What will we have to do in order to rescue the concepts of "freedom" and "democracy" from the punishment inflicted on them by Bush & Co.?

"An administration that fought a misguided, poorly planned and ill-considered war in the name of democracy should not be allowed to discredit the democratic idea itself."
--E. J. Dionne Jr., in his Washington Post column today, "An Ideal in Need of Rescue"

One of the many things Howie and I have in common is that we cringe when George W. Bush uses the words "freedom" and "democracy."

The terrible thing is that Chimpy probably thinks he means something by them, when really all they are to him is words. To a lot of people, by contrast, they're the kind of thing you contemplate fighting to the death for. And no, it doesn't count that Chimpy cheerfully sends other people's children off to die.

One ghastly consquence of the Iraq debacle is that the bunglers who banded together to bring it to us have created the thought that we are no longer willing or able to champion freedom and democracy. E. J. Dionne Jr., pondering this revolting development in his column today, concludes:

This war has done enormous damage to the United States, and some of the damage is to our ideals. The United States still has a powerful interest in encouraging the spread of democracy around the globe. Promoting democracy must remain a core goal of American foreign policy.

But there are smart ways to promote democracy and there are stupid, even dangerous, ways. Creating democracy where it has never existed is a long and painstaking process. You can't whip it up by buying a cake mix or holding a single election and declaring victory.

An administration that fought a misguided, poorly planned and ill-considered war in the name of democracy should not be allowed to discredit the democratic idea itself.