You have to acknowledge Teddy Kennedy's prowess at this thing. On Sept. 9, he declaimed before the Senate Armed Services Committee that the extra $87 billion the administration proposes spending on Iraq would "double the number of trained teachers in our nation's classrooms" and "provide two years of prescription drug coverage under Medicare for our nation's senior citizens." These and other wonderful public services the Kennedy Democrats would just love to provide were it not for those war-mongering -- and, don't forget, fraud-mongering -- Republicans.
Just so you'll know, though, that the Kennedy Democrats care about freedom, here is Kennedy again: "Clearly, we need to spend what's necessary to protect our troops and rebuild Iraq."
If only it were clear in the least! It isn't. What is clear is that if the Democrats consider themselves a serious party, they need urgently to rethink, and then modify, their present behavior.
You get the impression easily, from Kennedy-style bloviations, that the main thing Democrats are serious about is hustling Bush out the Whte House backdoor. As for Osama bin Laden, as for Saddam, as for Yasser Arafat -- well, again, first things first. How can we Democrats -- so the supposition goes -- do the right things (whatever those things may be, and we're not talking) until we throw out the guy doing the wrong thing?
A winning formula for international chaos this may prove. A formula for poltical success -- I believe I wouldn't count on that.