And there begins the Iraq Syndrome.
Some elements of the newly ascendant Democratic left may welcome it, but no serious person in American politics should.
The Vietnam Syndrome, a loss of confidence in the efficacy of American military engagement, was mainly a failure of U.S. elites. But it's different this time. This presidency has been steadfast in war. No matter. In a piece this week on the White House's efforts to rally the nation to the idea of defeating terrorism abroad to thwart another attack on the U.S., the AP's Nedra Pickler wrote: "But that hasn't kept the violence and unrest out of the headlines every day." This time the despondency looks to be penetrating the general population. And the issue isn't just body counts; it's more than that.
The missions in Iraq and Afghanistan grew from the moral outrage of September 11. U.S. troops, the best this country has yet produced, went overseas to defend us against repeating that day. Now it isn't just that the war on terror has proven hard; the men and women fighting for us, the magnificent 99%, are being soiled in a repetitive, public way that is unbearable.
The greatest danger at this moment is that the American public will decide it wants to pull back because it has concluded that when the U.S. goes in, it always gets hung out to dry...
Second is Hugh Hewitt's inverview on World magazine here.
WORLD: Novelist Walker Percy in The Second Coming writes that the modern Christian is "nominal, lukewarm, hypocritical, sinful, or, if fervent, generally offensive and fanatical. But he is not crazy." Could that be a description of the typical Republican as well—with the saving grace that he is not crazy, like many Democratic leaders?
HEWITT: Would that Democratic leaders were crazy! Politics would be easy. But they are not. They are very sharp. They settled on a policy of obstruction and obfuscation after the president's reelection and of bitter, dishonest attacks on the conduct of the war and the reasons for the invasion of Iraq. These tactics have wounded the country and continue to do so.
Percy Republicans, to borrow your phrase, need to add energy to the lethargic, contrition to the sinful, and prudence to the fanatics. Christians, whether of the political left or right, should keep in mind C.S. Lewis' admonition that we have never met an ordinary human being. Lewis explained that everyone is either an eternal glory or an everlasting horror, and in politics as in all of life, everyone is everyone's concern, even our opponents who are, after all, our fellow citizens—even if they are wrong, and sometimes dangerously so.
WORLD: So when Democrats say, elect us and we'll solve your problems . . .
HEWITT: No matter what the problem is—if it is a real problem—the answer can never be electing more Democrats.
No comments:
Post a Comment