The "nuisance" statement will haunt Kerry

... o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

1220Z TUE 12OCT04. American Spectator. William Tucker.

From Matt Bai's long article in Sunday's "New York Times:"

"In the liberal view, the enemy … more closely resembles an especially murderous drug cartel.… Instead of military might, liberal thinkers believe, the moment calls for a combination of expansive diplomacy abroad and interdiction at home, an effort more akin to the war on drugs than to any conventional war of the last century."

President Bush is beating Kerry with a metaphorical 2x4 from his metaphorical lumber company out on the stump, using what Kerry is quoted as saying in that article.

Tucker concludes:

"All this tells you what's about to happen if John Kerry is elected the next President. Not only does he not have the fortitude to fight the war on terror, he doesn't even believe we're in a war. Terror will be explained away as "crime" and ultimately "an aberration." Councils of world leaders will sit around mulling over the problem -- just as the U.N. now talks circles around itself while ignoring the situation in Iran and the Sudan."

Found the link at Power Line.

The Kerry campaign says the "nuisance" statement was taken out of context, but they will not say when terrorism was just a nuisance, since Kerry did say he hoped we'd "return" to that day. Was that day when so many Marines were blown up, or when a hole was blown in one of our ships?

Rudy Guliani says we need to eliminate terrorism, not tolerate it like illegal gambling and prostituion.

I'd agree we need to eliminate radical Islamic terrorism, but terrorism is a military tactic which has been used by the weaker of two combatents throughout history. We should never treat it as just a nuisance, but we're not likely to eliminate it like smallpox.

David Brooks notes the conflict of visions.

Dick Morris says:

"Senator John Kerry has just explained, clearly and lucidly, the difference between the Democratic and Republican approaches on how to fight terrorism."

Make your choice.