Iraq Body Count: Macabre Democratic Entertainment

by: Steve Yuhas

Nothing makes Democrats more upset than the recess appointment of someone they spent five months trying to keep out of a job so the appointment of John Bolton to be the US Ambassador to the United Nations seemed to be a sting that would take Democrats some time to get over.  All of that changed when Democrats got the kind of news they love – causality figures from Iraq went over 1,800.  There is nothing like watching Democrats spar for airtime to become cautiously gleeful over casualties during a war against people who want to kill us.

In a macabre countdown to a number not yet specified Democrats sit anxiously by their phones waiting for the moment when they will be able to spring to action in order to make the demand that casualties have hit an undisclosed yet unacceptable number.  It is a morbid distinction to be the party that can do little without bad news, but who said Democrats did not have what it takes to govern?  They know how to do math. 

In one week Democrats went from being annoyed over a recess appointment to ghoulish number crunchers that seem to sit like angels of death hoping that the toll out of Iraq will one day hit the magic number where Americans demand that we pull out completely. 

One can only speculate what kind of rally Democrats will hold if 2,000 Americans give their lives in the liberation and stabilization of two nations and fifty million people.  Liberals quietly pray (no wait that would involve faith; liberals quietly hope) that it doesn’t happen when Americans are not paying attention to politics.

The 1,800 milestone came out on a Friday in summer and was not noticed nearly enough for Democrats to even bother going on television and blaming President Bush (they did anyway) and they could hardly burst their collective gaskets over the figure since America was mourning the men who died, but were carrying on with their lives. 

Can you hear Democratic strategists?  “If only those Marines could have waited until more people were paying attention.”  Now all Americans will do is mourn our men in uniform without any political advantage for Democrats and that is just not fair to liberals.

During the brutal fighting to take Iwo Jima (February to March 1945) 6,821 servicemen died taking an island that few Americans ever heard of.  Similar to Afghanistan and Iraq most Americans mourned the loss of every life, but nobody, not even the opposition party or their defenders, were sitting in their armchairs waiting for the telephone to ring when 7,000 people died so they could hold a news conference to declare the mission and the war a failure. 

That changed when Democrats became devoid of ideas and became a completely reactionary party that has to hold up bad news to America as evidence of their ability to govern, but even that backfires.  It was tried for forty years and the last three election cycles to no avail.  Democrats try to make themselves out to be good for American defense, but nothing can be done to shake their reputation as being weak when it comes to defending America and despite the fact that more Americans are certain to die in combat, Americans have more faith in Republicans prosecuting war than Democrats in doing the same.

Although Democrats are good at counting the dead and getting airtime on the weekly talk shows to yelp about the war and the casualties, they’re not very good at fighting them.  To do more than talk would require leadership that goes beyond sound bites like “I hate George Bush” and “Bush lied” and, frankly, they lack anything else.

In case you’re wondering, I am officially questioning the patriotism of their leaders.

The week began with Senators Chris Dodd (D-CT) and George Voinovich (R-OH) saying the appointment of John Bolton to the UN was a mistake, but amazingly, it seems that Dodd and Voinovich failed to talk to the other ambassadors at the UN.  People there did not seem to worry as much as they did, “He will be one of the key players because the United States is the largest contributor and a great power in the Security Council," Germany's U.N. Ambassador Gunter Pleuger said.  Margrethe Loj, Denmark’s ambassador, made note of the fact that many countries do not even require a secondary confirmation and said she looked forward to working with Bolton.

One has to wonder if in the last five months of stalling Bolton’s appointment whether or not Dodd and Voinovich realized that the United Nations has representatives by countries ruled by dictators and killers, Mullahs and Kings who call for and finance the death of Americans and Israelis every single day.  You’d think it would be obvious when Iran headed up the Human Rights Commission, but I suppose they and their staff missed that.

Bush hand picked and appointed Bolton, who had the votes to be confirmed, over the objections of the opposition party: that strengthens Bolton it doesn’t weaken him.  It means that the President of the United States believes in him so much that he put him there himself and that when Bolton speaks there can be no doubt that he speaks for President Bush and with his authority.  The Senate is irrelevant in the UN anyway, except for paying for it.

Last week began with Democrats seething that President Bush made a recess appointment of someone they wanted another six months to tarnish on the public stage (they will have other reputations to ruin) and they end the week with Marines taking them above the magic number of 1,800 for casualties in Iraq.  What a wonderful week to be a Democrat: powerless to stop an appointment and delighted (with a melancholy appearance) that American Marines died in Iraq, but not during an opportune news cycle.

This takes us back to Iwo Jima: almost 7,000 Americans died to raise Old Glory on a remote island in about one month that nobody ever heard of and nobody really cared about, yet in the days of WWII casualties were met with nationwide mourning and traditional American resolve.  Today 1,800 casualties liberating two nations that supported terrorism and where terrorists continue to fight is greeted with unmitigated merriment from Democrats hoping that Americans will give up.  What kind of America do they think we live in?

I have bad news for Democrats: we don’t live in that kind of country.  We’re not going to give up because we are in a fight for our survival and what Democrats failed to learn on September 11, 2001 when fundamentalist Islamists killed over 3,000 Americans the rest of America has: Americans can be killed any moment any time and there is little between them and us except brave men and women in camouflage. 

If only we had the same Democrats who were around when Marines raised the flag over Iwo Jima six decades ago – imagine how much more secure America would be today.  Instead we have a Democratic Party full of undertakers all waiting for a magic number when they can be the first to declare that it is time to give up.

That is the Democratic Party and the left today: hoping for casualties and keeping a white flag in their desks: you’d think they were French.

Steve Yuhas is a columnist and radio talk show host on KOGO AM 600 based in San Diego.  He may be reached at steve@steveyuhas.com or www.steveyuhas.com