FOREIGN POLICY IS NOT A POPULARITY CONTEST



James Taranto, at OpinionJournal:

Goodwill Industries



Perhaps the most fatuous post-Sept. 11 clich� is the notion that America (or "the Bush administration") has "squandered" the "goodwill" the world felt for America in the wake of the attacks. The idea seems to be that popularity is more important than national security. Probably without meaning to, John Hassell of the Newark Star-Ledger offers a parody of this argument:



In the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks nearly two years ago, America became a mailbox, receiving letters of condolence from all corners of the globe. Even Moammar Gadhafi and Mullah Mohammed Omar of the Taliban, no friends of the United States, sent their sympathies.



Today, after U.S.-led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the launching of an ambitious enterprise to reshape the politics of the Middle East, things are very different. Polls show a deepening resentment of U.S. power worldwide, even among traditional allies. America's mailbox is again full, this time with hate mail.



Does anyone really yearn for the approval of such reprobates as Moammar Gadhafi and Mullah Omar? Anyway, we would rather be alive and hated than dead and popular. If the rest of the world likes Americans only when we're dying, the rest of the world can go to hell.

I couldn't have said it better myself.

ED KOCH DECLARES HIS SUPPORT FOR HIS PRESIDENT BUSH



In an interview with Wolf Blitzer on CNN today, the former mayor of New York said that he not only supports the President, but intends to vote for him in the next election. Additionally, he labeled Howard Dean "McGovern II."



I'm looking for the transcript now, and will post excerpts as they become available.



UPDATE: Rush transcript excerpts. All spelling and related errors are uncorrected (via CNN):

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Let's get some perspective now on New York City, how it's been affected over the course of these past two years. And for that, I am joined by the former mayor of New York City, Ed Koch. He's joining us live.



Mr. Mayor, once again, thank you very much for joining us. How has your beautiful city, a city so many of us love, no one more than you yourself, how has it changed?



ED KOCH, FORMER NEW YORK MAYOR: Well, the aftermath -- the immediate aftermath we were overwhelmed with sorrow. Now, while we are still sorrowful, we are also proud of how we responded and how we are rebuilding.



And I will tell you that when I entered the area, there was a picket group that just revolted me, not very many. But they had a sign which said, "The Bush regime engineered 9/11." It is such an outrage.



I happen to think that President Bush and his team deserve enormous credit. [My emphasis - CD] They had a monumental but short war with minimal casualties, and I think they should be commended and not attacked by the Democratic candidate, and I'm a Democrat.



I'm not suggesting anybody is unpatriotic by having a different position, but it seems to me that you have an obligation not to weaken America by denigrating the president of the country.

Amen to that. Koch continued his comments, this time about John Ashcroft, or "Great Satan" if your a leftist progressive:

BLITZER: In your opinion, Mr. Mayor, how much safer is New York City, New Yorkers today, than they were two years ago, assuming you do believe that they are, in fact, safer?



KOCH: I do believe. And on the other hand, you could have a terrorist act anywhere in the world, including again in New York or anyplace else within the next hour. Nobody can guarantee about that.



But also, there you've got the media attacking Ashcroft for wanting to have the Patriot Act, which gave him additional tools extended. Now, you can discuss individual provisions that you may think are not worthy of being extended, but the people who are smearing Ashcroft and smearing the law, they're nuts. Their lives are in danger, too, but they don't care. [Emphasis mine - CD]

Finally, Mr. Koch proclaims his voting intention for 2004:

BLITZER: But David Obie (ph), who has been in the Congress, as you well know, for 34 years, the ranking Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, someone highly-regarded, when he comes to the conclusion that Donald Rumsfeld and his deputy, Paul Wolfowitz, should resign, not because of the way they prosecuted the war, but the way they apparently failed to understand the implications of winning the war that quickly, that's a conclusion he comes down to in all sincerity.



KOCH: And my answer is this sincerity doesn't make it right. And the fact is that what Rumsfeld has done in Baghdad and elsewhere in the country has been magnificent. Yes, there are continuing casualties, because we're still at war. But the major war has been won. There is a guerrilla war going on, and it has to be faced.



So, what I believe is wrong is the -- not the argument. You can argue. It's the demeaning. When he says you should resign, now, he knows they're not going to resign. But he just seeks to reduce his status in the world, and that's just wrong.



Yu know, there are lots of countries that resent us, hate us, because we are so successful, not only our standard of living, but our willingness, as President Bush has been willing to declare the Bush doctrine. It's equal to the Monroe Doctrine. What he said was, we're going to go after the terrorists and the countries that harbor them. No other country has been willing to do that except Great Britain on the battlefield joining with us.



I think our administration -- and I'm a Democrat, but I'm voting for Bush. I think that people who are demeaning Bush, you can disagree with him...but who seek to demean him are just dead wrong.

It's amazing what a Democrat will say when he/she isn't running and trying to pacify the, well, radical elements of the party.



You can read the entire exchange here.

9/11 MEMORIAL



How should we commemorate September 11, 2001? I think Christopher Hitchens says it best (via Slate, via Rod Dreher at NRO):

What is required is a steady, unostentatious stoicism, made up out of absolute, cold hatred and contempt for the aggressors, and complete determination that their defeat will be utter and shameful. This doesn't require drum rolls or bagpipes or banners. The French had a saying during the period when the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine were lost to them: "Always think of it. Never speak of it."

'Nuff said.

ALABAMA VOTERS REJECT TAX INCREASE



A Republican governor tries to raise taxes -- and gets rejected (via the Associated Press):

MONTGOMERY, Ala. � Gov. Bob Riley's $1.2 billion tax plan was rejected overwhelmingly Tuesday night as voters agreed with those who said Alabama needs spending cuts rather than the biggest tax hike in state history.



With 82 percent of precincts reporting, 742,446, or 68 percent, opposed the plan while 345,811, or 32 percent, voted for it.

Here's the deal, all you politicos: Americans are already paying enough tax.

MAJOR MORALE PROBLEMS IN IRAQ - FOR LIBERALS



Thanks to Instapundit for posting this photo of 158 101st Airborne solidiers re-enlisting for another tour in the Army:







Friends, let's keep these folks in our prayers.