Ketchupboy Rides Again

... if you're not moved by this image.

Millions of Iraqis went to the polls yesterday, most voting in a free election for the first time. Some did so on their native soil, while others did so in foreign countries all over the globe... including our own.

If I wasn't so beat up by the flu, I would take far more time to mock erstwhile Presidential election LOSER Ketchupboy, who seemed unable to articulate anything resembling grace during his appearance on NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday. First, Senator Flip-Flop wondered about the legitimacy of the election -- I'm sure he spent months doing the same when Saddam ran his faux elections in the past. Plenty of people have hammered him on this point, and rightfully so -- as usual, Kerry wants to find fault with President Bush's policy, while agreeing with it -- the "I would have done the same thing, but better" argument that most Americans didn't buy in November because (a) they didn't believe he would do the same thing, or (b) didn't think he would do any better.

In retrospect, perhaps I should take back my praise of the Senator from Friday, when I called him an "okay guy and a decent human being." The Kansas Redhead intimated as such in an e-mail. I could still offer the faint praise that at least he's better than Ted Kennedy... then again, this is like claiming that at least someone's not as fat as Roseanne.

But here's the classic lines from the interview...

MR. RUSSERT: Do you believe that Iraq is less a terrorist threat to the United States now than it was two years ago?

SEN. KERRY: No, it's more. And, in fact, I believe the world is less safe today than it was two and a half years ago.

...MR. RUSSERT: Is the United States safer with the newly elected Iraqi government than we would have been with Saddam Hussein?

SEN. KERRY: Sure. And I'm glad Saddam Hussein is gone, and I've said that a hundred times.

We're not safer! Yes we are! Wait, there's more...

MR. RUSSERT: Specifically, do you agree with Senator Kennedy that 12,000 American troops should leave at once?

SEN. KERRY: No.

MR. RUSSERT: Do you believe there should be a specific timetable of withdrawal of American troops?

SEN. KERRY: No.

MR. RUSSERT: What would you do?

SEN. KERRY: I understand exactly what Senator Kennedy is saying, and I agree with Senator Kennedy's perceptions of the problem and of how you deal with it. I would--in fact, last summer, if you'll recall, I said specifically that if we did the things that I laid out--the training, the international community, the services and reconstruction, and the elections and protection--we could draw down troops and begin to withdraw them. I think what Senator Kennedy is saying--and here I do agree with him--is that it is vital for the United States to make it clear that we are not there with long-term goals and intentions of our presence in the region. I agree with Senator Kennedy that we have become the target and part of the problem today, if not the problem.

Forget the flip-flop, once more , on whether Kennedy is right or not. Concentrate on the fact that Kerry thinks we "are part of the problem today, if not the problem." The arrogance of such a statement is astounding. If John Kerry thinks we are "the problem", he's more morally and intellectually bankrupt than anyone envisioned during the Presidential campaign. Either that, or John Kerry is incredibly stupid. The so-called insurgents are killing people in order to keep them from voting, threatening to murder anyone who exercises their rights... and we're the problem???

One final point -- I disagree with those who question whether Americans would go the polls in the same numbers if threatened. I think the American psyche is such that if someone threatened to prevent us from voting, voter turnout would actually increase, because we don't like the thought of anyone telling us what we can and cannot do. By contrast, the French... wh, it's not even worth it.