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I hold this truth to be self-evident:

Bush's "war on terror" is an incomprehensible exercise in increasing the likelihood that high radicalized, highly motivated terrorists will again strike on American soil. A serious war on terror would begin from a recognition of the nature of the threat, with a considered response that's both flexible and comprehensive. Bush's Iraq war is none of these.

(This clean wording, however, wasn't as self-evident to my self; David crafted it.)

I expect that history will record much of what we've done so far under "What Not To Do To Fight Terrorism." I predict the perception will be almost unanimous within 20 years, "How could we have been so foolish?"

Will a succeeding Kerry Administration effect a considered, flexible, and comprehensive response that defuses rather than inflames terrorism? I'm convinced it's possible, maybe even likely, though not certain. I see no chance for a turnaround under Bush: Seeing the world in black and white means being blind to the complexities of people and therefore, to the root causes of terrorism. Being unable to remember or admit mistakes means no chance of ever correcting them.

And -- this is my theological opinion as a Christian -- swimming in hubris means being cut off from the Spirit of Life, the source of any lasting solution.

A terror-free world -- it's a destination I believe we can get to, despite present appearances. But only by turning, not by accelerating in the wrong direction.

Orcinus: David Neiwert: ‘When we unleash the dogs of war — especially when … we do so under false pretenses — then we open up the Pandora’s Box of evil that colors both our history and our present in shades of red and black.’

I’m pleased to report the dubious achievement of now having more than two years of weblog entries here, all reachable via the Search field.

Two years doing any one thing represents follow-through for me on par with completing a marathon. Wow.

Best outcomes of blogging so far?

• I’m finding my voice and the courage to use it. The idea that one day voice, message, and skill might be called forth in unison to serve good ends motivates me.
• I’ve made new friends. Not having had to be alone during the last three years is a priceless gift. Life in an insane asylum (the world of U.S. conservative religiopolitics) is no stroll in paradise, however beautiful the inmates and surroundings. I get too serious about it and then forget to laugh. (Wouldn’t it be great to be remembered as someone who laughed a lot?) I’ve learned that friends help friends laugh.

David at Orcinus, a blogger I learn a lot from, wrote yesterday about The spurious rise of the non-anonymous blogger. All this interesting discussion for and against blogging anonymity postdates my “choice” of non-anonymity — my ass is hangin’ out there because two years ago it never occurred to me I could whip up a pseudonym.

Just as well: writing-as-myself exercises my internal editor so I’m a little fairer, more thoughtful, and more compassionate than I might be otherwise.

Hmmm. Maybe non-anonymous writing can also work for people like nutrition information does for foods: it gives clues whether you’d like the item and what it’s made of. I like knowing people through their writing — and letting them know me, which leads to more friends than I could actually meet in person — and then thinking that should we meet in person we’d soon feel right at home with each other based on this agreeable written history instead of having to waste time assessing whether one or the other of us is a jackass. :-)

My 2003 and ongoing 2004 weblog entries are all nicely tied together here in Movable Type with links every which way: entry to entry, month to month, day to day, category to category. (Try clicking an entry’s month name, for example.)

My 2002 entries were almost all published using a different system, Radio UserLand, and are accessible as published starting here.

But I’ve also imported these 2002 entries into Movable Type (using Bill Kearney’s Radio Exporter.root tool) so that all weblog content is searchable from within Movable Type. FWIW, the imported 2002 content starts here.