WHO WILL PROTECT US FROM TERRORISM? IT’S THAT SIMPLE

[A review of Hugh Hewitt’s book, If It’s Not Close They Can’t Cheat , originally posted on Amazon.]

The results of this year’s presidential election boil down to one simple question: does America want to win the war against terrorism? The choice between the two political parties will determine the answer. All other issues are beside the point if we cannot defend ourselves. If America votes Republican, it chooses to keep up the fight and America will win. Should it vote Democrat, America will suffer unspeakable loss of life and liberty because the Democrats won’t take the fight to our terrorist enemies.

Given the high stakes involved, everyone who cares about the country’s defense should get this book. This reviewer ex-Democrat turned Republican reviewer strongly recommends it. Consider this book the serious voter’s guide to the 2004 elections.

As Hewitt makes clear, President Bush is the leader of a Republican Party committed to fighting this war. President Bush will continue to take it to our terrorist enemies. In contrast, Sen. John Kerry and his Democratic cohorts have hopelessly descended into the “blame America first” ideology and will not do what it takes to defend our nation. Hewitt’s chapter about Kerry highlights an abysmal political track record on national security issues. Kerry frequently opposed the strategic moves by President Ronald Reagan that helped to end the Cold War. Kerry opposed the first Persian Gulf War. Kerry supported appeasement of North Korea-now a nuclear threat. Kerry continues to completely oppose missile defense. And yes, there’s more…

Sadly, Kerry is playing to a Democratic elite that is becoming increasingly unhinged from reality. Hewitt frequently points out that the Democrats do not suffer from a lack of patriotism, but they simply won’t acknowledge the threats we now face. One chapter highlights the decline of moral clarity among party extremists and the rise of pacifism-which party leaders like Kerry frequently downplay or cover up by invoking the names of Harry S. Truman and John F. Kennedy. This is a smokescreen, for the latter two leaders are of a party from another time-a time long since passed. (Today’s Democratic activists nearly nominated Howard Dean to be President.)

However, Hewitt’s book is more about BUILDING UP than tearing down. One chapter lays out President Bush’s strategy for the war against terrorism and describes the President’s moral clarity on this matter: “From the beginning then, President Bush cast the war not as one between interests and nations, but as a conflict between good and evil.” A democratic republic committed to liberty, the rule of law and free markets requires a government that will protect and defend its people. The President’s conviction on this matter could not be any more clear, as Hewitt appends the text of five key speeches by President Bush that detail his vision and resolve in carrying out the war.

Hewitt provides insight on how anyone can help the President win re-election. A key insight: parties and majorities matter. A delegate to my county convention for President Clinton in 1996, I later became disillusioned by the Democrats but inhabited an independent netherworld because the Republicans didn’t do things the way I wanted them to. Yet, if you don’t work from within a party to change it for the better, that party won’t likely ever change. Hewitt points out the selfishness of the my-way-or-the-highway approach held by many one-issue activists. He also stresses the importance of giving money to campaigns-and giving more. Good insight is also given about how to avoid political pitfalls on contentious domestic issues.

Also significant about this book is Hewitt’s emphasis upon the blogosphere and its increasing importance to public debate on media, political, economic and legal issues. Many readers are familiar with the blogosphere, but many readers of the book will receive a much-needed introduction to this highly significant and growing medium of communication.