Elisberg Industries
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Products
    • Books
    • Movies
  • About Elisberg Industries
    • Our Corporate Board
    • Information Overstock
    • Elisberg Industries Entertainment Information
    • Elisberg Statistical Center of American Research
    • Consultancy Service
  • Contact
    • How to Find Us
  • Kudos
  • Good Things to Know
    • The BOB Page
    • Sites You Might Actually Like
Decent Quality Since 1847

What Would George Do?

11/26/2013

0 Comments

 
I got a phone call yesterday from my friend Myles Berkowitz.  I don't always agree with his politics, but I always admire his thinking.  And if anyone obsesses with thinking through the details of politics, it's Myles.  We do agree often, but when we don't it's not because he's conservative or too liberal.  It's not even before he says he's a Libertarian.  Because he's not, as much as he thinks he is.  His thinking disagrees with Libertarian doctrine much too often.  That's why I say he's a Mylsist.  His thinking is unique unto himself.

(I always say that his wife Elisabeth is the luckiest person alive, guaranteed a lifetime of entertainment.  All she has to do is say, "So, Myles, what do you think about...?" and fill in the blank with anything.  She's sure to set Myles off on a wonderful rant.  If the blank is filled in with Alex Trebek or announcer Al Michaels, then that rant is even more certain to last longer than most.)

As I said, Myles called to say that he'd figured out his position of Barack Obama's negotiation with Iran.  He'd given it a lot of thought (of course), and he'd come to the conclusion that it was a very good thing.

Mind you, Myles being Myles, he didn't reach that conclusion for the reason most people did. 

"I decided to give it my new 'What would George do?' test.  I realized that George Bush had such a terrible record making foreign policy decisions that whatever he'd do in any given situation must be wrong.  So, the opposite is the right thing.  And with that in mind, I knew there was no way George Bush would ever have done this deal with Iran.  No way in the world.  So, that means negotiating a peace with them must be the best thing to do.  I'm serious."

While I think there are other, perfectly good reasons to support the deal, I can't say that Myles is wrong in his thinking.  I can't think of a single foreign policy his Administration made that worked well, and most seemed to be total disasters.  And no, Mr. Bush would never have made a deal with Iran, let alone negotiated
with them.  They were part of the Axis of Evil, after all.

The thing is, the deal is fraught
with the potential of it failing.  It is a risk.  But then, many deals are.  But that doesn't make them wrong.  And I keep trying to think what the alternative is to trying it -- and I can't think of any that are remotely palatable.  They all seem to come down to 1) keep piling on sanctions, and 2) war.  The first appears to be un-ending and doesn't make the area any less unstable, and the second is too terrible to want to consider.  So, that pretty much leaves trying a peaceful solution.

I know that Benjamin Netanyahu has been publicly and strongly
against the deal.  The thing is, Mr. Netanyahu is a lot more conservative than many, even in Israel, so his word alone hardly makes the stance the right one.  Besides which there's always the nagging question of how much is his reaction for public consumption, while behind the scenes he's grateful that there might be a solution that doesn't end with Israel being bombed.

I know, too, that many conservatives are strongly against the deal because Iran is too untrustworthy, and because the current Israeli leadership is against it
, publicly.  But then, when Ronald Reagan negotiated for detente with the Soviet Union, many of our European allies were against him doing  so -- and the Soviet Union was always considered deeply untrustworthy.  Yet that deal has worked out pretty well.

Besides, going back to "What would George do?" -- for those who think Mr. Obama's overtures are the wrong way to fly, and we should "remain tough" like George Bush would have...it's worth noting that when George Bush took office, Iran's nuclear program had had zero operational centrifuges, and during his Administration that number rose to over 8,000
.

So, what would George do?  I think that President Obama -- and Myles Berkowitz -- got it just right.




0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Picture
    Elisberg Industries gets a commission if you click here before shopping on Amazon.
    Picture
    Follow @relisberg

    Author

    Robert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. 

    Elisberg is a two-time recipient of the Lucille Ball Award for comedy screenwriting. He's written for film, TV, the stage, and two best-selling novels, is a regular columnist for the Writers Guild of America and was for
    the Huffington Post.  Among his other writing, he has a long-time column on technology (which he sometimes understands), and co-wrote a book on world travel.  As a lyricist, he is a member of ASCAP, and has contributed to numerous publications.



    Picture
           Feedspot Badge of Honor

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013

    Categories

    All
    Animals
    Audio
    Audio Land
    Books
    Business
    Chicago
    Consumer Product
    Education
    Email Interview
    Entertainment
    Environment
    Fine Art
    Food
    From The Management
    Health
    History
    Huffery
    Humor
    International
    Internet
    Journalism
    Law
    Los Angeles
    Media
    Morning News Round Up
    Movies
    Music
    Musical
    Personal
    Photograph
    Piano Puzzler
    Politics
    Popular Culture
    Profiles
    Quote Of The Day
    Radio
    Religion
    Restaurants
    Science
    Sports
    Technology
    Tech Tip
    Theater
    The Writers Workbench
    Tidbits
    Travel
    Tv
    Twitter
    Video
    Videology
    Well Worth Reading
    Words-o-wisdom
    Writing

    RSS Feed

© Copyright Robert J. Elisberg 2023
Contact Us    About EI    Chicago Cubs
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Products
    • Books
    • Movies
  • About Elisberg Industries
    • Our Corporate Board
    • Information Overstock
    • Elisberg Industries Entertainment Information
    • Elisberg Statistical Center of American Research
    • Consultancy Service
  • Contact
    • How to Find Us
  • Kudos
  • Good Things to Know
    • The BOB Page
    • Sites You Might Actually Like