Published: March 17, 2008 08:21 pm         

STUMPTALK: Why the worst get to the top

In The Road to Serfdom, Nobel laureate Friedrich Hayek explains why the dynamics of a democracy propels the very worst to the top. The 2008 presidential race makes his case. I can’t imagine a more unqualified bunch seeking the highest post in the world.

Sensing that her single issue of universal healthcare would not carry the day against her content-free but smooth-talking fellow democrat Barak Obama or republican opponent John McCain, on Feb. 29 Hillary “Co-decider-In-Chief” decided to put her “national security experience” out front. This really takes chutzpah since even a short history of Bill Clinton’s shameful national security record is something that no self-respecting candidate would want to identify with. If I were Hillary, I would keep my mouth shut about national security.

•Feb. 26, 1993, a 1,200-pound bomb exploded in the parking garage beneath the World Trade Center, killing six and injuring more than 1,000 people, and causing half a billion dollars in damage. President Clinton only briefly interrupted his next morning radio speech on economic policy to casually mention the attack, carefully avoiding the word “bomb.” Despite the mounting evidence, Clinton still wasn’t willing to say that terrorists had bombed New York's tallest towers because that would require presidential action. He treated it like a natural disaster. Like a twister in Arkansas. After plotter Ramzi Yousef was caught and tried in criminal court, the case was closed.

•Sept. 25, 1993, a Black Hawk helicopter was shot down in Mogadishu, Somalia. American airmen were murdered and dragged through the streets. Popularized by the bestselling book, Black Hawk Down, it was the worst American military defeat since the Vietnam War. This was a warning shot that went unheeded at the highest levels of the Clinton Administration – addicted to cautious half-measures followed by rapid retreats.

•On June 25, 1996, two Muslims exploded a fuel truck near the Khobar Towers, a marine barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, killing 19 American soldiers, wounding 350. Defense Secretary William Perry took full responsibility but did not resign. Case closed.

•In 1996, the government of Sudan offered to hand Osama bin Laden over to the U.S. to be prosecuted, which probably would have prevented Sept. 11. Clinton rejected the offer declaring, “We don’t have enough evidence,” though bin Laden was on the FBI’s “Most Wanted” list.

•Sept. 13, 1996, presidential aid Lt. Col. “Buzz” Paterson took an urgent phone call from national security advisor Sandy Berger, “We’re poised to launch air strikes on Iraq and I need the president’s nod.” But even after more urgent calls, the president refused to answer because he was busy watching a golf tournament. The mission had to be aborted.

•Aug. 7, 1998, two trucks loaded with explosives simultaneously wrecked the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, killing 24 and wounding over 4,000. In retaliation, Clinton ordered cruise missile strikes on bin Laden’s training camps in Afghanistan and the El Shifa factory in Khartoum, Sudan, ostensibly making VX nerve agents. The strikes missed bin Laden and the El Shifa pharmaceutical plant, as it turned out, was the largest producer of malaria tablets in Africa. Sure enough, a severe malaria epidemic broke out months after the attack.

•Oct. 12, 2000, two smiling Muslins sailed a small boat laden with explosives alongside the USS Cole docked in Aden harbor, Yemen. The explosion blew a 40-foot hole in its hull, killing 17 sailors. The Navy report that followed said, “No senior officers were to blame.” Case closed.

On the republican side you have John McCain, who is having difficulty proving he is conservative enough and not more liberal than democrats, save Dennis Kucinich. His ignorance of economics and Constitution101 is disqualifying enough, but a look at his friends is revealing of the “Real McCain.”

•On campaign finance reform, he went across the aisle to his democratic friend Russ Feingold and authored the McCain-Feingold Bill that makes sure that no third-party candidate ever has a chance.

•On immigration and border security, he partnered with his democratic friend Ted Kennedy to ensure that the borders remain open and illegal immigrants continue to get a free pass.

•On taxation, he voted against any tax cuts and joined his democratic friend Tom Daschle to increase taxes, not lower them.

•On global warming, he teamed with former democratic Vice President Al Gore and passed the “Cap and Trade” bill to gouge American tax payers and punish American industry, driving more jobs off shore.

American voters swooned over promises of hope and change, but after the electoral dust settled, they opted for more of the same: more warfare-welfare, higher taxes and spending, no reform of Social Security, Medicare or immigration, no border security but more assaults on civil rights.

Stumptalk is published weekly in the Crossville Chronicle. The opinions expressed in this column are not necessarily those of the Chronicle publisher, editor or staff. Phil Billington serves as coordinator of this column. He may be reached at 484-2766.