When reality attacks...

I know there are a lot of Liberals and Democrats that get indignant when accused of hoping for bad news that could potentially harm President Bush - regardless of the overall negative effect to others.

Rich Lowry, editor-in-chief of National Review Online, sums it up this way: If Democrats were living in a reality disaster show, it would be called "When Good News Strikes".

"One of the inconveniences of political debate is that occasionally reality intrudes to invalidate a given position no matter how much its partisans want to believe it. This is what has been happening recently to the argument that the invasion of Iraq produced an irrecoverable mess. Although surely setbacks still await us in Iraq and the Middle East, stunning headlines from the region have left many liberals perversely glum about upbeat news."

Some Liberals are honest about it:

"The legendary liberal editor Charlie Peters confessed to his own attack of gluckschmerz: "New York Post columnist John Podhoretz asked liberals: 'Did you momentarily feel a rush of disappointment [at the news of the Jan. 30 Iraq election] because you knew, you just knew, that this was going to redound to the credit of George W. Bush?' I plead guilty ..."

Even cynical entertainer/pundit types like Jon Stewart of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" admitted he was flabbergasted at the positive events unfolding in the Middle East. In his interview with ex-Clintonista Nancy Soderberg, he referred to Bush's potential place in history: "Like, my kid's gonna go to a high school named after him, I just know it." But Soderberg did her best to try and comfort him.

"[She tried] pointing out that the budding democratic revolution in the Middle East still might fail: "There's always hope that this might not work." There is historical precedent for that, of course. Liberal revolutions stalled out in Europe in 1848 and Eastern Europe in 1968. What is an entirely new phenomenon is liberals calling such reverses for human freedom -- half-jokingly or not -- occasions for "hope."

Soderberg added: "There's still Iran and North Korea, don't forget. There's hope." The way Bogart and Bergman "will always have Paris," liberals now tell themselves they "will always have Iran and North Korea." No matter the good news anywhere else, these nuke-hungry rogue states will provide grounds for bad-mouthing Bush foreign policy."

First they discount him as a dope. Then they deride him as an "accidental President". Next they compare him to Hitler. And now...his Presidency will surely dwarf that of their most recent beloved hero, JFK. He may even reach parity with...gasp...Franklin Roosevelt. Oh the horror....

Posted by: Gary at 07:00 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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