Bush's "False Comfort of Appeasement"

On the heels of Bush's controversial speech at the Israeli Knesset last week, I started to wonder about what brand of history upon which Bush's speechwriters relied before writing that fateful paragraph that has drummed up so much controversy vis a vis Barack Obama:

"Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along. We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: 'Lord, if I could only have talked to Hitler, all this might have been avoided.' We have an obligation to call this what it is – the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history."

Although the Bush Administration claims the thinly-veiled criticism was aimed at Jimmy Carter, it is beyond obvious that their real target was Obama. In the past, Obama has professed his desire to negotiate with America's "enemies," notably Iran. It seems obvious to me that diplomacy is always preferable to bombing, but in today's bizarro world of national defense--where somehow we've been snookered into believing we are safer by invading and occupying other countries--perhaps I'm a little deluded.

That said, there are a number of ways Obama can respond to this irrational claim by the Bush Administration. Patrick Buchanan's "Bush Plays the Hitler Card" is an outstanding place to start, and Buchanan has already done the homework.

BTW, I purposely linked to Buchanan's article on TownHall...the comments are at once hilarious and alarming. A painfully ignorant (and neoconservative) website, TownHall is on par with Huffington Post for unintentional comedy.

If I were Obama, though, in addition to Buchanan's historical references, I'd reference a specific historical fact in order to squelch any discussion regarding appeasement. Specifically, I'd ask ol' Bushie about his grandfather, Prescott, and his involvement with Brown Brothers Harriman and the Trading with the Enemy Act. If anyone knows about appeasement, it's the Bush family.