Look Now, Look Again
Among other things, in the latest episode of BloggingHeads.TV, Bob Wright and I try to look back on how and why we got into Iraq. Obviously, there are a lot of different ways to understand that question and a lot of different factors in play, but to me the key underappreciated factor was simply a post-9/11 emotional desire to do something dramatic and violent. The Afghan War, for various reasons, was emotionally unsatisfying to most people and to a media culture that had fallen in love with the aesthetics of wartime. The war's actual architects had their reasons (though these remain somewhat murky) but these were the circumstances that made it easy to line up both elite and mass support.
We also wonder about steroid use in the NBA, where it would seem to be both more useful than in baseball but rarer in practice. This didn't occur to me until we were done recording, but one thing that may be in play here is that basketball uniforms show a ton of skin, which may make it impossible to cover up steroid-related acne and dissuaded players from using.
I certainly think you are right, Matt, that the post-9/11 emotions and the media-accelerated spread of war fever played a very important role. However, I would like to suggest that the significance of those public emotions was that it made the job of selling the war to the public immeasurably easier. From the side of the administration, however, I don't think emotion played much of a role. 9/11 and the undirected and maleable desire for vengeance it spawned provided the administration with the combustible fuel it needed to light a fire it was already disposed to start, for a variety of strategic and political reasons.
March 17, 2006 7:33 AM | Reply | Permalink
I'm pretty sure I've read interviews with NBA players that say steroids are useless in the NBA because over-sized muscles decrease speed and flexibility, which are essential.
Then again, this could explain the terrible-ness of the average NBA center.
March 17, 2006 11:08 AM | Reply | Permalink
I made a similar comment on my blog a while back, actually quoting a post of yours to make my point. I added a nugget from last July where a congressman from Colorado suggested that we would retaliate to homeland terrorism by bombing Mecca.
March 17, 2006 12:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
LOL. While ethics and character aren't much of a deterrent to steroid abuse, vanity is a killer, eh?
Speaking of which (vanity and appearance, not steroids), did you take my advice about improving your location relative to the camera? the black shirt is an improvement, too, although the collar looks suspiciously turtleneck-ish, which diminishes my respect for you;)
March 17, 2006 1:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think the concerns about the Acne is about getting caught for using 'roids. Not just vanity.
March 17, 2006 2:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think we are all naive if we really believe that the NBA is steroid free. Look at how so many skinny tall guys got to be bulky tall guys shortly after entering the NBA. No proof, of course, but lots of indications.
As far as Iraq goes - if the day has arrived when the public's lust for killing enters into the equation as to how we conduct foreign affairs, we are doomed.
Hoppy in Sacramento
March 17, 2006 3:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
The difference between baseball and basketball is the ball park. In basketball if everyone is juiced then the game stays the same - same with football - because the venue is just a stage, the competition is between equally juiced opponents. While in baseball the venue - the stadium - is an opponent of the offense.
People have been trying to hit home runs out of Wrigley for decades then Sosa comes along and makes it look easy. Wrigley hasn't changed. There isn't a stable preformance yardstick in the sports mentioned except baseball but what about golf. Are golfers juiced? Courses are getting longer - is it just the equipment?
March 17, 2006 3:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
Have you seen most golfers? I'd say definitely its the equipment:-)
March 17, 2006 4:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't know if you ever wandered into Harvey-Mansfield-world in your Harvard years, Matt, but if not you've lost your chance: Walter Kirn has left it a smoking crater.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/19/books/review/19kirn.html
March 18, 2006 3:21 AM | Reply | Permalink
There's an article on the FAIR site that lists multiple quotes from news pundits, air and ink, during the three weeks following the invasion of Iraq and Bush's aircraft carrier gig. The comments are really chilling, in fact blood-thirsty in a way. Not only do they praise the swiftness of the "victory" and the brilliant planning of such, they turn Bush into a brilliant strategist, a "real" man, loved by woman for his prowess and strength, a true American hero, they also consistently dig all the "upper Westside" liberals, the nay-sayers, the doubters who now have egg on their faces as they creep back into their lairs with their tails between their legs. Democratic strategists should get ahold of that article and plaster it on every billboard in town. Matthew's stuff alone is worth the read.
March 18, 2006 8:40 AM | Reply | Permalink
I doubt that there is a lot of steroid use amongst golfers. Steroid use increases strength, but it decreases control. Golfers would not be able to aim nearly as well.
"You say I'm a dreamer. We're two of a kind. Looking for some perfect world that we both know that we'll never find." - Thompson Twins, "Hold Me Now"
March 19, 2006 12:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's almost as if someone shot your archduke.
March 22, 2006 1:16 AM | Reply | Permalink