Today, Secretary Rumsfeld resurrected a theme from Jeane Kirkpatrick's famous 1984 "San Francisco Democrats" speech in which she took on the "blame America first" crowd. She said:
The American people know that it's dangerous to blame ourselves for terrible problems that we did not cause. They understand just as the distinguished French writer, Jean Francois Revel, understands the dangers of endless self- criticism and self-denigration. He wrote: "Clearly, a civilization that feels guilty for everything it is and does will lack the energy and conviction to defend itself."
In his speech to the American Legion in Salt Lake City, Secretary Rumsfeld asked:
Can we really afford to return to the destructive view that America - not the enemy, but America - is the source of the world's troubles?