Posted by
Politically Exposed on Wednesday, November 01, 2006 3:18:29 PM
Posted by
Dean Barnett
|
6:41 PM
Is
it just me, or does it seem like someone struck a nerve where John
Kerry is concerned? I swear, if I were a Democrat, all the feelings of
frustration that I developed for the Senator in 2004 because of his
maladroit campaigning style would have resurfaced and intensified the
past 24 hours.
I always use the lefty blogs as my leading indicator on these things. Allah thought Kerry’s very butch press release
would put the Nutroots into a state of orgiastic pleasure that they
usually reserve for one of Keith Olbermann “Special Comments”. Alas, to
date we have only radio silence on the matter from the progressive
blogging aristocracy including Markos Moulitsas, Glenn Greenwald (and
his various alter egos), John Aravosis and that very gentlemanly
blogger who calls himself Atrios.
This isn’t particularly surprising. A
few months ago I noted that as the nutroots matured, its leaders anyway
were developing message discipline. These guys know when to starve a
story of oxygen. If I were a partisan Democrat, I’d want this story to
just go away. Every day we argue about this story adds another day that
it doesn’t go anywhere.
THE NUTROOTS ALSO SENSE what a serious
issue this is, even if the most recent Democratic standard bearer does
not. For the longest time, it’s been obvious that many members of the
far left don’t want America to prevail in Iraq. While they try to
square the circle by saying they hate the mission but still support the
troops, that dog has never hunted. The fact that the left has gleefully
seized upon every piece of bad news that’s come out of Iraq since 2003
has made the sale tougher still.
Then there’s the further matter that
the left’s attitude towards the troops (that they so enthusiastically
support) has often been marked by condescension. On the Daily Kos front page this morning, DemFromCT
(if that’s his real name) titled a post, “103 of Our Children Died in
Iraq This Month.” Somehow I doubt the men and women who defend our
country would be thrilled with the characterization “children.”
DemFromCT acknowledges that it might
indeed be offensive to call our military members “children,” but
defends this stylistic decision by saying, “For those who are offended
by referring to the military as children, remember that every soldier,
airman and Marine has a parent.” Even by Daily Kos standards, that’s
some weak stuff. The point is that when John Kerry offers the opinion
that the soldiers in Iraq are dim bulbs, it’s part of a larger mosaic.
And then of course there’s the
hostility towards the troops. John Kerry’s history of animus towards
the troops hardly needs recounting. It’s also worth noting that when a
politician refers to the troops as baby-killers or offers some similar
slander, the politician doing the slandering is almost invariably a
member of the Democratic Party.
While I was writing this post, I
noticed that Markos Moulitsas has ended his silence on the matter,
perhaps acknowledging that like the Foley matter it has to be dealt
with and won’t have the courtesy to just go away. Markos writes:
“So John Kerry mangles a sentence in a public appearance,
and the right-wing smear machine and its traditional media enablers are
apoplectic… Kerry has nothing to apologize for.”
This has become the strange logic
behind the Kerry defense. A) He misspoke and obviously caused offense;
but B) He has nothing to apologize for. I wish I could remember where
that Greenwald post on basic logic was so I could see if this
formulation makes the cut.
Of course, John Kerry never apologizes. And Markos Moulitsas only
knows one political tactic – charge straight ahead into the opponent’s
and the public’s face. This was an opportunity to have done something a
bit more subtle and a lot more effective.
Alas, it is just another missed opportunity for Kerry, the Democrats
and the Nutroots. In other words, just another day at the office.