Liberals Are Furious With Karl Rove For Pointing Out Their Weak Response To Terrorism

by John Hawkins | June 23, 2005 2:36 pm

Democrats are terribly upset with Karl Rove[1] for telling the truth about how wimpy, weak, and generally useless they’ve been in the war on terror. Here are the remarks from Rove[2] that are drawing the Dems’ ire:

“Liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers,” Rove said. “Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 and the attacks and prepared for war.”

…Rove said the Democratic Party made the mistake of calling for “moderation and restraint” after the terrorist attacks.

“Conservatives saw what happened to us on 9/11 and said we will defeat our enemies. Liberals saw what happened to us and said we must understand our enemies.”

Rove also denounced Sen. Dick Durbin’s comments comparing interrogation at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp to the methods of Nazis and other repressive regimes. He said the statements have been broadcast throughout the Middle East, putting American troops in greater danger. Durbin has since apologized for the remarks.

“No more needs to be said about the motives of liberals,” Rove said.

All of this is obvious and true, but the Democrats have already gotten more upset with Karl Rove than they are with the terrorists who are trying to kill Americans — which, come to think of it, is pretty much the normal state of things.

Moreover, complaining about Rove’s comments is very disingenuous, very John Kerry-ish, very “I want credit for being against the war and for the war, too.”

Isn’t this the same Democratic Party that has complained incessantly about every aspect of the war on terror? Isn’t this the same Democratic Party that has members who favor a draft simply because they think it would hurt the war effort? Isn’t this the same Democratic Party that has called for Gitmo to be shut down? Isn’t this the same Party that ran a Presidential Candidate in 2004 who called for a “more sensitive”[3] war on terrorism and said he’d treat the war on terror “‘primarily’ as law-enforcement action?”

Just to drive the point home, here are a few quotes I’ve compiled, all of which were uttered less than a year after 9/11[4]. Read these quotes and tell me what Karl Rove said about liberals isn’t spot-on:

“My daughter, who goes to Stuyvesant High School only blocks from the World Trade Center, thinks we should fly an American flag out our window. Definitely not, I say: The flag stands for jingoism and vengeance and war.” — Katha Pollitt, The Nation, October 8

“Many families have been devastated tonight. This just is not right. They did not deserve to die. If someone did this to get back at Bush, then they did so by killing thousands of people who DID NOT VOTE for him! Boston, New York, DC, and the planes’ destination of California–these were places that voted AGAINST Bush!” –Michael Moore, Michaelmoore.com, September 1

“The administration has bungled the challenge. … The war effort is in deep trouble. The United States is not headed into a quagmire; it’s already in one. The U.S. is not losing the first round against the Taliban; it has already lost it.” — Jacob Heilbrunn, Los Angeles Times, Nov. 4, 2001

“In a situation like this, of course you identify with everyone who’s suffering. [But we must also think about] the terrorists who are creating such horrible future lives for themselves because of the negativity of this karma. It’s all of our jobs to keep our minds as expansive as possible. If you can see [the terrorists] as a relative who’s dangerously sick and we have to give them medicine, and the medicine is love and compassion. There’s nothing better.” — Richard Gere

“I think it will take years before we can repair the damage done by that statement.” — Jimmy Carter on George Bush’s use of the phrase “Axis of Evil”

“Melt their weapons, melt their hearts, melt their anger with love.” — Shirley MacLaine on her anti-terrorism policy

“In a war on Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden will either be left alive, while thousands of impoverished, frightened people are bombed into oblivion around him, or he will be killed in a bombing attack for which he seems quite prepared. But what would happen to his cool armor if he could be reminded of all the good, nonviolent things he has done? Further, what would happen to him if he could be brought to understand the preciousness of the lives he has destroyed? I firmly believe the only punishment that works is love.” — Alice Walker, The Village Voice

“America, America. What did you do–either intentionally or unintentionally–in the world order, in Central America, in Africa where bombs are still blasting? America, what did you do in the global warming conference when you did not embrace the smaller nations? America, what did you do two weeks ago when I stood at the world conference on racism, when you wouldn’t show up? Oh, America, what did you do?” — Former San Francisco Supervisor Amos Brown on September 17.

The Democrats are like Ken dolls who get upset because people won’t pretend that they’re GI Joes.

Here’s my advice to the White House: whatever you do, don’t apologize, because it will kill the debate. And aren’t Democrats always talking about how we don’t debate things enough in this country?

Well, let’s have a nice, long debate about the Democratic Party’s approach to terrorism. Let’s hit it from every angle, let’s study it, and let’s see the Democrats try to defend their record. Let’s have that debate as a nation, because as far as I’m concerned, it’s long overdue.

*** Update #1 ***: Judging by the response from RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman, it doesn’t sound like there’s an apology forthcoming anytime soon:

“It’s outrageous that the same Democrats who stood by Dick Durbin’s libeling of our military are now expressing faux outrage over Karl Rove’s statement of historical fact. George Soros, Michael Moore, MoveOn and the hard left were wrong after 9/11, just as it was wrong for Democrat leaders to stand by and remain silent after Dick Durbin made his deplorable comments.”

More quotes compiled by the RNC:

(continued…[5])