A long time ago, long before he self-radicalized and became a parody of himself, Peter Beinart was the young liberal who wanted to save liberalism. Beinart was still in his twenties when he took the helm of the flagship journal of progressivism, The New Republic, and began speaking and writing about recreating the positive, muscular, America-loving liberalism of the post-war era. In 2004, Beinart penned a long essay for his magazine titled “A Fighting Faith,” in which he articulated the ideas that would become the foundation of the book, The Good Fight: Why Liberals—and Only Liberals—Can Win the War on Terror and Make America Great Again.
Although most of Beinart’s case—in the article and the book—was based on what he saw as the inherent righteousness of American liberalism, the underlying premise was that “conservative” leaders simply couldn’t win the war. Part of this was a flaw in conservatism itself, its practices and tactics, but another part of it was the belief that the conservative administration of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney had squandered the world’s good faith and no longer possessed the moral authority necessary to shepherd the West to victory over the forces of radical Islam.
Although Beinart didn’t intend it as such, his case for liberal leadership in the War on Terror became a corollary to Charles Krauthammer’s theory of “Bush Derangement Syndrome.” The late, great Krauthammer described BDS as “the acute onset of paranoia in otherwise normal people in reaction to the policies, the presidency—nay—the very existence of George W. Bush,” and used it to explain how otherwise moderate or sane people (usually Democrats) came to detest everything George W. Bush said or did, even if they knew, in their heart of hearts, that he was right. Because BDS was especially prevalent in connection with the War on Terror, Beinart’s theory that only a “liberal” could win that war became something of a truism. The left and the media (I know, I know…) would never allow Bush—or any conservative—to win the war because of their irrational hatred of him (them). As a result, if the war were ever to be won, a liberal would have to do it.
In short, then, the unified Beinart-Krauthammer theory held—accurately and with little credible opposition—that leftist irrationality and hatred of George Bush made the War on Terror essentially unwinnable. The left’s hatred was more powerful than any instinct it might have to do the right thing.
It’s worth keeping all of this in mind today, as the Democratic Party slowly but surely abandons its support for the state of Israel.
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Author: Ruth King
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