Lefty Party

I went to a friend's party Friday, after a grueling day of work and after trying to fight off a headache all day and not quite managing. My friend's Lefty Friend was going to be there, and LF had even asked if I would be there. Every time we've met, we've talked politics and had a really good time.

But this time, there was a new element in the mix. My friend's Dutch Roommate, a lefty Chemistry professor, was also there, and DR and LF have met and hit it off well, so they teamed up on me when I wasn't quite feeling up to the fight.

It's always interesting to find out which issues the Left sees as the most important. For LF and DR, it was Global Warming and by extension, the environment. Iraq wasn't important at all, because we only went there to line the pockets of President Bush's corporate friends (he has an MBA, so that proves he's a corporate guy). And besides, Bush isn't a scientist, because everyone knows that having an MBA does not qualify a president to be making the crucial scientific decisions that have to be made. I don't know how LF and DR think Bill Clinton's or Al Gore's or
John Kerry's law degree qualified them to make scientific decisions, but I didn't think to ask.

At one point, DR asked me what I thought was most important, and I said the war against Islamofascism. He took offense on behalf of Islam, and I had to tell him, "I didn't say 'Islam.' I said 'Islamofascism,'" and DR calmed down after that.

Later, LF asked me in a slightly different way what I thought was most important, and I said the judiciary, because we're fighting a non-violent civil war, and the war front is the court system (HT: Dennis Prager for the "civil war" terminology).

Both LF and DR were stunned that I could think anything was more important than the environment. They ganged up on me to get me to understand what kind of bully the US
is, by invading other countries, forcing our political agenda on them, and expecting them not to resent it. Of course they resent it, just as we would resent China invading us for our natural resources. What we need to do is stay completely out of other countries' business.

I pointed out that Saudi Arabia invited us in back in Gulf War days, and when they recently asked us to leave, we left. No overstaying our welcome. That wasn't enough to convince them, because they said the opinion polls show that Iraqis don't like having us there. LF said that if I could find an Iraqi-conducted opinion poll where the Iraqis actually liked having us there, then he'd concede the point. I haven't looked for a poll yet.

The conversation turned back to Global Warming, and when I hesitated, DR pounced. He declared that all the hurricanes this year were caused by Global Warming. I told him that the people at the National Hurricane Center had said on the air that the hurricanes were absolutely NOT caused by global warming, but DR disagreed. I suppose that the NHC spokesman's scientific credentials disintegrated the moment President Bush took office.

DR, along with LF and my friend, stated that Global Warming is absolute fact. There are only a handful of lunatic fringe scientists who don't agree with Global Warming, but they're the ones getting all the press. The threats to the world by Global Warming are very real and imminent. They've found mastadons frozen solid, with undigested food still in the stomach, so don't think the effects of Global Warming will come slowly. It's our duty as a superpower to impress on the other nations of the world what needs to be done to save the environment.

I pressed LF on that last point, and when he said that the US has the right to interfere with other countries, because the environment is too important an issue to ignore, I asked him if that was hypocrisy. He had made such a big deal about our staying out of other countries when the question was freedom, but we could go into other countries over Global Warming. He conceded that point to me.

Great party. I learned a lot about how "normal" lefties view the world, though I didn't make much headway with them. Then again, they didn't make any headway, either. All parties should be this much fun.