Joe Gets It

Senator Joe Lieberman spoke at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) National Policy Conference on Monday. It was a good speech over all, and notable (sadly) simply because a Democrat was expressing these sentiments. One passage in particular resonated with me:

Our fate is now inextricably linked to Iraq’s. And our divisions cannot be allowed to become so deep that we cannot find unity in the face of Islamist extremism. Suicide bombers who kill civilians to make a political statement should not be allowed to triumph—in New York or Tel Aviv or Samarra. We must stand strong and united against barbarism—and, with your help, we will.

I understand the anger about Iraq, but I am deeply troubled by how this anger, and the feelings of animosity that many people have for President Bush, have begun to affect the way we talk and think about what is happening in the world beyond Iraq and America’s role in it.

There is something profoundly wrong when opposition to the war in Iraq seems to inspire greater passion than opposition to Islamist extremism.

There is something profoundly wrong when there is so much distrust of our intelligence community that some Americans doubt the plain and ominous facts about the threat to us posed by Iran.

And there is something profoundly wrong when, in the face of attacks by radical Islam, we think we can find safety and stability by pulling back, by talking to and accommodating our enemies, and abandoning our friends and allies.

He’s talking about what’s wrong in his own party.

As he wrapped up his speech, another passage jumped out at me:

The esteemed historian of the Middle East, Bernard Lewis, was in Washington this past week. He said that, when he looks at the world today and the threats we face, it reminds him of the 1930s—and that he hears far more voices that sound like Chamberlain than like Churchill.

Indeed. In fact, the more one reads of Neville Chamberlain’s fantasy-filled appeasement pronouncements, the more one is reminded of today’s mindless, plan-less Democratic “response” to the war in Iraq.

So far as I can observe, Senator Lieberman is the only Democrat serving at the federal level who is able to look at the threat from radical Islam as a national issue rather than as a political issue — and he does it with great eloquence and clarity of thought.

How sad is that?

And what does it portend, should the Democrats win the White House in 2008 while keeping their House and Senate majorities?

Your terrifying Wednesday morning ponder…