I'm about three months behind in wading through the weeklies that came to my door over the spring. Hence, i am only now wanting to point all interested eyes to the Paul Berman article from the New Republic- coming from the issue on liberalism and power.
Its...really good. No way I can say much more than that. It grounds some of the dissenting views on Bush's handling of the modern era in philisophical context. I reckon i'll find an example...
"In arguing that liberal democracy would, in fact, endure, Lincoln did not invoke any kind of external or more-than-human force--the power of God, perhaps, or of providence. Nor did he cite the practical advantages of Northern industrialization and economic power or the size of the Northern population or some other material fact. Nor did he ruminate on "human perfectibility," in Tocqueville's mocking phrase. Lincoln considered that the United States was going to endure because it chose to do so--because of an act of will: "We here highly resolve"--that was his message."
...
"Right now, we need to summon people around the world to express a "devotion" (in Lincoln's word) to liberal ideals--a devoted enthusiasm for those ideas among the schoolteachers in every impoverished immigrant suburb of Europe, among the editors in every Arab newspaper office, and among the professors in every Muslim university. We need the cooperation of millions of people, who, in their idealism, will rush out to argue with their own students and neighbors and readers. But the U.S. government, which knows how to twist the arms of Turkish politicians, does not know how to inspire the schoolteachers and newspaper editors and professors, not to mention the European masses, not to mention the American masses. Worse, the American leaders don't even try to inspire people around the world, which is shocking to see, considering that our current problem is 90 percent political and only 10 percent military."

These snipets, I know, are merely that...but I hope a hint is given for the fun of this piece. Go read...