May 15, 2008
... And he smote them...
The Refugee is sure you'll hear the following quote many times if you haven't already. However, it's worth repeating. During an address to the Israeli Knesset on that country's 60th anniversary, President Bush said,
“Some seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along. We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: ‘Lord, if only I could have talked to Hitler, all of this might have been avoided.’ We have an obligation to call this what it is - the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history,” the president said.
This is the best "money line" of this campaign. It lays bare the foolishness of Obama's foreign policy in a way that even the most partisan cannot deny (although they will try to change the subject). The volume of Democrat howling is testament to its accuracy and effectiveness.
GWB can serve a very effective role this election by framing the argument in a way that McCain cannot. Let's hope he keeps it up.
Israel Posted by Boulder Refugee at May 15, 2008 5:08 PM
Most excellent. Well done W, to actually say this in public, and well done BR, to immortalize it here. This surpasses even the now, nearly abandoned 'Bush Doctrine.'
Posted by: johngalt at May 16, 2008 3:53 PMA typical, gross distortion of the facts presented with the (justified) hope that the average American won't be familiar with or fact check the details of Obama's stance - "Hey, Democrats want to appease terrorists? I don't think I like that!" The Stumper blog does a better job of pointing out the silliness of the Bush rhetoric better than I would ... so here's the link: http://www.blog.newsweek.com/blogs/stumper/archive/2008/05/15/bush-not-doing-mccain-any-favors.aspx
Posted by: LatteSipper at May 16, 2008 4:11 PMI am stupefied and a bit amused, ls, that the Obama campaign took this personally. President Bush stood in front of the Knesset (about which the piece you link says "Dubya's first mistake? Choice of venue.") He is addressing the Israeli Parliament on the occasion of their nation's 60th anniversary.
No civilization ever fared worse from appeasement than European Jews. And like it or not, President Bush's most significant foreign party credential has been his opposition to appeasement. He fought appeasers in Europe, the MidEast, in his own State Department, and in his own and opposition parties. Oh yes, and he fought against a "Community Organizer" and State Senator from the State of Illinois as well.
That the Obama campaign heard this speech in that context and decided to be outraged strikes me as a comical acceptance of an anonymous charge. It's as if I give a speech about wife-beaters and puppy-dog kickers and you complain that I am running you down. I say "I never said anything about LatteSipper..."
I laugh at the "outrage" but I fear that Senator Obama is so thinned-skinned and Senator McCain is so obliging that we will have no real discourse in this campaign.
Posted by: jk at May 16, 2008 5:05 PMBased on BR's post, and much of the commentary written since Bush's speech, Obama would seem to have a lot of company in inferring that he was the target of the appeaser comments.
Posted by: LatteSipper at May 17, 2008 9:27 AMYou're correct that a lot of the hawkish commentarial has pounced on relating this to Senator Obama. And it occurred to me that my comment contradicted br's post. But I thought, hey, I've been nice to br for three days now...
On another reading, I am going to split hairs. BR said that the speech "lays bare the foolishness of Obama's foreign policy." Not the Senator, but his policy.
President Bush said that the appeasers are wrong. BR may rightly include Senator Obama among the appeasers. My point holds that it was in no way a political attack.
Enjoy the WSJ editorial How to Enrage a Democrat.
Posted by: jk at May 17, 2008 12:18 PM
GWB's comments could just as easily apply to Jimmy Carter or Nancy Pelosi. ("The road to peace goes through Damascas," - gimme a break.
The Refugee is in line with jk; me thinks Obama doth protest too much. All he had to say was, "I agree with President Bush that appeasement is wrong." Instead, he said that attacking appeasement is wrong. This is a Freudian moment if there ever was one.
As the saying goes, "If the shoe fits, wear it." Obama is giving Cinderella a run for the money in the slipper department.
Posted by: b at May 19, 2008 10:42 AM | What do you think? [6]