Pulling out the Weeds

The following is a passage from Daniel Henninger's interview with George Shultz in today's WSJ.

"[g]ardening is something you have to do if you're going to be effective in foreign affairs . . . come around reasonably frequently and get rid of the weeds before they get too big." In any event, Mr. Shultz reminds me, the most useful lessons for dealing with a hostile world didn't emerge from his long years in diplomacy, but in labor, in the experience of collective bargaining: "You show me a union that will never strike, and I'll show you a union that isn't going to get anywhere. You show me a management that will never take a strike, and I'll show you a management that's going to get pushed around." Or nations: "Our basic problem is that the Iranians are convinced that they can do anything and there are no consequences."

Shultz, of course, it right, and shows why there's still no Democrat alternative to George Bush. For as low as Bush's poll ratings are and however much his critics point to Iran as a supposed distraction from problems in Iraq, the Democrats remain useless in articulating a coherent foreign policy that can maintain national security.