Joe Conason is a terrific writer: he never shows fear, he's always well-informed, and his words are a joy to read.
But even the best screw up from time to time, and apparently today is Joe Conason's turn, as he takes John Edwards to task for encouraging anti-war demonstrations on Memorial Day.
Conason is worried that Edwards might offend "the sensibilities of everyone who believes the holiday should be solemnly commemorative rather than politically noisy." He says:
Whether Democrats and progressives can win back the respect -- and the votes -- of soldiers, veterans and their families is a critical question for the future of American politics. It will never happen if they believe that the left devalues or ignores their sacrifice.
Conason is wrong.
Take John Kerry, for example. In 2004, he spent Memorial Day honoring his fellow Vietnam veterans. As far as I can tell, he didn't utter a single critical word about Iraq. In fact, later during the campaign he said that he didn't regret his vote for the war. And we all know what happened to him.
There's no doubt that if Kerry had protested the Iraq War on Memorial Day, he would have outraged the American right. In fact, they probably would have created an organization devoted to distorting his military record. They might have even made up a story about him attacking a fellow veteran.
Wait a second. They still did those things And you know what? Kerry didn't fight back quickly enough. Perhaps if he had been in fighting posture all along -- maybe even starting with protests on Memorial Day -- he could have won.
We'll never know for sure.
But one thing we do know: Democratic presidential candidates like Dukakis and Kerry followed the appeasement strategy recommended by Conason. They both lost.
Let's try something different this time, eh?
© Jed Lewison