Reply #2: Perhaps there'll be a bloodbath. [View All]

Perhaps there'll be a flotilla of refugees. Perhaps there'll be an amnesty and concessions.

Some people like to bargain from a position of power; then concessions show magnanimity and not weakness. Some people like to bargain to gain power. Hard to tell the difference, esp. when I'm predisposed to have little but ill-will.

But the calls for judgment against Qaddhafi and his cronies, for a thorough purge, for justice and a restoration of honor all argue for the "good guys" not having in mind sitting around, amiably chatting about the not-so-distant past while enjoying tabuleh and some music.

It's bad to romanticize and idealize the past, overlook all its warts and ulcers and botches. But at least the past is past. There's little to be done about it. The only danger is in allowing it to repeat itself through ignorance.

It's worse to romanticize and idealize the future, to overlook all the possible warts and ulcers and botches. There is something still to be done about it. The danger is willfully blinding ourselves to the problems not because it's unpleasant to do otherwise but because we don't find it sufficiently pleasant to do anything other than romanticize and idealize it.