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Virtuosos of the attack mode
March 8, 2003
A casual
glance at recent newspaper headlines involving Democrats attacking
President Bush for every imaginable reason shows how thirsty Democrats
are to regain power. It's their prerogative to serve as watchdogs,
but much of their criticism is so transparently contrived that
it says more about them than it does the president.
Let's take
a look at stories from last week alone.
- "Democrats
Blame Bush for Energy Costs." Senate Democrats have gone
to the trouble of using their time and our resources to conduct
a study to prove that Bush's decision to boost the federal emergency
oil stockpile caused oil stocks to plummet and energy prices
to rise. Notice that the purpose of the study was not to analyze
economic data for future use but to discredit Bush. Given what
is immediately facing this nation, do you think their time might
have been more constructively spent?
- "Democrats
Say Bush Failing on North Korea." Democratic foreign policy
experts -- an oxymoron if there ever was one -- said, for the
umpteenth time, that North Korea posed a far graver threat than
Iraq and "must be dealt with immediately to keep it from
becoming a hostile nuclear power." I hate to break it to
Democrats, but North Korea is already a hostile nuclear power.
They have some gall even to raise this issue, since it's a mess
they largely created through endless appeasement and a phony
"Agreed Framework." And they're advocating that we
do it all over again with Iraq. Their formula is "walk
softly, talk even more softly, and carry no stick. Trust dictators,
not your own common sense." It's also noteworthy that Democrats
don't give any specifics as to what action should be taken against
North Korea. Just more talk to detract from the Iraqi mission.
They're in their destructive mode -- criticizing Bush without
offering feasible alternative solutions.
- "Senate
Democrats Question Bush War Plans." Now that's a new one!
But again, they offer no reasonable alternatives. Their constant
refrain essentially is "We agree that Saddam is evil (though
we reserve our right to lampoon Bush for simplistically recognizing
the very existence of evil), but war is unthinkable when you
can disarm him by talking him to death." Their motto should
be "Twelve more years." They are saying we need to
work with Saddam just long enough to let him acquire nukes like
North Korea. While they would have us believe they favor rigorous
inspections, they don't explain their utter indifference to
the inspections process during those years that Clinton allowed
Saddam to make a mockery of the United Nations with impunity.
- "Desperate
Democrats Attack War on Terrorism." This article details
how Democrats have pretended to support President Bush in the
War on Terrorism while attacking him on everything else, but
now they're even openly questioning the war effort. With the
capture of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed they have egg on their faces.
But they still won't concede that we can fight Al Qaeda and
Iraq simultaneously.
- "Democrats
Slam Bush Foreign Policy." This one reiterates the familiar
charge that Bush is a unilateralist and hasn't deferred enough
to the United Nations and the rest of our good buddies in Germany
and France.
- "Democrats
Decry Bush on Public Housing." He isn't doing enough.
- "Democrats
Attack Bush Prescription Drug Proposal." His plan is of
"very, very marginal value."
- "Democrats
Count on Job Drought to fight 'The Perfect Storm.'" This
reveals the novel Democratic strategy to counter Bush's war
popularity by slamming himon the economy.
- "Senate
Democrats Question Bush War Plans." They condemn Bush for
not having been clairvoyant as to the precise cost and duration
of the war.
- "Three
Democrats Rip Into Bush." Just three? Not to worry. There
were only three Democratic presidential candidates there. One
of them, Howard Dean, said, "Our party has supported this
president too much."
- "Democrats
Attack Bush for Poverty Rise." Self-explanatory.
- "Senate
Democrats: Filibusters Are No Longer Just For the Floor."
Details the Senate Democrats' despicable actions in making the
eminently qualified Miguel Estrada the first federal court of
appeals nominee to face a real filibuster in the history of
America.
These relentless
assaults against President Bush reveal an unparalleled obstructionism
aimed at hurting him politically, rather than advancing the best
interests of the country. This strategy is so selfish, so unseemly
and so obviously partisan it's difficult to imagine that it won't
backfire. We'll know soon enough.
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