Hyper-Meltdown

The polls are going south for Obama and the entire Democratic ticket. What to do? The first rule in a crisis, keep a level head. But the left has tossed out the rule book. Both Obama and his far left cronies are in desperation and its showing. Obama has committed an incredible gaffe with his latest attack ad on McCain and, in but another display of the completely unhinged, an article at the Huffington Post delves into pornographic obscenity to smear Gov. Palin. Who can blame them. I mean, all that is working for them so far, right?

All the facades are down on the far left. They are unable to respond to a crisis. Their radicalism and irrationality is on full display. It ain't pretty.

First up, the latest Obama attack ad which attempts to show just how out of touch McCain is with life in the 21st century. It does so by noting that McCain doesn't even send e-mails. The problem, its been well publicized that McCain can't do certain tasks as a result of the injuries he suffered from torture by the North Vietnamese - among them, comb his hair, tie his shoes, or . . . "use a keyboard." A huge rollup at Memorandum. That just reeks of a campaign spinning completely out of control.

Next up, an article by Michael Seitzman in the Huffington Post manages to be the the single most offensive and unhinged piece of tripe to come from the left to date. The article is "Sarah Palin Naked:"

I realized three things tonight. For one, if you are a McCain/Palin/Bush voter, you and I do not have a difference of opinion. We have a difference in brain power. Two, she really is as ignorant as I feared. And, three, she really is kinda hot. Basically, I want to have sex with her on my Barack Obama sheets while my wife reads aloud from the Constitution. (My wife is cool with this if I promise to "first wipe off Palin's tranny makeup." I married well.)

Now, I want to be clear and speak directly to those of you who LOVED that Palin interview. You're an idiot. I mean that. . . .

You know, with talent like that and that much obvious brain power, this guy could make on the NYT editorial board. He's got a future. In fact, it is my sincerest hope and desire that he should publish like articles daily between now and November. If he had a tip jar up, I would recommend that we all hit it to support this most intelligent of men in this greatest of endeabors because, as he says at the end, "The stakes are real and they're terrifyingly high. This election matters. It matters. It really matters." I couldn't agree more.

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Attacking Palin For Her Religion

In yet more proof that the far left cannot restrain themselves, today we have a tsunami of attacks on Gov. Palin, including one at Huffpo attacking here for her religion and religious beliefs. If there was ever an argument the left does not want to have, it is about religion and the candidates.

This from Huffpo under the title "Palin's Church May Have Shaped Controversial World View:"

Three months before she was thrust into the national political spotlight, Gov. Sarah Palin was asked to handle a much smaller task: addressing the graduating class of commission students at her one-time church, Wasilla Assembly of God.

Her speech in June provides as much insight into her policy leanings as anything uncovered since she was asked to be John McCain's running mate.

Speaking before the Pentecostal church, Palin painted the current war in Iraq as a messianic affair in which the United States could act out the will of the Lord.

"Pray for our military men and women who are striving to do what is right. Also, for this country, that our leaders, our national leaders, are sending [U.S. soldiers] out on a task that is from God," she exhorted the congregants. "That's what we have to make sure that we're praying for, that there is a plan and that that plan is God's plan."

Religion, however, was not strictly a thread in Palin's foreign policy. It was part of her energy proposals as well. Just prior to discussing Iraq, Alaska's governor asked the audience to pray for another matter -- a $30 billion national gas pipeline project that she wanted built in the state. "I think God's will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that gas line built, so pray for that," she said.

It appears that the author is a member of the secular far left - and thus appalled that anyone prays for guidance, assistance, or in the hope that they are acting with the wisdom that their Maker wants. In short, they are appalled by prayer - unless of course it is Obama or Rev. Jeremiah Wright. There is nothing whatsoever in Palin's prayers quoted above that give a clue as to her political leanings, unless we are to assume that there are things to be gleaned from the mere fact that she is religious. That must be the case as the article tells us neither Gov. Palin's worldview or why it is controversial.

The remainder of the article is dedicated to investigating anything said by the pastor in the Church where Gov. Palin grew up and in which she remained until 2006. You can read it here. It covers some statements by the preacher that are probably ever so slightly over the line. There is, however, nothing he says that is in the state, let alone with the same ballpark, as Rev. Jeremiah Wright. But if we are going to start digging into religion . . . . that's fine by me.

