The Global Test Is Reality

William Saletan absolutely nails the Bush campaign's attempt to deflect attention the recent, shocking revelation that the emperor has no clothes:

It's clear from Kerry's first sentence that the "global test" doesn't prevent unilateral action to protect ourselves. But notice what else Kerry says. The test includes convincing "your countrymen" that your reasons are clear and sound. Kerry isn't just talking about satisfying France. He's talking about satisfying Ohio. He's talking about you.

What do you have in common with a Frenchman? Look again at Kerry's words. He says the test is to "prove" that our reasons for attacking were legitimate. In the next sentence, he gives an example of someone failing that test: Colin Powell's February 2003 presentation to the United Nations about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. What did Powell apologize for? The inaccuracy of our intelligence. Kerry contrasts this with the trust France once placed in American spy photos.

Proof, intelligence, spy photos. The pattern is obvious. The test isn't moral. It's factual. What you and the Frenchman share is the evidence of your senses. The global test is the measurement of the president's assertions against the real world, the world you and I can see.

This is the test Bush has failed. He has failed to produce evidence for his prewar claims of Iraqi WMD and operational ties to al-Qaida, or for his postwar claims of success against the insurgency. Now he's going further. He's not simply failing the test. He's refusing to take it.

The only reason this is even a non-issue is that Kerry used the inopportune word "global." And the only reason the word "global" is inopportune is that it plays into Republican exploitation of our civic religion, which is, of course, nativism. Kerry should have said "legitimacy test" or something of the sort, but the only people who think he was referring to ceding power to foreign governments are a) knowingly lying or b) retarded.

As Saletan goes on to write:

Bush claims he has done all this to protect you. But that claim is precisely what's challenged by the evidence he conceals or disregards. What he's protecting you from is the ability to measure his assertions against the world that you and I can see. That's the global test he's mocking. And he expects you to applaud him for it, because he thinks you resent the French so much you'd rather have a president accountable to no one.

There are two reasons why I'm not terribly worried that Bush flackies lying about the "global test" remark will tilt the election back to Bush: 1) The emperor has no clothes. It took three and a half years, but the punditariat finally caught on. The public says Kerry won, convincingly. The pundits say Kerry won, convincingly. While Wolf Blitzer's innate ability to eat shit is what made him the respected newsman he is today, even CNN is going to have trouble undoing a public perception of the debate that has already crystallized, thanks in part to them. (Fox isn't really a factor. Their viewers think Saddam Hussein is responsible for 9/11, so whatever, they're pretty sure Kerry is a Franco-Soviet double-agent anyway.) 2) Cheney is going to bring this up in the vice presidential debate, and Edwards will stuff hot coals down his throat in response. In fact, Tuesday night is going to be a rough night for Cheney in general. Think Bush has trouble dealing with criticism? The smirk has nothing on the scowl. It's Kennedy-Nixon redux, except that the part of Kennedy will be played by someone who is smarter than Kennedy was (and not on drugs), and the part of Nixon will be played by someone slightly more misanthropic than Nixon.

In the meantime, it's worth reviewing other parts of the world where George W. Bush failed the global test. This week's lesson: North Korea.