Damnned if you do...

I'm not a fan of our 43rd president. Never have been. But there is a strange parallel between Bush and "The Dark Knight." Before you bash, hear me out.


I recently read an article that advocated for Bush's legacy to be that of torture--he authorized and turned a blind eye to the torture of "enemy combatants" back in 2003; arguably a "human rights violation" and could get him and members his administration indicted for war crimes.


BUT (and here's where the "Dark Knight" parallel comes in to play) what was he supposed to do? At the end of "The Dark Knight" we found out that Batman was the hero Gotham NEEDED. If he had to do dirt, he did it. If he had to go about it clean, he did that too. Either way, whatever Gotham needed him to be, right or wrong, he did it. Bush, despite all his failures and sometimes outright stupidity did what was necessary (with the exception of invading Iraq) to keep this country safe. If depriving prisoners of sleep and stringing them up naked made a difference in the security of this nation, then it needed to be done.


The conflicts in the world today are not unique; indeed wars over ideals have been fought for centuries. But the people in charge are terrible historians--there are only three wars that have ever been fought over ideals that have ever had a clear victor. The Revolutionary War, the Civil War and World War II. What America (and to some extent Israel) is fighting today is a MOVEMENT. How do you kill a movement? How can you stop something that is bigger than a person or organization? Will America be safe if we eliminate Al Queda? What about other extremest groups? Do people think they won't step up? And every time we invade a country (or condone Israel killing innocent people) the movement gets STRONGER. So what do you do? You do what is necessary. You take shit to the next level. You cannot win a war with a movement with rules of engagement; movements don't give a damn about rules. Movements demand an end result. That was the difference between Batman and The Joker; it wasn't until Batman was willing to fore go his rules that he was able to stop The Joker. Bush was willing to break the rules in order to keep America safe. And unless Obama is willing to do the same, the movement will never be stopped.


Granted sometimes the answer isn't more violence; in politics violence is often NOT the answer. And Obama doesn't seem to think violence is the answer. But someone somewhere is going to have to do something. Like, I don't know, take action opposite of what we've done thus hurting the propaganda machine of The Movement. It's a long shot but it just might work.


Side note: Israel's response to Hamas was a little extreme. Death squads or "Jason Bourne" would have been more appropriate; cutting down the orchard to kill a few bad apples is not the answer. You don't get rid of pests in your house by destroying the house, you exterminate. I understand the necessity of giving the ground troops a little breathing room--had the bombs not been dropped soldiers on the ground would have been killed by traps and snipers--but now there are almost 1,000 innocents dead and the region is now more against Israel (and the U.S. for letting it happen) than before. Not a good look and definitely not something Sho-Nuff can co-sign on.

- Sho-nuff