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Jewish World Review Feb. 25, 2003 / 23 Adar I, 5763

Laura Ingraham

Laura Ingraham
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Keep us safe --- let's be more like Europe!


http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com | Thank Heaven for C-Span. For two days it broadcast the speeches by Democratic presidential hopefuls attending their party's winter meeting, and for two days we were reminded why the Dems keep losing elections. They claimed to speak up for "the regular people," but it became clear that their "regular people" are more like George Clooney than Ward Cleaver.

Some highlights from the candidates:

Dick Gephardt reached back to the 2000 recount to rally the crowd: "George Bush is not gonna be easy to beat. This is a guy who came in second in the election and still figured out how to get in the Oval Office."

Former Senator Carol-Mosely Braun, who avoided prison a few years back, wowed the crowd with: "Duct tape is no substitute for diplomacy!" When she was asked what her college major had been, she responded haltingly, "Uh…I think history…but I'll get back to you on that." (nervous laughter)

Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, proud leftist, is an early media-darling: "What I want to know is why in the world the Democratic Party is supporting the president's unilateral attack on Iraq?" Can someone please tell the Democrats that the prefix "uni-" means one. We have dozens of nations supporting us in any war against Saddam.

Dennis Kucinich, full-time Ohio Congressman and part-time ventriloquist, tried to out-do Gov. Dean, stage left. He condemned the prospect of a war "initiated by our own government against a nation which did not attack us." At one point he sounded like he was speaking for the Iraqi Ministry of Information: "Iraq was not responsible for the anthrax attack on our nation. Iraq does not have the technology to strike at this nation. Iraq does not have nuclear weapons." Call Al Jazeera!

Al Sharpton, part-time reverend, full-time racial provocateur, was not content to take swipes at Bush, he took on the Supremes too: "[Bush] is the ultimate beneficiary of a set-aside program. The Supreme Court set-aside a whole election for him." Actually a pretty funny line, but wouldn't it be grand if Sharpton lavished such vitriol on Saddam?

But perhaps the most disturbing speech was that given by so-called Demohawk Sen. Joe Lieberman. Lieberman fell all over himself to explain how you can be for a war against Saddam in Iraq and still wage war against Bush at home: "By pulling out of the Kyoto global warming treaty, arms control treaties and other international pacts, and by issuing an unnecessary and divisive policy of military pre-emption, George W. Bush has separated us from most of the rest of the world and weakened our alliances just at the time when we need them more than ever." Translation: If America becomes as liberal as France and Germany on issues unrelated to Iraq, France and Germany will help us in Iraq.

Strip away the Democratic rhetoric, and what you'll find is the core belief that America should really stop acting like a super power. The Democrats believe the best way to protect against terrorist attacks is to act less like a dominant force and more like a domesticated global partner. This essentially requires that we sign on to treaties such as the one creating the International Criminal Court, or remain bound by accords like the ABM treaty, regardless of whether they are in our national interest.

Why stop there? Let the Europeans dictate our tax policy as well. In recent days the heads of the European Central Bank and euro-zone finance ministers have expressed "deep skepticism" about President Bush's tax cut plan. Whether the issue is tax policy, gun control, health care, abortion, the environment, or the death penalty, Democrats are more in sync with Europe than America.

Memo to the Democratic presidential field: Europeans don't vote in American elections. At least not yet.

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JWR contributor Laura Ingraham is the host of a radio show syndicated nationally by Westwood One Radio Network and the author of "The Hillary Trap: Looking for Power in All the Wrong Places". Comment by clicking here.

02/11/03: Hollywood loves dictators
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01/28/03: The elites versus the voters
01/22/03: Playing (and losing) Homeland Security politics
01/14/03: What have you done for the free world lately?
12/17/02: Who is the better leader: Gore or Lott?
12/10/02: Who, more than anyone else, is actively advancing the cause of civil liberties around the world?
12/04/02: 'Tis the season to hope for the worst
11/27/02: The Federal P.C. Police Versus Small Business Owners (Cont'd)
11/19/02: Bipartisan moves to reward illegals
11/13/02: Eminem, a rebel? You gotta be kidding!
11/05/02: In defense of low turnout
10/30/02: Hell, no they won't go!
10/22/02: Where are the moderate Muslims?
10/15/02: California dreaming, cont'd
10/08/02: Slick Willie's running
10/01/02: Euro-worries about wall flower status
09/26/02: How lucky we are that the Straight Talk Express drove off the cliff!
09/18/02: What Jackson and Sharpton know about conservatives
09/12/02: The Today Show v. guns
08/27/02: Bush not attending the UN-sponsored "bash Amerika" conference!?
08/20/02: The NEA: Let the anti-American indoctrination begin!
08/13/02: Bubba's revenge
08/07/02: Bilingual bust continues its drag on our schools
07/30/02: Dems love for big lawyers=big opportunity
07/23/02: No time for vacation
07/16/02: Is Homeland Security all wet?
06/25/02: The firing season has arrived
06/18/02: Picking the next chief
06/11/02: Intelligence coup, with much more to do
06/07/02: The Bush administration's foul ball
05/30/02: Post-feminism in the aftermath of 9-11
05/23/02: The press gunning for Ashcroft
05/19/02: El Jefe basks in Carter's Light
05/15/02: Former presidents who don't understand the word "former"
05/07/02: Ozzy deified, many mortified, drugs glorified?
05/01/02: Bush: "California here I come ... sort of"
04/27/02: The good news about conservatives versus Bush
04/17/02: While the cat's away....
04/09/02: Preview of 2004: See how Dick runs!
01/29/02: A kinder, gentler human-rights violator?
11/27/01: Military tribunals provide streamlined justice
09/07/01: Scariest animal wears pants
08/17/01: Depressed after seeing uncut version of Apocalypse Now --- and for good reason
07/20/01: The other, maybe more important, news
06/22/01: Washington's pro-Bono worship is unnerving
06/01/01: Burying conservatism
05/17/01: Ashcroft's abuse of power

© 2002, Laura Ingraham