Arianna Huffington: "Mother of All Wedge Issues"

<clip>

"Look at our panel tonight," said Scarborough. "We have got four people on the panel tonight. Two supposed conservatives, two supposed liberals. That's how most Americans would define the makeup. And yet all four of you oppose the war."

It was yet another demonstration that the old left-right divisions are becoming increasingly obsolete when it comes to the war and national security, and that what is perceived as Bush's greatest strength is his greatest vulnerability.

As Tucker Carlson put it: "I think the war is the issue the Democrats have traction on." He also called criticism of Bush's mishandling of Iraq "the winning argument for Democrats."

This burgeoning political realignment is Karl Rove's worst nightmare. He knows nation-building and lofty talk about seeking "the end of tyranny in our world" goes against the conservative DNA. And if the Democrats wake up to this fact, it could become the Mother of All Wedge Issues -- just in time for 2006.

More at the link:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/you-want-to-discuss-impea_b_15371.html

Then this week Rove's employer rolled out a defense strategy and a federal budget that hearkens back to approximately 1985. But definitely pre-9/11. Why? Because the Bush Administration -- with its profoundly wrong world view -- refuses to lay out a strong and effective defense strategy for post-9/11 threats. One primary lesson from both Iraq and Afghanistan is that the way to keep our military strong is to share the responsibilities for national security across the government -- made obvious by the gaps in our post-war reconstruction efforts. Defense is just one part of a national security strategy, but the vast majority of security dollars go to the defense budget (over half a trillion dollars for 2007).

Re-balancing spending across the government is the work of decades, but today we're draining the coffers of defense to purchase billions of dollars worth of weapons designed to thwart the Soviet Union. This must stop. These "pre-9/11" priorities are being foisted on us when our National Guard troops need basic items like trucks, ammo and language training.

Ever since Katrina, our commander-in-chief has lost credibility on the issue that he ran on: national security. Many Americans have a nagging, uncomfortable feeling that these guys really don't know what they are talking about. Its time for liberals to hit back hard. This will require renewed interest, updated language and a national security lead on every issue that comes up in public conversation. We must not let Rove be right. First step: let go of the guns-versus-butter debate pronto. What we need now is a guns-versus-guns debate.

Link:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lorelei-kelly/national-security-roves_b_15381.html