In a post that starts well but unfortunately gets a wee bit inchoate at the end, the author at Bloggledygook (sorry, I don’t know the name of the blogger…) writes:

The Outcomes-Based War.

I must admit to a certain confusion as to the administration’s strategy in Iraq at the current time. Even as more evidence mounts that the war–which I support– has been a brilliant success in its initial execution and a qualified failure in its aftermath, a stay-the-course mentality appears to have gripped the White House.

There is still time for things to improve, and I am cautiously optimistic that the outcome will be worth the cost. But then again, so far my own personal cost has been nil. I have not fought, I have not seen the battlefield first-hand. I have not lost a friend or loved one. So that means that I have no stake in this fight, right? Well… wrong. The stakes are for all high and real, whether soldier, reporter, demonstrator or supporter.

The war itself has been thrown into the background as supporters and opponents each vie for position as to what would constitute victory or defeat. This war has become, in the parlance of mid-nineties education policy, an outcomes-based war. Simply put: the only thing that matters to many partisans is who ends up being right. If Iraq ends up democratic and at peace, the pro-war side will have their day. If the country descends into chaos, civil war and Shari’a, the anti-war crowd will bring out the I-told-you-sos.

I suggest you read the entire post to get all the messages intended to be conveyed, there is much more to it than the part I am commenting upon.

I am focusing on what I feel is the most important point made: “Simply put: the only thing that matters to many partisans is who ends up being right.”

This is a topic I have addressed repeatedly here, but which bears emphasizing yet again.

Is “being right” more important than what is right for the country?

For far too many, it appears that “being right” or “winning” or “scoring points” is indeed the most important thing, beyond everything else, and I fear it will cost us all.

What is more important for you?

Technorati Tags: opinion, recommended reading

I may need to be revising the blogroll soon, because in the space of 24 hours, several bloggers have announced intentions or possibilities of going dark.

This, along with some other recent events in blogworld bring questions to my mind:

Some days, I ask myself, do I take this weblog thing too seriously, or not seriously enough?

Some days, I ask myself, does blogworld as a whole need a collective valium IV?

Some days, I ask myself, is anything in this chaotic anarchic imbroglio worth the energy expended?

Some days, I ask myself, what the fuck is the point?

Most days, I have no answers.

But…

I’m stubborn, and I’m not giving up, not yet, even though the level of idiocy seems to be reaching new depths.

I’ll be the one on Doomsday to stand up and say to God, “Excuse me, but if You are merciful, why do You kill kittens?”

I may go to Hell, but at least I asked the question.

Technorati Tags: personal, weblogs

…where no man has gone before.

That statement could only have come out of America in the 1960s.

The space shuttle could only have been developed in the wake of a successful Apollo program by a space agency that had achieved the impossible, and had nowhere to go.

The space shuttle is now regarded as a fragile wreck by many who not so long ago cheered it on as the great achievement it was and still is.

The tragedy of exhilarating achievements attained early is a curse unexpected, for individuals, for organizations, and for nations.

What do you do with the rest of your life when at the age of 38 you are the first human being to step onto another world?

What do you do when you manage to make possible the impossible, but when the cold hand of statistics makes itself inevitably felt, showing how dangerous exploration really is, how do you continue in the face of a public that demands a Hollywood Happy Ending, not understanding the risks that come with the rewards?

About 2% of the manned launch/reentry attempts have killed their crew, while both Soyuz and the Shuttle have approximately similar death rates.

To boldly go where no man has gone before.

That statement could not come out of America in the first decade of the twenty-first century.

While we cannot make reality in entirety, reality is still made up of the sum of our choices.

A subtle distinction, but one well worth noting.

What do you choose?

Technorati Tags: opinion

My father and his grandfather, whom I never met:

I saw that old carriage in a collapsed barn on the farm that my father’s grandfather built.

The decay of that old farm struck a chord in me as a child that I have never forgotten.

Technorati Tags: personal

I have written this warning before.

Here it is from another, at Kung Fu Monkey:

The President and Intelligent Design

Technorati Tags: recommended reading

We have too many high sounding words, and too few actions that correspond with them.
   -Abigail Adams

Technorati Tags: quotes