Clueless George Cut-and-Runovich

Note: This post, which originally went up shortly after midnight, has been moved to the top for the rest of the day.

_________________________________

Really, I don’t think it’s possible to make a better case for George Voinovich’s retirement than the letter he wrote to President Bush on June 26 about how to deal with the current situation in Iraq.

That is why I have posted it in its entirety here. Readers, especially those in Ohio who must endure Mr. Voinovich for 3-1/2 more years, need to see what happens to someone’s judgment when they spend way too much time in careerist politics, and way too much time breathing in the Washington Beltway air.

If Old Media wanted to make itself more relevant, it would have posted Mr. Voinovich’s letter in its entirely two weeks ago, when it first became public. I am told it was sent to top Ohio party officials at the same time or shortly after it was sent to the President. I’m not aware that there was any indication that it was supposed to be a “for your eyes only” document. Instead, of course, Old Media cherry-picked phrases from the letter that criticized the current situation and ignored Voinovich’s overall near-total failure to absorb the lessons of history, or to comprehend the nature of our enemy.

In one letter, Mr. Voinovich manages to invoke nearly every failed leftist bromide ever tried, and seems proud of himself for having done so. What follows isn’t even close to a complete list of the insufferable pap:

• “international cooperation” (that’s worked so well in Kosovo)
• “coordinated foreign aid”
• “responsible military disengagement”
• “combin(ing) the resources of our military with the resources of our diplomatic corps and international partners.”
• “Military Disengagement Does Not Equal Abandonment”
• “a robust diplomatic effort to contain instability”
• having Iraq’s “regional neighbors take a greater responsibility in stabilizing this situation.” (IRAN, perhaps?)
• “a timeline for disengagement”
• “Preserve American credibility by staying involved in Iraq” (but of course not militarily)
• “Shuttle diplomacy” (that really worked with Warren Christopher, didn’t it?)
• “organize an international conference to bring together Iraq’s neighbors, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, and the UN Secretary General.” (the gag reflex is almost overwhelming)
• “restore our credibility and standing in the world.” (Uh George, though Old Media won’t admit it, US stature has grown in the past few years, NOT declined, as has the list of those more closely allied with the Bush Administration — See what I mean about that Beltway air?)
• “our commitment to pay the full amount of our current outstanding dues to the UN ….. would send a powerful message to the world and bolster the American image tremendously.” (The skin crawls at the naivete. Our international standing would not move up one iota if we sent more money to the collection of thugs, dictators, and apparatchiks whose fecklessness and corruption helped create the Iraq monster.)
• “the greater fight against terrorism” (Aw, what’s the bleeping point if he doesn’t even understand this?)

Yesterday’s catfight with John McCain (HT RAB), where Voinovich claimed that Al Qaeda “wouldn’t be in Iraq” if American forces weren’t there, ices the cake. Did it ever occur to George that AQ would likely be aiming more attacks at us on our own soil if we didn’t have troops in Iraq and elsewhere tying up their leadership and resources (and killing them from time to time)?

Make no mistake — George Voinovich is promoting the same babble that brought us the Cambodian killing fields, the boat people, and the ongoing tyranny that still is Vietnam, over 30 years later. Under the Voinovich “plan,” there would be an Iraqi and Middle East rerun — perhaps not at first, but it would come. Perhaps it would happen quickly, or maybe in slow motion, but it would happen. Given the enemy’s religious fanaticism, their willingness to blow themselves up, and to use any weapon it might get its hands on, George Voinovich’s plan, which would in reality end up being cut-and-run in stages, could very well lead to a bigger bloodbath than Southeast Asia. What would be left of our “credibility” then, George?

Face it:

• George Voinovich has lost it on fiscal policy, believing despite all the evidence of increased revenues to the Treasury that the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts somehow deprived the government of money, and refusing to budge on the ongoing grave robbery that is the death tax.
• His final vote notwithstanding, he has lost it on immigration; if he had his way, we’d be waving through all manner of criminals, and worse, if in 24 hours we couldn’t find a reason to keep them out.
• Now he has clearly lost it on foreign policy and the War on Terror.

What’s remains?

The only reason Clueless George Voinovich should hang on until 2010 is that if he resigned, Governor Ted Strickland would appoint someone even worse.

_________________________________

Related SOB Commentary: Ohio Conservative, One Oar in the Water, Pain Dealer, Weapons of Mass Discussion (here, here, and here — “White Flag Republicans” indeed), and Thespis Journal.