Guess Which Candidate Our Enemies Want to Lose in 2004?

Newhouse News Service ^ | Feb. 11, 2004 | JAMES LILEKS

[Luis Gonzalez]

Let's just be blunt: The North Koreans would love to see John Kerry win the election. The mullahs of Iran would love it. The Syrian Ba'athists would sigh with relief. Every enemy of America would take great satisfaction if the electorate rejects the Bush doctrine and scuttles back to hide under the U.N. Security Council's table. It's a hard question, but the right one: Which candidate does our enemy want to lose? George W. Bush.

And some conservatives will be happy to help, it seems.

Woe and gloom have befallen some on the right. Bush has failed to act according to The Reagan Ideal.

The actual Reagan may have issued an amnesty for illegals, but the Ideal Reagan would have done no such thing. So unless Bush packs freight cars full of gardeners and dishwashers and dumps them off at the Mexican border, some voters will just sit this one out.

The Ideal Reagan would have eliminated the National Endowment for the Arts; the actual Reagan proposed a $1 million increase in his final budget. But Bush increased NEA funding -- perhaps an attempt to placate people who wouldn't vote for him if he showed up in performance with Karen Finley and a can of Hershey's syrup. So angry conservatives might just sit this one out.

And if a Democrat takes office, and the Michael Moores and Rob Reiners and Martin Sheens crowd the airwaves on Nov. 3 to shout their howls of vindication? If the inevitable renaissance of Iraq happens on Kerry's watch, and the economy truly picks up steam in the first few years before the business cycle and Kerry's tax hikes kick in? If emboldened Islamist terrorists smell blood and strike again? Fine. Maybe the next Republican president will do everything they want.

Oh, sure, Bush is fine on the foreign affairs stuff, and yes, there's a partial-birth abortion law, and the tax cuts were nice, and come to think of it, Sept. 11 wasn't followed by blow after blow after blow, for some reason. The nation endures, at least at press time. But that's hardly enough. Where's that bill requiring 60-foot Ten Commandments monuments in every capitol rotunda? Let Kerry win. Teach the GOP a lesson, it will.

So both sides have elements that seem unserious about the defining issue of the day: the war. But the right's malcontents snipe from humid redoubts of Internet message boards. The left's biggest spokesmen are parading their delusions.

No less than Al Gore has practically accused the president of treason. In a Feb. 8 speech in Tennessee, Gore went on an alarming rant, performed almost in an arr-matey pirate voice. "He betrayed this country!" Gore bellowed. "He played on our fears. He took America on an ill-conceived foreign adventure dangerous to our troops, an adventure preordained and planned before 9/11 ever took place."

We've been manipulated into a state of fear, Gore shouted. Really. Which administration spent most of 1998 warning us about Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction, only to launch some missiles and walk away? Gore saw all the intel on WMDs. Gore was part of an administration that pushed for regime change because it viewed Saddam, correctly, as a danger to the region and to America. Does Gore think we don't remember everything Democrats said about Saddam and WMDs, when they felt responsible for the nation?

As for that state of fear, well, anyone out there feel afraid of Saddam today? Didn't think so.

Gore should give this speech at the convention. Why not? Why not stand up and give vent to all the poisons hatching in the muck? Why not tell America that Bush lied about everything, that he took the country to war for reasons he knew would be discredited, just so Halliburton could make another buck or two? It's what they seem to believe, after all. The delusions of their fringe have become articles of faith for the mainstream. Bush was AWOL! Bush knew! Bush lied! Bush never flosses! Skull and Bones! Plastic turkey!

At least we'll have a clear choice in November. Bush is serious about the war. The Democrats are serious about the war against Bush

[baseballmom]

W is a hero of Churchillian proportions, and nobody is ever gonna convince me otherwise, because it is a fact.

Worth repeating, because it IS true.

[JulieRNR21]

Yes....you got it right.....my Siamese kitty, 'Georgio W. Bush' is supporting the President the terrorists fear most:

[baseballmom]

Great post Luis.

#19 is right on.

[Luis Gonzalez]

"W is a hero of Churchillian proportions

You're not alone in thinking that.

A Grand Strategy Of Transformation

[marron]

Despite popular demand, I am not running. So there won't be a perfect candidate in this race. There is only a candidate who will fight, opposed by a candidate who won't. Thats the choice.

[kinghorse]

Not this one :)

One wonders how many "internet" contributions were emanating from old guard arab types. Nasir and Abdul standing behind the "Dove" must surely be sad today.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[wjcsux]

A great read, especially for the 'let the chips fall as they may- stay at home' crowd.
Absolutely! There is way too much at stake this election. The President who occupies the WH from 04-08 will probably pick at least one SCOTUS Justice. There is the possibility he may pick up to four. I would much rather it be "W" than Ketchup Boy.

[MEG33]

I LUB DUBYA!

[Tempest]

Bump! So that some of RINO's posing as "true conservatives" can get a clue.

[Luis Gonzalez]

William H. Rehnquist, born: October 1, 1924...79 years old.

John Paul Stevens, born: April 20, 1920...83 years old.

Sandra Day O'Connor, born: March 26, 1930...73 years old.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, born: March 15, 1933...70 years old.

Antonin Scalia, born: March 11, 1936...67 years old.

Anthony M. Kennedy, born: July 23, 1936...67 years old.

Stephen G. Breyer, born: August 15, 1938...65 years old.

David Hackett Souter, born: September 17, 1939...64 years old.

Clarence Thomas, born: June 23, 1948...55 years old.

[dixie sass]

Great article, thank you for pinging me to it.

[wjcsux]

Thanks for the list. Maybe 6 out of 7 SCOTUS Justices replaced in the next couple of years. I hope some of the 3rd Party clowns who want to "vote their conscience" are aware of this fact.
If Ketchup Boy picks the next six SCOTUS Justices, the country is toast.

[gathersnomoss]

"Nasir and Abdul standing behind the "Dove" must surely be sad today." I didn't notice his target audience there. We do have enemy's everywhere. Many parade around as patriotic Democrats who want a world that respects us.....in the morning.

[gathersnomoss]

ALl that is needed is someone to push down the handle. Toast or Flushed.

[deport]

Thought you may like this one......

[JeffersonRepublic.com]

Thank you! Luis you are great. I love the story it really hits home for some Conservatives who can never be pleased.

We all go through times when we want the President to do more, but we can't let that stop us from working for him.

Holtz
Owner/Editor
JeffersonRepublic.com

[Mo1]

.

[countrydummy]

Bump! Great article!

[Luis Gonzalez]

***PING***