Text 7787, 55 rader
Skriven 2007-12-10 16:36:00 av Michiel van der Vlist (2:280/5555)
     Kommentar till en text av Jeff Smith (1:14/5)
Ärende: George W. Bush
======================
Hello Jeff,

On Monday December 10 2007 00:49, you wrote to me:

 MV>>>> Argumentation trick #3: distraction.

 RC>>> Was quoting directly what he said a distraction from what he
 RC>>> said?

 MV>> It is a distraction from the subject at hand.

 JS>      No Michiel. I simply asked you what you would do if presented
 JS> with that situation.

The distraction was not you asking the question, the distraction was in Ross'
interjection. He was turning it into a "our system is better that yours",
something I wish to avoid. That was not my my point.

 JS>      If presented with a situation where you could but were not
 JS> obligated to vote for a particular candidate and you were not happy
 JS> with either of the candidates. What would you do?

I prefer to avoid hypotheticles and stick to the original issue. The situation
has no equivalent in Dutch politics, so what I would do in such a situation is
a moot point.

I do not want to enter into debate about the flaws or benefits of the US
system. And I certainly do not want to go into a "mine is bigger than yours"
fight. All I wanted to do is bring some nuance to the "it is not the American
people that we have an issue with, it is the American gevernment".

My point was that since the US is not a dictatorship, the people of the US
share responsibility for what their leaders do. Ross is right, it is not Bush
alone. Bush could not have done what he did, did he not at least have *some*
support. He needs approval from congress and congress consists of
representatives elected by the people.

You saying: "the problem is the politicians" is not very reassuring for those
who fear the USA. I think Bob Bashe got it right: it is note  hate, it is fear.
After the end of the cold war the balance of power is lost. The US have the
weapons, they have he means to deliver them and the man in the White House
appears to be the madman that is willing to us them.

If it is true what you say that the the problem is the politicians and there is
little or nothing that the people can do about it, that is really frightening.
Because in that case we not only may have a madman at the helm in Washington,
but no one can stop him and there is no one who can prevent it from happening
again.

Can you understand why that thought scares people?

Cheers, Michiel

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