The John Kerry Post of the Day

My latest discovery about my favorite cheese-eating surrendermonkey-looking Ketchup King cum Presidential candidate:

There are times when Republicans question John Kerry's judgment, and the outraged response of the Windsurfing Elite is complain about how the GOP is questioning John Kerry's patriotism.

And there are times when his sanity may need to be questioned, because no one's judgment should be this atrocious.

Yesterday, in the Kerry Post of the Day, I noted Kerry's comments about Iwad Allawi's address to Congress. As I put it, "it's shocking that Kerry decides to step out here and basically call out the new Prime Minister of Iraq as a tool of U.S. policy." Some might accuse me of twisting Kerry's words and misrepresenting them. I guess we could have a debate about it.

Until this piece of filth from Kerry advisor Joe Lockhart appeared in the paper today:

"Allawi's two most important messages are: `It's working, and the Iraqi people are behind it,"' said Steven Kull, director of the University of Maryland's Program on International Policy Attitudes. "If he can convince the public of those two things, it is going to be very helpful to Bush."

But Kull said it was unclear whether Americans would see Allawi as a reliable source, given the continuing violence in Iraq and his vested interest in portraying events there in the most positive light.

Democrats moved quickly to fuel skepticism, denouncing Allawi's message in unusually pointed terms.

While Kerry was relatively restrained in disputing Allawi's upbeat portrayal, some of his aides suggested that the Iraqi leader was simply doing the bidding of the Bush administration, which helped arrange his appointment in June.

"The last thing you want to be seen as is a puppet of the United States, and you can almost see the hand underneath the shirt today moving the lips," said Joe Lockhart, a senior Kerry adviser.

RE-READ THAT LAST LINE. If you're not appalled, you should be.

I'm going to ignore, for now, the idiotic assertion by the L.A. Times that Kerry was "restrained." But Joe Lockhart should be fired, now. Not for the Bill Burkett-CBS memos fiasco, which he appears to have jumped into willingly. No, he should be fired for this quote. If he isn't fired, then John Kerry must agree with it... and in that case, maybe we should question his patriotism.

Look, I understand that the common perception of politicians is that they'll do anything to get elected. But I'd like to think that undermining your own nation's relationship with an ally, especially in time of war, is something you'd try to avoid. That doesn't mean you can't critique a sitting President's foreign policy -- far from it. But having one of your top aides calling the leader of another nation a "puppet" for the U.S. is beyond disgusting.

And it's not like this is an isolated incident of undermining a key ally. Charles Krauthammer's piece (if you read nothing else that I link to in this rant, read this) today discussed Kerry's campaign in a context that makes you wonder -- if he's bad-mouthing the nations that support us during his campaign, how will this help him win their help or the help of others if he's elected President? As Krauthammer noted...

Australian Prime Minister John Howard has taken great risks and much political heat for his support of America. There is a national election in Australia on Oct. 9, and the race is neck and neck between Howard and Labor Party leader Mark Latham. Latham has pledged to withdraw from Iraq.

This is a critical election not only for Australia but also for the United States. Think of the effect on America, its front-line soldiers and its coalition partners if one of its closest allies turns tail and runs.

The terrorists are well aware of this potential effect. Everyone knows about the train bombings in Madrid that succeeded in bringing down a pro-American government and led to Spain's precipitous withdrawal from Iraq. But few here noticed that this month's car bombing in Jakarta, Indonesia, was designed to have precisely the same effect.

Where was the bomb set off? At the Australian Embassy. When was it set off? Just weeks before the Australian election and just three days before the only televised debate between Howard and Latham.

The terrorists' objective is to intimidate all countries allied with America. Make them bleed and tell them this is the price they pay for being a U.S. ally. The implication is obvious: Abandon America and buy your safety.

That is what the terrorists are saying. Why is the Kerry campaign saying the same thing? "John Kerry's campaign has warned Australians that the Howard Government's support for the US in Iraq has made them a bigger target for international terrorists." So reports the Weekend Australian (Sept. 18).

Americans Overseas for Kerry is the Kerry operation for winning the crucial votes of Americans living abroad (remember the Florida recount?), including more than 100,000 who live in Australia. Its leader was interviewed Sept. 16 by The Australian's Washington correspondent, Roy Eccleston. Asked if she believed the terrorist threat to Australians was now greater because of the support for President Bush, she replied: "I would have to say that," noting that "[t]he most recent attack was on the Australian embassy in Jakarta."

She said this of her country (and of the war that Australia is helping us with in Iraq): "[W]e are endangering the Australians now by this wanton disregard for international law and multilateral channels." Mark Latham could not have said it better. Nor could Jemaah Islamiah, the al Qaeda affiliate that killed nine people in the Jakarta bombing.

This Kerry spokesman, undermining a key ally on the eve of a critical election, is no rogue political operative. She is the head of Americans Overseas for Kerry -- Diana Kerry, sister to John.

She is, of course, merely echoing her brother, who, at a time when allies have shown great political courage in facing down both terrorists and domestic opposition for their assistance to the United States in Iraq, calls these allies the "coalition of the coerced and the bribed."

Basically, Kerry claims he's going to bring more allies to the table in Iraq if he's elected. But he starts by bad-mouthing the friends who stood by us, by insulting them as a coalition of the coerced and the bribed. Doesn't he stop to think this is a good way to lose those allies?

Now, Kerry has a campaign spokesperson ripping the Prime Minister of Iraq, a country with which Kerry would need to conduct diplomacy and establish a relationship, "a puppet." I don't know if I totally agree with Ralph Peters' piece in the New York Post, but there's an awful lot of truth in there. Jason van Steenwyck might have put it best...

No wonder Kerry left the cookie business. The guy couldn't sell an Ice cube to a bedouin.

"I laid out a plan which will help America protect our troops," he says. "We need to bring other allies to the table."

Ok. So you want other nation's leaders to expend political capital and treasure and send their lads to risk their lives along with theirs. So why don't you act like it? Why aren't you trying to sell the deal?

Because right now you are calling the U.S. Government incompetent and arrogant. You're arguing that Iraq is sliding into chaos. You argue that thousands of terrorists are slipping across Iraq's borders and that it's become "a magnet for terrorism."

You dispatch your sister to tell Australia that supporting the United States in the war on terror puts them at greater risk than they were before.

You stand with a straight face and tell nations like the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Italy, who have each shed blood for the freedom of Iraq as part of the coalition, that they're members of "a fraudulent coalition."

You can't even be bothered to leave Ohio to speak with Allawi when he comes to the US to say "thank you." But you don't hesitate to all but brand this man--who lives in Iraq every day--a liar, and then have the chutzpah, the gall, the arrogance to tell him from afar that he's out of touch with the reality on the ground.

Dead on. As for Lockhart, Instapundit beat me to the punch in calling for his firing. He phrased it better, too, but that's not shocking. Greg Djerejian called the comments disgraceful. And Andrew Sullivan (who currently supports Kerry) adds a more devestating bit after calling the line "vile"...

This is the same Joe Lockhart who calls nutjobs in Texas at the behest of CBS. Look, Bush's war-management deserves ferocious criticism, but the notion that Kerry is fit to wage this war is getting more and more untenable as the days go by. He has sent signals that he wants to withdraw troops soon; he disses our allies; he shows contempt for a man risking his life to bring democracy to Iraq. We're in a war, senator. Fight the enemy, not our friends.

One more time -- this was the most electable candidate the Democrats had???