The Churchill of Our Time

David Weigel | October 24, 2006

This Rick Santorum quote is already making the rounds, but I think it's being misinterpreted.

"If we are not successful here and things don't go right in the election, there's a good chance that the course of our country could change," he said. "We are in the equivalent of the late 1930s, and this election will decide whether we are going to continue to appease or whether we will stand and fight while we have a chance to win without devastating consequences."

Santorum's less interested in invoking Godwin than in bashing the Bush administration. The issue is whether "we" will "continue to appease" the forces of Mordor. And "we" is the current leadership of the United States; wimpy bureaucrats who refuse to commit to liberating Iran. Santorum sees himself as a lonely voice warning against the coming domination of Islamic fascists; anyone who backs off the most militaristic approaches to dealing with them are following in Chamberlain's dandy footsteps.