The fallout continues

The incredible statements that John Kerry made in the New York Times Magazine interview will haunt him from now until election day. Powerline blogged a conference call with Rudy Guiliani today in which Guiliani discussed Kerry's interview. Guiliani picked up on the same issue that I did, and while reading it, I thought of something that Kerry said in 1971 - "How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?"

Kerry thinks that terrorism is a "nuisance" which we should tolerate, like prostitution, gambling or organized crime. That means that we should accept a certain amount of loss of life in return for suppressing terrorism to "acceptable" levels.

I now have a question for John Kerry - How do you ask a man to be the next man to die in a terrorist attack?

Powerline also attacks Kerry's choice of analogies, arguing that the crimes that he choose, prostitution, gambling and organized crime, are not at all like terrorism.

One point that I don't think has been emphasized sufficiently, however, is what a terrible analogy prostitution and gambling are to terrorism. The reason why those crimes are notoriously hard to eliminate is that they are victimless. They are consensual acts in which a great many people voluntarily engage. How can Kerry possibly see an analogy to terrorism? Does anyone consent to be murdered by terrorists? Is the relationship between terrorist and victim remotely comparable to that between a gambler and his bookie? Kerry's analogy is insensitive to a degree that is almost unfathomable.

I remind you of what I said earlier today.

When you live in multi-million dollar mansions, windsurf at Martha's Vineyard, ski at Aspen and travel the globe whenever you feel like it, the loss of life that others suffer from terrorism is a distant, philosophical problem. The 3000 we lost on 9/11 are just the price you pay for living in this world, not a searing, burning, heart-rending reality. If you, like I, felt the loss of that day deep in your gut, hurt for days after and still have tears well up in your eyes when you think about that day, then John Kerry is not your candidate for President. He doesn't understand that kind of emotion. Terrorism is just another law enforcement problem, to be solved by the proper application of the laws and the pursuit of terrorists after they have taken more lives.

Knowing that, what do you think of an old media that understands John Kerry's thinking, agrees with him and uses their power in a blatant, biased attempt to help him win the election?

The name of my blog tells you what I think.

UPDATE: More at Instapundit, Hugh Hewitt, and Tom Maguire.