When Will the Democrats Wake Up?

Dallas Morning News
11/11/03


'When will the Democrats wake up?' 

The Bush-bashing by the Democrats is heating up as we 
draw closer to the 2004 elections. Yet, in spite of 
this, two more Republican governors – one in Kentucky, 
and another in Mississippi ­– were elected last week. 

This proves that Democrats just don't really understand 
what's important to the average American who remembers 
how bad things were four years ago. 

Sure, the Bush administration is creating a debt (even 
larger than Ronald Reagan's) that will take generations 
of Americans to pay off. And it's true that things appear 
to be getting worse – not better – in Iraq and are beginning 
to have a somewhat Vietnamesque appearance with American 
soldiers dying at an alarming rate. Oh, and yeah. No weapons 
of mass destruction found yet. 

And it is true that warlords control all of Afghanistan 
except for Kabul and some major highways. And it's also 
true that NATO and the United Nations are now less effective 
due to our mostly unilateral military intervention into Iraq, 
which lessens stability worldwide. And, OK, the much-touted 
Bush plan for $15 billion in AIDS assistance for Africa in 
the end will really only amount to a fraction of that being 
delivered. And, yes, it's a fact that the Bush administration 
wants to starve Amtrak out of existence (though it carried a 
record number of Americans this year), while $87 billion is 
just the tip of what's needed in Iraq and Afghanistan in the 
future. 

And, of course, I concede that the Bush administration did 
manage to convert all the worldwide good will following Sept. 
11 into a general distrust, if not outright hatred of the 
United States throughout the globe. Yes, all these things are 
unfortunate. 

But, as Democrats seem to forget, all of these things remain 
inconsequential in comparison to President Clinton's sexual 
relations with Monica (even though it was two consenting adults). 
When will the Democrats wake up? 

Mark W. Meyer, Haltom City, Texas