Democrats' state of disunion

After a strong State of the Union address by President Bush, the Democrats had the opportunity to productively counter the administration's policies or put forth well-planned ideas of their own. The Democrats failed in both respects. \nIn her rebuttal, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of California looked like a deer caught in headlights as she attempted to play down the president's goals and achievements at home and abroad. She misled the public and set impossible goals for the government while simultaneously trying to portray the Democrats as the party of reason. The gap in policy and truth between Democrats and the GOP is growing, and it shows.\nPelosi said the president "has pursued a go-it-alone policy that leaves us isolated abroad." Perhaps she was sleeping through the part of the speech in which the president rattled off 17 countries by name and counted the other 17 countries which join us on the ground in Iraq. At least five of the countries he listed are EU member states. Poland, which will join the EU in May, and three other nations are former Soviet bloc countries and one other, the Ukraine, was a member of the Soviet Union itself. But to Pelosi, because they aren't France or Germany, they do not qualify as substantial allies.\nPelosi also suggested we should not alienate our "allies" and utilize international institutions to "prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction." Well, I think getting Libya to open its facilities to inspection and disavow its WMD program counts. Perhaps the multi-lateral talks the US held with China, Russia and North Korea would lend credence to this administration's willingness and ability to work problems out diplomatically. But rhetoric spares little room for the truth about what diplomatic steps this administration has taken around the world.\nPelosi touted the Democrats' plan to inspect 100 percent of the containers coming into our country as opposed to the roughly 3 percent now searched. In 2002, over 130 million conveyances were processed through U.S. Customs. Citing other 2002 statistics, there are just over 20,000 Customs employees who are responsible for our more than 300 ports of entry into the United States. In addition to cargo, they must process international visitors, tourists and returning Americans from abroad. They search for everything from illegal drugs and immigrants to weapons and contraband. As nice as 100 percent sounds, it just isn't feasible when we must process people and our imported trade in a reasonable amount of time. I would agree, however, that we must ensure that Customs maximizes its resources to better protect our ports of entry.\nIn her closing statement, Pelosi stated we should "restore our leadership role in the world, working with others for 'the freedom of man.'" \nI believe we have led with courage and conviction, enforcing UN resolutions the UN was unwilling or unable to do itself. When we lead, we cannot look behind us to see who follows. We can put forth our policies and hope to convince others in the prudence of our actions, as we convinced 34 other nations in the Iraqi conflict. If our actions are sound, our true allies will follow accordingly. As Bush said, "America will never seek a permission slip to defend the security of our people." Nor should we.