They can’t be serious

Charles Krauthammer does a great job explaining the tortured history that leaves John Kerry with “nowhere left to flop” when it comes to the issue of Iraq. Krauthammer concludes, “Kerry on the war has become an object not only of derision but of irreconcilable suspicion. What kind of man, aspiring to the presidency, does not know his own mind about the most serious issue of our time?”
A pretty good answer, unfortunately, is “a Democrat.” Certainly, the previous two Democratic candidates for president — Gore and Clinton — have also been all over the map on the same kinds of issues. Recall Clinton’s famous statement, in 1991, that he would have voted for the resolution to go to war with Iraq if the vote was going to be close, but thought that the opposition had the better arguments.
In this piece I wrote for FrontPageMagazine two years ago, I tried to explain why the Democrats continue to be so cyncially unserious about crucial issues of war and peace. My explanation had to do with the post-modern intellectual climate and the nature of certain Democratic core constituencies. All I can add is, read the whole thing.