Christopher Ruddy
Tuesday, July 29, 2003

While Lieberman did not go out of his way to praise the Bush White House, he did remind Americans that he and other Democrats, now suffering from selective amnesia, supported the "just war" to liberate Iraq and remove Saddam Hussein.

Lieberman took aim at his Democratic colleagues: "But by their words, some in my party threaten to send a message that they don't know a just war when they see it, and more broadly that they're not prepared to use our military strength to protect our security and the cause of freedom."

I disagree with Lieberman’s criticism of the Bush White House for its mistakes – and that’s exactly what they are, honest mistakes. Still, Sen. Lieberman’s criticisms are constructive, honest and sincere.

This is the way politics used to be. In the political arena we could disagree, but we always remembered that we were all Americans – we each wanted our side to win, but we all wanted America to be stronger and better.

We – Republicans and Democrats – did not score points at the expense of the United States.

But unfortunately, too many Democrats today have no such standards. So hungry are they for votes, they are willing to do anything to knock President Bush in a time of war just to gain a few percentage points among the party’s hardcore left.

This is the case with Dick Gephardt and John Kerry, who fully supported the war. Today they claim that 16 questionable words spoken in one speech – out of a year of debate over the Iraq issue – have caused them to change their mind.

Then there is Sen. Bob Graham. I once respected Sen. Graham, but he seems almost gleeful in anticipation of another 9/11 terrorist strike – one he has already blamed on President Bush.

Graham is so desperate to win over Howard Dean voters, he has been raising the specter of impeachment against the president. He even claims that Bush is guilty of worse crimes than those for which Clinton was impeached.

Bush’s impeachable crime? He quoted a British intelligence report in a speech, a report that the British continue to stand by.

Clinton’s crime was willfully lying to the American people, lying under oath and obstructing justice in a sexual harassment suit.

If Bob Graham doesn’t see the difference between Bush and Clinton, he shouldn’t be president. And he won’t be.

Graham had an excellent shot of being picked as the party’s nominee for vice president. An apparent moderate from the crucial state of Florida, he was a shoo-in. But now he has demonstrated that he is so on the fringe, even Dean wouldn’t run with him.

Back to Lieberman. With the Democrats careening on the edge of reality, Lieberman’s comments Monday were refreshing.

He reminded us of a time when politics ended once America’s security was at stake. I like President Bush and will vote for him, but I also think Joe Lieberman would make an excellent president. For one thing, he has demonstrated courage.

He sees the drift of his party – and the way its New York and Hollywood establishments are determined to bring Bush down, no matter what. It would have been easy to join the fray. But he didn’t.

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2004 Elections

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