by arthur Weinreb, associate Editor,
October 15, 2004
In an 8000+ word essay that appeared in last Sunday's New York Times Magazine, writer Matt Bai quoted John Kerry comparing terrorism with "nuisances" such as prostitution and gambling. Kerry later tried to explain that he did not equate terrorism with a nuisance and that he has been taken out of context.
Kerry is quoted by Bai as having said:
"We have to get back to the place we were, where terrorists are not the focus of our lives, but they're a nuisance. as a former law-enforcement person, I know we're never going to end prostitution. We're never going to end illegal gambling. But we're going to reduce it, organized crime, to a level where it isn't on the rise. It isn't threatening people's lives every day, and fundamentally, it's something that you can continue to fight, but it's not threatening the fabric of your life."
In fairness to the Massachusetts Senator, he was saying almost the same thing that George W. Bush has said--that it will be extremely difficult to eradicate terrorism completely. But Kerry even thinking that terrorism is remotely like prostitution or gambling; offences that can properly described as nuisances, shows that he is not the guy to depend upon for protection from terrorist attacks.
The elitist Kerry wants to go back to a time when terrorists were just being a nuisance when they weren't bringing down U.S. buildings and they were just being nuisances by blowing up Jewish babies in Israel and Christian babies in Pakistan. In a self-absorbed manner that is so common with leftist baby boomers, Kerry is only concerned about large terrorist attacks in the United States where he can no doubt see himself as a victim. Killing people in other countries is not important to the committed internationalist whose biggest criticism of the president is that he went to war without France.
By mentioning terrorism in the same breath as crime, Kerry sees the world in September 10th terms. He shows the same thinking that Bill Clinton had when terrorist acts were considered as plain, ordinary crimes. Even the events of 9/11 do not appear to have changed Clinton's mind on the nature of terrorist attacks. In his recently published autobiography, My Life, Clinton engages in a rather lengthy discussion of the problems that he faced when he first assumed office. The ex-president devoted only one small paragraph to the 1993 attack upon the World Trade Center by saying that the perpetrators left obvious clues and were quickly apprehended by law enforcement. John Kerry has the same mindset as Clinton--and that of his former Clintonista Richard Holbrooke who, holds the belief that the war on terrorism is not a real war but just a cutsey little title like the war on poverty.
Comparing the killing of innocent civilians to adults exchanging money for sex or putting a few bucks down on a football game is an insult to all those who died horrible and tragic deaths on September 11, 2001 and their surviving families. It is also insulting to the prostitutes and the gamblers who Kerry views as not being too different from the Islamic fascists who fly airplanes into buildings.
One thing that prostitution and gambling have in common is that governments often don't know what to do about them. Governments often equivocate on prostitution by interspersing raids on bawdy houses with suggestions to legalize the activity. Governments often wring their collective hands about the tragic consequences that befall people that are hooked on gambling while bragging about all the wonderful things that can be funded from the proceeds of state-funded gambling. Kerry, who loves to take both sides of each and every issue, will inevitably equivocate on how best to deal with the terrorist threat. To defeat, or even put a significant dent in terrorist activities, requires it to be fought with a clear focus and John Kerry has shown that he lacks that resolve.
John Kerry has clearly demonstrated that he does not consider terrorism a particularly important problem. If he did, he would never have compared it, no matter how loosely, to prostitution and gambling.
Kerry continues to talk the talk while the prostitutes continue to walk the walk. and unfortunately, so do the terrorists.