Posted on 05/30/2004 3:41:10 PM PDT by Lysandru
Why This Conservative May Have to Vote for John Kerry
By D. Grant Greffey
My friends and family will all be shocked by a radical thought that crossed my mind. Maybe I need to vote for John Kerry in order to secure victory in Iraq. Before my fellow conservatives have an apoplexy, let me explain. I submit that there are several possible benefits that a Kerry Administration would bring to the nation’s war in Iraq.
One benefit of a new Kerry Administration would be the likely cessation of seditious Senate speeches by Sen. Edward Kennedy. Once his buddy John Kerry is President, Ted Kennedy (and Rep. Nancy Pelosi) can climb on board the war effort instead of trying to sabotage it. Furthermore, once Secretary of Defense Joe Liebermann is sworn in, that bigoted blowhard Sen. Fritz Hollings might stop making anti-Semitic slurs about a Jewish cabal setting Administration policy.
A second benefit will be that the odious pictures of humiliated Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghairib in Western media outlets could be replaced by pictures of Vice President Hillary Clinton visiting smiling school children at a school rebuilt by American troops (carefully screened so they don’t boo her off the stage). And maybe the Media would even start to pay attention to the discovery of artillery and mortar shells filled with chemical agents—or the taped confessions of Iraqi-trained terrorists in Jordanian custody who were trying to gas downtown Amman.
A Kerry Presidency would also instantly internationalize the war in Iraq. Why I bet that the day that he is inaugurated, Kerry would enjoy the support of perhaps 30 nations—to include diverse nations like Mongolia, El Salvador, Bulgaria, and South Korea. Yes, I know that President Bush already has this support. But now the Media might be willing to let the public know about the gallantry of our allies—how some Scottish Highlanders fixed bayonets to rout their foes or how a Salvadoran corporal charged ten gunmen armed only with a knife. Maybe they will even deign to inform the public of American heroics in Iraq. And maybe we can get the French on board. Secretary of State Bill Clinton could arrange for Webster Hubbell and Vernon Jordan to handle questions about the ties of key French officials to the U.N. “Oil for Fraud” program.
In short, my strategy came from a rosy look back to the Happy Days of the 1990’s, when an inveterate liar in the Oval Office could wage war in the Balkans without the benefit of a U.N. Security Council resolution or a Congressional vote—or even the hint of a whiff of an accusation of an illicit WMD program. Back then, the loutish elements of the American Left and the so-called “peace movement” were positively bloodthirsty when it came to policing Serbian misdeeds in the Balkans. (Hey, just what are Slobodan Milosevic’s ties to Al Qaeda?)
But this brings us to the risks and disadvantages of my proposal. The impeccable liberal credentials of LBJ or even Hubert Humphrey didn’t stop the activists in their own party from tearing apart the party and the nation back in the1960’s. Could Kerry face the same problem? Heck, who are we kidding?—John Kerry was part of the problem back in those days.
Secondly, my thesis assumes that a Kerry Administration would vigorously pursue victory in Iraq. The signs are very shaky here. Senator Kerry frankly could confuse a neutral observer—voting for authorization to use force but saying later it was meant only as a bluff. And then he voted against continued funding of the effort, but only after voting for the funding. And back in the hazy, lazy days of the 1990’s, Senator Kerry tried to slash spending on U.S. intelligence services in a fashion that even Teddy Kennedy had to vote against.
Thirdly, my proposal is based on the meretricious hope that we can co-opt a biased and cynical Media Elite obsessed with creating a Mesopotamian My Lai along with the “Al Franken Democrats” still fuming about being thwarted in their attempted theft of Florida’s Electoral votes back in 2000 with the help of partisan hacks on the Florida Supreme Court. They are willing to sacrifice the future of the millions in Iraq and possibly more simply to get back at George W. Bush, a man who is too much of a Christian gentleman to call them out. Well, I am not too much of a gentleman to call them out. Anyone who thinks that Donald Rumsfeld is more evil than Abu Zarqawi needs professional help or a one way ticket to Iran (Al Gore, phone your travel agent). Do I really want to reward these punks with “Dubya’s” scalp?
Upon further reflection, the risks and the moral repugnancy of my proposal compel me to reject it myself. I will simply have to do the moral thing and support the imperfect but well-intentioned efforts of President Bush’s crew rather than turn affairs over to John Kerry. Depending upon which speech you believe, Senator Kerry might turn over Iraq to the U.N.—an organization that cut and run after one car bombing at their headquarters compound and that was literally a partner in crime with Saddam Hussein in his looting of Iraq. No thank you.
--D. Grant Greffey,
Springfield, VA
This is a cute experiment. I decided to do the unthinkable. I wonder how many others will.
Read the article...it's very good.
You know, when I read the title, it reminded me of the fact that Bush's poll numbers are probably only low due to the number of times he has lost the vote of some "true conservatives". According to a recent survey, Bush has lost at least 25 votes from a single libertarian blogger.
LOL! You're right, some of those people are on reason 2,986 of why they can no longer support a President they never voted for.
Did you even bother to read the article?
Stupid question.
Great article. Thanks.
This is a pretty good article. Glad to know someone else shares my point of view on Liberals, and the media.
Now that's tempting. Very good article ;-)
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