Well you guessed it, Daily Kos in their infinite wisdom has decided that once again, even in success, Iraq really is Vietnam. These people are so desperate that they are wishing for anything to vindicate them, even the death of thousands of us soldiers and iraqi innocents. I just hope Howard Dean takes more cues from these politically clueless idiots… keep on insulting US troops. That will win you lots of votes.

U.S. Encouraged by Vietnam Vote (NYT 9/4/1967)
by patachon
Mon Jan 31st, 2005 at 08:30:16 PST

(From the diaries — kos)

[in case you haven't been keeping up with developments in Vietnam from 40 years ago...]

U.S. Encouraged by Vietnam Vote :
Officials Cite 83% Turnout Despite Vietcong Terror

by Peter Grose, Special to the New York Times (9/4/1967: p. 2)

WASHINGTON, Sept. 3– United States officials were surprised and heartened today at the size of turnout in South Vietnam’s presidential election despite a Vietcong terrorist campaign to disrupt the voting.

According to reports from Saigon, 83 per cent of the 5.85 million registered voters cast their ballots yesterday. Many of them risked reprisals threatened by the Vietcong.

The size of the popular vote and the inability of the Vietcong to destroy the election machinery were the two salient facts in a preliminary assessment of the nation election based on the incomplete returns reaching here.

All during the election, while the liberals viciously attacked the Iraq war they also paid lip service to the troops. With the resounding victory of the Iraqi elections just a day ago, the liberal establishment is in shock. “Success… success… they can’t actually succeed!” thinks the liberal mind, and one of these minds actually got print in today’s edition of the liberal college rag, the GW Hatchet. His article on the troops asked whether we all really should support the troops, and it meandered from point to ill made point, but all pretty much summed it up with this point.

Where is our support for them? It could be argued that support for both the troops and the citizens of Iraq is not mutually exclusive, but in the wake of Abu Ghraib and the recent Human Rights Watch report, this argument is made with ever increasing difficulty.

Yes, embarrassing and harassing terrorists is the same as killing innocent men, women, and children. What an intellectual embarrassment and a moral atrocity.

For those of you who said that President Bush was going to keep his election promises, I hope you are right, but here is more discouraging news that he is far from a true conservative.

The President allowed the RNC to select Jo Ann Davidson of Ohio to be RNC Co-Chair. Rumor has it that she promised not to push her pro-abortion views, but Republicans for Choice (of which she is a board member) is very excited over the move hoping it is the begining of their groups ability to break into the GOP establishment.

Congratulations to JoAnn Davidson (OH), one of our RFC Advisory Board Members, who was named as the Co Chair of the Republican Party on January 19th at the 2005 Winter Meeting of the GOP.

JoAnn Davidson has been a member of the Republicans for Choice Advisory Board since our founding in 1990. She has proven to be a tireless campaigner and brillant political strategist so it is no wonder Ken Mehlman and the Bush operation have tapped her to be the Party’s new national co-chair. We look forward to working with her to help make sure the concerns of pro-choice and moderate Republicans are heard within the Republican National Committee Headquarters…

They are even upset at Ken Mehlman for attending a reception honoring the pro-life marchers, of which I attended (see post here).

I have a sinking feeling this is just the begining, the rumors of pro-choice judicial nominees have been floating around Washington since election day and we, as a movement, better be ready to fight Bush if that’s what it comes to.

(Hat tip Bates Line)

Mad props to Jonah Goldberg again, for his insightful article on the Iraq elections. In it, he refutes two devastating accusations, arguing that Islamic fundamentalism is not a competitor with democracy but an oppoenent, and that there is no need for the Iraqis to strike victory against the U.S. because the Iraqi national conscioiusness is now swelling with victory over the Islamofascists.

The second point really is crucial. When you get into theories on national liberation and revolution, you realize that no outside power can “give” or “install” democracy, it must be seized by the people themselves for it to work. Cases like Japan and Germany post WWII fall outside the realm of this idea because they respectively had their will broken by a long and bloody war of attrition. The three-week war in Iraq, which targeted military installations and communications specifically, did not give the Iraqi people a sense of victory over Saddam, nor did it create a sense of total U.S. victory and obligatory submission to our commands.

But after the elections, one can see that the U.S. military broke the shackles which bound the Iraqi people. With their hands free, it’s clear that the Iraqi people are more than willing to fight for their freedom.

Slightly off-topic, but I wanted to make sure as many people read this as possible, I only found it by accident. The new mayor of Baghdad is going to erect a statue of Bush. This is the sort of fearless man who can make the improbable, probable.

What’s the word on Rep. Rohrabacher from California? I was curious about who on this blog supports and opposes him because I must admit, other than this troublesome article in Front Page Magazine, I know too little about him to make a sound judgment. Is he in bed with Islamists and if so why? Is he a RINO or is he just a guy who doesn’t trust Israel (which for the record I don’t trust either)? I am sure some of you know the real deal on him, so is he with the home team or not?

GOP needs to be bracing for an onslaught according to Fred Barnes writing in the Weekly Standard. RINOs will be spared of course, but only for a while. If the GOP sticks to its guns this latest tactic of the Democrats will be seen as pure hatred in the eyes of the voters.