Democrats on the Warpath

[papau]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35553-2004Aug2.html

Democrats on the Warpath

By E. J. Dionne Jr.
Tuesday, August 3, 2004; Page A17


If Democrats needed any reminding, Sunday's new terror alert underscored why John Kerry's managers made the right choice in turning his convention into an ode to patriotism, toughness and the martial virtues.

Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge's announcement of a threat against financial institutions here, in New York City and in Newark gave Kerry early warning that he will be campaigning in circumstances over which he will have limited control.

The power to call alerts rests in the hands of the administration he is trying to unseat. Kerry will be forced again and again to react to his opponents' warnings and initiatives -- including President Bush's acceptance on Monday of the Sept. 11 commission's recommendation for a new intelligence czar and a counterterrorism center.

Last week's Boston convention can thus be seen as a shrewd exercise in preemptive political warfare. If there is one certainty about the coming months, it is that Bush will push the campaign back to the war on terrorism and the immediacy of the terrorist threat. Variations on the classic incumbent's slogan in situations of peril, "Don't change horses in midstream," were evoked by Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt. It will be Bush's subliminal message this year. <snip>

[riverwalker]

1. "Don't change horses in midstream"

the exception, of course, is if the horse you're on is terrified of water, has a lame leg, is blind, is mad with rabies and is covered with oozing sores.
Then, it's best to change horses, even midstream.

[ixion]

2. There is something disturbing about the continued creation of new 'czars'

in US government. The term should inspire loathing to any person who values democracy and freedom, IMO.

[phantom power]

3. I saw a fantastic jab at the word "czar" on TV

I didn't recognize the speaker, but he was commenting on the title "czar":

"I think that maybe a title signifying 500 years of inflexible thinking, culminating in the Bolshevik Revolution, isn't the best model for an intelligence position"

I wish I knew who was speaking. From the context it might even have been the candidate for "intelligence czar", or whatever this new position is being called.

Rock on...