Vulture Politics
Betsy's Page
Tony Blankley has a spot on column on the willingness of the Democrats to just sit back and wait for (hope for?) Iraq to fail so that they can pick up the pieces afterwards. Using Rahm Emanuel's discussions with the Washington Post's David Ignatius, Blankley terms this approach "vulture politics."
<<< With America at war and our troops dying regularly in battle with greater national danger and death in prospect: "Don't look to Emanuel's Democrats for solutions on Iraq. It's Bush's war, and as it splinters the structure of GOP power, the Democrats are waiting to pick up the pieces." [!]
This is vulture politics. It is so far from respectable that it brings to mind the admired liberal, twice Democratic candidate for president against Eisenhower, Gov. Adlai Stevenson's, definition of patriotism:
"What do we mean by patriotism in the context of our times? I venture to suggest that what we mean is a sense of national responsibility... a patriotism which is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime."
But Rahm Emanuel's Democratic Party is so bereft of a sense of national responsibility, that he apparently feels comfortable brazenly telling The Post that his plans for his Democratic Party is to not even try to stop things from getting worse in Iraq — so they can pick up the political pieces afterward. Mr. Emanuel is a "smart" politician. He thinks the more dire America's place in the world is in 2008, the more likely the voters are to vote Democratic. The more of our troops are left in more pieces the better for Rahm Emanuel's Democrats. >>>
If the Democrats want to be the nation's leaders, they need to let us know how they would lead. Emanuel is ready to postpone efforts on Social Security, health care policy, and also Iraq. It's just not smart politics to attempt to address such issues. Better to simply postpone politically tough moves until they're not tough. Huh? When will such policy choices not be tough? And, if they are so adamant against Bush's plans in Iraq, they have to let the American people know what their alternative is.
If it is to withdraw from Iraq, what are they going to do when Iraq settles into a full-blown civil war and Al Qaeda then can use the Sunni parts of Iraq for a base much as they used Afghanistan and hoped to use Somalia?
Democrats have to do more than pass a few poll-tested measures and then sit around hoping that things go badly for Bush. Such is the responsibility of leadership. The Democrats fought to gain their positions in Congress. Now it's time for them to show us why they should be rewarded again in 2008.
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