Kerry and the Dems are banking on American electorate's tendancy to forget history

Jewishworldreview ^ | 3-14-03 | James Lileks

[SJackson]

Turkey kicks the US right where it hurts, and how does Bush respond? In his press conference, the President described them in high-school yearbook terms: a friend, an ally, bosom buddy, best friends 4ever. That's your unilateralist cowboy speaking, your nuance-free arm-twisting bully unschooled in the clever palaver of international diplomacy. Now let's examine the statements of presidential hopeful John Kerry. Sour, dour, determined to wake America to the need to get Syrian blessing for the war on Iraq, Kerry blasted our allies with the following characterization:

"The greatest position of strength is by exercising the best judgment in the pursuit of diplomacy," he said, "not in some trumped-up, so-called coalition of the bribed, the coerced, the bought and the extorted, but in a genuine coalition."

That would be a coalition in which French is spoken without shame. Leave aside the fact that we have been pursuing diplomacy for six months, and that a reasonable observer might conclude that diplomacy does not wish to be caught. Forget Kerry's suggestion that strength isn't expressed by aircraft carriers, but by a rowboat full of "statesmen" so adept at double-talk that they can't order lunch without praising breakfast, brunch, supper and a midnight snack. Forget all that. Just consider what a leading Democratic candidate said about Britain, Australia, and nations recently released from the Soviet yoke: "the bribed, the coerced, the bought and the extorted." Whores at best, corrupt at worst. Wouldn't "a coalition of the billing" have been a tad nicer?

You take your allies where you find them. In WW2 old twinkle-eyed Uncle Joe was on our team, so we refrained from pointing out that the man had carpal tunnel syndrome from signing death warrants. You want to turn on your friends for personal political benefit, wait until the war is over. Is that too much to ask of a wannabe Commander-in-Chief?

In order to beat Bush in 04, the Dems need one of two things: a foreign policy failure or a foreign policy success. If the war has nasty consequences, they'll be on record with a dozen TOLD YOU SOs. We should have bowed to the UN. We should have let inspections continue until Saddam had nothing but a sharp letter opener, and his biological weapons consisted some ancient takeout from the back of the fridge. We should have kept our troops in place to keep the pressure on. Oh, and if North Korea erupts in a final spasm of stupidity and starts a war, it'll be Bush's fault for putting all our troops in the Middle East to put pressure on Saddam, instead of piling 250,000 men in the DMZ where they could be wiped out in a few hours of shelling. Lose-lose for the military is win-win for the Dems.

If the war goes well, and '04 sees the US in an unparalleled position to remake the Middle East, the Dems will point out how they were on board all along --- and now that the danger's past, we must address our aching domestic needs

Continued...

[big gray tabby]

When Lileks rips you, you stay ripped. And there's no better finisher in the game.

[MEG33]

How true. The Aussies are standing with us in spite of their strong anti war public. We better remember our allies. Kerry looks like a parody of a funeral director and speaks like the one in the coffin.

[bert]

The first question to every Rat candidate should be" How's your French?"

[shhrubbery!]

Kerry looks like a parody of a funeral director and speaks like the one in the coffin.

I keep hearing Dems saying Kerry has a great sense of humor --in private.

Eerily similar to what was said about AlBore.

[FRgal4u]

there is only one line that will summarize the 04 campaign over the foreign policy of America...

do you trust the US govn to make the best choice for you when it comes to national security or do you believe the UN should be the one to decide our National Security Policies...

it is just that simple...

[wayoverontheright]

If the war goes well, and '04 sees the US in an unparalleled position to remake the Middle East, the Dems will point out how they were on board all along ---

They will indeed, but I don't think they'll get away with it this time.

Admittedly the left has gotten away with revisionist history many times in the past, and probably will in the future, but this is different because the issue is so chock full of emotion.

Revisionist history depends on an apathetic, somnambulent electorate, (which I suppose aptly describes the left's constituents on most issues) and because of 9-11, this war just doesn't qualify as the kind of event for which people will forget which side you were on.

The democrats are making a BIG mistake here, in my opinion.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

The first question to every Frenchman should be, "how's your German ?"

[Liz]

I keep hearing Dems saying Kerry has a great sense of humor --in private.

This is John doing an uncanny imitation of his long-lost
Transylvanian twin brother, who were separated at birth.