Best of the Web Monday (I’ll link it when they put the archive link up later, meantime just go to the link at right):
[…] Ironically, it is precisely Vietnam–Kerry’s “patriotic armor”–that rendered the Democrats unreliable on national security (or, as Dems and only Dems put it, that raised “questions” about their “patriotism”). It was Democrats who started the war in Vietnam, and Democrats who later opposed the war and cut off aid to Saigon. If his party hadn’t made such a hash of Vietnam, Kerry wouldn’t need “patriotic armor” any more than FDR or Truman did.
There’s a weird psychological phenomenon at work when Democratic crowds cheer wildly every time Kerry mentions Vietnam. It’s as if they believe nominating a Vietnam vet will finally allow the party to overcome the destructive legacy of Vietnam. But Kerry’s approach to national security has been weak and vacillating (see today’s Wall Street Journal editorial for examples).
Kerry’s service in Vietnam was honorable, even heroic. But his service as a political leader has embodied the destructive legacy that war left for the country, and especially for the Democratic Party.
Indeed.