Posted by
James Frank Solís on Wednesday, August 02, 2006 6:02:02 PM
People who have read
The Chronicles of Narnia, are familiar with Aslan's oft repeated warning that no one is ever told what
would have happened. Apparently, if John Kerry were a character in the series he would be the one who would not even need to ask Aslan what would have happened.
On the
homepage here at Townhall, the Poll Position poll question is:
John Kerry said, "If I was president, this wouldn't have happened," in reference to the Middle East conflict. If he WAS president, which of the following is most likely to have happened?
(I answered, "Cut & Run" is called "Kerry Doctrine," by the way.)
As someone trained to think by analytical philosophers, I find Kerry's assertion just more than a little amusing. It would be nice to go into a discussion of counterfactual conditionals, but I don't have the time.
It's funny, when you think about it. He knows what would have happened if he were President. Golly gee, if only he had been President on 6 December 1941, or 10 September 2001. For a guy who knows what would have happened he did a convincing job of running for President as if he thought he was actually going to make it! (Oh, wait. If he had been President in 1941 he'd have brought the Italians, Germans and the Japanese to the table, and Pearl Harbor wouldn't ever have happened. The same for 2001, I guess.)
Of course, the reason that John Kerry thinks he knows what would have happened is that he thinks (he must!) that he's semi-divine. He has powers denied to mortal men. He can speak softly to terrorists and they, weeping, will lay down their arms and embrace their Jewish brothers. He would have kept his eye on the Osama Ball and Osama would have surrendered in fear--no, the conviction--that it was only a matter of time before the almost-all-knowing divine John Kerry found him.
Think of the hubris involved in saying, "If I were Such-and-such, then this would not have happened." Let me see if I can do it. Ahem. "If I had been the one facing Wellington at Waterloo, the French would not have lost."
Wow. That's pretty easy. You should give it a shot.
NOTE: Nothing in this post should be taken to mean that I wish the French success in anything. Not even a soccer tournament.