[Vision2020] Thoughts to Nick

[Phil Nisbet]

Nick

I am sorry that my mixing and matching of title and name distracts or seems 
to be a denigration that it is not intended to be.  A constant stream of 
Nick or Gier seems less desirable from a literary use stand point and hence 
I chose to break using more than just one.  Hence I have used Professor, 
Nick, Gier and Dr. Gier, rather than just Nick.  Besides that, you deserve 
the title for the excellent work you have done in the halls of the academy.

I will have to say that I am guilty, however, in holding those who are 
indeed equipped to provide objective discussion, to a much higher standard.  
The Hansen’s and Fox’s of this world are propagandists because they can not 
be expected to do a better job or see clearly enough beyond their tiny 
sphere to glimpse the large panorama.  You are a thinking man, Nick, one 
with the kind of scope in both intellect and creative thought who is simply 
better than the limitations of propaganda pieces.

And no, Nick, I can not be pigeonholed.  I prefer not to pigeonhole people 
and anybody trying to pigeonhole me is going to have a consistently hard 
time of it.

Take a look at your attempt at safely placing me in some category.  Bush 
apologist?  Hardly.  But I am not a knee jerk person to condemn anybody.  I 
did not knee jerk and condemn Clinton and I had numerous policy differences 
with him and his administration, so why should I do similar things to Bush.

I am not a social conservative.  Freedom for the individual to do as they 
chose within the confines of their life without harm to others is the 
essence of Republicanism in the old sense.  Both liberals and conservatives 
in this day and age seem highly interested in controlling people’s lives and 
I do not find that acceptable.  Nanny Government from one side and 
condemnation of people’s wishes from the other side are absolutely 
anti-Republican and anti-individualist.  The libertarians are correct in 
that area and I support their efforts.

But the Libertarians see no role for required regulation and absolutely no 
foreign policy role for government.  There are bad actors in this world, 
those who wish to impose on the freedom of others and only in concert can we 
hope to restrain them.  For a person who believes in freedom and liberation 
of the human species as individuals to limit the struggle only to the 
borders of one nation or one community seems very anti-Republican to me.  
The Republic’s role in protection of the individual from the masses is very 
much a divide between the standard Libertarian line and where I see the 
world.

As for calling into question your and Ralph’s opinion on what you deem to be 
Judaism’s ideas from an academic perspective, I think you miss the point.  
Neither of your opinion’s were well educated and left the bulk of what 
Judaism is and what its history is at the doorstep in order to make the 
cases you wish to with regards Xtain thought.  When the various documents 
that make up Jewish thought were written is not a religious thing, its 
purely academic.  Trying to place various religious parties and their 
thought outside of the historical context and labeling them original Jewish 
thought when they were anything but, is simply sloppy work.  My quotes from 
the Rambam or from Hillel are not my personal opinion; they are the basis of 
Rabbinic Judaism and hardly ‘special knowledge’.  To try to use Tanakh 
without reference to Talmud and lay claim to understanding Judaism borders 
on anti-Semitism in my opinion.  That was especially true in the case of 
Ralph’s selling their daughters remarks, comments that were almost the same 
as you can get from any Neo-Nazi website.

My question in the case of your Iraq article is similar.  You tend to write 
these works without presenting a full set of datum.  That is the approach 
used in presenting propaganda.  I doubt that a peer review of your scholarly 
works would withstand such an approach.  What is worthy of a political hack 
is not what is worthy of Dr Nick Gier PhD.

Finally, I am very much looking forward to reading your ideas on India.  
It’s an amazing country and one worthy of more of our attentions.  The 
months I spent there were extremely rewarding, but limited in scope.  Seeing 
your intellect focused on the topic will be a joy.

Phil Nisbet

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