Posted on 02/05/2004 7:12:55 AM PST by coder2
In a speech on Wednesday, Sen. Ted Kennedy tore into the Bush administration, saying the Iraq war was a "political product" marketed by the Bush administration to win elections.
He delivered his alleged "speech" (somehow, calling it a "speech" seems inappropriate) to the Center for American Progress, a liberal advocacy group dedicated to electing Elmer Fudd, if necessary, to get George Bush out of the White House.
"The war has made America more hated in the world," said Kennedy. "And it has made our people more vulnerable to attacks both here and overseas." Kennedy didn't say exactly how it made America more vulnerable to attacks here, since we haven't suffered a domestic attack since 9-11 – but never mind the facts, this is war, Democrat style.
To paraphrase an old joke, even his supporters know how to tell when Ted Kennedy is lying – it's whenever his lips are moving.
Kennedy told the AP last September that the Iraq war was a fraud "made up in Texas."
But in September 2002, when Bush wasn't up for re-election, Teddy said, "We have known for many years that Saddam Hussein is seeking and developing weapons of mass destruction."
Kennedy, like most Democrats, suffers from a strange malady best described as "ASM – Awful Short Memory – disease."
In his speech, Kennedy praised former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, whose just-released book said Bush had been planning for a regime change in Iraq since shortly after taking office.
This was another clear symptom of a severe attack of "ASM disease." Congress actually passed the Iraq Liberation Act in 1998 – when President Clinton was in office – which made regime change in Iraq a matter of public law. But then who bothers to remember such details?
Public Law 105-338 says, "It should be the policy of the United States to support efforts to remove the regime headed by Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq and to promote the emergence of a democratic government to replace that regime."
Teddy Kennedy voted for it, and Bill Clinton signed it. If Bush hadn't had plans in place for such an eventuality, he would be guilty of ignoring the will of the Congress and American people.
Regardless, Kennedy called the invasion of Iraq "a war of choice, not of necessity." He laid out what he called a timeline of the "drumbeat to war" that made America "a lesser and less respected land."
"ASM disease" is actually a blessing for the Democrats. Even though they pass laws and express strong opinions about certain issues, they can later denounce them when they become unpopular or politically expedient. Of course, the fact that most Americans are afflicted with this same dread disease makes such adroit maneuvers possible.
And armed with "righteous indignation" at the Republican implementation of such "lunatic policies" (for which, thanks to "ASM," the Democrats have no culpability), they can scream at them for wantonly attacking Iraq without authorization.
"ASM" provides other benefits, too. Since Democrats can focus such "righteous wrath" on the Republican administration for starting an unjust war, they can also draw attention away from the incredibly astounding benefits that have resulted from the defeat of Iraq:
Libya has renounced terrorism, given up its weapons of mass destruction and invited the United States to send in inspectors.
Iran has agreed to nuclear inspections, and the ruling mullahs there are barely hanging on to power.
Afghanistan is preparing to elect a government and Pakistan and India are seeking a way to end their conflict over Kashmir.
Syria is even running scared and making overtures to negotiate with Israel for peace.
But by far the most revealing line of Kennedy's speech was this one:
The administration has broken faith with the American people, aided and abetted by a congressional majority willing to pursue ideology at any price, even the price of distorting the truth.
This shows that he has reached the extreme stages of the dread disease of "ASM" – or else he couldn't have made this statement with a straight face.
It reminded me of that other great Kennedy quote, from 1973, just four years after the death of Mary Jo Kopechne in Chappaquidick. He asked, "Do we operate under a system of equal justice under law? Or is there one system for the average citizen and another for the high and mighty?" Only "ASM" can account for such hypocritical audacity. And it would seem that Kennedy has shown symptoms of "ASM disease" from his early youth.
If Bush was lying about the reasons for war, using it as a political tool for re-election, then what was the motive behind comments made in 1998 by Clinton's secretary of State, Madeline Albright? She gravely warned:
Saddam's goal ... is to achieve the lifting of U.N. sanctions while retaining and enhancing Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programs. We cannot, we must not and we will not let him succeed.
Or House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's motives when she said in 1998:
As a member of the House Intelligence Committee, I am keenly aware that the proliferation of chemical and biological weapons is an issue of grave importance to all nations. Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region and he has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process.
What about Clinton's secretary of Defense, Bill Cohen, who said in April 2003:
I am absolutely convinced that there are weapons ... I saw evidence back in 1998 when we would see the inspectors being barred from gaining entry into a warehouse for three hours with trucks rolling up and then moving those trucks out.
WOW! "ASM disease" makes anything possible. It's a real killer.
I thought Algore wasn't running, or does he mean Kerry?
I'm sure we'd be more loved by the world if we tucked our tail between our legs, deferred our sovereignty to the United Nations, opened all of our borders to illegal Mexicans and Islamic terrorsts, and confiscated 100% of the income of the evil "wealthy" to redistribute it to single mothers and drug addicts who've never held a job.
But is that what's best for America? Hardly. For that reason, I don't care didley whether the world hates us. They're going to hate us no matter what. We might as well do what's best for America if that's the case.
Tyrants love a weak America. They fear a strong one.
Carolyn
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