The Great Divide

The Weekly Standard ^ | February 16, 2004 | Fred Barnes

[Citizen Soldier]

Fred hits the nail on the head! How thankful I am that we have a predident that never forgets that 3,000 citizens died in one day on our own soil and is determined to try to prevent another incident! You're either with us or against us (I like that!)

[Paleo Conservative]

The first is how seriously one views the terrorist threat. Kerry believes it's been exaggerated.

[Paleo Conservative]

[bigghurtt]

no one seems to be picking up on a point that I think should really be stated more...bush is a victim of his oen success. terrorism is no longer a big issue, because bush has been successful in keeping it from our shores for over 2 years.

catch-22 and all that.

[dts32041]

Or the current occupant of the white house, cause he wanted to make friends with demo rats.

[KrisKrinkle]

"...proof positive that most American voters are dumber than tree stumps."

Let's not leave out the one's who don't vote, especially if their voting could have kept him from winning.

[Flightdeck]

Can anybody freepmail me the thread from that morning? I wasn't a member at the time, but I would like to have it to go along with the other things I will show my children when they are old enough. The fact that people are already forgetting this is despicable.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Backhoe, you got a link for Flightdeck?

See above!

[Defend the Second]

I agree that Fred nails it here. Another way to drive this fundamental difference home is to ask this question: "Who would the terrorists like to see elected in November: Bush, or (insert traitor name here)?"

There are no honorable Democrats in this race (are there any at all?), so America's choice is between the strong likelihood of victory in this war, or the certainty of defeat. Simple enough.

[Citizen Soldier]

Yes! The dems don't understand (or ignore the facts) that we are in a new type of war and that it requires pre-emptive actions. Bush said this in his speeches after Sept. 11th and he has kept his word and his eyes on the ball. We cannot afford to only react, we must act if there are threats of terror against America!

[nathanbedford]

devoting half his State of the Union address last month to terrorism and Iraq.

These words contain ominous portents for those of us who wish Bush success in this election. Bush did not get the bounce which historically has automatically flowed to presidents after the State of the Union speech. Now Bush feels compelled to raise the stakes and redeem his fortunes by submitting to an inquisition by Russert with all the obvious attendant risks of gaffs which could certainly be exploited by the establishment media to Bush’s great cost.

This scenario is reminiscent of his father’s hapless campaign in ’92. He had won the Gulf War within a week, without casualties, in the teeth of Democrat opposition, and on television, but he was unable to engage the electorate’s enthusiasm. It was pitiful to watch the diminishment of the man in that campaign until, at the end, he was dismissed by whole chunks of the voting populace as irrelevant. So bizarre was the mindset of the voters that they entrusted the White House, including the Lincoln bedroom and the oval office ante room with its sink, to a sociopath who was spectacularly unfit for the office and whose moral unfitness was obvious to any dispassionate observer.

The son is fully aware of the father’s decline. In fact, I believe he is so concerned about the trends in the polls that he has decided to gamble on the Russert interview to arrest the decline. The difference now, of course, is that the son has “the vision thing” in him and can articulate it. The vision is that America has been thrust into mortal combat with crazed Muslim fundamentalists who would rhapsodically murder Americans in their millions if they could only get the chance and, in the age of asymmetrical warfare “made more terrible by the lights of perverted science,” it is not entirely unlikely that they will get their chance.

What is ominous is that since the State of the Union address it seems that America does not want to hear about this vision and that is indeed a very great pity because this time the stakes are not the defilement of the White House but the very survival of our representative government.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Amen to that!

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Thanks for posting this!

[nopardons]

Wonderfully put.

[NormsRevenge]

NEVER FORGET

[Dont Mention the War]

If Kerry is elected in November, it will be proof positive that most American voters are dumber than tree stumps.

If Kerry is elected in November, it will be proof that we, collectively, deserve whatever happens to us.

[MEG33]

I pinged you to one thread.If you put "World Trade Center hit"in search,there are more.Ping me if you can't find them

[Flightdeck]

Thanks, I got it.