Democrats Are the New Palestinians

No, not in the sense that they give different audiences different speeches.

In the sense that they never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.

Rightly or wrongly (and of course it's rightly) Democrats are perceived as always taking the UN's or France's side in any dispute with the US.

Well, we have a dispute with the UN, and of course with France, right now. And yet even in this situation, the Democrats can't speak plainly and clearly on the US's behalf.

For years the Democrats have been telling us we need to win the hearts and minds of the Muslim world, to reach out with aid and money.

There is, of course, a dispute over whether US soldiers distributing aid and helping the stricken should wear the US flag or the symbol of the UN, and whether our aid packages should similarly be emblazoned with the red white and blue or just the UN blue.

Seems to me that this is a perfect opportunity for the US to win some of those hearts and minds, letting our aid packages and soldiers be our ambassadors, all marked with or proudly wearing the flag.

And yet on debate shows I don't see any Democrats forcefully taking this position. I always see Republicans arguing with UN-types-- and Democratic politicians.

Why can't Democrats argue on the US's side against those UN-types? Why can't they make it clear that while it's nice enough to distribute aid through the UN, it's not the UN that much of the Muslim world hates, and it's not the UN that much of the Muslim world hopes will be bloodied in our war against terrorism.

It's the US's image that needs repairing in the eyes of the Muslim world, as Democrats and liberals have been instructing us for three long years.

Why, then, are they so reluctant to advocate for us in this situation?

At some point, the Democrats are going to have to try winning the hearts and minds of the American voters, too.

If this keeps up, the Republicans will have to cede their richly-earned monicker of "The Stupid Party" and bequeath it to the Democrats.

Update: Be sure to check out these pre-tsunami pics from Indonesia; Osam t-shirts and burning American flags seem to be popular fashion accessories.

I don't say that we shouldn't necessarily help these people because of the actions of a few bad apples. ("Few" here means hundreds of thousands, possibly millions.)

But I think it might be helpful for such people to know precisely whose helicopters and military personnel are saving their lives and reconstucting their villages.

And oddly enough, I don't see anyone burning the UN flag, making me think that perhaps the UN doesn't need the PR as badly as we do.

posted by Ace at 02:52 PM

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