The Rope a Dope Gambit

Or

The care and feeding of Moonbats

As a long time Boxing fan and as a student of the Sweet Science, it was thrilling to watch Muhammad Ali in his prime and in particular, his patented “Rope a Dope” strategy. In the later rounds, when his opponent was particularly aggressive, Ali would back against the ropes and cover up his head and mid-section as his opponent would unleash a barrage of punches. Many of those punches would be absorbed by his arms and gloves, but occasionally some would get through. He would take some punishment as his foe would be a blur of activity, the blows coming nearly non-stop as it appeared Ali might be in trouble, on the ropes and covering up, not fighting back. His opponent would be feeling good, seemingly scoring at will, his punches hitting a man on the ropes. Eventually however, even the best conditioned fighter would become arm weary, and take a step back to rest.

This would be the moment Ali was waiting for.

Ali would come off the ropes swinging, his rested arms pounding his worn out opponent. Sure, he was on the ropes and took a few shots, but it was all part of a strategy. Once his opponent had spent himself, Ali would go in for the knockout. Now Politics isn’t Boxing and care must be taken to avoid specious analogies. That being said let me point out some things.

Like you, I have been worrying and wondering what has been going on at the RNC.

For months, I have listened to a constant refrain of; Bush Lied, Quagmires, imagined scandals and that “He doesn’t have a plan”.

I would read, with a growing sense of anxiety, daily updates of doom and gloom. Rising Troop losses, one sided reporting. A defensive posture and Bunker-like mentality was the order of the day.

Seemingly prodded by Maverick House Members and its increasingly alarmed base, the White House is finally firing back. Along with this new offence have come rising poll numbers which, lets face it, were approaching Carter-Like numbers.

It has puzzled me for a long time, why hasn’t the White House fired back on this stuff? Some of it was so easy to refute it was almost a “gimme” for the other side. A quick trip back to the Front Pages of only 2 years ago would have been enough for some of the more egregious whining.

Then it struck me, could this all be on purpose?

As I thought back to the run up to the Iraq war I started to get an eerie sense of déjà vu. I had seen this exact behavior from the Administration before. In the months leading up to the vote authorizing the war, Bush played his cards very close to the vest. In unison, the Left converged on any available media that we were “rushing to war”, “Ignoring the UN” not “giving peace a chance”. He even baited the Democrats into overreacting, letting it slip that, maybe, just maybe, the President might go to war bypassing Congress entirely. As expected, the Left went wild; castigating the White Hose for even thinking of such a thing, and that only by a vote of Congress could Bush go to Iraq.

The White House waited, as the Left put on parade, every Democratic Candidate and their surrogates, to declare that Congress and the Senate must be involved. They thundered that Bush was rushing into War, that we were facing Quagmire and the “Feared Republican Guard”.

Bush waited, biding his time as his poll numbers fell and the focus was on the Democratic Candidates, each competing to out do each other with dramatic statements, defeatist scenarios and opinions on what he would do if elected.

Then, after months of talk of responsibility, Rights of Congress and never ending choruses demanding a Vote on Iraq, Bush called their bluff.

With a careful eye on the Calendar, the White House scheduled a Vote, right before the 2002 Elections.

The Dems panicked, realizing that after months of pronouncements regarding the war and what they would do about it, they got sucker punched. With the election looming large, the entire field of Democratic Candidates couldn’t afford to alienate their electorate mere weeks before the election and had little choice but to hold their nose and vote with the President. There was a rush of backtracking and “refining of positions” in order to put their best face on the Vote. In a move of impressive politics for an Administration the DNC thought was on the ropes, the vote passed easily, with only token opposition from the usual suspects.

In short, the White House has been willing to take a short term public relations hit to set up the Democrats.

It was later named “Strategery” and Carl Rove went on to be hailed as the political genius of our time. So as a distant observer and student of History, I have to ask; are we witnessing the end-game in what will be called Roves Masterpiece? I believe a case can be made that the behavior of the White House for the last year or more is not only deliberate, but that they have assisted the Democrats in some cases. The “non-response response” was an effort to draw out the most extreme and increasingly incoherent ramblings from the left.

If that’s the case, they have succeeded wildly. With their former Presidential Candidate calling our Troops torturers and the head of the DNC declaring that we could never win in Iraq, things have just about reached their pinnacle.

And the timing is going to be just about right.

The 2006 Mid-Terms are in less than a year. According to the plan recently released by the DOD, by October 2006, Tens of Thousands of Troops will by then have been permanently withdrawn from Iraq. Entire Units will have shipped back, sans equipment, as it is left for the new Iraqi Army; making it a Superpower in the region. Tens of Thousands more US GI’s will be by then, safely ensconced in secure, remote bases, their roles being primarily Air Support and Maintenance. Half a Million Iraqi Police and Military will have taken their place. The “Insurgents” only targets will be by then ONLY Iraqis, and with help from a clever media campaign, their already dwindling support will continue to decline as the “Crusaders” move out of reach entirely.

In short

American losses will be dwindling greatly.

The remaining ones are moving toward a Garrison role.

The first freely elected Government in the Arab world is in place, functioning well and is a model of transparency for the region

And most of all, the one thing the Democrats have been demanding from day one will be underway; the Troops will be coming home.

So how will these returning GI’s see themselves, as Winners or Losers? The memories these returning heroes will have will be of restoring a normal life to a people, Free Elections and the generosity and good will from the Iraqis they met. The bad memories they will have will be of Religious fanatics with an insane hatred for the West, and the US in particular along with biased reporting from the Media. They will remember the Iraqis they have met, and the friends they have lost. And behind them, they will see a free people, courtesy of their sacrifice. Their memories won’t be of Quagmires and the Feared Republican Guard; they will be of a freed people.

Do you what that sounds like to me?

It sounds a lot like Victory.

Just in time for the 2006 Elections.

So the next time you hear Howard Dean say that we cannot possibly win or John Kerry declare that our Soldiers are torturers, keep the thought in your mind that maybe, just maybe, there is a Strategery at work. As the old saying goes, if a man is digging himself into a hole, hand him a shovel. The Dems are up to their necks and don’t even know it, and their entire stance on the War is going to soon be crashing into reality.

I for one would love to hear what plans the White House has for Parades for returning Units. That should start putting into unmistakable terms that the entire Democratic fantasy concerning Iraq is a house of cards. America could use a good old fashioned Victory Parade. That should push the Left right over the edge.

Since we already gave them shovels, perhaps its time to hand them some rope too.