Bloviation at the New Republic

Peter Beinart means well, but his efforts to buck liberals' spirits up, armor them with a new kind of martial fervor, and send them off to win wars (and elections again) strikes me as wide of the mark. There are many reasons why the anti-communist post-WWII challenge, and today's battles against the forces of Islamic totalitarianism are not analogous. In quick summary:

1. Al Qaeda does not attract any liberals in a meaningful way (unlike Communism.) There is no reason for liberals to conduct a purge against the "softs." There is little threat to liberalism on its 'left' flank (the only meaningful threat coming from anti-Israeli liberals).
2. Michael Moore is NOT a leader, he is a critic. He is not the equivalent of Henry Wallace in any meaningful way. You may disagree with Moore on many issues, but he nevertheless manages to get closer to the truth than most Beltway insiders, and so he's good to have around. There is no reason to push him out of the Democratic Party.
3. MoveOn.org is a campaign organization vehicle. It doesn't lead: it enables.
4. Sending Peace Corps type volunteers to the Islamic world is unlikely to help with the battle of persuading typical Muslims of our good intentions. The Islamic world already has access to modern technology: what they need is a way to knock down the (political) impediments to the best use of technology, and idealistic volunteers won't - can't - help in that task.

Beinart scants the problems war-related civil rights violations pose to American society. As risk management experts like to point out, it is very hard for people to accurately assess the hazards posed by infrequent, calamitous episodes (like Sept. 11th, or for that matter, plane crashes, or epidemics). Unlike Beinart, many liberals (like me) believe that we've over-reacted, or (better) reacted poorly to Sept. 11th, in the same way that panicked people, fleeing before a fire, often will seize a worthless article, like a broken alarm clock (or a 'Mission Accomplished' banner), but leave precious mementoes (like our civil rights) to the flames.

We very much need this debate, but Beinart starts off in the wrong, martial direction (unlike Michael Moore, whose position has slowly, but surely, shifted in a responsible, rightward direction in the last three years).