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Mar
31
Will Lieberman Democrats Vote For McCain?
Filed Under Democratic Party, Election 2008, Joe Lieberman, John McCain, Republican Party | Leave a Comment
Lieberman Democrats are the Democrats who feel that their party has gone too far leftward and has left them, much as Joe Lieberman has said of his former party.
Writes Ross Douthat of Joe Lieberman:
Michael Scherer doesn’t think much of Joe Lieberman’s “I didn’t leave the Democrats; the Democrats left me” remarks on “The Week” over the weekend. Here’s the quote:
Well, I say that the Democratic Party changed. The Democratic Party today was not the party it was in 2000. It’s not the Bill Clinton-Al Gore party, which was strong internationalists, strong on defense, pro-trade, pro-reform in our domestic government. It’s been effectively taken over by a small group on the left of the party that is protectionist, isolationist and basically will —and very, very hyperpartisan. So it pains me.
But as Reihan notes, Lieberman is factually correct: The Democratic Party has shifted leftward over the last decade, on the fronts he mentions as well as others. Moreover, among many of Lieberman’s left-liberal foes, this leftward shift is viewed as a great achievement, which suggests that they would be better served treating his comments as a compliment than as a calumny. It’s fair to pillory Lieberman for failing to change with the times; it’s a little strange to pillory him for merely pointing out that times have changed.
The question isn’t whether the left will continue to control the Democratic Party and Joe Lieberman is behind the times for not embracing the change, but whether the Lieberman Democrats will feel that their party has also left them behind in their leftward movement.
Remember that Ronald Reagan said something similar about the Democratic party.
Mar
31
A SWORDS military robot in Iraq
Recent talk of a turing test possibly making autonomous military robots legal because they will have ability to distinguish between friends, foes, and civilians raises the possibility that the new weapons systems of the future could be autonomous military robots.
“Can a robot commit a war crime?” That question was raised at the conference on The Ethics of Autonomous Military Systems behind yesterday’s story on ethical concerns over robotic weapons.
Barrister and Engineer Chris Elliot explained his thoughts on the legality of future “intelligent” weapons, within international, criminal and civil law. He started by suggesting that as systems become more autonomous, they become capable of actions that are not, in legal terms, “foreseeable”.
At that point, he suggested, it would be hard to blame a human for its actions. “We’re getting very close to the where the law may have to recognise that we can’t always identify an individual - perhaps an artificial system can be to blame.”
Military robots are already in use in Iraq — the SWORDS system is controlled by a remote operator.
The U.S. Army quietly entered a new era earlier this summer when it sent the first armed ground robots into action in Iraq.
So far, the robot army’s entrance into the war has been a trickle rather than an invasion.
Only three of the special weapons observation remote reconnaissance direct action system (SWORDS) have been deployed so far.
The Army has authorized the purchase of 80 more robots — which are being touted as a potentially life-saving technology — but acquisition officials have not come forth with the funding.
“As [soldiers] use them and like them, I’ve heard positive feedback, they want 20 more immediately. It’s a shame we can’t get them to them,” Michael Zecca, SWORDS program manager, told National Defense.
