Insights about John Kerry, George W. Bush, Jacques Chirac, France, Ronald Reagan, "old" Europe, "new" Europe, the Soviet Union, Iraq, terror,tyranny, freedom, vision, courage and leadership.

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July 26, 2004 #01: Political Satire/Commentary where satire is always commentary but commentary isn't always satire™
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Insights about John Kerry, George W. Bush, Jacques Chirac, France, Ronald Reagan, "old" Europe, "new" Europe, the Soviet Union, Iraq, terror, tyranny, freedom, vision, courage and leadership.·

Since returning from a trip to Poland and the Czech Republic from June 26 through July 7, 2004, today is the first time that progress on other responsibilities has permitted resumption of this column. Many important things happened in the interim, some of which would be suitable targets for humorous satire, some for polemic satire and some for serious commentary. Reflection on the trip inspires greater faith in the endurance of the human spirit for freedom and also inspires serious thoughts relevant to the current political debate raging worldwide as well as in the the 2004 U.S. election campaign. Such reflection bore fruit in the form of the following series of limerick stanzas:

Courageous Hindsight versus Visionary Foresight.

Since June 22, I've not
opined in this internet spot
because 'til today
since going away
to Europe, the time I've had not.

The Europe I sampled was not
the Europe of France's Chirac--
The Czechs' new Republic
and Poland's republic
I saw like Jacques' Europe are not.

The welcoming treatment received
derived from the fact, I perceived,
that old-Europe views
by Jacques Chirac spewed
the new-Europe doesn't believe.

In Jacques' Europe, all but the old
have not lived in tyranny's fold,
but mem'ries abound
in new-Europe's towns
of tyrants in more than "the old."

In new-Europe, most can remember
demands that the Russians dismember
the Soviet Bloc
in Europe were not
embraced until Reagan's agenda.

'Til Reagan, the old-Europe showed
belief that repression imposed
by tyranny's boot
on liberty's roots
could safeguard its own status quo.

That Reagan showed vision beyond
the "experts" in Paris and Bonn
gave east-Europeans
the faith to them freedom
would sooner, not never, belong.

So new-Europeans refrain
from viewing the Yanks with disdain
as done by Chirac
because what begot
their freedom were Yankee campaigns.

Like Reagan, and unlike Chirac,
the vision of Bush for Iraq
is founded on wisdom
that freedom's condition
can flourish when tyranny's stopped.

But Kerry, in contrast, does not
distinguish himself from Chirac.
'Though courage he showed
commanding his boat,
a leader with vision he's not.

The Intellectual Left,
like Kerry, is sadly bereft
of vision to see
the future to be
defined by the tasks we accept.

Their vision's confined to their hope
to build a consensus to cope
with tyranny's threats,
which sadly begets
conditions for tyranny's growth.

The vision of Leftists and Kerry
shows patterns that warrant our worry:
They mocked the demands
that Reagan began
for toppling The Wall in a hurry.

They chose to oppose and berate
ejecting Saddam from Kuwait.
If what they'd have done
by Bush had been done,
Saddam armed with nukes we'd now face.

'Though courage is surely a vital
requirement for leadership titles,
a leadership mission
with limited vision
is less than to which we're entitled.

'Though Kerry is right to explain
his courage, he's wrong to disdain
the flying of planes
by Bush. which McCain
described as quite dangerous planes.

So Kerry is wrong to imply
that Bush has less courage to strive
to do what is best
for freedom to rest
securely in progenies' lives.

But Dubya is right in asserting
the limited vision of Kerry
revealed by his votes
impedes, not promotes,
contentions for voting for Kerry.

Suppose that before 9-11 Bush (or Clinton) were to have "connected" enough "dots" to have ample reason to believe such an attack was being planned in Afghanistan. Suppose on the basis of such conclusions, Bush (or Clinton) were to have launched a preemptive attack on Afghanistan. Suppose that at the conclusion of such attack, Bush (or Clinton) were to have been unable to produce evidence of such plot. Without 9-11 having occurred, the world-- as well as Bush's (or Clinton's) political opponents-- would have been far more harsh and scathing in condemning such "preemptive" action than even the unjustifiably harsh condemnation now being heaped upon Bush for preemptive action in the face of dots begging to be connected regarding Saddam Hussein's intentions and capabilities with respect to weapons of mass destruction. Both scenarios demonstrate the unsoundness of predicating moral judgments of prior decisions upon after-the-fact knowledge rather than the reasonableness of the conclusions at the time of the decisions.

--Jim Wrenn, Editor at PoliSat.Com

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