What's Good For The Goose.... -- Gregg

This weekend, I posted a comment from a reader (Cliffton) on the main page and followed on with a response.  Another reader (Gregg) followed on with a good response as well, so I figured to complete the chain, I'd post his comment on the front page as well.  I agree 100% with Gregg that the world has evil, and that will always be the case.  I don't, however, agree that *wanting a world w/o nuclear weapons is absurd.  Having a desire for a peaceful world isn't absurd, it's wonderful. Do I think it's achievable? No. But I do "applaud" his vision? yes. I don't think Obama is capable of defending our country. I think he is too worried about apeasing EVERYONE to make a decisive offensive decision.  Anyway, here is Gregg's comment: -----------------Begin Comment----------------- (First, thanks to Cliff, Tony, Eric, and anyone else trying to discuss these topics in a rational and level-headed way, with a willingness to amend their conclusions based on better information/wisdom from others. Though I count myself in the prior group, my apologies in advance, if the strength of what follows seems over the top. Much of what confronts us seems much more black and white than the media and national discourse imply, and we so need to raise the bar.) Both of you "applaud" Senator Obama's having "a goal of a world without nuclear weapons"? What am I missing? He wants to lead? Words matter. Reduction in the amount of weaponized material is a great goal, but that's not this goal. How is his literal goal anything other than absurd? (If his defense is kowtowing to a few loonies, then I concede, but please keep reading anyway.) We need to pursue wisdom and truth. All of history and common sense indicates there is an evil side to man that must be restrained. The fathers of our country seem to me wiser than we've grown to deserve. Just one of their nuggets of wisdom recognized man's propensity to evil, so they established a basic system of checks and balances: our three branches of government, free speech/press, and yes, personal ownership of firearms. Much of our society's ills are due to having had it so good for so long, that we choose to be ignorant of the lessons others learned while earning us to where we are. We forget at our own peril that our life in this land is a too taken for granted example of an extreme exception, and not the world's norm. Again, re: his goal, what am I missing? Let's assume we could today entrust ourselves to all the other nations. (And shouldn't the discussion end right there?) Even if we could with a snap of our fingers eliminate all current nukes, the knowledge of how to create them would become much more valuable than what the guy in Pakistan was paid to sell the info to North Korea, and who knows who else. And even if we could today then wipe all current knowledge of nukes from all memory (a la "Men In Black") and erase all the documents, what would stop the knowledge from being re-pursued tomorrow? His goal is absurd. Additionally, isn't the whole international community showing itself much too unwilling/incapable to adequately police itself? Not too long ago much of the world was set free from colonialism allowing them to seek their own life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Thanks in part to the world's too little too late efforts, the results thus far are tainted with the likes of madrassahs, the Taliban, Hezbollah/Hamas, and Saddam Hussein, just to name a few. And, wasn't Hussein's Kuwaiti belligerence met with far too little resistance from anyone other than us? Then for more than 10yrs, instead of allowing international inspectors to ascertain his WMD status, he danced to the point where all the international community could be brought to was a finger-wagging resolution saying "stop, now, or we'll use force". So, no, the rest of the world isn't ready, and limited to man's strength, NEVER will be ready, to become a nuke-free planet. His goal is absurd. This is another part of Senator Obama's confusion. Inanimate objects are not of themselves evil. It's what we choose to do/or not do with them that can be evil. Nukes have not been used because the possessors want to keep living. The real problem is when they fall into the hands of those ready to die. A valid approach then has NOTHING to do with pretending you can eliminate nukes. His goal is absurd. While wanting to strive toward a planet of nations that don't require periodic restraint is admirable, his stated goal is currently ridiculously unattainable. Dreaming that we can attain a world where evil does not need to be restrained is contrary to the way the universe was designed. Anyone who claims to be a follower of Jesus Christ and disagrees hasn't spent enough time reading their Bible. When was the video filmed? Presidential candidate Obama's desire to "set a goal of a world without nuclear weapons" leaves me wanting to ask how this guy and half the country think he's ready to lead the world? Shouldn't it instead make one discover how many other of his goals are similarly ludicrous? His goal has me also wanting to ask him "'Change I can believe in?' What the hell's the matter with you?"