Democrats are speaking in strong support of Israel and its invasion of Lebanon.
I have heard Rep Jane Harman (D) say that we should not call for a cease-fire, because Condi Rice is basically right that Hezbollah needs to be defeated now, lest we face the same situation in 6 months. I’ve heard Sen. Chris Dodd (D) say that George Bush did the right thing in expediting the shipment of bombs to Israel because we are supporting Israel’s right to defend itself. I’ve heard other Democrats on the news, none of them calling for a cease fire.
If any Democrat has criticized or condemned Israel for its invasion, I have not heard it.
This is an enormous blunder on the part of the Democrats. Not only is it arguable wrong morally, it is wrong tactically. Democrats are repeatedly reinforcing the neoconservative principle that terrorism must be met with military force. When the time comes for the US to invade Syria or Iran, the Democrats will not be able to argue against it. They have accepted the premise: Destroying civilian infrastructure and inflicting horrendous collateral damage is an appropriate way to deal with terrorism. If Israel is right in invading Lebanon, Israel will be right in invading Syria, and if Israel is right in invading Syria, the United States will be right in invading Iran. The political struggle for Iran is over. The Democrats have surrendered.
And even the blogs have let me down. DailyKos is rightly excoriating Condi Rice and George Bush, but completely ignoring that Democrats are as much the problem. I’ve never known DailyKos to shrink from a principled fight with the Democratic party, but the silence now is deafening. What is going on?
I feel like the world has gone mad, and even the oases of sanity which formerly sustained me are drying up.