The entrepreneurial Democrat
In case you missed it, Ned Lamont has an op-ed in today's Wall Street Journal -- and it's our must-read of the day. In it, he presents "the four lessons of [his] business life" and stresses that he wants to bring a renewed entrepreneurial spirit to Washington.
According to Lamont (and, needless to say, to all of us who inhabit reality), America is "bogged down in Iraq, and hamstrung in the war against terror, by leaders who lacked judgment, historical perspective, openness to other cultures and plain old common sense". He claims -- I think justifiably -- to "offer something different".
And just in case you buy the Republican spin, and the similar Lieberman spin, that he's some sort of dove whose victory would give comfort and encouragement to America's enemies, consider this: "We start with the strongest, best-trained military in the world, and we'll keep it that way. But here's how we'll get stronger by changing course. We must work closely with our allies and treat the rest of the world with respect. We must implement the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission and put in place real protections for ports, airports, nuclear facilities and public transit."
Lamont brings a wealth of business success, as well as the perspective of a determined outsider, to his run for the Senate. I've been critical of him in the past, and I still think he needs to continue to define himself as something more than a hollow spokesman for the anti-war left, but he's absolutely right that America needs to change course. And he may well prove to be the right man in the right place at the right time.
Bush and the Republicans have had their chance. Too much of a chance. In desperation, with the prospect of defeat ahead, they will continue to claim, louder than ever, that Democrats are weak on national security and the war on terror. But being against the war in Iraq is not the same as being for terrorism. Indeed, it is Bush's irresponsible quagmire of a war in Iraq that has severely weakened America, that has distracted attention away from the terrorists behind 9/11 and those like them, away from security on the homefront.
Leadership for change will come from Democrats. It will come from Democrats like Ned Lamont.
According to Lamont (and, needless to say, to all of us who inhabit reality), America is "bogged down in Iraq, and hamstrung in the war against terror, by leaders who lacked judgment, historical perspective, openness to other cultures and plain old common sense". He claims -- I think justifiably -- to "offer something different".
And just in case you buy the Republican spin, and the similar Lieberman spin, that he's some sort of dove whose victory would give comfort and encouragement to America's enemies, consider this: "We start with the strongest, best-trained military in the world, and we'll keep it that way. But here's how we'll get stronger by changing course. We must work closely with our allies and treat the rest of the world with respect. We must implement the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission and put in place real protections for ports, airports, nuclear facilities and public transit."
Lamont brings a wealth of business success, as well as the perspective of a determined outsider, to his run for the Senate. I've been critical of him in the past, and I still think he needs to continue to define himself as something more than a hollow spokesman for the anti-war left, but he's absolutely right that America needs to change course. And he may well prove to be the right man in the right place at the right time.
Bush and the Republicans have had their chance. Too much of a chance. In desperation, with the prospect of defeat ahead, they will continue to claim, louder than ever, that Democrats are weak on national security and the war on terror. But being against the war in Iraq is not the same as being for terrorism. Indeed, it is Bush's irresponsible quagmire of a war in Iraq that has severely weakened America, that has distracted attention away from the terrorists behind 9/11 and those like them, away from security on the homefront.
Leadership for change will come from Democrats. It will come from Democrats like Ned Lamont.
posted by Michael J.W. Stickings at
9:06 PM
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