I make no claim that they are "so much better than us". It's possible to love America, and still be realistic about its shortcomings, and try to work to overcome them.

Probably not possible for you, but possible.

Norway is among the world leaders in GDP per capita, literacy, longevity and standard of living. They also don't start wars, and they have a smoking jazz scene.

All of those are interesting yet unavailing.
Tell me; How many Mexicans are hopping the fence into the place?
Only partially tounge in cheek of course. People are not exactly breaking down the doors to get into the place, including your marvelously testy self, Anjin... when you get a handle on why that might be, if they're really so much better there, get back to us.

We need to figure out a way to develop some leverage with respect to the Iranians and then sit down and talk with them. If there's going to be a discussion, then they need something, too. We can't go to a discussion and be completely the demander with them not feeling that they need anything from us.

Why is this appeaser not in irons?

LOL!
Who have led the world in what, exactly?

Bit, do you actually revel in your ignorance? I mean 3 minutes on Google would give you some answers.

Norway is among the world leaders in GDP per capita, literacy, longevity and standard of living. They also don't start wars, and they have a smoking jazz scene.

I would start with Norway...

LOL!
Who have led the world in what, exactly?

A major reason the Cold War ended peacefully without a shooting war between the USSR and the US is that Ronald Reagan talked and negotiated with the Soviet leaders and at times gave them support in their domestic struggles.

you could reason with them, you can't reason with the true believer of the Islamic faith, plus Reagan had 10's of thousands and nuclear missiles pointed at them and was not afraid to use them, plus he spent them into the ground with s.d.i. so you could not be more wrong, and I think you owe Bush and McCain an apology because their doing much of the same thing, except talking to them because they are smart enough to know it won't do any good.

And whose leadership would you say meets the need?

I would start with Norway...

Why not try and help them to mature as a government and a people? We are the world superpower, why not display some leadership?

And whose leadership would you say meets the need?

Sure, but so what, unless you buy into the postmodern conclusion that there is no moral high ground.

I didn't claim that Hamas or al Qaeda are on the same moral footing as the U.S. My point is simple: that the aforementioned terrorists are motivated by issues rather than insanity or hatred for freedom, and that this matters. Let me flowchart it:

I/P Issue
|
--> Muslim resentment
|
--> Reaction in the form of terror attacks, due to the fact that these goups have next to no technological/military capabilities, and this is the only way to possible achieve their policy aims.

It is NOT as simple as:

BBQ/Voting Booths --> 9/11

This misunderstanding is dangerous, as it leads to errors in judgment, like starting unnecessary wars and not speaking to the only parties that can possibly contribute to solving the underlying policy disputes.

WMD?

Syria.

Sure, but so what, unless you buy into the postmodern conclusion that there is no moral high ground.

Oh, there is moral high ground. Unfortunately, the Bush administration abandoned it. We cannot reclaim it just by putting on lapel pins.

The United States displays leadership every day

You mean like the leadership we displayed by starting a war with Iraq, a nation that did not threaten us? Don't you suppose there are thousand of people in Iraq who have family members, innocent who were simply trying to live their lives, who have been killed in our war.. maybe they think we are the murders.

We badly need to try to look at problem areas in the world through the eyes of all parties involved. This does not mean we have to accept or condone the actions take by people like Hamas, but we should try to understand where they are coming from.

Remember Viet Nam Steve? How many people did we kill there? Over a million? Did North Vietnam threaten America? I think not. There was no freedom or democracy to protect in South Vietnam, just a dictator that was a useful proxy for us. Why do we get to kill with moral impunity?

I don't think we want to travel down Israel's road. They have overwhelming military superiority, and the willingness to use it. They also have no peace and little security. Let's take to our adversaries, meanwhile keeping our powder dry.

I'm sure "they" would say the same thing.

Sure, but so what, unless you buy into the postmodern conclusion that there is no moral high ground. Sometimes you make things a lot more complicated than they really are. And finally, maybe we actually do have a president that understands the I/P dynamic, or at least the part where we will stand with the only democracy in the region and against the regimes who say they want to wipe them from the face of the earth.

The problem is them, not us.

I'm sure "they" would say the same thing.

Let me say that no one can justify murdering innocents. Ever. Keeping that in mind, it is imperative to understand that "their" attacks are motivated by issues.

Folks like to oversimplify things by slapping a label like "evil" or "insane" on the terrorism problem and then moving on. Things aren't that simple.

For right or wrong, al Qaeda is motivated by the I/P issue, U.S. support of tyrannical (they would say un-Islamic) regimes in the Middle East, and U.S. interventionism and for that matter, troop presence, in the Middle East. Until we understand this, we're not going to win the War on Terror.

The I/P issue is central to American interests, as it is the main motivator for Islamic extremists. Resolving this issue will take dialogue with all parties. We ought to elect a president that understands this dynamic.