This image pretty much sums up the liberal view of peace. Peace can always be achieved through an open dialogue, since all fighting is based ultimately on minor disagreements and misundertands. "The West Wing" perfectly expresses this philosophy. Last night on the show, Pres. Bartlet was planning a summit with the Chinese. He mistakenly accepted a flag from the Tawainese delegation--a flag of the Taiwanese Liberation movement, or something of the sort. Thus, problems ensue. The Chinese delegation was quite peeved over this. They were upset over a silly flag. If only they could see how ludicrous they were acting. If only they could set aside the petty differences and work together for the good of all. This silly flag and each sides' preferences are the cause of the tension between the two countries. It is none deeper than that. All they need to do is get together and have some wise, liberal-minded individual, like Pres. Bartlet, talk some sense into them. I am convinced the average liberal has no memory whatsoever. What good did "dialogue" and "paper diplomacy" do between the World Wars? Was it detente' and discussion that brought down the Evil Empire (the Soviet one, not the Steinbrenner one)? How much did all the talk and dreaded sanctions affect Saddam? Talk is worthless unless you have something to back it up. And many of these international tensions--in the Middle East and the Far East--are much more complicated than a simple disagreement over table settings. I am surprised the nuanced liberal mindset cannot understand this.
BTW--I enjoyed the episode last night. I like the fact that they are introducing more tension between the characters. It seems more interesing and realistic. Last night's show had a bit better dialouge than the last few previous ones.
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