After more than 20 agonizing months in exile at an undisclosed location, Mayor Ed Koch’s runaway mind made a daring escape from its captor, Obama-mania, this week and has at last come home safe and sound. At 85, the former New York mayor’s mind–a little haggard, a little road-weary–nevertheless appeared to be in full control of its former lucidity after a long stint in captivity to the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize laureate’s New World Order.
Before discussing their safe reunion with the Mayor’s body, let’s recall the day the Kochian faculties took their abrupt and surprising leave of absence, stunning New Yorkers who still harbored fond memories of their Greenwich Village bachelor mayor. It was September 9, 2008 when Mayor Koch–after supporting Hillary Clinton throughout her failed primary–wrote this:
So the issue for me is who will best protect and defend America. I have concluded that the country is safer in the hands of Barack Obama, leader of the Democratic Party and protector of the philosophy of that party.
That was Day One of captivity for the mayoral mind. The Koch endorsement of Obama was not solely founded on defending America from the threat of terrorism, as it had been, for example, when he endorsed George W. Bush in 2004, stating then “the overwhelming issue for me was international Islamic terrorism, including al-Qaeda.”
No, on September 9, 2008 Koch’s mind already displayed significant traces of Stockholm Syndrome support for Obama’s full-fledged progressive agenda, along with what would become the liberal’s fail-safe prescription, a strong injection of Sarah-phobia:
Protecting and defending the U.S. means more than defending us from foreign attacks. It includes defending the public with respect to their civil rights, civil liberties and other needs, e.g., national health insurance…
If the vice president were ever called on to lead the country, there is no question in my mind that the experience and demonstrated judgment of Joe Biden is superior to that of Sarah Palin. Sarah Palin is a plucky, exciting candidate, but when her record is examined, she fails miserably with respect to her views on the domestic issues that are so important to the people of the U.S., and to me. Frankly, it would scare me if she were to succeed John McCain in the presidency.
Attend carefully to the subtle manner back then in which the runaway Kochian mind calls national health insurance “a need,” while at the same time stating that Palin’s views on domestic issues, “so important to the people of the U.S.,” are deficient. One of those “failing” issues, Koch’s mind would no doubt have posited, would be Palin’s opposition to the new health care law. She is so “out of step” with the American public that, in opposing Obamacare, she joins the nearly two-thirds of Americans who support repeal of the law. That’s according to this May 24 Rasmussen poll of 1,000 likely voters which shows opposition to the law at its highest level since passage of the unpopular entitlement.
But that was then. Now we celebrate the triumphant return of the mayoral mind, as evidenced by this excellent article Koch wrote on Real Clear Politics entitled “Will Obama Stand Up for the U.S. and Our Allies?”
This essay deserves a thorough perusal. It’s truly an amazing example of the enduring brilliance of Hizzoner. Starting with his support (very well articulated and not unpersuasive, no matter what one’s thoughts on this extremely sensitive issue) for the proposed mosque two blocks from Ground Zero, Koch deftly turns his very specific plea for tolerance into a scathing general attack on Obama’s namby-pamby, weak-tea, America-the-Doormat approach to foreign policy.
A few crucial observations bear excerpting here:
I believe we must be willing to defend our people and country against all attacks that are violent – tantamount to war – as well as those attacks that are unfair and intended to humble and denigrate our nation… Have we lost the will to stand up to the bullies of the world?
… I believe these failures to stand up for allies and most importantly to stand up for ourselves is why we are taken less seriously by nations throughout the world than should be the case. When others fully respected us, we were able to keep the world at peace. We are losing that ability with each passing day, as we demonstrate our unwillingness to teach the bullies of the world the lessons they deserve.
Speak softly and carry a big stick, Teddy Roosevelt said. President Obama speaks apologetically and carries no stick at all. No wonder North Korea torpedoed that South Korean warship, something they would not have done in all probability if China had not quietly approved. No wonder Brazil and Turkey thumb their noses at us. We have become a laughingstock.
All that remains to be said now, however, is a final word to Mayor Koch’s brain itself. Tempting as it would be to ask “Where were you when we needed you?” this is a time for unification, not recrimination. Therefore, there’s only one appropriate salutation for the safely-returned mayoral mind, whose favorite question we can once again pose and answer:
“How’m I doin’?”
Just fine, Mr. Mayor. Just fine.
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