Yesterday evening, a British friend dropped by. She told us that she was surprised, living in Washington, that she has had so few expressions of sympathy from her acquaintances in Georgetown. At a block party, no one even mentioned the London tube attacks. Why didn't Washingtonians seem to care?
Thinking about her complaint, I realized that neither Republicans or Democrats have much incentive to dwell on the horror.
Republicans were shown up, because the London bombings are pretty dramatic evidence that President Bush's war on terror isn't working. Bush's claims that Osama bin Laden is on the run, being smoked out, unable to act, etc. are proven to be empty boasting, Texas-grade. And if Bush is losing, he may be a loser, so better not to think about it. Let's talk about something else--Hurricane Dennis, anyone?
Democrats, on the other hand, have been shown up, too. For many of them have echoed Michael Moore's line that there is no terrorist threat, that the whole 9/11 episode was just something milked by Bush & Co. to get re-elected and give defense contracts to Halliburton, instead of more funding to Head Start. When downtown London is hit in a devastating blow, it looks like maybe the Democrats are wrong to pooh-pooh the terrorism problem. So, let's talk about something else--how about that Supreme Court fight?
Of course, each side has a rationale. Democrats might say, if only Britain weren't in Iraq they wouldn't be a target (but America was a target before Iraq or Afghanistan, as was France, as was Moscow, as was Jerusalem). And Republicans might say, if only we prevail in Iraq we will prevail over terror (but we prevailed in Afghanistan, we thought, and terror did not cease).
So, the meaning of London may not be crystal clear, but the blasts that tore through the Underground at King's Cross, Edgeware Road, and Liverpool Street station also tore through the pieties and stereotypes of the American political class--which is why they may have difficulty expressing condolences even to a Britisher living among them.
Our sympathies...