Unregenerate liberals

An editorial in the Seattle Times urging a withdrawal from Afghanistan was making sense to me, until I came upon this:

The Economist’s second reason not to leave is that it “would be a humiliation for the West.” We remember hearing that argument when U.S. forces were hip deep in Vietnam. Withdrawal would hurt American “prestige.” It would make America look weak.

In fact, what made America weak was the war, draining us in treasure and blood. Exiting Vietnam helped America get its strength back—especially its military strength.

“Exiting Vietnam helped America get its strength back—especially its military strength.” The mind boggles. The humiliating loss of South Vietnam to the Communists (caused by the Democratic Congress’ cutting off funding for that country) strengthened America? The spectacle of a million Vietnamese fleeing their country on the sea in open boats strengthened America? The subsequent demoralization of the U.S. armed forces and advances by the Communists in Africa and Afghanistan strengthened America? Jimmy Carter’s declaration that we should get rid of our “inordinate” fear of Communism and his kissy session with the Soviet leader Brezhnev strengthened America? These idiot liberals. They complacently remember the period of American strength and confidence in the 1980s under President Reagan, and forget the dangerous disarray and weakness of the 1970s which was brought on by liberal Democrats, and from which Reagan rescued us.

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James P. writes:

“These idiot liberals. They complacently remember the period of American strength and confidence in the 1980s under President Reagan, and forget the dangerous disarray and weakness of the 1970s which was brought on by liberal Democrats, and from which Reagan rescued us.”

Idiot liberals deny that Reagan had anything to do with the fall of the Soviet Union. They claim that Soviet decline was inevitable, and the person who should get credit for dismantling the Soviet empire is not the dangerous buffoon Reagan but the far-sighted genius Mikhail Gorbachev. Reagan’s defense buildup, in the idiot liberal view, actually delayed the fall of the USSR because it emboldened the hawks in the Kremlin.

LA replies:

Those liberals who claimed, AFTER the fall of the USSR, that its fall was inevitable, were the same liberals who had said, in the 1970s, that we must accommodate ourselves to Communism, that we must give up our “inordinate fear” of Communism), and that anti-Communism was a far worse threat to the world than Communism.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at June 29, 2010 11:53 AM | Send