RED, RIGHT AND BLUE:

A time for unity (Patrick J. Buchanan, March 19, 2003)

After the blowing up of the Maine in Havana harbor in 1898, McKinley issued a call for 25,000 volunteers to liberate Cuba from Spain. A million responded. When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, the lines at recruiting stations went around the block.

This war is different. It is a war the president and Secretary Powell said they did not want to fight, but must, if Iraq refused to disarm. Thus, on the eve of war, the mood here seemed less one of war enthusiasm than of resignation, and a grim resolve to get it over with.

The war debate has been protracted and bitter. Now it is over, and patriotism commands that when American soldiers face death in battle, the America people unite behind them.

This is one of the main differences between Right and Left. Even when the Right thinks a war is a bad idea they are too patriotic to hold out when their country goes into battle. Thus Charles Lindbergh pulled strings to try and get a vindictive FDR to let him into uniform and, when that failed, illicitly flew on bombing missions anyway. Meanwhile, the Left continues to carp and the despicable Tom Daschle actually blamed George W. Bush for any American deaths that may occur in the war. We may disagree with Mr. Buchanan on immigration and free trade, but no one can doubt his patriotism. Posted by Orrin Judd at March 19, 2003 4:13 PM