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Have Our Copperheads Found Their McClellan in Retired LTG General Sanchez?

Several commentators have noted the similarity between our modern day Democrats and the Copperheads of the Civil War. The Copperheads were the virulently anti-war wing that took control of the Democratic party in the 1860’s. Their rhetoric of the day reads like a modern press release from our Democratic Party leadership. Their central meme was that the Civil War was unwinnable and should be concluded. At their nominating convention of 1864, they adopted the plank:

this convention does explicitly declare, as the sense of the American people, that after four years of failure to restore the Union by the experiment of war, during which, under the pretence of military necessity, or war power higher than the Constitution, the Constitution itself has been disregarded in every part, and public liberty and private right alike trodden down, and the material prosperity of the country essentially impaired, justice, humanity, liberty, and the public welfare demand that immediate efforts be made for a cessation of hostilities, with a view to an ultimate convention of the States or other peaceable means, to the end that at the earliest practicable moment peace may be restored . . .

At the convention, the Democrats nominated retired General George B. McClellan for President. Lincoln had chosen McClellan to command the Union Army in 1861 and then assigned him to command the Army of the Potomac. Lincoln subsuqently relieved McClellan of command in 1862 for his less than stellar performance on the battlefield. McClellan became a bitter and vocal opponent of Lincoln, harshly critical of Lincoln's prosecution of the war. McClellan and the Copperheads maintained that meme even as the facts on the ground changed drastically with victories by General Sherman in Atlanta and General Sheridan in Shenandoah Valley.

Thus it is not hard to see in McClellan many parallels to retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the one time top commander in Iraq. Sanchez held the top military position in Iraq during the year after the fall of the Hussein regime, when the insurgency took root and the Abu Ghraib scandal came to light. His was not a successful command and his remarks since show a bitter man. According to an the Huffington Post, "In October, the three-star general told a group of reporters that the U.S. mission in Iraq was a "nightmare with no end in sight." He also called Bush's decision to deploy 30,000 extra forces to Iraq earlier this year a "desperate attempt" to make up for years of misguided policies in Iraq." While the Democrats have no intention of nominating him as President, Sanchez's bitter screed and refusal to acknowledge changing conditions on the ground make him the darling of our own Copperheads.

The same HufPo piece tells us that Sanchez supports Democratic legislation that calls for most troops to come home within a year. Sanchez's recorded remarks will be heard on the weekly Democratic radio address this Saturday, including:

. . . The improvements in security produced by the courage and blood of our troops have not been matched by a willingness on the part of Iraqi leaders to make the hard choices necessary to bring peace to their country.

There is no evidence that the Iraqis will choose to do so in the near future or that we have an ability to force that result . . .

. . . [the House legislation to force withdrawal from Iraq] makes the proper preparation of our deploying troops a priority and requires the type of shift in their mission that will allow their numbers to be reduced substantially."

While the Democrats of today may be enamored of General Sanchez and his message, history should provide them a cautionary note. Despite McClellan’s outspoken criticism of Lincoln for his poor prosecution of the war, the rhetoric failed once it became apparent that Union forces were succeeding and that victory was possible. In the end, the American electorate punished the Democrats for their anti-war stance in the 1864 election and for several decades afterward. And now we have a very bitter General Sanchez appearing on the scene to support our own Copperhead’s attempt to legislate surrender. It is a surrender being sought even as the facts on the ground in Iraq have changed completely from the black days when General Sanchez commanded our forces.

We will see if history, in fact, does repeat itself. It certainly seems to be doing so at the moment.

Update: The Washington Post sees the cooperation of General Sanchez with the far left Democrats led by Nancy Pelosi as a "strange alliance." It is obviously not if one only looks for the historical antecedents.

Update: James Taranto of WSJ and I share a similar opinion: "With Sanchez having embraced the role of Democratic spokesman, he comes to look increasingly like the George McClellan of the war on terror."

Update: The swing in public perception has begun. MSNBC is reporting: "Some 48 per cent of Americans now believe that the US ­military effort in Iraq is going well, compared with 30 per cent in February, according to the latest poll by the Pew Research Center."

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