History does not always repeat itself.

Micahel Barone has an interesting oped in the WSJ about the left and their hopes and desires to see Bush turn into Nixon.

It has been a tough 10 days for those who see current events through the prisms of Vietnam and Watergate. First, the Democrats failed to win a breakthrough victory in the California 50th District special election--a breakthrough that would have summoned up memories of Democrats winning Gerald Ford's old congressional district in a special election in 1974. Instead the Democratic nominee got 45% of the vote, just 1% more than John Kerry did in the district in 2004.

Second, U.S. forces with a precision air strike killed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, on the same day that Iraqis finished forming a government. Zarqawi will not be available to gloat over American setbacks or our allies' defeat, as the leaders of the Viet Cong and North Vietnam did.

Third, special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald announced that he would not seek an indictment of Karl Rove. The leftward blogosphere had Mr. Rove pegged for the role of Bob Haldeman and John Ehrlichman. Theories were spun about plea bargains that would implicate Vice President Dick Cheney. Talk of impeachment was in the air. But it turns out that history doesn't repeat itself. George W. Bush, whether you like it or not, is not a second Richard Nixon.
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I have often wondered what the morbid fascination with the tragedy of Viet Nam really is. Sometimes I wonder if it is the narcissism of my generation to see ourselves and anything associated with our time in grandiose terms. After all, there is a lot more to American history that the debacle of Viet Nam.

I think it is too easy to say that the media or the left want to relive their glory days, I think instead they seek constant vindication for their own malice. Otherwise what are they?

I am not ashamed to say that I believe America is special, warts and all. We are without a doubt the hope of the world. We are not only the shining city on the hill, we are the light at the end of the tunnel. That is why we talk about building walls to keep people out, while others seek to build walls to keep people in. We will never agree with any party or any president on all things, that is not realistic. But we are more than presidents and representatives, we are America. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, the most radical words ever placed in a political document because they make it plain government exists for us...not the other way around. People matter.

These naysayers who hope for failure and defeat for America are people who can not believe in the essential goodness of man, and so they must seek out the bad, always. And since America is built on the principle that all men have worth and are capable of doing good and great things, then it follows that to destroy America is to destroy hope and faith in people...while to the left it is not people that matter it is economic systems, it is a tight ship, it is the equality of the mass grave and the stability of a well run prison. So they turn up their noses at the patriotic rednecks who believe...because that is beneath them. They are too cynical, too jaded and too empty for that.

And that is why they keep trying to relive Viet Nam.