The Tangled Web

What was the line? 'O what a tangled web we weave/ When first we practise to deceive' ?

Kerry has stood up in 2004 as a legatee of a myth about Vietnam and the Cold War that has shaped the international political landscape for the world's remaining superpower for the last thirty years. If you're one of those conservatives from outside the US (like me), and have thought the US lacking in discipline or determination, than it can probably be traced to Vietnam.

That's not because what happened in Vietnam was so monumental- significant though US casualties were they weren't close to, say, the Second World War- but because America has been labouring under a generation that excused a great deal based on the 'searing' experience of that war, and Sept. 11th proved that the post-Vietnam sleepwalk had the consequence of unreadiness.

Kerry sought again (almost thoughtlessly, almost instinctively) to wrap himself in the tangled web of the icon of Vietnam that he helped create.

Now conservative America sees an opportunity to untangle parts of the web- oh, and by the way prove that untanglement at the ballot box. Capt. Ed would be exhibit A to prove my point; he's been following with the utmost diligence everything relating to Kerry's Vietnam record and his subsequent use of it. Tom Maguire's good too. So's Blackfive. They're interested in detail, reality, and the ring of truth.

What's the significance of Kerry's service now? For conservatives 'now' is about overcoming the unreadiness that allowed problems as big as Sept 11th and related historical trends to arise, and becoming ready to unravel them: Kerry's record and his toying with it embodies the leadership challenge, the leadership deficit if you like, facing America.