This is what makes her column on Friday quite shocking, for it not only deviates from the party line that she rarely strays from, but is also written without her normal inflammatory hyperbole for anything right of center. And, even more surprising, Clift actually had negative things to say about her left-leaning brethren.
Clift’s rare moment of sanity was evident right in the first paragraph:
“The death of the top-ranking operative of Al Qaeda in Iraq is a welcome moment of clarity in a war desperately in search of a rationale. Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi personified the face of evil and was controversial even among jihadists for staging large-scale attacks on civilians. The news out of Iraq has been gloomy for so long that Zarqawi’s demise, along with the agreement on the remaining cabinet ministers to fill out the new government, may buy some time with the American public, and give President Bush the breathing space to figure out what to do next when he meets with his advisers at Camp David next week.”
She continued with the importance of Zarqawi's death: “The Jordanian-born Zarqawi led the foreign jihadists in Iraq and incited the sectarian violence against the Shia-majority population. His death is a major symbolic blow for the insurgency and a big win in the propaganda war for the West." And later in her piece, put an exclamation point on this issue: "The death of Zarqawi is a reminder of how fast things can change in a war Americans still want to win. GOP pundit Monica Crowley told talk-show host Don Imus, ‘This news is better than sex.’”
Compared with how most of the drive-by media downplayed Zarqawi’s death as has been well-chronicled by NewsBusters in the past three days, Clift was shockingly impartial and accurate in her assessment. Yet, her moment of clarity didn’t end there. Hold on tightly to your seat, for her next statements were quite shocking as Clift actually recognized the importance of Brian Bilbray’s win in San Diego on Tuesday:
"The GOP was also heartened by former Republican congressman Brian Bilbray’s win in a special election to succeed Randy (Duke) Cunningham, who’s in prison for taking $2.4 million in kickbacks from defense-industry lobbyists. Democrats had hoped to take the seat in a show of momentum that could carry them to power in November. Bilbray squeaked through with a 49 percent plurality.”
Still holding on to that seat? Good, because Clift then recognized Democrat corruption:
“The culture-of-corruption message that Democrats cultivated for months may not yield partisan advantage. There’s too much bad behavior to go around. The Republican excesses with lobbyist Jack Abramoff and the K Street Project are more systemic, but the images associated with Democrats are flashier—money stashed in Rep. William Jefferson’s freezer along with a video of the offending congressman accepting a bribe, a picture of Democratic Senate leader Harry Reid at a boxing match after accepting free ringside seats from a state agency trying to influence him.”
Amazing stuff. But Clift wasn’t done:
“A new Democracy Corps poll says Democrats are ‘under performing,’ and if they fail to show voters something more, they could fall victim to a ‘stay-away protest vote.’ Positive views of the party have actually declined over the past few months, and the advantages Democrats have are ‘not big enough for Democrats to recapture the House or Senate,’ according to the poll. It’s sobering but not surprising for a party still adrift in Bush’s war."
Yes, but you pointing it out, Eleanor, is both sobering and surprising.
