The Tyranny of Postulates

David Limbaugh writes a piece today about how Senator (and Presidential Candidate) John Kerry is wrong to ask President Bush for an explanation of the contrast between what they said we'd find in Iraq and what we've already found.

Here is the Postulate. President Bush got exactly as much out of the United Nations, Europe, et al. as was possible without compromising American integrity.

It's hard to disprove. I could point to statements by world leaders to the effect that if we had been more willing to work through the UN they would have supported us, but words are easy to speak. The fact is we don't know what they would have done.

And if you accept that postulate, well, than the rest of his article makes sense. "Moreover, this mantra about us not working with the international community is becoming annoying. These other nations were and are impervious to reason about Iraq, insisting on appeasement and non-enforcement of the U.N. resolutions." Impervious. It was just impossible for President Bush to ever get the UN to act. So there was no point in trying any further than he did. There's a fable from Aesop that applies here, something about a fox and some grapes.

The thing is, I'm not sure Senator Kerry is willing to give you your postulate. Assuming that we weren't in immediate danger from Iraq (which it now seems clear that we weren't), a competent President would have succeeded where President Bush failed. The other nations of the world recognized the threat Iraq presented, and would have supported us if we had approached them differently.

David Limbaughs article is also notable in how it moves from Senator Kerry's actual statement, that President Bush had misled the American people, to suggesting that Kerry called the President a liar, which he wasn't because he was presenting information he believed in. Note to D. Limbaugh, misleading isn't the same as lying. If President Bush presented false information to the American people in making his case, than he misled the American people, whether he believed the information or not. And I'm not even going to bring up the suggestion that as President, he has a responsibility to make sure the info presented to him is accurate.

Mr. Limbaugh ends with this chilling statement. "While we all understand that this is the presidential election season, it is also a season of war. Democratic presidential hopefuls like Kerry need to start behaving as though they appreciate that." What a cowardly response! This is America Mr. Limbaugh. We have the right and the duty to question the actions of our presidents. And our Presidential Candidates have even more of a duty to question the President, to set in sharp relief their policies and the policies of their political opponent.