In Search of a Sistah Souljah Moment
I remember a cartoon in Newsweek right after President Clinton ordered ground troops to Bosnia. In the next-to-last frame of the cartoon, President Clinton is telling them that he’s proud of them & that he wishes them a successful return. Then, in the final frame, he says “And don’t do anything that I wouldn’t do.” Unexpectedly, the troops say in unison “We’re already doing something you wouldn’t do” in direct reference to his avoiding the draft.
This week, we’ve had another Clinton “Don’t do nothing that I wouldn’t do” moment, thanks to former NYC Mayor Ed Koch. In his column, he’s already done what Hillary wouldn’t do:
There are people in our country who have different views on what U.S. policy toward Iraq should be. MoveOn.org, a radical group of opponents of the Iraq war, took a full-page ad in The New York Times of Sept. 10, the day he was to testify before the House of Representatives. Under his photo, a banner headline stated, in a play on words, “General Petraeus or General Betray Us?”
It is vile on the part of MoveOn to charge the general with betrayal of our country, even before he testified.
The Republican candidates for president have denounced MoveOn for its unfair attack on Gen. Petraeus. Most of the Democratic presidential candidates declined to do so when asked.
In other words, Ed Koch has stood up to MoveOn.org because of their disgusting NY Times ad about Gen. Petraeus. As Mayor Koch has noted, the Democratic presidential candidates haven’t shown the spine to denounce MoveOn’s ad. They’ve written a profile in political cowardice with their silence. They’d better not say that they didn’t speak up because they’re opposed to the war, either. Here’s what Mayor Koch said about that:
While I believe we should leave Iraq immediately, I respect the opinions of those who have come to a different conclusion. We are at war. The Iraqi insurgents and al Qaeda operatives want to kill us, not only U.S. military personnel in Iraq, but Americans wherever we are, including those of us in the United States.
In other words, it isn’t a matter of your position on the war, it’s a matter of not letting an organization drag an honest man’s name through the mud. That simply isn’t acceptable. So why the silence? Here’s Mayor Koch’s theory on that:
In my opinion, the Democratic candidates declined to denounce MoveOn because they fear themselves becoming the victims of a similar onslaught from the radical left. This is a cowardly position, which I hope they will rethink. It takes more than intelligence to be a good or great president. It takes integrity and courage, as well.
If he’s looking for integrity and courage, he’s looking in the wrong place. This group of candidates haven’t shown that they’ve got the fortitude it takes to pull off a Sister Souljah moment.
Mayor Koch has stated perfectly the reasons why I wrote that Sen. Obama isn’t a new type of Democrat.
I don’t know how long it’ll be but Democrats will pay a political price for not standing up to the MoveOn.haters.
Technorati Tags: Ed Koch, MoveOn.org, Bill Clinton, Sistah Souljah, David Petraeus, Election 2008
Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog
September 13th, 2007 at 8:13 am
The Left in this country has hated the Armed Forces for generations and it has been killing them to have to say they support the troops. Now the mask is finally slipping and their true feelings are starting to shine through. The MSM will be able to keep this under wraps for a while, but with all the new media out there they do not have the monopoly they used to.
My feelings are that the Dems will gain in this election cycle, but provided they don’t try and outlaw opposition they won’t last very long. I do think that they will try and pass laws that will make it impossible for them to be removed. They know that when people see the Dems real agenda they will not like it. So look for them to start trying to ban conservative groups by using “hate” laws.
September 13th, 2007 at 8:40 am
[...] (CaliforniaConservative.org) Sept. 13, 2007 [...]
September 13th, 2007 at 11:55 am
It takes cojones to even suggest anything about Bill Clinton avoiding the draft, what with 5-deferment Dick and AWOL W. in the White House. Or, the way Rove slimed real war heroes in the last election. Or, the way the military brass flat out lied to Pat Tillman’s family (and the rest of us) about how he was killed. Or, the way our wounded soldiers have been treated, specifically at Walter Reed, but my guess is this type of treatment is commonplace. Or, the way this cabal has nearly broken the military.
And even today, what with Boehner offering up more American blood in Iraq.
Oh, I forgot. Its okay if you’re a republican!