Tony Blankley has Harry Reid's Number at Townhall

Just another political speech

By Tony Blankley

Dateline: London, June 18, 1940 -- The following are the chamber remarks of the fictional Lord Harold Reid (whose fictional grandson in the 21st century would become leader of the fictional Democratic Party in the U.S. Senate).

"I regret to have to stand up tonight, on the day of defeat at the hands of the Germans of our French ally's armies at Sedan and on the Meuse River to observe that on this solemn occasion, Prime Minister Winston Churchill has chosen to politicize and cheapen the moment. Permit me to perform just a brief exegesis of his speech, which his right-wing Press Baron friend Lord Murdoch has quickly labeled 'The Finest Hour' speech in the London Times.

"Right out of the gate Churchill starts making political excuses when he says: 'There are many who would hold an inquest in the House of Commons on the conduct of the Governments. ... This would be a foolish and pernicious process ... Of this I am quite sure, that if we open a quarrel between the past and the present, we shall find that we have lost the future.' Balderdash. Churchill can't get out of it so neatly. We need to hold hearings to determine exactly who is at fault in the government. There must be no cover up for those who deserve a dressing down. Herr Hitler will just have to wait until we have decided what is what.

"For example, Mr. Churchill glibly states: 'During the last few days we have successfully brought off the great majority of the troops we had on the line of communication in France; and seven-eighths of troops we have sent to France since the beginning of the war -- that is to say, about 350,000 out of the 400,000 men -- are safely back in this country.'