PrintBob Dole, enigma to the Democrats
On this Veteran's Day, it would be an appropriate time to say thank you to Bob Dole. Most recently he served as National Chairman of the National World War II Memorial, war in which his heroism resulted in grave life—changing wounds. But the just—concluded campaign demonstrates that the leadership of the Democratic Party, especially those like Terry McAuliffe, simply do not understand men like him. Or for that matter, Daniel Inouye, the Tuskegee Airmen, or the 100th Battalion/ 442nd RCT.
What do those veterans have in common? They served with distinction and courage in the Italian Theater of World War II. By contemporary Democratic leadership standards, their heroism was all in service to a mistake, their sacrifices meaningless. How does one come to this conclusion? Lets' review the history.
America's relations with Italy initially soured in March 1941, when FDR preemptively seized 28 Italian ships in America harbors, even though the two countries were in a state of peace. In June 1941 he unilaterally impounded Italian assets in America. Following Pearl Harbor, the United States declared war on Germany and Italy, even though they had not attacked the United States. A contemporary Democrat leader might call the war against them a diversion from fighting Japan, the real enemy which had attacked us.
The successful Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943 provided the spark that encouraged King Victor Emmanuel III to negotiate a surrender. During the Allied invasion of mainland Italy, he resolved to demand the resignation of fascist dicatator Mussolini on July 23, 1943. Mussolini was sent to isolation at the Gran Sasso Hotel.
On September 12, 1943 Otto Skorzeny led a glider—borne paratrooper raid that rescued Mussolini and allowed him to become the leader of the Italian Social Republic — an armed insurgency. Meanwhile, the free Italians were engaged in a multipart process leading up to the birth of the Italian Republic.
It was not until April 1945 that Bob Dole received his grievous wounds fighting for Italian freedom. Why should a Protestant American from Kansas have put his life at risk for the Catholic Italians? They did not have a functional democracy. And the nascent Italian Republic was extraordinarily unstable, with decades of turmoil ahead, including the kidnap and murder of Prime Minister Aldo Moro by the Red Brigades in May 1978. Almost sixty years later, American forces are still deployed in Italy. In contemporary Demo—speak, it is a quagmire, albeit one with terrific food, fine fashions, and trains that still don't always run on time — the last obviously America's fault.
But the Democrats' ignorance should not surprise us. These are the same political spin doctors who assured us during the 1996 contest between war hero Bob Dole and draft dodger Bill Clinton that character does not matter.
November 2 was the day we proved them wrong. November 11 is the day we say thank you. Thank you, Bob Dole and all other veterans! We owe you more than we can ever repay.
