought on “New frontiers in civility”

  1. Why I am a Democrat

    Jim Dyke, communications director for the Republican National Committee, has made me a Democrat.
    I have long been a liberal but have resisted the label of Democrat. That party has had its own excesses, particularly during my formative years (I'm 47)….

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