To illustrate the absurdity of recent Democratic attacks, I have prepared a response in kind. This is the level to which political discourse would sink, if Republicans were as malicious as Democrats.
Guilty until proved innocent: Democrats and their supporters in the press have insisted that President Bush must "prove his innocence" regarding the ridiculous AWOL charge during his National Guard service. Of course, the fact that he was honorably discharged proves conclusively that he was not absent without leave (a felony). He may have been absent, but if so, the absences were excused, otherwise he would not have remained in good standing.
But, when one demands proof of innocence, the sword can cut both ways. For example, we suspect that some soldiers in Vietnam deliberately injured themselves, earning Purple Hearts, in order to get transferred back to the states. We also know that John Kerry pulled off a transfer to a cushy stateside job, after three Purple Hearts within four months for minor injuries.
There is no evidence that Kerry faked the injuries, but, nevertheless, he should be asked to prove that none were self-inflicted. The Boston Globe requested that he authorize release of the pertinent records, and Kerry has refused.
Somebody else said it: In the famous 16 words in the 2003 State of the Union Address, President Bush said that the British Government had learned Saddam was seeking uranium. Democrats went ballistic and said that he cannot hide behind the qualifier "the British Government has learned." According to them, since he put it in the speech, he is responsible for the words.
Let's look at the other edge of this sword. When he returned from Vietnam, Kerry participated in Jane Fonda's "Winter Soldier Investigation." In Kerry's subsequent testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (1971) he stated, "Over 150 honorably discharged and many very highly decorated veterans testified to war crimes committed in Southeast Asia, not isolated incidents but crimes committed on a day-to-day basis with the full awareness of officers at all levels of command."
Most of the charges made by Fonda and Kerry were later proved completely false, and none was ever proved true.
Kerry is hiding behind "veterans testified," pretending that the outrageous lies are not his statements. But he spoke the words, and he slandered the good name of the men and women who served honorably in Vietnam. Kerry should be forced to admit that his testimony was false.
Fables: Sen. John Edwards, a former tort lawyer, in "victory" speeches he delivers after losing primaries, uses some variation of a tear-jerking fable about a 10-year-old girl whose father has just lost his job due to an evil corporation.
Democrats swoon over this performance, so we can expect more of this smelly ploy in the future, from Edwards and from other Democrats. But, for now, it provides an opening for me to construct my own fable. This should be fun.
My story also features a little girl whose father has just lost his job. As in Edwards' tale, he lost his job through no fault of his own. He was doing a good job, and his company was making an excellent product. But, in my story, the father lost his job for a different reason.
You see, the father's company manufactured hammers, but one of the hammers ended up in the wrong hands. An inebriated man used the hammer to swat a mosquito on his forehead, and suffered a concussion. Soon, a tort lawyer wheeled the injured man into court, his head all covered in bandages. For added emphasis, the "victim" also wore a neck brace borrowed from the law firm's costume closet.
The smooth-talking lawyer convinced a jury that the manufacturer should have engraved a warning on the hammer, "Do not hit yourself in the head with this hammer." After a huge award, the company went bankrupt, and the father lost his job. The lawyer, reached by phone at his beach mansion, was indignant at the suggestion that his path to obscene wealth had caused the loss of thousands of jobs.
"Hey, I'm doing my part to create jobs. Why, just yesterday I hired two new employees, and they're swabbing the deck on one of my yachts as we speak."
You gotta love these two edged swords.