Posted 4:14 PM by Robert

What's The Big Deal?

Senator John Kerry is mad. He's fighting mad - or at least mad enough to authorize somebody to go to the United Nations and urgently enquire about fighting, which is what he now says he was doing when he voted for the resolution which everyone else in the country understood authorized the President to invade Iraq with or without another UN resolution. But the very same "everyone else int he country" also understand that the Senator is full of baloney in saying that's what he voted for - so it's OK.

Who can blame him? He's lashing out at top congressional Republicans who assailed him for just for saying that "What we need now is not just a regime change in Saddam Hussein and Iraq, but we need a regime change in the United States." That's really got his Irish up! Or, at least, its got something in there up. "I refuse to have my patriotism or right to speak out questioned. I fought for and earned the right to express my views in this country."

Yeah! What's the big deal? Senator Kerry's well within his rights and the great traditions of this great country and what we expect from our Presidential candidates! Didn't each and every one of the Republicans running against Franklin Roosevelt during World War II publicly state: "What we need now is not just a regime change in Hirohito and Japan, but we need a regime change in the United States!"

And didn't each and every one of the Republicans running during World War I publicly state: "What we need now is not just a regime change in the Kaiser and Germany, but we need a regime change in the United States!"

And didn't each and every one of the Democrats running against Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War publicly state: "What we need now is not just a regime change in Jefferson Davis and the Confederacy, but we need a regime change in the United States!"

And, of course, Eisenhower got himself elected running against Adlai Stevenson during the Korean War by publicly arguing: "What we need now is not just a regime change in Kim Il Sung and North Korea, but we need a regime change in the United States!"

And, more recently, how about Richard Nixon and all those Republicans running against then-Vice President Hubert Humphrey during the Vietnam War who publicly stated: "What we need now is not just a regime change in Ho Chi Min and North Vietnam, but we need a regime change in the United States!"

Not to mention George McGovern and all those Democrats running against Richard Nixon during the Vietnam War who publicly stated: "What we need now is not just a regime change in Ho Chi Min and North Vietnam, but we need a regime change in the United States!"

What? You mean none of that actually happened? Nobody said things like that? You mean, when a new President is elected we don't normally call that - and never have normally called that - a regime change - but, rather, a change of administration? But I thought ...

Never mind.