The Sun Will Rise Tomorrow

We all tend to look at the world in set and predetermined ways. I have always been one to examine these world views. In the past I have called them templates. Of course this tendency of mine is in itself a template. It is hard to get away from templates. 

We need to be careful we do not allow our templates to interfere and blind us to the facts. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but no one is entitled to their own facts. I have long had a template that said, like the Weird Al song I put on the blog yesterday, that "Everything You Know Is Wrong." Obviously everything you know is not wrong, the sun will rise tomorrow morning. No. Wait. The sun won't rise—the earth will turn… never mind. 

It is good to look at our assumptions from time to time and see if they match reality. They may not. 

In particular starting Wednesday I will look at the templates we have with regard to the Middle East. These templates are pretty well established: Israel good, Arabs bad; Russia bad, America good; Arab dictators bad, Al Qaida good. Oh, wait, that last one does not work. Yet, this seems to be our foreign policy. America removes Arab dictators and replaces them with the Moslem Brotherhood, and then wonders why the Middle East is in chaos. 

Does our current policy with regard to the Middle East make much sense? Is Mitt Romney's desire to escalate our current war with Iran rational? Make no mistake, we are currently at war with Iran. Hopefully what I will write over the next week or so will cause you to stop using your current template, set it aside for a moment, and look at the Middle East with fresh eyes.