MISSING THE POINT

Kerry Urges Bush to Share Responsibility With U.N. in Iraq (David M. Halbfinger, NY Times, 4/15/04)

In a town-hall-style meeting attended by more than 400 people, with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and Representative Charles B. Rangel beside him, Mr. Kerry came under attack from the left when a retired professor of mathematics, Walter Daum, questioned him on Iraq.

"You said, `Stay the course,' but what the U.S. is doing is bombing hospitals, bombing mosques, killing hundreds of civilians," Mr. Daum, 64, said. "Is that the criminal course you want to stay? It's an imperialist country fighting an imperialist war. At one time you opposed an imperialist war. I'm old enough to have done that myself."

Mr. Daum, who called himself a socialist, continued: "People hate George Bush. But by the end of your presidency, people will hate you for the same thing."

As several people in the audience hooted in support, Mr. Kerry answered: "I have consistently been critical of how we got where we are. But we are where we are, sir, and it would be unwise beyond belief for the United States of America to leave a failed Iraq in its wake. What we need to do is help transition to stability, that helps recognize people's rights. I'm sure you want to recognize people's rights."

"I want the Americans out!" Mr. Daum shouted.

"Yes, and I want the Americans out —— " Mr. Kerry started.

"No you don't, you say, `Stay the course'!" Mr. Daum shouted again.

"Stay the course of leaving a stable Iraq," Mr. Kerry said, finally winning a round of applause.

This episode is getting some play, but not too much, and all of it focused on the wrong point. Two points jump out at me: one substantive and the other a matter of form. As one would expect, the matter of form is much more important.

The substantive point is Senator Kerry's desire for a "stable" Iraq. He carefully pays lipservice to "rights", attempting to find a point of agreement with Professor Daum, but clearly his priority is stability. Of course, Iraq prior to the war was stable, even though built on a foundation of skulls. The Arab world generally is stable, and has been for the last fifty years. The Bush doctrine is that "stability" is not our friend and that, by selling Arab freedom for our own comfort, we have lost both that freedom and comfort. So, we have come to the point that Republicans and most conservatives believe we need to promote freedom in our own self-interest, and the Democrats and most liberals are willing to countenance a middle eastern lock-down to buy ourselves predictability (which is what Senator Kerry really means when he says stability) and a return to pre-Iraq low-intensity warfare.

Now, to form. Senator Kerry, a miserable campaigner with no connection to the typical voter, whiffs one of the great opportunities he will ever get to hit the ball out of the park. Consider the following passage again:

"You said, `Stay the course,' but what the U.S. is doing is bombing hospitals, bombing mosques, killing hundreds of civilians," Mr. Daum, 64, said. "Is that the criminal course you want to stay? It's an imperialist country fighting an imperialist war. At one time you opposed an imperialist war. I'm old enough to have done that myself." . . .

Mr. Kerry answered: "I have consistently been critical of how we got where we are. . . ."

Senator Kerry is running to be commander-in-chief in wartime. He is a veteran. He needs the votes of people who respect the military and support the war. He voted for the war. Shouldn't we expect him to disagree with Professor Daum as to whether our soldiers are war criminals? As to whether we are "an imperialist country fighting an imperialist war". We might suspect that the war-protestor deep inside Senator Kerry agrees with Professor Daum and, indeed, his response (that he has been critical of how we got here) suggests as much. But what kind of tin-eared, stick-stiff, approval-mongering amateur politician would miss the opportunity to slap Daum down in defense of the troops?

MORE: Andrew Sullivan quotes the following John Kerry congressional testimony from 1971:

"Senator, I will say this. I think that politically, historically, the one thing that people try to do, that society is structured on as a whole, is an attempt to satisfy their felt needs, and you can satisfy those needs with almost any kind of political structure, giving it one name or the other. In this name it is democratic; in others it is communism; in others it is benevolent dictatorship. As long as those needs are satisfied, that structure will exist." - John F. Kerry, Congressional Testimony, April 22, 1971.

He may be a Democrat, but he ain't no democrat.

Posted by David Cohen at April 16, 2004 9:45 AM