“Yes, Karl Rove is an ass. But you didn’t need me to tell you that. This liberal wasn’t calling for therapy. This liberal was calling for bombs.” – Jeff Jarvis, another pro-war liberal this administration just pissed off for a quick political fix. What a way to win a war.
EMAIL OF THE MORNING: Last night I stumbled across something intriguing. I was reading a fairly obscure Kant essay called “Misperceptions of Morals and Politics” (appended to Towards a Perpetual Peace.) In it, Kant distinguishes between the “clever” but ultimately immoral politician who views everything in terms of political expedience and manipulates a superficial or false morality for political gain and that rarest of creatures, the moral politician, who recognizes the ultimate harmony between morality and good government.
Kant then cites the three tests which can be applied to discern the immoral from the moral politician. Under three Latin rubrics, as follows: (1) Fac et excusa – does he use thin pretexts to seize power in his own country, or, after coming to power, to invade and conquer another nation? (2) Si fecisti, nega. When his policies bring about ruin or failure, does he blame his own subjects for the failures, or place the blame on other nations? Or does he admit mistakes and change course to reflect this recognition? (3) Divide et impera. Does he maintain his position of power by sowing domestic hatred and discord; through the demonization of a portion of his own citizenry? (Immanuel Kant, “Sämtliche Werke vol. 5, pp. 695-97.”) I’m scoring the Bush administration a perfect 3 for 3 on Kant’s test. One can accept or reject the war, but it seems clear (increasingly after the Downing Street memo documents) that the label of “thin pretexts” is fair. The president’s refusal to assume responsibility is legendary. And Rove’s remarks on which you reflect is a perfect example of the “divide et impera” approach.”
The Dish 