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Good Guys and Gals
There are several living Democrats whom I admire. A short list would include of course Joe Lieberman, Zell Miller, Tammy Bruce, and even Bill Richardson (for his integrity and honesty), and well, let's see—I'm thinking.
A Liberal with Integrity Defends the Iraq War
There is one liberal, however, whom I admire as much as anyone, even as much as such heroes as Larry Elder, Tom Tancredo, Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter and Laura Ingraham.
Christopher Hitchens. The man is the epitome of what I call the Classical Liberal. He is liberal in many of his viewpoints, but counterbalances this with being strong on defense, a lover of America, and a man who tells the truth,
without demagoguery.
A rare bird these days. He ought to be cherished.
The great one speaks about the Iraq War: So, Mr. Hitchens, weren't you wrong about Iraq? - By Christopher Hitchens - Slate Magazine: Fighting words: Hard questions, four years later. By Christopher Hitchens, Posted Monday, March 19, 2007, at 1:53 PM ET
Four years after the first coalition soldiers crossed the Iraqi border, one can attract pitying looks (at best) if one does not take the view that the whole engagement could have been and should have been avoided. Those who were opposed to the operation from the beginning now claim vindication, and many of those who supported it say that if they had known then what they know now, they would have spoken or voted differently.It's a great defense of the Iraq War, and you can go to the above link to read the article. He writes it better than I, so I'll just direct you to it.
What exactly does it mean to take the latter position? At what point, in other words, ought the putative supporter to have stepped off the train? The question isn't as easy to answer as some people would have you believe. Suppose we run through the actual timeline:
Opportunistic Blathering
I, like you, have been hearing the demagogic John Kerry present the other side, and just about every Democrat trying to turn soldiers' lives into political capital.
Too Busy Protesting to See Reality
What is ironic, with all the anti-war protests lately, and the shameless vote-seeking, is that the surge is reportedly actually going quite well. Despite all the complaining by anti-war groups and the left, people on the ground, including Iraqi's and American soldiers, are saying that they are starting to feel safer.
Terrorists Love the Left
Of course, this is only a temporary phenomenon, as the terrorists know that the left continues its drumbeat to remove the troops, thereby ensuring that we will be withdrawing in the sometime not so distant future.
The sad thing is that much of the public is buying the left's propaganda. Too bad. If we do withdraw prematurely, then we might be snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
Rock
(*Wikipedia is always my source unless indicated.)
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I am reminded that this is exactly how Osama bin Laden, with American help and shoulder fired missiles, drove the Soviets from Afghanistan several years ago. The military, with Bush's blessing, is going to adjust to this new threat, however, unlike the Russians.
Democrats are the ones, I believe, in the untenable position on Iraq. Though the American people are disillusioned with Iraq and want the U.S. to get out, they are becoming aware of the bloody aftermath that will follow if the U.S. leaves. Moderate Democrats have gone on record with their votes and statements that they think the surge will fail. This puts them in the position of having to cheer for American failure in Iraq. They have always cheered for American failure in Iraq, in my opinion; but with these votes, this anti-American sentiment is exposed. Will Ted Kennedy, for example, ever say "Good job!" to Bush if the troop surge works? Never. Kennedy has committed to the failure of the surge, and will be looking for any signs that he has been right.
The Democrats have made the mistake of playing to the polls, instead of doing what is right. The American people will see through this.
If the surge doesn't work, then at least Bush will have tried. If it does work, then the world will be a better place; Democrats will be exposed as the demagogues they are; and Bush's stature will soar.
Nuclear Issues with Korea and Iran
Bush just had a major success with his "stubborn" policy with Korea. Thanks to the arm-twisting of the Chinese, Korea has agreed to stop developing nuclear weapons. This is a major diplomatic success for Bush. Former U.N. ambassador John Bolton, independent as ever, thinks the United States is being bamboozled, much like happened to Clinton, where the North Koreans sign an agreement and then ignore it. In my opinion, though, this time is different, since, thanks to Bush's wisdom, China is included in the enforcement of the agreement; and North Korea does not want to cross China. Here again, the Democrats will not give Bush credit for this historic achievement, but the American people will.
If Bush is lucky, he can turn around now and use much the same tactic with Iran. In this case, with Korea as the model, he can urge the European powers, and Russia, to do the arm-twisting with Iran. This is not so far-fetched as it once seemed now that the Korean situation seems to have been solved.
Putin has been sounding hysterically critical of the U.S. lately, but Bush is not taking the bait. He is not responding in kind to Russia. This is just more evidence that Bush has matured into quite a diplomat as of late. He is acting and sounding presidential on the world stage, and his steadfastness is bearing fruit.
Global Warming
Every day now there is another scientist speaking up that the world is in hysteria about global warming, and that there is no evidence that the warming is caused by mankind's behavior. Yet, the consensus is there that Al Gore is right about the issue. To me, we are in the middle of another Copernicus syndrome. It is as if 75% of the scientists and an even higher percentage of the people were saying the sun revolves around the earth and not vice versa.
All I can do is keep expressing the truth, along with the 25% of the scientists who know what they are talking about.
This is the truth:
The earth may be getting warmer, but not as dramatically as feared. Some ice is melting on the globe, but other ice is thickening. Sea levels may rise, but only inches, and not the twenty feet that Al Gore preaches. Climate change may occur, but this is largely unpredictable. Computer models are highly complex, and bear little resemblance to reality. Plus, the effect of CO2 levels on global warming is not proven. There have been times in earth's history when CO2 levels were higher than now, and the earth was colder at those times than it is now. According to the same scientists who believe in the global warming hysteria, following Kyoto and decreasing CO2 levels will have a negligible effect on global warming anyway.
Unfortunately, Bush is buying in to the hysteria, as most world leaders have. So, we are on the verge of spending billions of dollars on corrective measures that have no guarantee of success. As I've said before, I think we ought to go green, and develop alternative forms of renewable energy, but we ought not to get hysterical about it. The sky is not falling.
Bush is wrong on this one. Let's hope he doesn't become a lemming.
Social Security
The Democrats have successfully demagogued this issue, and it is dead. The left have frightened Americans and especially seniors that privatizing Social Security would mean fewer or less secure benefits, while the opposite is true. Bush never did a good job of explaining this issue to the American people, and it appears as if his time is running out on it.
Capitalism
The Social Security issue is emblematic of Bush's inability to preach capitalism to the people. This is why the socialist left is rising, with people like Nancy Pelosi and Ted Kennedy taking center stage. It would be very easy to use socialist countries as illustrations, for example, of the kind of bureaucratic nightmares that occur with socialized medicine. Bush, the first president in history with an M.B.A., is just not teaching capitalism effectively.