General Petraeus Confronts MoveOn.Org And the Democrats

As he was subjected to the most obnoxious Congressional hearings since Joe McCarthy was in the midst of his reign of terror, General David Petraeus might have been forgiven for wishing himself back in Iraq, where the enemy is honest. But Petraeus knew his duty. He was to take the slings and arrows of politicians who were not fit to be in the same room as him, for the sake of victory. If he much rather find himself leading a frontal assault on a fortified position, then that too went with the four stars.

It all started with the horrible ad taken out in the New York Times by that gang of creeps MoveOn.Org, which had originally been formed to defend Bill Clinton, but is now just being offensive. "General Petraeus or General Betray Us?" read the ad. This is what passes for political whit on the Left. It's also cheap political whit, as apparently the Times gave MoveOn.Org a sweetheart deal for the ad. That's roiling other advertisers, but that is a problem for the New York Times.

The libelous ad (treason is a crime in the United States that can be punished with death) was just the beginning. During the hearings, on the tenth of September before the House, on the eleventh of September (the anniversary of the Second Day of Infamy) before the Senate, General Petraeus had to listen to politician after politician, all clearly too much in love with the sound of their own voices, call him a liar. Now this was not a serious charge, since lying to Congress is also a crime and no one has proposed putting General Petraeus up on charges.

Why did all of these politicians, all of them Liberal Democrats, smear General Petraeus? They were shooting the messenger. But unlike the usual motive for shooting a messenger, they were shooting at General Petraeus for bringing good news from the Iraq theater. And that is apparently bad news for the Liberal Democrat Copperhead Caucus. The Democrats had hoped to force surrender in Iraq as a means to damaging President Bush and the Republicans. Being told of victory on the ground has detracted from that strategy. The Democrats are understandably upset.