An Ugly American

In many ways, John Kerry is a caricature of a spoiled, silver-spoon rich kid. The senator lost his run for the Presidency and as a consequence, has decided to trash the country he professes to love so dearly. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland this week, Kerry sounded the alarm. The Boston Herald quotes from his speech (on the stage at the same time with ex-Iranian President, Mohammad Khatami, but what the heck, we do, after all, have to make nice with Islamofascist regimes worldwide):

“When we walk away from global warming, Kyoto, when we are irresponsibly slow in moving toward AIDS in Africa, when we don’t advance and live up to our own rhetoric and standards, we set a terrible message of duplicity and hypocrisy . . . I’ve never seen our country as isolated, as much as a sort of international pariah for a number of reasons as it is today.”

Talk about duplicity and hypocracy! It appears that people who share Kerry’s worldview revel is distortion and half truths.

Victor Davis Hanson comments:

Kerry was clearly directing his criticism at the Bush administration, but the Kyoto Protocol, the international climate treaty, was first rejected by the U.S. in 1997. Ten years ago, President Clinton wisely chose not to refer the treaty to the Senate. Even that was not enough for outraged senators, who went ahead anyway to vote 95-0 to oppose any international agreement on climate control like Kyoto in which China, India and other developing countries would remain exempt. Kerry himself cast one of these votes -- an ironic example of what Kerry now calls "duplicity and hypocrisy."

I’m certain this is just another example (in this case inverted) of Kerry being against something before he was for it. He’s getting smarter all the time.

Again from VDH:

Nor was the United States "irresponsibly slow" in regard to African AIDS relief. In fact, the Bush administration has devoted $4 billion annually to combat AIDS in Africa. That's triple what the Clinton administration budgeted. That generosity deserves praise, not scorn.

By the way, during his entire tenure as a US Senator, The Boston Herald reports:

The total number of bills filed by Sen. Kerry to spend more in Africa? Zero.

And in an ironic gesture that only John Kerry could pull off, he accused his own country of being a “pariah” while uttering not a word about Mohammad Khatami’s Iran (remember, Khatami was right there on stage with our intrepid senator) – that's the same Iran that is developing Nuclear weapons, has UN sanctions imposed, and openly advocates the destruction of Israel. But heck, we’re the ones who are “isolated” and John Kerry is darn concerned about it.

All of this is classic John Kerry, and it wouldn’t be worth mentioning at all except that Kerry represents the view of many in the Democratic party and almost everyone on the Left. After all, if a US senator says it, it must be true. Worse, Kerry appears to revel in his effort to criticize the USA, not only on the floor of the senate, but in every international forum he can attend.

I find it amusing that people in Massachusetts (possibly with some justifcation) often ask, "How could people in the red states vote for Bush?" I have a question for them: How can you vote (repeatedly) for John Kerry?

Is it worth asking why he does this? VDH offers an explanation:

… it is intellectual laziness. It is always easier to cite America's flaws to applause than to take the time to explain the nature of its rare morality to catcalls. In truth, the United States has never been richer or more generous. Its military is preeminent, protects vulnerable allies and fights extremism worldwide. Immigrants risk their lives to reach our shores.

But we are in a deep spiritual crisis when a recent candidate for our presidency either cannot, or will not, patiently explain that to the world. Instead, Sen. Kerry, the new ugly American abroad, glibly misleads a global audience that his own America is a "pariah" -- a verdict that is as embarrassing to us as it is stupid for him.

It's more than stupid, it's revolting.