Monday, March 5, 2012

False sense of consistency

I’ve never known anybody who didn’t contradict something they said before. Myself included. So it doesn’t surprise me when I hear it coming from the President of the United States. The Obama administration has repeatedly insisted, “terrorists be brought to justice in U.S. federal courts rather than executed by military tribunals.” Last year however, Obama ordered the execution of an American-born terrorist (Anwar Awlaki) in a military drone-attack overseas. Today, Atty Gen Eric Holder said “..the president has the authority to target and kill American citizens overseas when those individuals pose a threat to this country .. the executive branch does not require judicial oversight or court order to do so.” So now republicans want the administration to explain why this doesn’t square with statements they made in the past. Since it’s not in our nature to be consistent with everything we say in the past; I say we let it go and move on. However, I don’t think it’s in our nature to understand that it’s not in our nature. Makes me wonder if the things we dislike in others are often the things we blindly dislike in ourselves. That’s probably why I hate politicians so much.

2 comments:

adspain said...

"Makes me wonder if the things we dislike in others are often the things we blindly dislike in ourselves." - Absolutely! I figured this out a couple of years ago after repeated viewings of the movie Synecdoche and ultimately analyzing many of my own relationships. I now see the patterns in others as well.

Bill Robertson said...

Amy!!! Good to hear from you.

Friends of mine who say they hate it when others are inconsistent are usually inconsistent themselves .. myself included.

Now, I know this may sound strange but ..recognizing this has taught me to be more tolerant of my own faults, which in turn makes me more tolerant of others. Now I hate it when people who are too easy on themselves.