Category: History, Our Far-Flung National Correspondents, Politics || By

I always get in trouble when I write about politics, but eh, what the heck. The waters have finally settled since I dared to write about Khrushchev, so it's time to throw some raw meat to the sharks again.

Imagine that CBS, ABC, NBC and Fox are preempting their regular schedules tonight so that John Kerry can make a speech. (Boy, this really is fantasy!)

Now, imagine that this is what Kerry said, as reported by the Associated Press and carried by the Post-Gazette on the front page:

Kerry asserted that the record of the war to date was not such as to inspire "any sublime faith in the infallibility of our military and naval experts."

Reporting to the nation on his recent world tour, Kerry described as "misdirected censorship" the idea that non-military experts or persons unconnected with the government should refrain from making suggestions about the conduct of the war, "military, industrial, economic or political."

"Let's have no more of this nonsense," Kerry said. "Military experts, as well as our leaders, must be constantly exposed to democracy's greatest driving power --- the whiplash of public opinion developed from honest, free discussion."

After describing what he termed a "reservoir of goodwill" existing in the nations he visited on a trip which took him to the Middle East, China and Russia, Kerry asserted that this reservoir was "leaking dangerously" through holes punched not by Osama Bin Laden, but by us.

Kerry also scored what he termed the "half-ignorant, half-patronizing way in which we have grown accustomed to treating many of the peoples in Eastern Europe and Asia."

"Stupid, arbitrary and undemocratic" censorship, Kerry declared, has resulted in an "atrophy of intelligence," and he said the facts he collected on his trip "should be given to us all."

At another point, Kerry declared: "Men with great power usually like to live free of criticism. But when they get that way, that's the time to increase the criticism.

"We must fight our way through not alone to the destruction of our enemies, but to a new world idea," Kerry said. "We must win the peace."

. . .

What would be the reaction to a speech like that? Fox News would go insane. Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity would call for Kerry to be arrested on treason charges. The New York Post and Wall Street Journal would demand Kerry's resignation from the Senate.

President Bush would attack Kerry for "emboldening the terrorists," and his press secretary would go further; she'd call Kerry a coward and a traitor. New rumors would be circulated about Kerry's war record; conservative newspapers would begin dredging up more dirt on Teresa Heinz.

And the Democratic Party would quickly move to distance itself from Kerry's remarks, with Harry Reid saying that "Senator Kerry has gone too far" and each of the Democratic presidential candidates calling press conferences to denounce Kerry.

By the end of the week, Kerry's political career would effectively be over.

. . .

You knew this was a trick question, right? Because John Kerry wouldn't give a speech like that.

The speech, instead, was given almost exactly 65 years ago by Wendell Willkie, the 1940 Republican presidential nominee. I stumbled across the speech while doing research last week for Pittsburgh Radio & TV Online.

Willkie wasn't talking about Osama Bin Laden, naturally. He was talking about Hitler.

Everything else is a direct quote from Willkie's Oct. 26, 1942 speech, as carried by NBC, CBS, Blue (later renamed ABC) and Mutual.

And naturally, none of those things that I predicted actually happened in 1942. Indeed, until his untimely death from a heart attack in 1944, Willkie continued to have a brilliant law career and remained an admired and respected figure. (My grandmother, a lifelong Democrat, named her dog for Wendell Willkie.)

In fact, one of Willkie's duties was to serve as a special envoy for FDR.

Imagine George W. Bush appointing Al Gore or John Kerry as a special envoy.

Forget it --- that taxes the imagination too much.

. . .

Willkie eventually went too far for the Republican Party's tastes when, in 1943, he defended the rights of a Communist Party member to advocate for the overthrow of the U.S. government. The case went to the Supreme Court; Willkie won.

Afterward, Willkie said: "Those who rejoice in denying justice to one they hate, pave the way to a denial of justice for someone they love."

Remember that if you think secret military tribunals, offshore prison camps, and torturing suspected terrorists is acceptable.

. . .

Think about Willkie's remarks as the White House continues to beat, beat, beat the drum for war with Iran.

Think about them every time a Fox News pundit or White House spokesperson attacks anyone who dares to question the President.

Think about them as the craven, cowardly Democratic Congress trembles in fear at the thought of opposing the Bush administration.

That's how badly the climate in this country has been poisoned by far-right-wing propaganda, and how badly skewed our perceptions are.

Try to skew yours back. I'm trying to skew mine back, too.

. . .

P.S.: I can't wait to see the comments this Almanac attracts. I'm afraid they're going to prove a point.