He's no Jonathan Chait...

Jonathan Chait, for some, is the embodiment of Bush Hatred (alternatively known as Bush Derangement Syndrome). He certainly set the benchmark with his September '03 column entitled Mad About You: The Case for Bush Hatred.

Lacking in notoriety--if not in fervor--I give you David Corn, Bush-Book author, writer for the Nation and blogger. I personally don't "get" Corn but many a progressive love his work on the President.

On Friday last, David gave us a beautiful example of an apples-to-oranges comparison to effect an attack on someone you don't like. He appears to believe that there's a valid comparison in contrasting the President's position on a domestic political issue driven most essentially by personal conviction and his handling of what is most assuredly the single most complex foreign policy issue of the last half-century.

I frankly think it's the most simple bit of Bush-hating you can do:

Yes, this is a moment of clarity. The president will veto a law to protect frozen blastocysts stored in fertility clinic freezers--to preserve the sacredness of life. He won't do anything to stop missiles raining down on men, women and children caught in a war zone. In other words, he's pro-life--except when he's not.

David and his commenters are rightly labeled as "anti-violence". It's the killing and the dying they hate (and rightfully so; only a psychopath wants to see people dead). The problem is simply that it isn't this simple.

In arguing the "anti-violence" case, you must however presume that the opponent (in this case Hizbollah) has a similar or even greater desire to keep from killing to reach it's goal. Such cannot be said of Hizbollah or it's patron states.

So while it's wonderful to envision a world where people in Lebanon need not die at the hand of Israel's military, it's near impossible to conceive of a world where Israelis will not die at the hands of terrorists. Hizbollah needs to be disappeared and that comes with a price, sadly paid in lives.

The cost however of kicking it down the road is even greater. No one wants this fight in 5, 10...20 years' time when it involves a nuclear Iran pulling the puppet strings. How many innocent deaths would there be for David and his readers to bemoan in that scenario?