Keeping the Faith

The Bull-Moose Blog hits the nail right on the head with this post. Frustrated though us liberals may be that the Bush administration refused to put its money where its mouth is, operates through a flawed prism when evaluating US foreign policy, and generally spits on the Democrats at every opportunity, we cannot let our anger cloud our reason. The Democratic foreign policy has been and must continue to be one that emphasizes the rights of mankind, the importance of democracy, and the willingness of the United States to fight for both of them. As the Bull-Moose puts it:

Idealistic rhetoric without practical deeds is vacant utopianism. Progressives, however, should not cede democratic idealism because Bush embraces it. They should not become left wing versions of Bret Scowcroft and Pat Buchanan. Rather, people of the left should connect with the progressive internationalist tradition of Truman and JFK which promoted freedom abroad based on practical deeds and economic justice at home.

Above all, progressives should not permit their justified spite of the Bushies to lead them to abandon a proud tradition of liberal internationalism.