Doctrine of Too-Little-Too-Late
In the land of too-little-too-late, PM Milquetoast Seniora is, on a daily basis, elevating that concept to new heights. Maybe we should start calling "too-little-too-late" the Seniora/Sanioura doctrine.
From Naharnet:
Saniora: 'Door Open' to Changes in Hariri Tribunal
Someone tell Miquestoast that the time to call a press conference, squarely look in the camera and challenge Hezbollah to say EXACTLY what changes they want in the matter of the tribunal was two months ago. Or a few billion dollars ago, or a few thousand jobs ago, or a couple of dead ministers ago or....you get the picture.
posted by JoseyWales @ Thursday, December 28, 2006
9 Comments:
At 12/28/06, 8:56 AM,
Anonymous said…
You keep repeating yourself.
Your heart is in the right place but your views are always simplistic.
We're in Lebanon, in a consensual democracy, not in the Far West. There is no good and evil.
Get rid of this Bush cow boy mentality.
Siniora is doing the best he can.
Unless you want a civil war, there are no alternatives other than dialogue with Hizballah.
PS. Milquetoast is neither funny nor accurate. Try to find sthg else if you wanna belittle our PM.
Angry Arab is simplistic and manichean like you, but at least he is funny.
At 12/28/06, 10:19 AM,
Anonymous said…
PM Seniora is doing his best at the time when Hizb-Iran, Syria and Iran are against him after they said he is the PM of the muqawama!
The tribunal is coming!
At 12/28/06, 11:00 AM,
JoseyWales said…
Cynthia, Ghassan
We are in a major crisis. And we keep getting nothing.
Thinking 2 weeks ahead of time is the least people can DEMAND from our idiot leaders. It is neither simplistic nor asking for a civil war.
Cynthia please stop this "cowboy" "Bush" whathever condescension. Forget my "pic". I am saying: Ask the hard embarrassing question of Hezbo BEFORE they have won the propaganda war and are camping in your office, ahrdly a swashbuckling idea.
"Best he can" is not good enough in normal times, let alone in a crisis. What are your standards?
And you are right "Milquetoast" is not funny nor meant to be, but accurate it is.
Yes, I repeat myself and I often tire of it. That's why this post was a 2-liner.
How can I say something new when we get the same stale stuff from "leadership"?
At 12/28/06, 11:33 AM,
Anonymous said…
the issue about the tribunal is not so simple:
if the current executive opens the tribunal case, nothing spare the international community to suie as well the warlords responsible of ethinical cleaning during the civil war which is an imprescritible crime.
maybe some people currently in power might be felt threatened by the article 7 of the UN charter which might lead to this vision as the UN threaten to pass through this article... and it might lead them now to try to make concessions to the opposite side in order to avoid this to happen
At 12/28/06, 11:51 AM,
Anonymous said…
Cynthia,
I am certain that Josey does not need me to defend him but yet I feel compelled to respond to your comment because it espouses a view that appears to have become very common in the current Lebanese politics.
This is not the forum to get into a lengthy and serious debate but I would challenge anyone that can demonstrate that the so called idea of "Consensual democracy" has any merits. I would even go further to suggest that this idea is nothing short of a refusal to grow up and establish a modern democracy with institutions and checks and balances. "Consensual democracy if a farce. No one has ever used it and no one will ever need to. The only potential justification for such a wrong headed system is to prevent a majoritarian democracy from exercising "the tyranny of the majority". But , you see, this argument is nothing else but a straw man. No democracy that is worth having will ever be so "undemocratic" as to not respect the rights of others. "Consensual democracy is an idea whose time has come and gone. It is best described as simpelton democracy.
BTW, whenever I find someone accusing another of espousing "simplistic" views and "cowboy mentality" and the only thing that they have to offer in defense of the indefensible Saniora is that he"is doing the best he can" I am reminded of the pot that is calling the kettle black. Has it ever occured to you that leaders are not to be judged by intentions only and that often their best is just not good enough. And another thing, a Manichean view is one whereby both good and evil coexist, it is not a view of disarray.:-)
At 12/28/06, 12:11 PM,
Charles Malik said…
J,
You're right. He should have been aggressive a while ago, but I'm glad he's doing it now.
What HezbAoun has learned is that 14 March is not going to back down, even with Arab intervention. That's a significant step, given that 14 March backed off the last time Amr Moussa came to town.
At 12/28/06, 1:28 PM,
Anonymous said…
Try to see it from a different angle. Saniora is saying: you tried to force the change on us, we do not accept that you force anything on us. Now that you know you're unable to force us to do anything, come let's discuss what you want to change.
At 12/28/06, 3:00 PM,
R said…
The fact that Josey is repeating previous arguments is simply a result of the stalemate that is taking hold on Lebanon. He is offering his view of how to break it.
And I agree. March 14 have allowed the opposition led by HA to
1) take the initiative
2) try to popularly topple the government after having deprived themselves of the chance to popularly overthrow the much less legitimate president.
March 14 may have their hearts in the right place and they may be determined to achieve their goals. But so what, if their strategy is a losing one, they will lose...
At 12/28/06, 9:10 PM,
Anonymous said…
Josey,
I thought that you might enjoy/appreciate this:
Webster , the comic strip creator described Mr. Milquetoast as "the man who speaks softly and gets hit with a big stick".
The following is a link to a "The Timid Soul" strip from 1952.
http://www.thrillmer.com/comics/timid521025.jpg
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