The Left is frustrated

From The Wall Street Journal:

Washington -- The way in which Senate Democrats wavered and then consented to the confirmation of Michael B. Mukasey as attorney general reflects the party's broader struggle to make headway on its national-security agenda, despite President Bush's unpopularity.

On questions such as Mr. Mukasey's stance on waterboarding, warrantless wiretapping and the war in Iraq, Democrats have been stymied by Republicans in Congress and the White House. That has sparked frustration among supporters, especially those on the left, who anticipated that last year's congressional takeover would force some policy changes.

These dashed expectations are one reason polls give Congress an approval rating lower than Mr. Bush's. The difficulties faced by Democrats on these issues look certain to complicate the party's bid to expand House and Senate majorities and regain the White House in 2008, a wartime election in which national security will be a major issue.

Democrats acknowledge the difficulty in speaking up for civil liberties while maintaining a tough stand on homeland security and terrorism.

The Democrat Party has come to be dominated by its extreme left who are a minority of the party, but make the most noise and contribute the most money. This has created a kind of tunnel vision on the part of its elected leaders. As they try to play to and pacify George Soros, Code Pink, DailyKos and MoveOn.org they forget that what looks like juicy red meat to moonbats appears as deranged America-hatred to sane people, even sane liberals (liberals used in the Jack Kennedy, Harry Trueman sense).

Most Americans wish the war in Iraq would end, but not on terms of American defeat. Most Americans don't want their government to routinely torture prisoners, but if the choice is torture a terrorist or allow a 9/11 type attack to go forward those same Americans realize that it is immoral not to use torture.

As the Talmud states, "Kindness to the cruel is cruelty to the kind". Would you want the job of notifying the next of kin and telling them that you could have saved their husband/wife/son/daughter/mother/father/sister/brother by waterboarding the al Qaeda murderer you had in custody, but your delicate scruples just wouldn't let you?

Every war that America has ever fought has required that Americans put up with some temporary impositions on their liberty. Sometimes those impositions didn't go further than the conscription of young men (Vietnam, Korea). Other times they involved the suspension of habeas corpus and the closing of opposition newspapers (the Civil War), laws against even criticizing the US military uniform (WWI), severe rationing and mandatory blackouts (WWII).

Yet in every case what was suspended was restored when the crisis was past. The great majority of the American people have the wisdom to understand all of this. But wisdom is something that the mentally ill tend to be short on so George Soros and Cindy Sheehan and the Huffington Post crowd will only grow more frustrated and become more strident. The most likely effect of this will be to push substantial numbers of people toward the Republicans.

After all most of the American public didn't really trust Richard Nixon. It was just that he looked so much less crazy than McGovern.