THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS….In comments to a previous post, Tacitus praises conservative Republican George Bush’s Greater Middle East Initiative. The Washington Post describes it thusly:
It calls for the United States and Europe to press for and assist free elections, foster new independent media, help create a “literate generation”….[promote] freedom, knowledge and women’s empowerment….increase funding of democracy, human rights, media, women’s and other groups….assistance in civic education, the creation of independent election commissions, and voter registration, particularly of women….with special emphasis on providing computer technology to schools and on teacher-training institutes to target women….It also suggests that providing $500 million in micro-loans — of about $400 each — would spur 1.2 million small entrepreneurs out of poverty.
In the meantime, liberal Democrat John Kerry proposes that we need to make the CIA stronger and add 40,000 active duty troops to the Army.
Am I living in Bizarro world, or what? George Bush is proposing a fuzzy, multinational, feel-good initiative and conservatives are applauding, while John Kerry wants more spooks and a bigger military and conservatives are skeptical.
What’s wrong with this picture?
POSTSCRIPT: By the way, it’s sort of amusing that practically every sentence in the Greater Middle East Initiative seems to mentions women, isn’t it? Who knew George Bush was such a feminist?
