UNIFORMLY DISINGENUOUS

This week, John Kerry traveled to Arkansas and delivered a speech in which he stated that when Bill Clinton left office no man or women in uniform anywhere around the world was dying. Perhaps he felt comfortable making this ridiculous comment since he was in the land of Clinton. Clearly he could parse his way out of it in several ways. It is entirely likely that at the split second Clinton left office, no person in the military died. With regard to the sailors that lost their lives in the bombing of the USS Cole, he could say that, since they were in their racks (bunks in Army parlance) during the blast, they weren't technically in their uniforms. Therefore, They don't count.

It is hard to determine what point Kerry was trying to make with this comment. However, it does indicate his utter lack of understanding that we are in a global war against terrorism. Furthermore, as these words rolled off of his lips, he succeeded in, once again, minimizing the sacrifices made by the bravest among us.

A POP QUIZ

Let's take a little quiz. Think back to a few images from our recent past. The first that springs to mind would be of the World Trade Towers falling as people leapt to their deaths to avoid being burned alive. Second, we see The charred bodies of American civilian contractors hung from a bridge in Iraq. Third comes the last moments of Nick Berg shortly before he was brutally slaughtered in medieval fashion by his Al Qaida captures (though, of course Al Qaida has no connection to Iraq, Right?). The last image is of an Iraqi prisoner pig pile. Now place all of those photos side-by-side. Here comes the quiz. Which one of those images do you suppose creates the most outrage for Democrats. If you said number four, you are correct. The photo of naked Iraqi prisoners prompts much more consternation in them than any of the more brutal images mentioned. How can it be that a group of people can be so much more concerned about the treatment (albeit reprehensible) of enemy combatants than they are about the death of Americans. I suppose only they can answer that quiz. However, a better answer can come from the voters in November when they remind the Democrats that we cannot afford to get this one wrong.

ELECTIVE OUTRAGE

It is really quite stunning and absolutely disgusting to witness the degree of outrage on the left over the humiliation of Iraqi prisoners. It is so much more vigorous than anything the Democrats ever expressed about Saddam's torture chambers or his rape rooms or his use of chemical weapons to massacre his own citizens. In fact, the left's reaction over this issue is more strenuous than any outrage they were able to eke-out when 3000 Americans were murdered on September 11. More often than not, any grief or outrage they may have experienced was usually masked by a "we deserved it" attitude. How can this be? The answer is that the Democrats have never seen a political opportunity they didn't like no matter how much it damages our country to pursue it. We all remember Hillary, in the days after 9/11, on the Senate Floor holding up the paper that said, "Bush Knew".

Now Ted Kennedy, the Senior Senator from Massachusetts and best friend of John Kerry, has taken the discussion of prisoner abuse ever deeper into the muck when he said, "We now learn that Saddam's torture chambers have re-opened under new management, U.S. management." Someone needs to ask the Senator if he really believes this and while they are at it they should ask the presumptive presidential Nominee if he agrees with this statement. I will give Ted the benefit of the doubt and attribute this idiotic statement to the fact that the Senator has lost his mind. He has driven around the bend, crashed through the railing and plunged into the water. However, I suspect that Ted Kennedy will be allowed by the media to walk away from this car wreck too. I am fairly certain you will not see any part of this embarrassing and irresponsible babbling in any of the mainstream media reports. However, one fact remains certain. If Mary Jo had been in US Military Custody instead of Kennedy's car, she would probably be alive today.

The left needs to stop using this issue to attack One hundred and forty thousand plus fine troops who have liberated 50 million Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan. They also need to stop claiming the abuse in the military is systemic when absolutely no proof exists to support that.

On 8 May 2004,  The Writing Irish was born. Many important and insightful entries will be made here in the days and weeks to come (especially during what will no doubt be seen as the most important general election season in our time). STAY TUNED!