The PoliBlog
Collective


Information
The Collective
ARCHIVES
Saturday, August 19, 2024
By Dr. Steven Taylor

Well, while Hugh Hewitt may not see Democrats as treasonous, it appears that Dan Riehl does, as the post title from earlier today notes: No, Democrats Are Traitors.

In the post Dan writes:

To cast the words and actions of the majority of high profile Democrats over the last five years as anything other than treasonous means you either don’t view the threat from Islamo-fascism as being as genuine and significant as I believe it is, or you are simply interested in playing nice, as opposed to pointing out the truth.

Well, no, it doesn’t mean that at all. It is quite possible to have any number of views on these subjects and not be a traitor to the United States of America.

We do all understand, do we not, that the penalty for treason is execution?

Could I also point out that many of our friends, family and co-workers vote for the Democratic Party. Are we going to send out the National Guard to round them up?

I mean, really: this treason business is ridiculous. The bottom line is that there are different views on these issues (i.e., Iraq, the War on Terror, etc.) and it is simply wrong to label someone a traitor because they don’t agree with your position.

To quote someone that my friends on the Right should know well: “words mean things.”* As such, if one is going to use such words, one ought to take serious stock of the implications of those words.

Further, such rhetoric is a discussion-stopper. If Dan is really as concerned about this situation as he makes out, then surely he would prefer that we, as a country, work this situation out–something that is going to be impossible if we are going to basically tell each other to shut up (which is what this kind of talk accomplishes).

And, Dan is not alone in his view (for example).

Dan’s reasoning is along the following lines:

Our Nation embarked on the war in Iraq with over seventy-percent approval from the population and overwhelming support for it from politicians on both sides. Yet, seeking purely partisan political victory at home, the Democrat Party has consistently pulled out all the stops to undermine the effort and has succeeded in running it down.

As one who supported the war, and as one who agrees that politics has been played by many over the war (Dems and Reps both, I would add), I would note that the major problems in Iraq have precious little to do with even the most foolish of rhetoric that may have come out of the mouths of Washington’s political class. Rather, the problems in Iraq are owing to what can clearly be seen as a failed policy effort by the administration regarding the post-Saddam period.

At this stage of the game it seems clear to me that the invasion plan was flawed, as it did not take into consideration the need to fully secure the country and assure order (and along those lines we did not send enough troops to the cause in the first place). Further, there was a substantial lack of planning for the post-invasion period and an appalling disregard for these issues at the Department of Defense in the weeks and months after the taking of Baghdad (read Larry Diamond’s book for a sobering account and assessment). Indeed, there is a long list of problems that belong in their own post.

The current state of public opinion in the US regarding Iraq really has very little to do with things that Democrats have said, and has everything to do with the facts on the ground.

Of course, I suppose I have run the risk of now being labeled a traitor for having aired this opinion.


*This is something that Rush Limbaugh used to say all the time–and may still. Of course, he was trying to skewer the Left for what he thought was the misuse of the language. In this case, I think that the misuse is on the other side of the spectrum

Sphere: Related Content

Previous Posts

Filed under: Iraq, US Politics | |

2 Comments

  • el
  • pt
    1. Democrats Are Traitors: Part Deux

      PoliBlog responds to my post in which I point out that Democrats are traitors. It’s a reasonable, though off the mark post and deserves being addressed. In the first place, he states that the penalty for treason is death. That’s

      Trackback by Riehl World View — Saturday, August 19, 2024 @ 9:36 pm

    2. […] ason (Including the Law)
      By Dr. Steven Taylor @ 7:41 am

      Dan Riehl responds to my post from yesterday regarding his statement that Democrats are traitors. I noted yesterday that the penal […]

      Pingback by PoliBlog: A Rough Draft of my Thoughts » More on Treason (Including the Law) — Sunday, August 20, 2024 @ 7:44 am

    RSS feed for comments on this post.

    The trackback url for this post is: http://poliblogger.com/wp-trackback.html?p=10543

    NOTE: I will delete any TrackBacks that do not actually link and refer to this post.

    Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.




    Visitors Since 2/15/03
    Blogroll

    Wikio - Top of the Blogs - Politics
    ---


    Advertisement

    Advertisement


    Powered by WordPress