Over at Redstate.org…

Over at Redstate.org, there have been a few recent diary entries from others about Sen. Patty Murray and her quote about bin Laden building roads and hospitals, and how that quote is being used in ads for George Nethercutt. In the first one, a poster nicknamed “kevdawg” asked this question:

If those statements she made are false, please provide the evidence they are so. I have seen no one falsify the truth of those assertions.

If you can’t do so, that implies you have a problem with politicians that tell the truth to their constituents. She was explaining why Osama bin Laden has such a large base of popular support in the middle east and pakistan. Which he does. And though I haven’t seen proof that he used his financial stockpile to curry favors (and yes, make the lives of those who he gave money to, if he did), I also have yet to see anyone show that those facts are false.

I came late to that post, and another diary entry has appeared with a similar subject. So in the current one I posted this comment:

I’m going to pick this new Murray post to bring up something from the last one, and which is still germane to this diary entry. Kevdawg, I think, did have a point in his comment when he asked if the statements were false.

Before the knees jerk, take a look at my diary or my blog and you’ll know I’m no liberal or moderate. However, being a conservative, I believe, means calling a spade a spade even if it makes my side look bad. (I’d argue that’s why a more conservative influence at Fox News makes them more fair and balanced. But I digress.) Therefore, let’s look at this honestly.

Murray gave her opinion as to why the people in the Middle East support bin Laden. She was not speaking for herself. That’s pretty clear to me in a reading of the comment in context. So using this quote to make her look like a bin Laden supporter is dishonest. The irony is, there are other ways that it does speak badly of her that could be used instead. Examples:

• Bin Laden’s building roads and hospitals, etc., and we should do more of that? Sounds to me like Ms. Murray thinks the War on Terror will be won by whoever spends the most money on public works project in the Mideast. Imagine the first paragraph of a NY Time article the day we win the war:
  

  With cost overruns plaguing the recent construction of “Bin Laden High School” in suburban Baghdad, and al Qaeda’s commitment to avoid deficit spending, Mr. bin Laden himself came out of his cave in Pakistan to turn himself in to authorities and stand trial for crimes against humanity. When asked what finally broke him, he replied, “Let’s see you try to beat the evil Americans in charitable contributions! We’re broke!” Bin Laden and the remaining al Qaeda members will be tried for, among other things, over 3,000 counts of first-degree murder and 32 counts of writing bad checks.

  Yeah, right.

• A free and liberated Iraq will has already, and will continue to, bring to the Iraqis more (working) hospitals, more (usable) schools, and more private enterprise allowing more road-building. In short, instead of imposing better roads on the Iraqi people (in a manner of speaking), Bush is making it possible for the economy of Iraq to prosper, which will result in the very things Murray says we ought to be doing. Victory over terrorists first, followed by rebuilding, is the plan. She should be supporting Dubya in this endeavor if she really believes this is where bin Laden’s support comes from. If she doesn’t, her remarks are nothing but partisan blather against the President; something we don’t need in wartime.

And there’s probably more disconnects. Kevdawg, if you’re reading this, you did have a point, but only to a point. Beyond that, I hope you’ll reconsider your vote.

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