The Price Of Calling The President A Rogue And A Liar In Wartime
Dean
I got an email recently from someone named Greg, whose email address unfortunately wasn't attached to his mail. (I don't think that's on purpose, I think it's a bug in my feedback system.)
Anyway, Greg notes this Phyllis Schlafley column, which recalls that Clare Boothe Luce claimed in her key note address for the Republican National Convention in 1944 that Franklin Roosevelt "lied us into" World War II. He also quotes Thomas Dewey, the Republican nominee of that year, as saying, "From what I know of Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt, instead of being re-elected, ought to be impeached."
Greg's position is that when I said there was a time when you would have gotten a bloody nose for speaking of Roosevelt that way even in very Republican parts of America, I am mistaken. He feels these quotes mean I should retract that claim.
It's a good point, but nope.
I've read enough about how everyday, ordinary Americans felt about Roosevelt and the Presidency back then. Franklin Roosevelt had some heavy detractors, and Eleanor had even heavier detractors. But most people back then didn't cotton to that kind of divisive and disrespectful talk about the Commander In Chief even if they didn't vote for him. Most people wanted to help the war effort, not listen to a bunch of disgusting "RooseveltLiedPeopleDied!" yahoos. Many everyday Republicans were mortified by such behavior, in fact.
Furthermore, acting like spoiled brats didn't do Republicans a lick of good. Claire Boothe Luce was a fascinating lady, but she served only three terms in the Congress. Furthermore, for speaking like a divisive and snotty jerk, Thomas Dewey got this as his reward from the voters.
Republicans didn't recapture the Presidency or come into serious power again in the Congress until 1952, when Eisenhower--running on a mostly positive and constructive agenda, by the way--brought them back into power.
John Kerry and his party deserve no better from voters this year if they continue to cater to the Michael Moores of this world.
Definitely NOT a loon.
Eisenhower never upbraided Tailgunner Joe in public, but everyone at that first private meeting knew exactly how Eisenhower felt and that he had not one good thing to say to the Wisconsin Senator, and wanted to make damned sure he knew that that sort of behavior was not going to be typical of his Republican Party.
Lesson: It may feel great to act like a prick. Acting with honor, and with the country's best interests at heart, is a better way to get elected.
Errmmm....ah, heck with it; I'll be nice and let that alone....you're right, however, that the GOP leaders of the 1940's weren't up to the task of global war...
Now, 9/11 can't compare to Pearl Harbor - politically speaking. We were not attacked by any individual country that we went to war with, we were attacked by a rogue faction and then went to war on a country because we speculated that ties might exist. You can't expect the same support for a "maybe" war as a war where you are attacking the people who CLAIMED resonsibility for your citizens' deaths.
You can never be certain unless you hear it from the enemy's mouth - and certainty breeds confidence.
Democrats are acting like spoiled brat snots and deserve the same fate Republians got for similarly spoiled brat, snotty behavior.
...by Jeff Soyer at Alphecca
Steven Den Beste provides the whole story. Basically, Chief of Staff Marshall asked Dewey not to make pre-Pearl Harbor intelligence a campaign issue because it would harm our chances of winning the war. Dewey agreed, even though he would certainly have benefited from a noisy investigation into prewar intelligence.
Of course we all lose our tempers now and then. Dean freely admits to being imperfect in this regard, which is why regulars to this establishment will generally be cut more slack than people who we don't know very well.
Still: behave like an adult, or go find somewhere else to play. Thanks.