When did Al Gore attend the Adolf Hitler School of Public Speaking?
I took a glance at some editorial cartoons today. I have to laugh at the fact that so many of the cartoonists draw the same cartoons about the same exact things, most of which are negative. One phrase that I saw several times was "exit strategy". The president needs an exit strategy in the war. What the hell does that mean? They would consider an exit strategy as a loss. Because their frame of reference is Vietnam and Vietnam only, there is no other conclusion to any war other than defeat. We had to find an exit in Vietnam because we were not allowed to win it. Therefore, there is no way for us to leave Iraq other than in defeat. That is what the war critics mean when they use that term. But did we have an exit strategy in World War II? World War I? Hell, any successful war? Yes, we did. It was that we would defeat the enemy. Not negotiate terms of our surrender. Not apologize to the enemy for daring to fight. It is to kick the asses of those who oppose us. We have an exit strategy in Iraq. It is not that hard to understand. I don't know why the anti-warriors can't figure it out. (Actually I do know. They have figured it out, but they just don't like it because it involves American success.) We defeat the Iraq army (done). We capture Saddam Hussein (done). We fight and kill radical Islamic terrorists trying to destroy the chance for a free and democratic Iraqi republic (in progress). Help establish an independent Iraq government (In progress). Withdraw our troops when the new Iraqi government no longer needs us there to help ensure the security of their fledgling nation (Coming soon). It's just that simple. On the other hand, here are the steps involved in the anti-warriors preferred exit strategy: Admit to the world that we were wrong to depose Saddam Hussein. Apologize to the Muslim world for fighting back against its extremists. Recall our clearly overwhelmed forces from Iraq regardless of the fate of the Iraqi people. Sit back and reap the goodwill that will surely follow our show of weakness in the face of evil. Never mind that we'll all be dead soon.
The Memorial Day weekend is coming up and the sixtieth anniversary of D-Day several days later. We will remember those who fought and died in the defense of not only our freedom but that of the rest of the world. It sickens me what we have become.
And another thing...
I looked at an electoral map on the web this morning that projected the 2004 election based on some current poll numbers. It looks an awful lot like the 2000 electoral map, with the exception that New Mexico is going to Bush and New Hampshire is going Democratic. What was left was an amazing picture. This is a nation divided. John Edwards had it right. There are two Americas. But not in the class warfare way he intended it. Envision the 2000 electoral map, swap New Mexico and New Hampshire and you will see a certain regionally-divided political geography the likes of which hasn't been seen since many of the elections between the 1880's and the 1920's that split along the old Civil War Union and Confederate states. The map shows visually the current left-right divide. On the right, the Republicans have in their pockets a large contiguous swath of land that comprises the solid South, the Southwest, and the Plains and Mountain States (including Alaska). The land of the left are broken into three islands: the Northeast houses the snooty elitist left who look down their noses at the rest of the country as less intelligent and cultured, the Midwestern Rust Belt is haven to the old labor union left who vote as they are told, and the Pacific Coast (including Hawaii) is the home of the wacky hippie left who just live in a completely different world than the rest of us. The funny thing is that these three groups of people in the Democrat world probably wouldn't associate with each other under any other circumstances than under the big party tent. The Northeastern elitists fancy themselves intellectuals and would see themselves as superior to the working stiffs. And they probably don't understand what the Pacific Coast hippies are talking about most of the time. The Rust Belters have no use for pointy-headed academic types who don't know the value of a hard day's work. And they probably don't understand what the Pacific Coast hippies are talking about most of the time. The Pacific Coast hippies have little in common with the East Coast elitists and surely despise the pollution that emanates from the industrial Midwest. And they probably can't figure out why the Northeastern elitists and the Rust Belters don't understand what they are talking about most of the time.
This is the problem for the Democratic Party. They have a nice big tent with many small constituency groups. Trying to please each group while at the same time not alienating the others is a tightrope walking act that they have been struggling with for a few decades now. A lot of the old Democratic base has moved to the Republicans. There used to be something called a Southern Democrat. He believed in God, owned guns and was a bit more socially conservative than his northeastern or western brethren. One example of this vanishing breed is Zell Miller. Most of the old Southern Democrat voters have switched to voting Republican. That is why the South, which for so long was a Democrat stronghold, is now the Solid South for the right. As Ronald Reagan once explained, they haven't left their party, their party has left them. Your average voter in South Carolina or Nebraska or Idaho who used to be a Democrat does not recognize his party anymore. The kook extreme left has hijacked the plane and are steering it toward the side of a mountain. The old Democrat might want clean air and water, but the far left environmentalists confound him with rules about spotted owls and wetlands that defy common sense. The old Democrat might be against abortion, but the far left women's groups insist that the party be staunchly pro-abortion at all costs. The old Democrat might appreciate the traditional family unit and God's place in it, but the far left's social activists and atheists tear down those values at every turn. That poor old Democrat in fly-over country justifiably feels deserted. So in November, expect to see the same map we saw in 2000. Expect to see a lot of Republican territory with few electoral votes and smaller Democratic territories in urban areas. It would make an interesting map of secession. Four nations. The United States of America. The Empire of Superiorica. The United Socialist States of Rustopia. The People's Republic of Hippitoria. Where do you want to live?
And another thing...