Monday, September 10, 2007

Are there any Democratic firemen in an emergency?   [Victor Davis Hanson]

Cannot the Democrats get some of their more seasoned pros—not involved in the election cycle or mortgaged to their extremist base—to start doing damage control and adopt a more Zen-like posture concerning the upcoming Petraeus hearings? Stridency and name-calling only echo the desperate tapes of Bin Laden, who is terrified of what is transpiring in Iraq, and his general loss of face worldwide.

This is not a cigar-chewing Gen. Curtis Lemay they are now serially defaming, but one of the most thoughtful, nonpartisan and educated military officers of a generation, whom they themselves confirmed unanimously and at one time praised early in the war as a voice in the wilderness. Far wiser would have been to prod for greater withdrawals while praising the efforts of Gen. Petraeus—while taking oppositional credit for shake-ups in policy.

They should see that the mini-McCain surge is based on just that, a tripartite way of damning the past, taking credit for the present changes, and expressing confidence in the future.

But the current course invests the Democratic Party only in defeat, and if that doesn't happen, they will once again implode. Events are changing rapidly on the ground in Iraq, and while critics insist that the United States' profile has eroded in the region, it seems that all the players in and outside Iraq look more than ever to America to stabilize things.

Democrats should keep in mind as well, that no one can ever be sure of the pulse of the battlefield, and often success comes right after the worst of the fighting—whether summer 1864, or late spring 1918, or Okinawa in April 1945. Far smarter, would be to wait and keep an eye on the Iraqis.

And while the Univision debate was novel and may win the Hispanic vote, the pandering to a particular ethnic bloc in such ingratiating fashion will only hurt them more, especially as the border slowly closes, and the healing and greater assimilation proceeds. It makes no sense, after the populist tide against the immigration bill, to invest now in bilingual separatism, when all the trends are heading back to ending illegal immigration and trying to restore the melting pot.

Add to all of this bin Laden's pathetic cribbing of our own Left—with no doubt more embarrassing and desperate rants to come as Gen. Petraeus testifies—and it hasn't been a good week for the Democrats, even as those in Republican House and Senate seem at two- or three- month intervals to spontaneously ignite and exit the stage.

09/10 09:51 AMShare