Posted on 03/05/2005 5:12:16 AM PST by StoneGiant
Source: Opinion Journal
BY JAMES TARANTO
Wednesday, March 2, 2005 10:53 a.m.
'But as an American . . .'
We hardly ever watch Comedy Central's "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart," but our TV happened to be tuned to it last night when erstwhile Clinton aide Nancy Soderberg, author of "The Superpower Myth: The Use and Misuse of American Might" (foreword by Bill Clinton, blurb by Madeleine Albright) came on. We're not sure what possessed us to turn on the sound and watch, but we're glad we did, for it was a fascinating interview. Here's a TiVo-assisted transcript of most of it:
.... snip ... SEE MORE BELOW
(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...
The excerpt-only rule applies downthread too.
Did you ever think you'd see the day that a former FOB would admit in public that the Rats were rooting for the terrorists?
Yes. Some of them are too bright to slip into reality like this, but the ones who served in Clinton's administration were the least competent and most dim-headed of them all.
The amazing thing is how adroitly Stewart led this confused woman down the path of self-revelation. Her comments remind me of Ellen Ratner's on Fox News. At the outset of this Iraq war, Ratner said that she hoped we didn't succeed because it would be too good for Bush. That, of course, was saying that she hoped for our military defeat. She was later forced to apologize, but it didn't take the awfulness of her statement away.
What's bad for the country is good for Democrats and what's good for the country is bad for Democrats. Rush has been saying it for years.
I've been watching Stewart for years and don't think it was his intention to make her look like such a cynical and hypocritical Rat. It's more that Soderberg believed she was in the safe enclave of a Rat audience and host and TV show and thought it was just A-OK to reveal the truth.
A more wary Rat operative would have summoned enough doublespeak and evasion to promote the book while sidestepping Stewart's questions.
I cannot think of single person in the X42 administration that I would trust with my pet snake.
Bump!
I think you are assuming more intentionality to this woman than she has. It is obvious that has trying to draw her out and that he succeeded.
Soderberg: Well, I think, you know, as a Democrat, you don't want anything nice to happen to the Republicans, and you don't want them to have progress.
Soderberg: It's scary for Democrats, I have to say.
Soderberg: Well, there's still Iran and North Korea, don't forget. There's hope for the rest of us.
Just what does the left have left?
By Chris Lykins
The Gazette-Enterprise
Published March 4, 2005
You are watching the Democrats’ worst nightmare unfolding in the Middle East — and they know it.
There have been real elections in Iraq and Afghanistan — with both efforts being far more successful than critics ever thought possible.
The people of Lebanon forced the Syrian-backed government out of power and are on the verge of throwing the Syrians out altogether.
Some of those in the streets pointed to elections in Iraq as the beginning of a change in the Middle East — one where the people ran the show.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has asked the government to change the country’s constitution to allow a multi-party presidential election for the first time in 50 years.
There are still hurdles candidates will have to leap through to get on the ballot in Egypt, but it’s another crack in the wall that looked unbreakable before the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
In an interview with Jon Stewart, Nancy Soderberg — an advisor to the Clinton administration — says the successes in the Middle East are “scary for Democrats” because the party never wants to see the Republicans do well.
Stewart said at this rate Republicans would be ranking Bush ahead of Reagan and, “I just know my kids are going to go to a high school named after this guy.”
Not only do you have budding real democracies in Iraq and Afghanistan with Egypt moving that direction and Lebanon soon able to elect a government without the Syrians standing over their shoulders, you also have the best chance for peace between the Israelis and Palestinians.
A large portion of that is a result of Yasser Arafat finally taking his first real step to get back on the roadmap to peace — by dying.
Analysts say the wave moving across the region may be enough to topple Syria and Iran — two of the largest sponsors of terror.
Where do the Democrats stand in all of this? Likely petrified.
It has the potential to be the fall of communism all over again with people waving flags and dancing in the streets while hugging one another with joy.
Already we are hearing some of the same words we heard then. Historic. Groundbreaking. Jubilation.
Just as it was then, Democrats are relegated to the sideline on the wrong side of history where they can do little more than make sarcastic remarks about arrogance and reckless Cowboy diplomacy.
There’s not smooth sailing ahead. To act as if there were would be to downplay the 1,500 men and women in the United States military who have sacrificed their lives.
There will be hard times. You need look no farther than what Eastern Europe had to endure in the aftermath of the fall of the Soviet Union.
And there’s always a chance that the region backslides as Ukraine was in danger of doing and as it appears that Russia is doing now.
Soderberg said that while Democrats may be scared — that as Americans we have to hope for the best in the region. And if we get the best outcome — a democratic Middle East and the decrease in terror that would come along with it — then what’s left for the Democratic Party?
To paraphrase former President Bill Clinton, “There’s always the economy, stupid.”
It wasn't obvious to me. I've been watching Stewart for at least three years, and he was doing what he always does. He's not a "gotcha" interviewer.
I think he was as surprised as I was that Soderberg was so absurdly candid.
.
NEVER FORGET
Praise GOD that...
President BUSH has promised,
During a BUSH Presidency,
FREEDOM's return to:
Communist Cuba
Communist Vietnam
Communist North Korea
..as well as..
FREEDOM's arrival to:
All the couuntries of the Middle East
...as America's own best self-protection against future terrorist attacks here at home.
GOD is GOOD.
Signed:.."ALOHA RONNIE" Guyer
Veteran-"WE WERE SOLDIERS" Battle of IA DRANG-1965, Landing Zone Falcon
http://www.lzxray.com/guyer_collection.htm
(Photos
but I am sure she did not intend to be so candid. This woman who wrote a book on the supposed "myth" of American power comes on his show. Now he greets her with his observation that "something good has been going on in the Middle East and, I hate to admit it, pretty much appears to be due to Bush's invasion of Iraq and his holding of the elections. Bush may have been right. This observation is a direct challenge to her premise in the book she is being interviewed for.
And her initial reluctance is pushed by stewart to the point that she has to admit that these guys may have been right and that it is scary for dems.
He certainly had soemthing in mind and it appears it was to expose the absurdity of her book's premise in light of the current events. He makes that point and does it in a manner that elicits from her, devastatingly, her admission.
I read a comment from her yesterday that said it was all a joke on a comedy program. Can anyone who saw the program tell from their tone or body language if this was a skit?
Sounds like a good caption for a picture of Saddam Hussein laying in his spider-hole while Marines prepare to remove the lid from above.
She's the one who used to write for a magazine, right? The one who used to either be in the service or reported from the field? Wow, what a disappointment. I never thought she was like that.
She needs to be subpoened to Congress and testify on what she knows about the Democrats and their activities in the run-up,during, and after the war.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.