Harsh but True

Fred Hiatt of The Washington Post eviscerates the Democrats' so-called national security plan:

Throughout the plan, in fact, there is no discussion of values, of liberty or generosity, of free markets or foreign aid -- of any purpose for American leadership larger than self-protection. The pollsters may be satisfied, but John F. Kennedy would not recognize his party.

As Hiatt notes, the document is irretrievably inward looking; there's no vision of how, ultimately, the United States can combat the scourge of Islamic terrorism. It's the documentary equivalent of assuming a fetal crouch, and hoping for the best.

No doubt the paucity of vision and specifics spring from a goal of maximizing agreement among Democrats -- the kind of simple suggestions and criticisms that the plan lays out are lowest common denominator, indeed. That, in turn, springs from the fact that the paper is designed to conceal as much as it reveals about Democrats' real views -- it's main function is to allow Democrats to claim, in their best Kerry-esque fashion that "we have a plan."

That, in turn, demonstrates that it's not really intended for the plan to solve anything. It's merely to meet the Dems' overwhelmingly primary objective: To regain political power.