Will: Kerry Was Right

In the category of unspoken words now uttered: There is virtually nothing I can disagree with in this George Will column in the Washington Post, excepting his uniformed crack about the blogosphere. A taste of realistic conservative thought on foreign policy and the so-called "war on terror" (as opposed to the wild-eyed sloganeering of fanatics):

F-16s are not useful tools against terrorism that issues from places such as Hamburg (where Mohamed Atta lived before dying in the North Tower of the World Trade Center) and High Wycombe, England.

The talking classes regurgitate the Rovian spin that the left is split, that we're eating our own, that we're enforcing an orthodoxy of weakness. But most of them miss the massive gap on the right, probably because most Republicans - being nominally in power - are loathe to attack the leadership directly. Not a problem here on the opposition side. But Will and others are slowly creating a more vocal GOP back bench, and it's getting louder and more vicious in its offensive against failed neo-conservatism. I mean really - George Will telling John Kerry he was right about terrorism and national defense is almost as jaw-dropping as Karl Rove backing a putative Democrat in Connecticut.

Comments

[brendog]

We've clearly come to expect so little from those on the right, that when they simply acknowledge that the obvious conclusion is one with merit, we are delighted.
Perhaps because someone wrapped the idea in a "conservative" literary blanket, Will feels his credibility as an intellectual, policy wonk and thinker isn't compromised by his belated parroting of the prevailing Democratic wisdom, vintage 2003.
He's wrong, though. It does compromise his credibility. His years of enabling a mad vision, talking-points flogging, withering criticism of these very ideas, and basic hubris are all things I'll hold against him until his mea culpae actually accept culpability for his role in this American disaster.

But yes, Tom, it is amazing to see it from him, of all people. Yet I say to hell with bygones being bygones. These people are going to pay for their roles in this, even if it is only history that judges them.

[Brouhaha]

You're absolutely right, Tom, although the traditional conservatives are (still!) relagated to the back bench. Some of the best criticism of the Bush Administration is coming from groups like the Cato Institute (www.cato.org) NOT the Democratic Party. And that remains a problem for us Dems.