Dems tone deaf to nation's mood

Boston Herald ^ | 5/09/03 | A Boston Herald editorial

[kattracks]

Congressional Democrats must truly be aiming for permanent minority status, so tone deaf are they in their criticism of President Bush.<!ENDSUMM!>

This time the Democrats are working themselves into a frenzy over the president's address last week from the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln. Anyone who watched the president's jet ``catch the wire'' live on TV or later in reruns couldn't help but feel the excitement and the delight for those 5,000 American men and women thrilled to get a visit from their commander in chief.

Now Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) has asked the General Accounting Office for ``a full accounting'' of the costs of the trip and the jet landing. Rep. David Obey (D-Wisc.), not content to wait for such numbers, insisted that the president's visit delayed the ship's arrival in San Diego by a day and that alone would cost $100,000 in sea duty pay for the crew and $1 million extra in fuel.

The irascible Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.) went even more over the top, insisting that the president's appearance was ``an affront to the Americans killed or injured in Iraq'' - just proving there's nothing so irrational and misguided that it can't find its way into Byrd-speak.

Was this a presidential photo-op for the ages? Of course it was. It was also Bush exercising the prerogatives of commander in chief - and one who happens to actually be a jet pilot. And it was an opportunity for his troops and for the American people to hear from the president the closing coda in this phase of the war on terror.

If the Democrats can't understand that and deal with it, they might as well pack up their 2004 ambitions right now.

[ChuckMartelRox]

What a great post. Are you planning on writing a book?