'It is always 1938 somewhere'

Andrew Sullivan gets on a a very long roll that really is well worth the read.

As a conservative who's goal is peace, not war, Andrew gets frustrated by self-described conservatives who saw the end of the Cold War ans an opportunity to find new enemies.

...For some, we now realize, the Cold War was not about democratic values versus totalitarianism, in the Kirkpatrick formulation. It was about American hegemony against any rival power, totalitarian or not, globally expansionist or not. The end of Communism was, for some, a problem. It removed a key rationale for military power. China was the first object of demonization, in the first months of the Bush administration; then - defensibly - Islamism; then Iran, Iraq and NoKo; now, Russia....

McCain is very, very comfortable in this situation. It speaks his language. A thoroughly twentieth-century figure, he lives and breathes war and conflict as a state of being. For him, it is always 1938 somewhere; America's duty is to control, occupy or intervene wherever any rival seeks influence and any group does not share our alleged values. And so American power must be brought to bear in Georgia and Iraq and Iran and Burma and Darfur and Bosnia and anyplace else where American interests are threatened or democratic allies seek help...This is the higher purpose McCain lives for: the glory of liberation, the thrill of conquest, the adoration of the soldier, the defeat of evil.

But for conservatives whose goal is peace, not war; who are quite comfortable balancing global power with other great powers such as Russia, China, India and Europe rather than demanding an expanding American hegemony; who believe that defense means defense, not a proactive preference for war; who see war and control of other countries as something distasteful if it goes beyond pragmatic self-interest; those conservatives do not agree....

And for the record, let's not forget that there was nether a more zealous advocate of the Iraqi war nor a more McCarthite attacker of opposition the war than Andrew himself who casually labeled anyone opposed to the war as a traitor. His dispicable behavior following September 11, up until he himself turned on the war was not only reprehensible and unforgivable, but as un-American has anything Rove, and company ever dreamed of. For years I refused to link him, and although he has apoligized for his offending behavior -- a little -- I will never forgive him. Nevertheless, his writing is often very smart and interesting and so I can't resist reading him nearly daily even if I disagree with much of what he writes.