Liberals Just Don't Understand.

Laura Ingraham covers, in her latest article, a number of things Presidential Candidate John Kerry and we liberals just don't understand.

Apparently John Kerry and Liberals don't believe that this is a dangerous world. John Kerry doesn't realize that most nations of the world are going to act in their own self interest. He doesn't understand that we can't trust other nations to protect us.

Of course, anybody who watched the debates realizes that this is all poppycock. This is a sad attempt to reinvigorate the caricature of Senator Kerry that the Republicans have spent many months trying to create. The thing about caricatures is that they have to have some bearing in reality for them to really work.

She also criticizes Senator Kerry's line about a global test. For reference here is that section of the first Presidential debate.

No president, through all of American history, has ever ceded, and nor would I, the right to preempt in any way necessary to protect the United States of America.

But if and when you do it, Jim, you have to do it in a way that passes the test, that passes the global test where your countrymen, your people understand fully why you're doing what you're doing and you can prove to the world that you did it for legitimate reasons.

Here we have our own secretary of state who has had to apologize to the world for the presentation he made to the United Nations.

I mean, we can remember when President Kennedy in the Cuban missile crisis sent his secretary of state to Paris to meet with DeGaulle. And in the middle of the discussion, to tell them about the missiles in Cuba, he said, "Here, let me show you the photos." And DeGaulle waved them off and said, "No, no, no, no. The word of the president of the United States is good enough for me."

Conservatives like to pretend this is some sort of amazing contradiction. "You say that you won't cede power, but then demand that such power be subject to some sort of global test?"

It's more of a matter of cause and effect. If we had found weapons of Mass Destruction in Baghdad or if we had found proof that Saddam was directly working with Terrorists than President Bush could present those facts to the world. Instead the opposite has happened. And American prestige and trustworthiness will take a hit.

The question isn't whether or not President Bush or President Kerry should have the power to protect the United States; they should. The question is how should that power and authority be used. Consider the following parable.

Johnny and Jimmy sat on the porch admiring Johnny's new gun. Jimmy said excitedly "That sure is a neat gun Jimmy."

Johnny smiled and said, "Yep, and thank goodness we live in a country where I'm allowed to have a gun."

Jimmy agreed. "Yep, the right to have a gun is something we totally agree on!"

Then Johnny took his gun, and standing on his porch shot out the Widow McIckleson's windows. Jimmy looked horrified. "You shouldn't do that Johnny."

Johnny looked indignent "What are you talking about? I have a right to have a gun, which means I have a right to shoot it."

Jimmy said, "Well, yeah, sure you have the right to defend yourself with your gun, but that don't mean you can shoot it any time you like, Johnny. The whole town's gonna be mighty pissed at you for shooting out the Widow McIckleson's windows."

Johnny grumbled a moment and said, "You can't impose some sort of . . . town test on my right to shoot my gun. That's the same as saying I can't have a gun at all."

Jimmy replied, "Well you can have your gun, but you can't use it like that without getting everybody mad at you; better to save your gun for times when you need to actually protect yourself. And shooting squirrels."

To reiterate, the President has the right to defend America when the time comes; but he shouldn't use that power unwisely. Oh, and please don't take that parable too literally.

Ms. Ingraham also has this crowd pleasing line in her article. "They [meaning Senator Kerry and other liberals] trust anti-American voices around the world more than they trust the American people." Kind of funny when you consider Thomas Sowells article last week wherein he shows just how much conservatives trust the American People to vote. But in all honesty I don't know what this means. Certainly I'd rather President Bush trusted me more than the U.N., but President Bush makes it clear that he doesn't govern by looking at polls (this may or may not actually be true, but he says it a lot) or following public opinion. So I just don't know how much they actually trust us either.