Summertime Drama in Washington, D.C.

July 18, 2003

A real summertime drama is shaping up in Washington, D.C. and Democrats are almost as giddy as they were when FDR was running the town.

As you know, the media and the Democrats have been pounding the president on his State of the Union address, in which he set out a case for war in Iraq. Some say he lied about weapons of mass destruction and also about his claims that Hussein purchased Uranium to build a nuclear bomb.

To be sure, the Democrats running for president, who had been unable to capture our attention to save their lives, have been questioning Bush's truthfulness, suggesting there is a pattern of deception in his administration and calling for resignations and investigations of every kind.

The media people, who miss the Clinton scandals, have been feeding this summertime drama. These poor folks haven't had a story to pound into the ground since Gary Condit was run out of town (Condit's story would still be airing if the Washington snipers didn't come to our rescue).

So the Democrats, pundits and media celebs are whipping up a story of lies, deceit and war. There are no women involved, unfortunately, but the economy is still tanking, the deficit is huge and things aren't going well in Iraq!

And they are demanding answers. What did Bush know about the Uranium intelligence and when did he know it? Did he lie to get us into war? What else has he lied to us about? And should he be impeached?

As is the case with any good drama, the emotional is much more compelling than the factual. And since our Washington players don't have the facts to back their claims, they are immersing themselves in an emotional frenzy. And missing the real story altogether.

Some weeks ago I wrote that of course the president wasn't completely straightforward when making the case for war in Iraq. Of course he sought worst-case scenarios to paint Hussein as a massive threat to world peace. And of course he didn't tell us everything he was really up to in the Middle East - a sin of omission.

This is what all presidents do to rouse the passions of the American people in order to convince us to take the ultimate step - taking lives and risking the lives of our young soldiers.

But did the president blatantly lie to us to get us into war? Did he purposely use false information to get us into war? Now those are silly questions.

Let's assume for a minute that the president knew there were no weapons of mass destruction and knew Hussein did not purchase Uranium. Wouldn't the president's lies be quickly exposed once we won the war?

It's true that no major weapon stashes have YET been revealed, but do you really doubt they were there? Hussein murdered 300,000 of his own people. He waged war on his neighbors. As is the case with every dictator, force and power were the tools of his trade. Do you really believe a thug like Hussein had no interest in bombs and gasses of every kind?

The real story here - the story our scandalmongers are missing - is WHY we went to war in the first place. Many folks in the media are too scandal hungry to look at the broad picture, but the Democrats running for president know what the truth really is.

They know that America is in danger and that it is just a matter of time before the fanatics who hate us get hold of a nuclear bomb and blow up New York or Washington, D.C. They know that we had to take Hussein out to establish democracy in the Middle East and send a message to the other thugs in the region that we're serious about ending terrorism.

They know we had to get a chokehold on Syria, a key sponsor of terrorism, by cutting off billions in illegal Iraqi oil dough. They know Bush is spearheading a bold strategy to change the world and destroy the conditions that breed young men who want to blow us up.

They know the real story isn't about Bush's State of the Union address and what he may or may not have known. It's about his bold strategy and whether or not it is the right strategy. But nobody wants to talk about that.

The real story never makes for good summertime drama in Washington, D.C..

Tom Purcell