Heavy
Sometimes you have to wonder if the people you read on the web intersect with reality at any point. So often they discuss matters of life and death as if they were After-School Special scripts.
A case in point is the popular Instapundit, who makes this bizarre observation on the current Korean crisis:
“LAST NIGHT there was a Cosby show rerun on Nickelodeon. Theo defies his parents, and they leave him with nowhere to live in order to teach him that actions have consequences, and forgiveness isn’t to be taken for granted…I wonder if there’s a parallel to be drawn here?…long-term, there’s a lot to be gained by reminding our triangulating allies that American love, and American forgiveness, are not to be taken for granted either. That’s a lesson we keep ramming home to the Germans. And the Koreans need to learn it too. We live in a world where most of our allies are Theo Huxtables…”
Maybe this guy should be writing for Bush. “Good and Evil” has been getting a little old as an metaphor, but “Cliff and Theo Huxtable” might have some juice in it. Plus, they’re black! Take that, Trent Lott!
The funny thing is that the serious part of Insty’s post is just as strangely otherwordly as the “Cliff and Theo” thing:
I haven’t written much on Korea, because I don’t know enough about what’s going on to have a very strong opinion about what ought to be done. On the one hand, North Korea is probably the worst place on the planet now. I suspect that the reason why some South Korean politicians want to prop it up is that when it comes out just how bad things have been there, which looks to be Pol-Pot-bad — and that they’ve known a lot more than they’ve let on while cozying up to and propping up the North — they’ll be seen as collaborators in horror. (And some, quite possibly, may turn out to be real collaborators, on the take from the North, and might be worried that that will come out).
On the other hand, North Korea is mostly inward-looking, and I don’t think it’s a big, direct threat. And, long-term, there’s a lot to be gained by reminding our triangulating allies that American love, and American forgiveness, are not to be taken for granted either. That’s a lesson we keep ramming home to the Germans. And the Koreans need to learn it too.
Wow. If he isn’t indulging in some very opaque irony, that is a testament to the wisdom of holding back an opinion when you are ill informed on the subject. Tell the North Koreans to go fuck themselves. They’re not a big, direct threat (like Iraq, I suppose). And tell those collaborationist South Korean bastards to shove it too, for that matter. Nothing bad’ll happen. Not a problem.
Cuz they’ll come crawling back, jes’ beggin for American love and forgiveness, you wait and see. Ram that lesson home again and again —- just like we keep doing to the Germans????
The sad thing is that I heard Ken Adelman make a very similar argument on NPR yesterday. And, unfortunately, he is on the Defense Policy Board and has the infuence to put the “Cliff and Theo Doctrine” into practice.
I think we are delving into psychological issues here rather than ideological ones. This puerile compulsion to demonstrate who’s boss is certifiably cuckoo.
Not bold. Reckless.