The Voice of Saruman

In an excellent piece in The Boston Globe recently, Jeff Jacoby argues that, post-9/11, President Bush has been a radical on foreign policy and John Kerry has been a reactionary:

And there in a nutshell is the choice in this election: forward with Bush into a difficult future or backward with Kerry to the familiar ways of the past. It would be an easy decision, except for one thing: The familiar ways of the past led to Sept. 11.

Kerry is a liberal Democrat, but in this campaign he is running as a reactionary: one who wants to reverse course -- to go back to the attitudes and practices that guided US policy when Clinton and the elder George Bush were in office. The younger Bush may be a Republican, but he is running this year as a radical. Profoundly transformed by 9/11, he sees the old playbook as feckless and is set on a revolutionary new course.

I think Jacoby is dead on, of course, but what's particularly striking and disturbing to me is the apparent seductiveness of the reactionary position -- the fact, in a post-9/11 world, that so many more Americans than I would have predicted seem transfixed by the idea of returning to September 10. And it's downright chilling that Osama Bin Laden seems to mine the vein of appeasement and collabortation in his recent spewing; it's almost as if, as Belmont Club's Wretchard has pointed out, Osama is asking for a cease-fire (to allow Al Qaeda to re-arm and regroup). Electing John Kerry will be tantamount to agreeing to Osama's cease-fire proposal. Will the American people give it to him? I don't think so.



In The Two Towers, the second volume of The Lord of the Rings, Isengard, the stronghold of the evil wizard Saruman, has been stormed, Saruman's army has been destroyed at Helm's Deep, and Saruman himself has been made a prisoner in his own tower. When some of the leaders of the victorious army confront Saruman at his tower (Orthanc), the wizard makes his address to Theoden, King of Rohan. He speaks in hypnotic tones about "peace" and collaboration, and the tension in the scene arises from an uneasiness about how Theoden will answer him.

Here is the heart of the exchange:

[Saruman:]''What have you to say, Theoden King? Will you have peace with me, and all the aid that my knowledge, founded in long years, can bring? Shall we make our counsels together against evil days, and repair our injuries with such good will that our estates shall both come to fairer flower than ever before? . . . The friendship of Saruman and the power of Orthanc cannot be lightly thrown aside, whatever grievances, real or fancied, may lie behind. You have won a battle but not a war -- and that with help on which you cannot count again. You may find the Shadow of the Wood at your own door next; it is wayward, and senseless, and has no love for Men. But my lord of Rohan, am I to be called a murderer, because valiant men have fallen in battle? If you go to war, needlessly, for I did not desire it, then men will be slain. But if I am a murderer on that account, then all the house of Eorl is stained with murder; for they have fought many wars, and assailed many who defied them. Yet with some they have afterwards made peace, none the worse for being politic. I say, Theoden King, shall we have peace and friendship, you and I? It is ours to command."

"We will have peace," said Theoden at last thickly and with an effort. Several of the Riders cried out gladly. Theoden held up his hand."'Yes, we will have peace" he said, now in a clear voice,"we will have peace, when you and all your works have perished -- and the works of your dark master to whom you would deliver us. You are a liar, Saruman, and a corrupter of men's hearts. You hold out your hand to me, and I perceive only a finger of the claw of Mordor, Cruel and cold! Even if your war on me was just -- as it was not, for were you ten times as wise you would have no right to rule me and mine for your own profit as you desired -- even so, what will you say of your torches in Westfold and the children that lie dead there? And they hewed Hama's body before the gates of the Hornburg, after he was dead. When you hang from a gibbet at your window for the sport of your own crows, I will have peace with you and Orthanc. So much for the house of Eorl. A lesser son of great sires am I, but I do not need to lick your fingers. Turn elsewhither. But I fear your voice has lost its charm."

That's the answer that I hope the American people will give to Osama Bin Laden on Tuesday.

My blogging may be very light between now and Tuesday, but I find, on general principle, that you can't go wrong with The Lord of the Rings, so let me end with another quote (from the movie this time):

Hold your ground, hold your ground. Sons of Gondor, of Rohan, my brothers. I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day. An hour of wolves and shattered shields, when the age of men comes crashing down, but it is not this day. This day we fight! By all that you hold dear on this good Earth, I bid you stand, Men of the West!