DEMOCRACY ARSENAL….On the advice of a friend, I just hopped over to a new blog called Democracy Arsenal, where a bunch of liberals under the aegis of a couple of liberal think tanks are talking about national security issues. It looks good. Maybe a bit too lecture-y in places, but that will probably smooth out over time.
Speaking of lecture-y, though, Heather Hurlburt has a “ten-step program to get Democrats back on the map” that’s worth a look. For example:
Step 6. Every progressive takes a personal vow to learn something about our military, how it works, what its ethos is, and how it affects our society at all levels ? as well as what it does well and less well in the wider world.
That’s good advice. Like it or not ? and I’m sure lots of you will let me know in comments that you don’t ? rank and file lefties are frequently too ignorant of national security issues to even join the conversation in a constructive way. Too often they end up looking as dumb as George Will does when he endorses ignorant and dimwitted tax plans.
If I have a beef with Heather, though, it’s that her list is basically just another call for liberals to figure out what they stand for. What we need, instead, is some actual recommendations about what liberals should stand for.
But that’s just nitpicking. That stuff will all come out in the wash. In the meantime, the five contributors to Democracy Arsenal seem to be pointed in the right direction and are doing their thing in readable, bloggy style. It’s worth everyone’s time to follow along for a while to see where they go. It’s worthwhile stuff.
