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By John Batchelor Posted in User Blogs — Comments (0) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

Democrat Ruse de Guerre, 1778 and 2005

The Republican Party is in winter camp.  Once, in 1778, the winter camp was Valley Forge, where ten thousand underfed, beggarly, poorly shod patriots camped in snowstorms and bad news.  General Washington dreamed of the offensive, but he was advised to stay in fortified positions, wait, wait, suffer the baiting and back-biting by Congress and newspapermen, wait.

Meanwhile the redcoats, under smug, wine-tongued General Howe, made demonstration against Brandywine to draw out the Continentals, daring Washington to fight like a gentlemen.

Now, on a dry, cool day in November, certain popular Democrats, in the redcoat role as bull-baiters, sneakily closed the Senate to the media, the citizenry, their own Democrat collagues not popular enough to get the class note, in order to bleat about intelligence matters, fate of the nation, high crimes.  Sounding the false messenger, like Howe the imperious, was Durbin of Illinois:  "We're serving notice on them at this moment: be prepared for this motion every day until you face the reality. The Senate Intelligence Committee has a responsibility."

It was a redcoat ruse de guerre in 1778 along the icy Delaware; it is a Dem ruse now along the murky Potomac.

George Washington did not take the bait all that winter, did not permit loopy schemes of Lafayette- led dashes on Canada or Pennsylvania militia led raids into Philadelphia.  He wrote letters countering jealous schemes by Congress at York, suffered the cold and hunger with his troops, fended off the gloom of the storms, measured his next march, on his terms, on his timetable.

Same model offered to the GOP under Frist and Bush.  Do not break winter camp for battle.  Do not foray out to make temporary mischief at the camera, the mike.  Maintain the strong defensive lines around the Alito nomination, the Iraqi vote in December, at the redoubts of H5N1, jihad, Fitzmas.