Time for a Change #14

Cutting and Running from Iraq

Dave Thomas

A Preview of the 2008 Democratic Presidential Primary

The Connecticut Democratic primary previews the same issues that will dominate the 2008 Democratic Presidential Primary. On one side will be consistent liberals like John Edwards, Al Gore and Howard Dean who are unwilling to compromise our freedoms and opportunities to win votes. On the other side will be liberals such as the many members of the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) – Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, John Warner, Tom Vilsack and others – who believe Democrats must seek votes from conservatives by emulating the Republicans in responding to the ‘War on Terrorism’ and not protecting Americans from abuse by businesses.

These latter Democrats advocate staying the course in Iraq, large military expenditures, relaxation of our privacy rights. They oppose any appeals to the voters which emphasize their abuse by business and their suffering by contrast with the wealthy and powerful. Notably pragmatic, the Clintons may move to the other side. The major competition may be between Hillary Clinton and John Edwards, or if he enters the competition, Al Gore.

Cut and Run or Stick and Sink

Conservatives accuse Liberals who want to quickly withdraw our military forces from Iraq of ‘Cutting and Running’. Did Eisenhower cut and run from Korea, Nixon from Viet Nam, Reagan from Lebanon, and Clinton from Somalia? Should we still have military forces in all those places to justify our losses? Silly, silly Conservatives.

The public opinion polls show that the majority of the American people now want us to cut and run from Iraq, as do the majority of the Iraqi people. As in Vietnam, the conservative plans are stabbed in the back by the American people. See below. Maybe the conservative policy should be labeled ‘Stick and Sink’.

Conspiracy Theory

Conservatives often pose conspiracy theories, because they don’t have evidence for their assertions. They argue that the reason there is no evidence is because there is a hidden conspiracy. Thus liberals, Jews, or other groups have a conspiracy to betray America.

Stabbed in the Back

Akin to their conspiracy theories are the conservative claims that their various failed projects (such as the Vietnam War) would have succeeded except they were stabbed in the back by liberals or the media. . See Kevin Baker’s article in Harpers at http://harpers.org/StabbedInTheBack.html. Actually these failed projects have been stabbed in the front by our mainstream American public.

Obstructionists

Conservatives similarly accuse Liberals of being obstructionists. Liberals are actually defending our American Dream (of increasing freedom and prosperity) from Conservatives who are attempting to obstruct it and stab it in the back. We are proud to obstruct the Conservative obstructionism.