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Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Three filters to honest conversation
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Continuing a conversation begun yesterday, the question remains: When does the angry conversation end? Surprisingly, some contributors are ready to divide the dishes and send the Red States and Blue States their separate ways. Today, then, we step back.
In listening to anybody’s arguments, but especially the Left’s, on Iraq, weapons of mass destruction, the war on terror, treatment of detainees, the draft and the whole range of post-9/11 national security issues, three filters apply, screened in this order:
Is America’s best interest your highest concern? Even when listening to the angriest and most radical voices of the Left, the answer for me is almost always “yes.”
The second filter then is whether you believe we are in a war against terrorism and if so, are you committed to winning? This is where we begin to divide. Some view the response to 9/11 as a law enforcement matter and place the highest priority on capturing Osama bin Laden and others actually connected to the attack. For others, and I am in this category, it was the beginning of a long war that will have many phases, fronts, successes and setbacks. This is where the conversation also spins into orbits of vitriol about strategy in Iraq, why we’re there and how long we remain. This second filter is where much of the national dialogues grinds to a halt.
The final filter is this: Do you want to see George W. Bush succeed as president? If I’m led to believe your answer is “no” or “not particularly,” the mind begins to close to your arguments. We can talk about mistakes, about missed opportunities, about strategy and what key administration figures contribute or don’t, as one of yesteday’s posters suggested, but there has to be a “safe harbor” for those conversations. Otherwise, Bush supporters are doing nothing more than arming his adversaries. The beginning of the safe harbor is acknowledgment that Bush is the legitimate, fairly elected president of a country threatened by serious enemies — and his success is important to me and each of us and to America’s future.
Those are the filters for the Right to honest, good faith conversation. Any takers?
