The Bugs Bunny Democrats The Bugs Bunny Democrats

Wm. Kristal in The Bugs Bunny Democrats starts by quoting clueless Ned Lemont:

We should work diplomatically and aggressively to give them reasons why they [the Iranians] don't need to build a bomb, to give them incentives. . . . I'd like to use carrots as well as sticks to see if we can change the nature of the debate.

The problem is, of course, that the Democrats, by and large, are clueless here, still hoping and dreaming of a world in which good intentions equal good results, and believing, despite 9/11, et al., that all it would take for world peace is if we were to understand our enemies. And another part of their problem is that they have just dumped one of the only Democrats who really does understand that a carrot won't always work, and sometimes a stick is necessary.

However, Kristal doesn't stop with the Democrats, lambasting that: During its second term, the Bush administration has come too close to embracing Holbrookean passivity.