When I was a boy, my father taught me a saying that, “It takes a Democrat to get America into a war, and it takes a Republican to get us out of it.”  The amazing part was that my father, like most of my family, was a life-long Democrat.  But, many life-long Democrats are very conservative at heart.  They have been misled to think that the Democratic Party is “for the people”.  As we will see in part three of this series, much of what is said by Democratic Party leaders has a separate set of definitions.  Yes, those leaders are for “the people” — they are for only the people in their proletariat circle.

One cannot find a more quintessential example than the recent “visit with the troops” in Afghanistan by the junior US Senator from New York.  It still astounds me that a freshman senator — who not only has no military background, nor connections, but has the same loathing for the military as her husband — has managed to worm her way onto the Armed Services Committee.  Thus, it was impossible for anyone in the military to say “no” to her plans for a photo-op with the troops during Thanksgiving stops in Afghanistan and Iraq.  Due to long friendships with members of the Hollywood Left, both Bill and Hillary Clinton are quite familiar with the importance of camera angles to political success.

So, conveniently, Hillary used the war as a backdrop (including bulletholes).

She was far from alone in her use of that strategy, even though she was nearly alone at the table in the mess hall.  Even the briefest news clips showed that there were more reporters at her table than soldiers.  Favorable news reports said that “more than a dozen soldiers” had their photos taken with Hillary.  Remember, those troops (and their commanders) knew in advance that she was coming.  A recent caller to a talk-radio show said that he was there, and that officers had to order troops to line up with her.  By contrast, President Bush appeared by surprise, and he was surrounded by hundreds of cheering troops.  And, revealingly, President Bush served the troops, but Senator Clinton bumped ahead in line to be served by the troops.  Many years before he became the Commander-in-Chief, George W. Bush had served under others in uniform.  He knows which way to turn when the music plays.  And, by the strategies he has approved, it is obvious that he also knows which end of the tube the round comes from.

Of course, the political visits to the Middle East took a back seat to the recent capture of Saddam Hussein.  When he was found, hiding in a cold septic tank, the contrast could not have been more understated, as one of our special operators said simply, “Warm regards from President Bush.”  The effect was priceless.

Immediately in the wake of the news of this military and intelligence victory, however, the spinmeisters of the Leftist Media turned the story’s focus to that of the Democratic challengers and the 2004 presidential election.  I’m sure that it would also be possible for the Media Elite to turn a story about a prom night car accident into a forum about Democratic challengers and the presidential election.  Constantly interspersed between facts about the capture, Dan Rather kept making comments about the effect of this incident on the Democratic challengers.  (One would think the effect would be on the current occupant of the White House; but, apparently that was not considered news.)

In particular, Rather gave an opportunity for a lengthy soliloquy to Senator John Kerry.  He used that opportunity as a pitch for globalism, using such buzz-phrases as, “We should bring the world to the table...”  Kerry also launched an attack by saying, “We should get other countries to share the costs and burdens of the War Against Terrorism....”  Hello!  According to a recent Pentagon briefing, we have about 34 other countries helping in Iraq, and 27 countries helping in Afghanistan.  (Some of those countries overlap, but not all.  A safe estimate is probably 40 different countries helping us in the War Against Terrorism.)  But, of course, Senator Kerry made his comment in such a tone as to make it sound as though President Bush had not done enough to enlist the help of other countries.  The reality is that he has done a tremendous job, even bringing in countries that were not only our former enemies, but enemies with each other.  (For example, there is a centuries-old cultural rivalry between Russia and Ukraine.  The president has been able to capitalize on that in a unique way.  More on that in a future article.)  To listen to the Nay-saying Nine (and a half), it would sound as though President Bush was making his foreign policy decisions on a whim.  It sounds to me like the real whim is in how to attack that policy.

Within minutes of the Kerry interview, CBS reporter Kimberly Dozier, broadcasting live from Iraq, was asked by Rather if she had any reactions from Iraqi citizens.  Dozier replied that Iraqis had avoided interviews because, “It was the arrest of one of their symbols.”  Hello!  Is she talking about the same “symbol” that threw people into shredders?  (If she knew anything about Middle Eastern culture, then she would realize that the real symbol was that little boy, riding on Saddam’s toppled statue, beating its face with the bottom of his shoe.)  Then, she emphasized that the Iraqis had begun to mistrust Americans.  Had it occurred to Dozier that the average Iraqi might be avoiding a televised interview for fear of being killed by Saddam loyalists?!  Duh!  (I try to avoid using that expression in writing; but, it certainly fits in this application.)  It seems to me that Dozier, making such a foolish comment while on occupied foreign soil, came perilously close to “giving aid and comfort to the enemy”, which is still an element of the Federal law against treason.  Treason is still punishable by death.

Of course, the cake-topper of all foolish comments was that of Howard Dean, who said that the capture of Saddam Hussein had been timed to help President Bush in next year’s election.  So much has been written about it that there is little left to be said.  But, the reality of the capture definitely took the wind out of the Democrats’ recent musings about a planned “October surprise” by our current president, George W. Bush.

For those that might not remember, the phrase “October surprise” was used by the Democrats over twenty years ago, when they were stunned by the overwhelming election victory of Ronald Reagan and his running-mate, George H. W. Bush.  In the wake of their 1980 defeat, they accused “George the elder” of having engaged in secret negotiations with the Iranian revolutionary government.  They were holding Americans hostage, after storming the US Embassy in Tehran on 04 November 1979.  The Democrats accused George H. W. Bush, who was Director of Central Intelligence under President Nixon, of having secretly flown to Paris to conduct these alleged negotiations.  When confronted by the facts of Mr. Bush’s schedule on the day of the alleged act, and the fact that not even the supersonic Concorde airliner could have gotten him there and back in the time alleged, the Democrats simply launched a ludicrous second-wave attack by saying that Mr. Bush had made the trip aboard an SR-71 spy plane.  They actually said that, and expected people to believe it.  And, people did believe it!  At the time, George H. W. Bush was in his early sixties.  The SR-71 (now retired) flew at the edge of space, at three times the speed of sound.  It was buffeted by so much atmospheric friction that the aircraft had to cool down for three hours after it landed before anyone could touch it.  But, in typical bombastic fashion, the Democrats wanted the American public to accept their “October surprise” accusations as hard fact.  Now that we’ve examined the truth, who can believe Howard Dean’s accusations about the timing of Saddam’s capture?

For all of mankind’s history, and despite many technological advances, there is one simple word that has been associated with war:  fire.  Fire produces light and heat.  Light separates truth from lies.  Heat purifies metal and makes it stronger.  In the light that has emanated from this war, the truth of our cause has been revealed.  In the heat that has radiated from this war, our country has been forged together and tempered stronger.  Any politician that chooses to use war as a backdrop should keep those factors in mind.  Any politician that fails to keep them in mind is headed for a “quagmire” and sure defeat.

Tom Kovach